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The King's Blades #6
The Jaguar Knights
The realm's most feared swordsman, Sir Wolf has earned his name, the "King's Killer," well. Unlike many of his brother Blades, however, Wolf detests his sworn duty to do the bloody bidding of a liege he can never respect. But when an impregnable fortress is breached and a former royal mistress is abducted by brazen assailants, Wolf must leap into the fray.
Burdened with the company of his disgraced brother, Sir Lynx—the only Blade ever to lose his ward and live—and shadowed by a mysterious Inquisitor with a secret agenda, Wolf must make his way across a landscape of nightmares vivid and terrible enough to chill any fearless heart. For somewhere in this dark, unfamiliar world, the fate of all Chivial hangs in the balance—and it is the destiny of one reluctant Blade to tip the scales to salvation . . . or doom.
Burdened with the company of his disgraced brother, Sir Lynx—the only Blade ever to lose his ward and live—and shadowed by a mysterious Inquisitor with a secret agenda, Wolf must make his way across a landscape of nightmares vivid and terrible enough to chill any fearless heart. For somewhere in this dark, unfamiliar world, the fate of all Chivial hangs in the balance—and it is the destiny of one reluctant Blade to tip the scales to salvation . . . or doom.
448 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2004
22 people are currently reading
454 people want to read
About the author
Dave Duncan
139 books591 followersOriginally from Scotland, Dave Duncan lived all his adult life in Western Canada, having enjoyed a long career as a petroleum geologist before taking up writing. Since discovering that imaginary worlds were more satisfying than the real one, he published more than 60 novels, mostly in the fantasy genre, but also young adult, science fiction, and historical.
He wrote at times under the pseudonym Sarah B. Franklin (but only for literary purposes) and Ken Hood (which is short for "D'ye Ken Whodunit?")
His most successful works were fantasy series: The Seventh Sword, A Man of His Word and its sequel, A Handful of Men, and seven books about The King’s Blades. His books have been translated into 15 languages, and of late have been appearing in audiobook format as well.
He and Janet were married in 1959. He is survived by her, one son and two daughters, as well as four grandchildren.
He was both a founding and honorary lifetime member of SFCanada, and a member of the CSFFA Hall of Fame.
He wrote at times under the pseudonym Sarah B. Franklin (but only for literary purposes) and Ken Hood (which is short for "D'ye Ken Whodunit?")
His most successful works were fantasy series: The Seventh Sword, A Man of His Word and its sequel, A Handful of Men, and seven books about The King’s Blades. His books have been translated into 15 languages, and of late have been appearing in audiobook format as well.
He and Janet were married in 1959. He is survived by her, one son and two daughters, as well as four grandchildren.
He was both a founding and honorary lifetime member of SFCanada, and a member of the CSFFA Hall of Fame.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
August 1, 2021
Major yikes. This book is bad in one way, and really bad in another.
Way one is plain old storytelling. It is a truth universally acknowledged that if you’re going to introduce a group of half-monster jaguar superfighter dudes in your world full of magical swordsmen, our magical hero swordsman must fight at least one of the titular jaguar knights in the book. If said hero’s brother get turned into a jaguar knight, we’re looking at a classic case of Chekhov’s Jaguar Knight here. And yet Duncan pulls an all-time lame narrative pump-fake here. Our hero instead goes through a badly written and misogynist romance arc before going to not-South America and contracting Fantasy Dysentery. David, this is not why people are reading this book!
Way two is that the book as a whole is a thinly veiled gloss justifying the colonial invasion of South America, which felt pretty gross!
Way one is plain old storytelling. It is a truth universally acknowledged that if you’re going to introduce a group of half-monster jaguar superfighter dudes in your world full of magical swordsmen, our magical hero swordsman must fight at least one of the titular jaguar knights in the book. If said hero’s brother get turned into a jaguar knight, we’re looking at a classic case of Chekhov’s Jaguar Knight here. And yet Duncan pulls an all-time lame narrative pump-fake here. Our hero instead goes through a badly written and misogynist romance arc before going to not-South America and contracting Fantasy Dysentery. David, this is not why people are reading this book!
Way two is that the book as a whole is a thinly veiled gloss justifying the colonial invasion of South America, which felt pretty gross!
February 21, 2018
This is my first Dave Duncan book. This is the third book in A Chronicles of the King's Blade trilogy so I knew I was jumping in at the end of something. Still, it left me with mixed emotions, the first being, I felt no emotion. I never felt connected to any of the characters and for anyone who has read my reviews before, that is a necessity.
I liked the characters well enough. Wolf, Dolores, Lynx, Flicker and many jaguar and eagle knights but their relationships seemed unbelievable. I never believed in the relationship developed between Wolf and Dolores. I could never really tell if it was real or forged from necessity or reciprocal. It was like watching a decent play and the actors going through the motion as if they really didn't want to be there.
The story line had some interesting features but the similarities between conquistadors invading South American jungles made it even more difficult to cheer for anyone. I kind of wanted everyone to die and be done. One side sought to learn and exploit the secret mysteries of a culture while the other, battling for survival, was a strict caste system steeped in cannibalism and human sacrifice.
There was magic and medieval elements but both were often confusing and sparse.
From reading the reviews of others before me, apparently this was not Mr. Duncan's best effort. While I'm not urgent to read more, I will eventually give the author another shot and read another book in the Blades books. If you want to read the authors work, I would advise not starting with this one. You may walk away, as I did, feeling cheated. It could have been better.
I liked the characters well enough. Wolf, Dolores, Lynx, Flicker and many jaguar and eagle knights but their relationships seemed unbelievable. I never believed in the relationship developed between Wolf and Dolores. I could never really tell if it was real or forged from necessity or reciprocal. It was like watching a decent play and the actors going through the motion as if they really didn't want to be there.
The story line had some interesting features but the similarities between conquistadors invading South American jungles made it even more difficult to cheer for anyone. I kind of wanted everyone to die and be done. One side sought to learn and exploit the secret mysteries of a culture while the other, battling for survival, was a strict caste system steeped in cannibalism and human sacrifice.
There was magic and medieval elements but both were often confusing and sparse.
From reading the reviews of others before me, apparently this was not Mr. Duncan's best effort. While I'm not urgent to read more, I will eventually give the author another shot and read another book in the Blades books. If you want to read the authors work, I would advise not starting with this one. You may walk away, as I did, feeling cheated. It could have been better.
December 10, 2010
Ah, the end of the King's Blade trilogy. I am truly saddened for it was a fantastic whirlwind of fun, and even learning! Duncan has singlehandedly taught me many new words. I mean, one or two words I don’t recognize in a book is normal, but 6 or 7 per is an experience I haven’t had since I was a child. My kindle’s dictionary feature got a full work out! My personal favorite new word? Peripatetic. (It defines my life astutely, and I get the double chuckle of posting on facebook about my “Pretty pathetic peripatetic life”. Heh… Moving right along…
I was fully impressed with Mr. Duncan’s world building. The Russian, to the Spanish (and other) elements added to his fictional countries made it that much more intriguing. In the last novel we find ourselves encountering Spanish, and I can’t help but imagine the entire place of “El Dorado” as being some form of our own ancient Aztecs. Crazy were animals non-withstanding . I find myself thinking that if I could visit half the countries in the series, I would. (But not without a Blade escort, I assure you!)
As to an actual review of the book itself, I enjoyed it. It was nice to finally get a view on the “snoops” since they had been mentioned in every single novel, but never really explained. The problem is… they weren’t that explained in this one either! But the information we do glean is enough to half satisfy my curiosity. I did make a note halfway through the book (kindle said 40%) saying “Finally getting to the damn meat and potatoes!” The first half of the novel took a long time (at least in my eyes) before the actual real story began. Besides that, I still had fun.
I don’t believe this is the first Duncan work I’ve ever read (his name rings many bells) but it is the first since I joined this site. I’m on a deployment without access to his other novels, but I am now fully convinced they need some exploration too.
Some amusing things I noticed throughout the series:
1) Kings suck.
2) Even ugly men get the girls, thanks to magic blade prowess
3) EVERYONE IS TREACHEROUS!
I was fully impressed with Mr. Duncan’s world building. The Russian, to the Spanish (and other) elements added to his fictional countries made it that much more intriguing. In the last novel we find ourselves encountering Spanish, and I can’t help but imagine the entire place of “El Dorado” as being some form of our own ancient Aztecs. Crazy were animals non-withstanding . I find myself thinking that if I could visit half the countries in the series, I would. (But not without a Blade escort, I assure you!)
As to an actual review of the book itself, I enjoyed it. It was nice to finally get a view on the “snoops” since they had been mentioned in every single novel, but never really explained. The problem is… they weren’t that explained in this one either! But the information we do glean is enough to half satisfy my curiosity. I did make a note halfway through the book (kindle said 40%) saying “Finally getting to the damn meat and potatoes!” The first half of the novel took a long time (at least in my eyes) before the actual real story began. Besides that, I still had fun.
I don’t believe this is the first Duncan work I’ve ever read (his name rings many bells) but it is the first since I joined this site. I’m on a deployment without access to his other novels, but I am now fully convinced they need some exploration too.
Some amusing things I noticed throughout the series:
1) Kings suck.
2) Even ugly men get the girls, thanks to magic blade prowess
3) EVERYONE IS TREACHEROUS!
February 28, 2021
This was my least favorite tale of the King's Blades, though it took some thought for me to pin down why. I think it was a combination of three things. First, the usually stellar character development was sporadic and unconvincing. Secondly, there's an overabundance of magically shapeshifted hybrid creatures. Since they've not been an unusual element in any of the other novels, they weren't unexpected. There were just a *lot* of them, and they were main players in the plot, instead of just a device to drive the plot forward. And lastly, the location - just a personal preference, but tropical locations don't really appeal to me. Overall, it was just a very different King's Blades story - and while I applaud the author for stepping outside of what has felt like his comfort zone in past novels in this series, by the time I got to this novel I thought I knew what I would get, but wasn't thrilled with the outcome.
January 6, 2010
I adore Duncan's Blades series with a passion I usually reserve for shoes, so imagine my delight when I discovered I'd overlooked this book on my overstuffed to-read shelf - I thought I'd already read the entire series. And this one didn't disappoint. I adored the hero (he's my second-favorite Blade ever), and while the plot thoroughly lived up to Duncan's rather lurid standards, it was great fun to spend time among his fantasy Aztecs. And lastly, I finally got to discover what happened to poor Sir Eagle after the princess kissed him!
August 19, 2023
Another fun and entertaining book in the second generation of the King's Blades series. This one was dark, dark, dark from the beginning all the way through, more so than the others of this series. Wolf, the main protagonist, is an anti-hero type that is secretly actually a hero figure, who winds up being kind of an anti-hero but still sort of a hero. It's hard to pin down how the character develops and resolves.
Some of the things I liked about it:
I really appreciated the thematic parallels and antiparallels with the Gilded Chain, and how we got to see a bit more of elderly Durendal than in the last couple of books. I also enjoyed getting to know the wider world of the story's setting, and the different cultures therein. The different places Wolf visits have very unique cultures and customs, evidenced even in the syntax and word choice in dialog. The magic in this book was different, both for the readers and the characters, and the author did a great job having the characters wrestle with the cultural and magical unfamiliarity. Furthermore, I also really liked the window into aspects of Chivian society that hadn't previously been explored, such as the inner workings of the Dark Chamber. That was awesome to see.
My main gripe with the story is the lack of character autonomy. Several main plot points just "happen" to the characters and they have no say in how it goes. Often, the characters will try to change their situation, or even how they react to their own environment, and then immediately either realize or find out that there's literally nothing else they can do. I guess in some ways that's part of the premise with conjured loyalty as a Blade, that your own goals are cemented in a certain sense, but even beyond that the number of times the main characters are forced to do things by other characters just makes for a bit of a frustrating read. The author isn't afraid to kill off characters in disturbing ways (though he dials it up in this one) nor to make bad things happen to the characters, but in this story when he does so it's not tragic, it's just sad or upsetting - for something to be tragic, it has to be something that almost could have gone another way. In this story, it felt like everything bad that ever happened, there was no possible way out, or no mistake or decision that could have prevented or fixed it (aside from staying home in the first place). Maybe that's just me and I'm missing something. I overall really enjoyed the book, it was just this one aspect of frequent "there's nothing we can do about it, this is just the plot" that bothered me and knocked off the fifth star.
Some of the things I liked about it:
I really appreciated the thematic parallels and antiparallels with the Gilded Chain, and how we got to see a bit more of elderly Durendal than in the last couple of books. I also enjoyed getting to know the wider world of the story's setting, and the different cultures therein. The different places Wolf visits have very unique cultures and customs, evidenced even in the syntax and word choice in dialog. The magic in this book was different, both for the readers and the characters, and the author did a great job having the characters wrestle with the cultural and magical unfamiliarity. Furthermore, I also really liked the window into aspects of Chivian society that hadn't previously been explored, such as the inner workings of the Dark Chamber. That was awesome to see.
My main gripe with the story is the lack of character autonomy. Several main plot points just "happen" to the characters and they have no say in how it goes. Often, the characters will try to change their situation, or even how they react to their own environment, and then immediately either realize or find out that there's literally nothing else they can do. I guess in some ways that's part of the premise with conjured loyalty as a Blade, that your own goals are cemented in a certain sense, but even beyond that the number of times the main characters are forced to do things by other characters just makes for a bit of a frustrating read. The author isn't afraid to kill off characters in disturbing ways (though he dials it up in this one) nor to make bad things happen to the characters, but in this story when he does so it's not tragic, it's just sad or upsetting - for something to be tragic, it has to be something that almost could have gone another way. In this story, it felt like everything bad that ever happened, there was no possible way out, or no mistake or decision that could have prevented or fixed it (aside from staying home in the first place). Maybe that's just me and I'm missing something. I overall really enjoyed the book, it was just this one aspect of frequent "there's nothing we can do about it, this is just the plot" that bothered me and knocked off the fifth star.
March 4, 2024
One of his best. The Blades series were written late in his career and they show his mature expertise. Full of enough fantasy to be interesting but not too much to slow the action; flawed characters doing their best to handle what the world throws them; and enough twists and turns to keep the reader enthralled
December 26, 2022
I stopped reading halfway through. Disjointed, not understandable. This seems more like a rough draft than a book that should have been published.
November 21, 2014
I had just read a couple of very serious novels as well as one very horrifying short story all in a row and I had felt the need for some lighter-themed fantasy reading. I selected Dave Duncan's Jaguar Knights to fulfill that need, but unfortunately I needed to keep looking. This is the final book in his King's Blades series. I actually wrote him an e-mail about a month ago to see if he planned to write any more in the series and he replied with "unfortunately no." They were produced by a publisher that he no longer deals with; the contract is complete and he has moved on to other things.
Have you ever started reading a novel while in a distracted state? And then it never really pulls you in because you've really only been reading on the surface and by the time you are ready to focus you are already half way through it. This happened to me this time. I had a tough week and weekend and so my attention seemed to be elsewhere when I read this novel. Someday I may well go back and read it again because I believe it is probably a much better book than I actually experienced.
The plot is a bit different than others in the Blades series. This time the protagonist isn't nearly as likeable as the other times so perhaps that contributed to my ho-hum feelings about the entire book. The plot seemed a little disjointed as well with several distinctly different subplots trying to interact. The result seemed more like several short stories being told at the same time. To compound that problem, a large chunk of the story is told from the secondary character's point of view, the hapless younger brother of the main protagonist. It is he that encounters the Aztec-like civilization of the Jaguars, actually morphing into a cat-creature after a magical pendant is hung around his neck. To top it all off, the ending was sad. I got the distinct feeling while reading this book that Mr Duncan was merely fulfilling the last requirements of the contract rather than offering a polished work of fantasy.
Have you ever started reading a novel while in a distracted state? And then it never really pulls you in because you've really only been reading on the surface and by the time you are ready to focus you are already half way through it. This happened to me this time. I had a tough week and weekend and so my attention seemed to be elsewhere when I read this novel. Someday I may well go back and read it again because I believe it is probably a much better book than I actually experienced.
The plot is a bit different than others in the Blades series. This time the protagonist isn't nearly as likeable as the other times so perhaps that contributed to my ho-hum feelings about the entire book. The plot seemed a little disjointed as well with several distinctly different subplots trying to interact. The result seemed more like several short stories being told at the same time. To compound that problem, a large chunk of the story is told from the secondary character's point of view, the hapless younger brother of the main protagonist. It is he that encounters the Aztec-like civilization of the Jaguars, actually morphing into a cat-creature after a magical pendant is hung around his neck. To top it all off, the ending was sad. I got the distinct feeling while reading this book that Mr Duncan was merely fulfilling the last requirements of the contract rather than offering a polished work of fantasy.
July 30, 2016
In many ways, the book felt thrown together. It had a decent idea and plot but the actual writing needed more work. I also felt the ideas were too simple. At first this seemed like a brand new world, but I quickly realized that was not the case. Eurania was Europe. Distliards were Spaniards. Tlixilians were Aztecs. I wish the author would have either created a new world with new customs and languages, or just made it a fantasy novel set during a certain time period on Earth. Perhaps I've been pampered by other fantasy novels, but I felt this had more to be desired. Was it good? Yes. Was it the best? Far from it.
December 5, 2008
Sadly, not my favorite. The magic, which was just starting to annoy me in the last book, seriously annoyed me in this one. It is still an interesting story; Dave Duncan's version of warriors of Montezuma was unique. Wolf started to look interesting, a Blade who is forced to kill other Blades when their masters commit treason, until Dolores got a hold of him. Actually I did not feel like any of the characters lived up to their potential.
Dragons, Heroes and Wizards
Dragons, Heroes and Wizards
November 17, 2012
Probably my last time trying one of the King's Blades books. I had high hopes for the series, as I very much enjoyed the first book. However, in reading many more books in the series, it seems that there is a trend that the women are powerless and often victims. I would probably read the books anyway, except that many of them also involve main characters who are powerless women. Also, the writing in Jaguar Knights seemed a bit sub-par compared to the other books in the series.
I didn't finish this.
I didn't finish this.
February 14, 2008
Another in the "King's Blades" universe, with a gloomy atmosphere and high body count that has more in common with the original trilogy than the later swashbuckling volumes. Sir Wolf, a scarred and embittered Blade, teams up with an Inquisitor to discover the facts behind an improbable attack; their quest leads them to exotic lands and unwelcome discoveries. Bit of a nasty shock at the ending, too.
March 4, 2014
A fun book to read, the lead character wolf is very similiar to durendal from the guilded chain book, which in my opinion is the best book Duncan wrote, though he suffers too from being "too good" like a lot of authors that write lead characters.
If you liked the guilded chain and especially the part about the trek in Samarinda that had Durendal looking for immortality, you will like this book as well
If you liked the guilded chain and especially the part about the trek in Samarinda that had Durendal looking for immortality, you will like this book as well
July 28, 2016
I really liked the first half of this book, intertwining the big 3 factions of this world, the Blades, the White Sisters ... and the ... bad guys whose name I've forgotten, check another review.
The back half of the book is so ... so dark. I'm almost sorry I finished this book. The story line gives plenty of warning, but it was a rough read. This is the only one of the series I will never re-read. Though maybe the first half.
The back half of the book is so ... so dark. I'm almost sorry I finished this book. The story line gives plenty of warning, but it was a rough read. This is the only one of the series I will never re-read. Though maybe the first half.
July 29, 2012
Dave Duncan has a sly sense of humor. Most of his novels end on an upbeat, but he occasionally throws in a downer to keep his readers on their toes. The protagonist in this one gets the ending justice dictates, but I'm surprised Duncan decided to finish a successful series this way. Still, it's a fine book.
August 31, 2009
I had a hard time with this book. It did capture my attention and I was able to finish it, I am just not a big fan of fantasy novels. This reminded me of reading something that I cared nothing about in school, finishing it but bickering the entire time. This book might be more geared to people who liked the Lord of the Rings books.
March 31, 2015
Üllatavalt vägivaldse ja mitte eriti õnneliku lõpuga Kuninga ihukaitsjate kuueosalise sarja viimane raamat. Sõlmitakse lahtisi otsi, üks ühes eelmistes osades lahtiseks jäänud lugu saab lahenduse ja lõpp on...selline eluline, mitte väga õnnelik. Väga loetav, nagu kogu sari, aga esimesed osad meeldisid mulle rohkem.
March 12, 2014
My least favorite novel of the King's Blades. In a universe that is extremely black and white, Duncan gives us a novel that is mostly gray. I read it all, and probably will again, however it just wasn't nearly as well done as most of the other Blades stories. It probably should have been split into 2 books.
May 23, 2015
This book doesn't quite feel like it fits with the rest of The King's Blades. It also feels like the plot doesn't quite hang together, though I can't quite put my finger on why; it's like this story can't quite decide what kind of story it wants to be. I'd recommend it only to people who are already a fan of the series.
January 27, 2008
I was (and still am) quite a fan of the other novels that Duncan wrote about the Blades. I enjoyed the magic system, the stories, the Inquisitors.
This, on the other hand... yecch. I understand what he was trying to do, but I really didn't like it at all.
This, on the other hand... yecch. I understand what he was trying to do, but I really didn't like it at all.
July 5, 2008
We're off to the Aztecs and human sacrifice with Duncan. Much grimmer and bloodier than the preceding books in the series, and I thought the ending really weakened the entire book. I thought it was worth three stars, but I think Duncan perhaps ran out of steam in this final book in the series.
October 4, 2009
This is probably my least favorite of the King's Blade books, possibly because it actually features the Dark Chamber more than the Blades, and it doesn't go out of its way to make the Dark Chamber very likeable, even though it DOES try to make the Blades unlikeable (at least to the main character).
February 10, 2010
What an ending. Someone else reviewed and said this one wasn't up to the same standard as the others; I can see why. it is different. But even so, there's a great story there, and anything set in this world with these characters is quite impressive.
April 18, 2021
5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
Read
January 9, 2010ereader ebook
July 20, 2012
About a third longer than it needed to be.
Good book but not the best by old Duncan by a long shot. Good characters as usual but oh the ending...
Good book but not the best by old Duncan by a long shot. Good characters as usual but oh the ending...
May 13, 2013
Not his best, but a good break from all of the non-fiction I've been delving into.
September 6, 2013
King's Blades #6
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews