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The Darksword #2
Doom of the Darksword
1st Bantam Books 1990 edition paperback, fine In stock shipped from our UK warehouse
400 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1988
106 people are currently reading
1929 people want to read
About the author
Tracy Hickman
451 books2,740 followersNYT Best-selling fantasy authors Tracy Hickman, with his wife Laura, began their journey across the 'Sea of Possibilities' as the creators of 'Dragonlance' and their voyage continues into new areas with the 'Drakis' trilogy, 'Wayne of Gotham', a Batman novel for DC Comics and his
'Dragon's Bard' collector's series
. Tracy has over fifty books currently in print in most languages around the world. A record of both Tracy and Laura's DNA currently orbits on the international space station and he is the writer and editor of the first science-fiction movie actually filmed in space. Follow us on
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 80 reviews
May 29, 2023
3.25/5
The book was very uneven with the story broken into 3 parts. The first part wrapped up the story from the first book while also including a lengthy retread of the first book. The second part ended up being a coming-of-age love story. The third story finally progressed the story. And of course, the book ended just as things were getting good.
The book was very uneven with the story broken into 3 parts. The first part wrapped up the story from the first book while also including a lengthy retread of the first book. The second part ended up being a coming-of-age love story. The third story finally progressed the story. And of course, the book ended just as things were getting good.
December 19, 2013
I read this trilogy in
High school at a time when I had little interest in fantasy ( read either classic literature or horror)
I found the trilogy absoloutly enrapturing but was sadly forced to give it back to the friend that loaned it to me.
Years later when I started reading heavily again I started searching for this trilogy again but it was sadly out of print and unobtainable. Recently I was able to find a complete set at a used book store along with a sequel book I never knew about. I have never been so happy re-reading a set of books. The only thing that made this reintroduction to this universe again better was finding while I adored the original trilogy the sequel was even more amazing and I tore through it in no time.
I read through many of the negative reviews on here about this book and its clear that most of the people providing negative reviews don't grasp the complexities and intruges of these books and are purely looking for hack slash and big flash and these books are too deep for them. and if someone hasn't read the entire trilogy they realy cannot even begin to speak to the truth of these books
High school at a time when I had little interest in fantasy ( read either classic literature or horror)
I found the trilogy absoloutly enrapturing but was sadly forced to give it back to the friend that loaned it to me.
Years later when I started reading heavily again I started searching for this trilogy again but it was sadly out of print and unobtainable. Recently I was able to find a complete set at a used book store along with a sequel book I never knew about. I have never been so happy re-reading a set of books. The only thing that made this reintroduction to this universe again better was finding while I adored the original trilogy the sequel was even more amazing and I tore through it in no time.
I read through many of the negative reviews on here about this book and its clear that most of the people providing negative reviews don't grasp the complexities and intruges of these books and are purely looking for hack slash and big flash and these books are too deep for them. and if someone hasn't read the entire trilogy they realy cannot even begin to speak to the truth of these books
July 6, 2011
I love the continuation! The introduction of Merilon and Lord Samuels and Gwen brought a freshness to the story, and the authors have exceeded my expectations with where they've taken the plot. The descriptions are richer than in the first book, and the narrative clearly illustrates a society that's perfect on the outside, but rotting underneath. The ending was exciting and I can't wait to read the final installment!
March 13, 2019
I just can't continue.
The blank, generic quality of the characters isn't getting any better and I find I really don't care where the story is going.
The blank, generic quality of the characters isn't getting any better and I find I really don't care where the story is going.
December 17, 2022
En esta segunda parte de la Espada de Joram la historia continua allí donde acabó la primera, sin saltos temporales ni de lugar.
Para mi gusto es un libro irregular, donde los tres partes que lo componen son bastantes diferentes. El primero nos envuelve en una historia que recuerda totalmente a la fantasía clásica, un grupo de fugitivos huyendo por el bosque, un mentor que ayudará al protagonista con personajes con personalidades bien marcadas. El segundo de los libros es una anodina y predecible historia romántica y el tercer libro el que tiene más contenido para la historia general de la saga, funciona como desenlace de este volumen, y el que consigue darle algo de ritmo.
En cuanto a un análisis global la historia romántica rompe todo ritmo que podía tener la historia y se encuentra a faltar que se desarrolle el mundo en si, su organización, su magia, su historia. Se da por sentado lo expuesto en el primer volumen. Es un problema que se convirtió en habitual en esa época, que hace poco me encontré en la saga El señor del tiempo de Louise Cooper, donde después de un notable primer volumen, solo se desarrolla la propia historia y el mundo que lo envuelve es desarrollado con cuentagotas.
Es un libro regular, se lee bien (aunque a mi me frenara la historia romántica) pero no llega a ser ni de lejos como primero. Es más que probable que fuera un libro de transición, en una época donde las trilogías era lo que mandaba y no se concebía habitualmente obras con dos libros o incluso historias en un único volumen, aunque tuvieran que ser más extensos.
Para mi gusto es un libro irregular, donde los tres partes que lo componen son bastantes diferentes. El primero nos envuelve en una historia que recuerda totalmente a la fantasía clásica, un grupo de fugitivos huyendo por el bosque, un mentor que ayudará al protagonista con personajes con personalidades bien marcadas. El segundo de los libros es una anodina y predecible historia romántica y el tercer libro el que tiene más contenido para la historia general de la saga, funciona como desenlace de este volumen, y el que consigue darle algo de ritmo.
En cuanto a un análisis global la historia romántica rompe todo ritmo que podía tener la historia y se encuentra a faltar que se desarrolle el mundo en si, su organización, su magia, su historia. Se da por sentado lo expuesto en el primer volumen. Es un problema que se convirtió en habitual en esa época, que hace poco me encontré en la saga El señor del tiempo de Louise Cooper, donde después de un notable primer volumen, solo se desarrolla la propia historia y el mundo que lo envuelve es desarrollado con cuentagotas.
Es un libro regular, se lee bien (aunque a mi me frenara la historia romántica) pero no llega a ser ni de lejos como primero. Es más que probable que fuera un libro de transición, en una época donde las trilogías era lo que mandaba y no se concebía habitualmente obras con dos libros o incluso historias en un único volumen, aunque tuvieran que ser más extensos.
September 11, 2012
Enjoyed it! Loving Simkin! Can't wait to see what new problems he can cause! Already reading "Triumph of the Darksword"
January 15, 2021
And here I thought the first book was good! Doom of the Darksword is the second book in the Darksword trilogy, and the action really ramps up. I can't wait to start the third one, but I'm also sad knowing it'll be the end!
October 6, 2014
Apparently sequel can be better than first book. More linear and less jumpy storyline makes it more convenient to follow adventures and also more error prone for author.
December 1, 2025
Ha mejorado la primera parte. Empieza a virar hacia la ¿ciencia ficción?…
November 22, 2020
The first book wandered through some 80 pages of setup and exposition before it really began to emerge as a story with any sort of direction. Interestingly the authors seemed to choose to follow the wrong main character for most of that book. We have Jhoram a sort of inverted chosen one scenario and Saryon the priest who knows all of his secrets. While Jhoram is the most important element of this story and Saryon serves mostly as a vehicle for story telling and filling the reader in on information that raise the stakes, we never really get the feeling that we are getting Jhoram's perspective. It happens in rare drips and undercooked chapters. But we are never truly immersed in him as a being and feel as though we are watching from Saryon's perspective as though Saryon is in fact the main character of the story. Eventually the book ended at what felt like the opening chapters to the story the authors actually intended to tell. A sort of vapor thin cliff hanger insinuating that you should look forward to where this story was eventually going to go.
However, this second book struggles with much of the same problems the first does. Readers aren't forced to endure nearly a hundred pages of expository material to set up the world and that's a blessing, but they still have no clear indication on who the main character perspective is intended to be until nearly the end of the book. We seat more often with Jhoram and progressively more so as the book crawls along with no bones to the major story arc. As the book closes it becomes pretty difficult to deny that the main character is and always has been Jhoram. Why did we follow so much Saryon?
One has to question the motives of the writers. Did they go about this in such a way to have us focus on the slow building relationships between these characters. None of them love or trust one another. The one case of real deep feeling and love that isn't openly tainted with a lack of trust is a blood rare romance that's only believable because by that point you simply resign yourself to accepting what is being handed to you for the sake of reaching the end.
Book two ends on yet another attempt at a cliff hanger. It's more a mystery with no answers and no indication as to where things are going from this point. Book 3 must hold all the answers you never though you needed to ask for.
At this point the composition of this story feels incredibly underdeveloped and surprisingly so.
However, this second book struggles with much of the same problems the first does. Readers aren't forced to endure nearly a hundred pages of expository material to set up the world and that's a blessing, but they still have no clear indication on who the main character perspective is intended to be until nearly the end of the book. We seat more often with Jhoram and progressively more so as the book crawls along with no bones to the major story arc. As the book closes it becomes pretty difficult to deny that the main character is and always has been Jhoram. Why did we follow so much Saryon?
One has to question the motives of the writers. Did they go about this in such a way to have us focus on the slow building relationships between these characters. None of them love or trust one another. The one case of real deep feeling and love that isn't openly tainted with a lack of trust is a blood rare romance that's only believable because by that point you simply resign yourself to accepting what is being handed to you for the sake of reaching the end.
Book two ends on yet another attempt at a cliff hanger. It's more a mystery with no answers and no indication as to where things are going from this point. Book 3 must hold all the answers you never though you needed to ask for.
At this point the composition of this story feels incredibly underdeveloped and surprisingly so.
March 23, 2011
Well this was a good book, but sometimes the descriptions in chapters just went on too long. At least there are 3 books in the trilogy though I found out a 4th book was written like 10 years after the 3rd book. I do think book 2 did a really good job of making me want to find out what happens to the characters. That is important in a series to me. Too often series go on for 10 books now and I tend to not even care what happens anymore. Hopefully the series ends with a bang!
February 21, 2020
The plot, subtlety and depth of a D&D game. I remember it being pretty OK as a 14-year-old, and now I see it is neither pretty nor OK. I did enjoy it at that age, however, and would've given it 4 stars then. The authors do have some excellent concepts, but not well explored in these novels.
December 1, 2010
The trilogy that got me into reading as a teenager. My rating probably reflects this. It's a great one for teenagers just getting into fantasy books etc...
July 15, 2017
A great fantasy epic - amusing, absorbing, imaginative and well-written what more can you ask for? So, onto the final book of the trilogy.
May 8, 2017
A disappointing continuation of what started out as a fairly a strong series. It may end as such too, but unfortunately this middle volume suffers as a work of filler, not really achieving much other than forming a few relationships and throwing our protagonists into a near-death experience completely of their own making. Sure, this is the volume where Joram falls in love (a flat, lifeleless love affair if ever I read one) and discovers his inheritance and learns of the possibility of War between Merilon and Sharakan but Weis and Hickman make some massive blunders in how these are revealed to us.
For the first half of the book, Joram and company meet some guy Prince Garald who is inexplicably nice to them, has tea and cake and trains Joram how to use his sword better. Since Joram has the Darksword he sees him as a useful allie. This is a lengthy episode and sortof takes the place of Lorien in Lord of the Rings, a useful interlude, not the backbone of the first half of the book.
Still, I wouldn’t have minded this so much if the second half had taken off. However, Joram, obsessed with his heritage walks straight into the belly of the beast, the very city where everyone is looking for him, with no plan of action or other significant purpose. Unsurprisingly, he gets caught. This is not tense, it’s just utterly predictable and in character terms it’s just plain stupid, particularly when Joram had the option of joining Garald and fighting with Sharakan.
Finally, Simkin is over-used and over-relied upon as a character to the extent that he’s becoming as annoying as Fizban in the Chronicles. W&H love using Godlike characters to get their heroes in and out of scrapes but it can unfortunately get tiresome. They also love characters who like this who don’t fit-in to their world (often quoting present day earth popular culture and the like) and I find that somewhat irritating in excess. There's still mystery surrounding who or what he is, but it's not a very intriguing one.
These criticisms aside, it’s still enjoyable. One sortof expects these nonsensicalities from their work from time to time and their strengths usually make me forgive them these idiosyncracies. Narrative padding is not such a terrible crime when you’re not actually bored, and nobody picked up a fantasy trilogy to be done with it too quickly – I’d like more detail and colouring in of this world and I’d like the characters motivations to make sense, but the world and characters still have character and their own kind of charm. Doom of the Darksword certainly doesn’t build on the promises of the first book, but it does still deliver its own pleasing narrative that features all of the required fantasy elements without feeling like it’s going through the motions. There’s just enough here W&H – as usual, you always do just enough to keep me coming back…
For the first half of the book, Joram and company meet some guy Prince Garald who is inexplicably nice to them, has tea and cake and trains Joram how to use his sword better. Since Joram has the Darksword he sees him as a useful allie. This is a lengthy episode and sortof takes the place of Lorien in Lord of the Rings, a useful interlude, not the backbone of the first half of the book.
Still, I wouldn’t have minded this so much if the second half had taken off. However, Joram, obsessed with his heritage walks straight into the belly of the beast, the very city where everyone is looking for him, with no plan of action or other significant purpose. Unsurprisingly, he gets caught. This is not tense, it’s just utterly predictable and in character terms it’s just plain stupid, particularly when Joram had the option of joining Garald and fighting with Sharakan.
Finally, Simkin is over-used and over-relied upon as a character to the extent that he’s becoming as annoying as Fizban in the Chronicles. W&H love using Godlike characters to get their heroes in and out of scrapes but it can unfortunately get tiresome. They also love characters who like this who don’t fit-in to their world (often quoting present day earth popular culture and the like) and I find that somewhat irritating in excess. There's still mystery surrounding who or what he is, but it's not a very intriguing one.
These criticisms aside, it’s still enjoyable. One sortof expects these nonsensicalities from their work from time to time and their strengths usually make me forgive them these idiosyncracies. Narrative padding is not such a terrible crime when you’re not actually bored, and nobody picked up a fantasy trilogy to be done with it too quickly – I’d like more detail and colouring in of this world and I’d like the characters motivations to make sense, but the world and characters still have character and their own kind of charm. Doom of the Darksword certainly doesn’t build on the promises of the first book, but it does still deliver its own pleasing narrative that features all of the required fantasy elements without feeling like it’s going through the motions. There’s just enough here W&H – as usual, you always do just enough to keep me coming back…
September 16, 2018
Doom of the Darksword picks up where the first book leaves off, and it does suffer a little bit of the middle book of a trilogy syndrome, where the pacing is slow and not much happens. However, it does redeem itself some toward the end, where quite a bit of intrigue that was building up plays out, so it did feel like it had more of a conclusion to it than is often the case with the second book of a trilogy.
I cannot say much else about the plot without spoiling some elements of Forging the Darksword. However, I do have a few (slightly negative) general comments I will share about the his book and the series so far.
The character Simkin seemed much more like a kender (Dragonlance trope) than he did in the first book. Perhaps I just did not notice it right away.
One component of this book was a developing love story between one of the main characters, Joram, and a new character. It was telegraphed a mile away, but even worse, my eyes got tired from being rolled so much during its development. I am not sure why fantasy books have such terrible interactions between love interests. Is that a requirement? Are fantasy authors just terrible at writing them? Or is the typical target audience for coming-of-age fantasy mainly teenagers, and that is the teenaged view of love? Whatever it is, it makes for rather painful reading as an adult.
Also, children in this world are conceived through some sort of magical ritual that is not really explained. "Physical joining" is considered barbaric, animalistic, and a punishable crime. Mere mention of it causes proper ladies to swoon. Of course, a few younger people who are "truly" in love know that this is an important part of it. None of this has any real relevance to the way that anything in the story plays out, at least to this point, so it seems like a weird novelty in this series with a purpose only to draw attention to itself.
Despite these minor gripes, I have enjoyed the Darksword trilogy so far, for the most part, and am interested to see how it ends in the final book.
I cannot say much else about the plot without spoiling some elements of Forging the Darksword. However, I do have a few (slightly negative) general comments I will share about the his book and the series so far.
The character Simkin seemed much more like a kender (Dragonlance trope) than he did in the first book. Perhaps I just did not notice it right away.
One component of this book was a developing love story between one of the main characters, Joram, and a new character. It was telegraphed a mile away, but even worse, my eyes got tired from being rolled so much during its development. I am not sure why fantasy books have such terrible interactions between love interests. Is that a requirement? Are fantasy authors just terrible at writing them? Or is the typical target audience for coming-of-age fantasy mainly teenagers, and that is the teenaged view of love? Whatever it is, it makes for rather painful reading as an adult.
Also, children in this world are conceived through some sort of magical ritual that is not really explained. "Physical joining" is considered barbaric, animalistic, and a punishable crime. Mere mention of it causes proper ladies to swoon. Of course, a few younger people who are "truly" in love know that this is an important part of it. None of this has any real relevance to the way that anything in the story plays out, at least to this point, so it seems like a weird novelty in this series with a purpose only to draw attention to itself.
Despite these minor gripes, I have enjoyed the Darksword trilogy so far, for the most part, and am interested to see how it ends in the final book.
June 25, 2021
Weis and Hickman have their weaknesses, but they really know how to write the middle part of a trilogy. Like Dragonlance Chronicles and Legends, the middle book of this trilogy is its strongest segment. There is genuine character development here.
It's not as strong as the middle books of their previous two trilogies, but then, the Darksword Trilogy isn't as strong as either of those trilogies either. There are some issues: the middle segment is kind of a slog as Our Heroes spend a lot of time...well...just waiting for things to happen. Joram and Gwen's budding romance feels a little too High School for me. I've always found the Love At First Sight trope to be a really tough sell. Shakespeare can get away with it. I don't know that I've ever seen another artist do it well. Simkin's humor was funny when I read this as a tween. Not so much as a fully fledged adult (though he has his moments). And Mosiah is just kind of...there.
That said, I absolutely love Joram and Saryon's progression and relationship. The first third does a great job of making the world more complicated than it seemed in the first book. The conclusion, without getting into spoilers, is outstanding. And the worldbuilding overall is stellar. Overall, the good outweighs the bad here, and it does so substantially.
Caveat: I do have nostalgia for this series, so take that into account with my review.
It's not as strong as the middle books of their previous two trilogies, but then, the Darksword Trilogy isn't as strong as either of those trilogies either. There are some issues: the middle segment is kind of a slog as Our Heroes spend a lot of time...well...just waiting for things to happen. Joram and Gwen's budding romance feels a little too High School for me. I've always found the Love At First Sight trope to be a really tough sell. Shakespeare can get away with it. I don't know that I've ever seen another artist do it well. Simkin's humor was funny when I read this as a tween. Not so much as a fully fledged adult (though he has his moments). And Mosiah is just kind of...there.
That said, I absolutely love Joram and Saryon's progression and relationship. The first third does a great job of making the world more complicated than it seemed in the first book. The conclusion, without getting into spoilers, is outstanding. And the worldbuilding overall is stellar. Overall, the good outweighs the bad here, and it does so substantially.
Caveat: I do have nostalgia for this series, so take that into account with my review.
September 7, 2022
I rated the first book in the series 3 stars, but this book is a generous 2 stories. The characters no longer make reasonable choices. Nothing quite makes sense. The love story is pat, boring, and unbelievable "love at first site" with absolutely zero depth. The characters are now railroaded by one of the most unbelievable characters which serves as the authors moving pawns around.
July 22, 2024
Now I've never been on a perilous quest that required me to sneak into a city, past guards actively told to be on the lookout for me, so take my opinion with a grain a salt. BUT if I did find myself in such a situation, I CERTAINLY would USE A DIFFERENT NAME WHEN CHECKING IN WITH THE CITY GUARDS. When Joram, Mosiah, and Simkin all use their real names at the gates I had to put the book down. Saryon was the ONLY one for some reason with a name and disguise. Simkin continues to be, in my opinion, one of the best characters of the series.
So up until the end, I was leaning more 2.5 or 3 stars. But you just don't see that as much as you need to these days! And the love subplot is between a 16 and a 17 year old, which for a fantasy series published in the 1980s, I consider to be pretty good. It's very insta-love, but it was fairly mundane and could have been so much worse. I've certainly read worse from other series published around this time.
So the ending redeemed it a bit for me. Let's see if it can stick the landing (I have very neutral expectations).
So up until the end, I was leaning more 2.5 or 3 stars. But you just don't see that as much as you need to these days! And the love subplot is between a 16 and a 17 year old, which for a fantasy series published in the 1980s, I consider to be pretty good. It's very insta-love, but it was fairly mundane and could have been so much worse. I've certainly read worse from other series published around this time.
So the ending redeemed it a bit for me. Let's see if it can stick the landing (I have very neutral expectations).
Read
October 23, 2025Born without magic, Joram was one of the Dead, denied the throne of Merilon. For years, he lived among outlaws, surviving by wit and sleight-of-hand. Now, wielding the powerful, magic absorbing Darksword, Joram retums to the enchanted Kingdom that once was his home to win revenge and claim his birthright. Here he will test Bishop Vanya and his fierce army of Duuk-tsarith in a battle unlike any their world has known. Joined by the scholarly catalyst Saryon, the young mage Mosiah, and the trickster Simkin, Jorma confronts the shattering secret of his past and discovers the ancient prophecy that puts the fate of the world in his hands--the hands that forged the Darksword.
April 8, 2021
Segunda parte de la trilogía. Recuerdo que me recomendaron esta trilogía como "de lo mejor que se puede leer en fantasía". Hace tiempo de eso, claro. Por un lado, me leí los tres tomos uno detrás de otro. Por otro, al acabarla me quedé sin ganas de más. No he leído fantasía desde entonces, creo, salvo alguna excepción que ahora no me venga a la memoria.
Los personajes están construidos para que te gusten, sin demasiadas contradicciones interiores, y sí recuerdo cómo había muchos hilos que convergían, de manera bastante hábil. Sin ser algo que marcara mi vida, sí me gustó mucho.
Los personajes están construidos para que te gusten, sin demasiadas contradicciones interiores, y sí recuerdo cómo había muchos hilos que convergían, de manera bastante hábil. Sin ser algo que marcara mi vida, sí me gustó mucho.
March 16, 2024
Another fine piece of Fantasy written by the great writers Weis and Hickman who were responsible for Dragon Lance and Death Gate series as well as many others.
I thought this book took the series along nicely with the penal code still playing a major role, it unfortunately contains a bit of romance (which I hate) but at heart it's a good adventure book.
I would recommend this book to fans of the authors or of the genre.
I thought this book took the series along nicely with the penal code still playing a major role, it unfortunately contains a bit of romance (which I hate) but at heart it's a good adventure book.
I would recommend this book to fans of the authors or of the genre.
December 13, 2019
A superb continuation of this magical world. Without the necessity of setting up the way the world works, the characters were able to develop completely. And if I didn't know that there was a third novel in this series (and actually a fourth!), it could be called a very satisfying conclusion.
Full spoiler review:
http://ossuslibrary.tripod.com/Bk_Fan...
Full spoiler review:
http://ossuslibrary.tripod.com/Bk_Fan...
March 27, 2020
I keep deleting the lines I've written, thinking whatever I write doesn't accurately represent my feelings for this book. What can I say other than I enjoyed every second of it?
If you love popcorn fantasy, you need to read this series.
If you love popcorn fantasy, you need to read this series.
November 26, 2020
As with many middle books in a trilogy, the story dragged a bit...but, it was all worth it b/c the ending was a real shocker. A real cliff hanger, that made me want to start the third book right away.
November 14, 2021
El mundo descrito en esta saga esta muy bien descrito , los personajes tambien pero en mi caso ,no acabo de conectar con el personaje de Joram y como es el protagonista me parece que con este libro se acaba para mi esta saga
March 8, 2022
Although compiling and still interesting it lacks the magic of the first one. Although we have the same character of the first book with more or less the same depth the plot start to get "lighter" and some villains or antagonist from the first book are left behing.
September 2, 2022
While Joram had been unlikeable before he started to grow on me. He went from the sullen young man to one who realized his limitations. In addition Saryon redeemed himself and gave the young man a chance to fulfill the prophecy. For a doom it set up a rebirth that should be exciting.
February 1, 2018
It was an improvement from the first book. Hovering around a 3.5. The fact that i want to read the 3rd book makes it a solid 4.
May 10, 2019
The drama
The action
The plot
The betrayal
The magic
Thank you for an awesome adventure
The action
The plot
The betrayal
The magic
Thank you for an awesome adventure
Displaying 1 - 30 of 80 reviews