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Tiger and Del #4
Sword-Breaker
The fourth book in the Sword-Dancer saga continues the legendary adventures of Tiger and Del, magic wielders and skilled warriors
Accused of murdering a man the Southron tribes believe to be their messiah, but who is actually the slayer of Del’s family, Tiger and Del flee across the deadly Punja desert, hunted by religious zealots and sword-dancer assassins. But evading death by assassins’ blades is only one of the challenges they face. For Tiger’s sword, Samiel, has been possessed by the spirit of the deadly sorcerer Chosa Dei—a wizard out of legend with thepower to unmake the entire world, a master of evil who seeks to mold Tiger into his ultimate weapon of destruction.
Tiger and Del have one hope left—to find and gain the help of Chosa Dei’s equally powerful counterpart and sworn enemy, Shaka Obre. But Shaka Obre has not been seen in the world for hundreds of years, and it may be beyond even the combined magical abilities of Tiger and Del to find this wizard who is their only chance for salvation....
Accused of murdering a man the Southron tribes believe to be their messiah, but who is actually the slayer of Del’s family, Tiger and Del flee across the deadly Punja desert, hunted by religious zealots and sword-dancer assassins. But evading death by assassins’ blades is only one of the challenges they face. For Tiger’s sword, Samiel, has been possessed by the spirit of the deadly sorcerer Chosa Dei—a wizard out of legend with thepower to unmake the entire world, a master of evil who seeks to mold Tiger into his ultimate weapon of destruction.
Tiger and Del have one hope left—to find and gain the help of Chosa Dei’s equally powerful counterpart and sworn enemy, Shaka Obre. But Shaka Obre has not been seen in the world for hundreds of years, and it may be beyond even the combined magical abilities of Tiger and Del to find this wizard who is their only chance for salvation....
460 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 3, 1991
16 people are currently reading
714 people want to read
About the author
Jennifer Roberson
123 books807 followersOver a 40-year career (so far), Jennifer Roberson has published four fantasy series, including the Sword-Dancer Saga, Chronicles of the Cheysuli, the Karavans universe, and urban fantasy series Blood & Bone. Other novels include historicals LADY OF THE GLEN, plus two Robin Hood novels, LADY OF THE FOREST, and LADY OF SHERWOOD.
New novels are percolating in her always-active imagination.
Hobbies include showing dogs, and creating mosaic and resin artwork and jewelry. She lives in Arizona with a collection of cats and Cardigan Welsh Corgis.
New novels are percolating in her always-active imagination.
Hobbies include showing dogs, and creating mosaic and resin artwork and jewelry. She lives in Arizona with a collection of cats and Cardigan Welsh Corgis.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
December 8, 2017
*** 4.44 ***
A buddy read with my friends @ FBR Group! Because we love stubborn horses!!!
If you are able to accept that there are male-dominated macho cultures out there and they produce some very male-centered and female-demeaning cultural values as a whole, and that even members of said cultures could learn better, as far as women and their rights to have lives are concerned, if introduced to the right circumstances, this is the series for you! If you look onto this cultural battle as anything but proving the feminist point of view, then you are over-analyzing it and missing the point.
"..." I'd discovered just how single-minded she could be; to the point that nothing else in the world mattered, only the task she'd set herself: to find and kill Ajani, the man who'd murdered her family, raped a fifteen-year-old girl, and sold a ten-year-old boy into Southron slavery.
To find Ajani, she needed to be free of the blood-debt, which she owed to the Place of Swords, high in Northern mountains. Where she'd left her infant daughter to find and kill the daughter's father.
And, eventually, where she'd offered my services, me all unknowing, to pay part of her blood-debt.
My services... without even asking me."..."
Tiger, the best, or at least one of the best sword-dancers of the South started off the series as one of those bravos, full of machismo and air, who despite having a good heart was a product of his environment. What mattered are other men, his opinion, his sword and his horse. Secondary are cold and other comforts, while women are somewhere on the bottom of the list, there only to please and suborn to men. And then he met Del! From the second the beautiful, although not feminine blond Northerner woman with a sword (the Horror!!!), entered his life and little by little has been changing it just by being who she is. I have enjoyed the development of both characters into something less severely South or North, and becoming a amalgamation of cultures, creating something so much more and so much better. ... Yes, they still have a long way to go in order to uproot habits and views long embedded in them and those around them.
"..."Now, I've always known women are capable of doing just about anything they set their minds to, once they've made a decision. Getting to that decision isn't always the easiest thing, or the most logical, but eventually they get there. And, when pressed to it, they make promises they keep to, no matter what it takes.
For Del, it took me. And very nearly our deaths."..."
Del has changed a lot as well from the cocky, self-assured, singularly focused girl we met that first time in the cantina. For one, she has achieved her goals, the vengeance she sought all of the years after she escaped from the slave-trader and his caravan. Her song is finished and she is a sword without a song now, at only 23 years old... It seems like she has crammed 10 lifetimes in the years she had run for her freedom and now she is lost, Tiger being her only anchor. And his being under the threat of being taken over by the spirit of an evil wizard is making her feel raw and scared, which is not something she has allowed herself to feel in a long, long time...
"...""Killing," Del said vehemently, "is what I do best."
"You don't like it? Then change it," I declared. "You've been spouting off to me for the last--what, almost two years?--about how a woman has to fight to make her way in a man's world. You've fought, and you've won. But expecting me to give you your answers is devaluing what you've accomplished. You became what you had to be for a specific purpose. That purpose is finished. So now find another one."
Del watched me. What she thought I couldn't tell; she is, even for me, difficult to read. But she had lost the burning intensity of her anger moments before. Her tone was much less strident. "As you have found a purpose?"
I shrugged."..."
This series is a buddy adventure fantasy with swords, deserts, wizards and constant pursuit. I love the comradery, I love the respect the characters give even to their enemies, I love the world-building, since I feel like I have been personally in all the places they track through, I love the debt of character and the seemingly humorous way it is reviled, and most of all I love the Stud!!!!! That horse has become my favorite animal or horse in particular, ever in literature!!! I even read a more current author try to recreate this dynamic in their book and as much as I appreciated the homage, this original is still the best!!! To all Adventure and Fantasy lovers out there, this is a light and very addictive read and I would heartily recommend it to you! I can't wait to find out what happens in the next volume!!!
I wish you all Happy Reading and many more wonderful Books to come!!!
A buddy read with my friends @ FBR Group! Because we love stubborn horses!!!
If you are able to accept that there are male-dominated macho cultures out there and they produce some very male-centered and female-demeaning cultural values as a whole, and that even members of said cultures could learn better, as far as women and their rights to have lives are concerned, if introduced to the right circumstances, this is the series for you! If you look onto this cultural battle as anything but proving the feminist point of view, then you are over-analyzing it and missing the point.
"..." I'd discovered just how single-minded she could be; to the point that nothing else in the world mattered, only the task she'd set herself: to find and kill Ajani, the man who'd murdered her family, raped a fifteen-year-old girl, and sold a ten-year-old boy into Southron slavery.
To find Ajani, she needed to be free of the blood-debt, which she owed to the Place of Swords, high in Northern mountains. Where she'd left her infant daughter to find and kill the daughter's father.
And, eventually, where she'd offered my services, me all unknowing, to pay part of her blood-debt.
My services... without even asking me."..."
Tiger, the best, or at least one of the best sword-dancers of the South started off the series as one of those bravos, full of machismo and air, who despite having a good heart was a product of his environment. What mattered are other men, his opinion, his sword and his horse. Secondary are cold and other comforts, while women are somewhere on the bottom of the list, there only to please and suborn to men. And then he met Del! From the second the beautiful, although not feminine blond Northerner woman with a sword (the Horror!!!), entered his life and little by little has been changing it just by being who she is. I have enjoyed the development of both characters into something less severely South or North, and becoming a amalgamation of cultures, creating something so much more and so much better. ... Yes, they still have a long way to go in order to uproot habits and views long embedded in them and those around them.
"..."Now, I've always known women are capable of doing just about anything they set their minds to, once they've made a decision. Getting to that decision isn't always the easiest thing, or the most logical, but eventually they get there. And, when pressed to it, they make promises they keep to, no matter what it takes.
For Del, it took me. And very nearly our deaths."..."
Del has changed a lot as well from the cocky, self-assured, singularly focused girl we met that first time in the cantina. For one, she has achieved her goals, the vengeance she sought all of the years after she escaped from the slave-trader and his caravan. Her song is finished and she is a sword without a song now, at only 23 years old... It seems like she has crammed 10 lifetimes in the years she had run for her freedom and now she is lost, Tiger being her only anchor. And his being under the threat of being taken over by the spirit of an evil wizard is making her feel raw and scared, which is not something she has allowed herself to feel in a long, long time...
"...""Killing," Del said vehemently, "is what I do best."
"You don't like it? Then change it," I declared. "You've been spouting off to me for the last--what, almost two years?--about how a woman has to fight to make her way in a man's world. You've fought, and you've won. But expecting me to give you your answers is devaluing what you've accomplished. You became what you had to be for a specific purpose. That purpose is finished. So now find another one."
Del watched me. What she thought I couldn't tell; she is, even for me, difficult to read. But she had lost the burning intensity of her anger moments before. Her tone was much less strident. "As you have found a purpose?"
I shrugged."..."
This series is a buddy adventure fantasy with swords, deserts, wizards and constant pursuit. I love the comradery, I love the respect the characters give even to their enemies, I love the world-building, since I feel like I have been personally in all the places they track through, I love the debt of character and the seemingly humorous way it is reviled, and most of all I love the Stud!!!!! That horse has become my favorite animal or horse in particular, ever in literature!!! I even read a more current author try to recreate this dynamic in their book and as much as I appreciated the homage, this original is still the best!!! To all Adventure and Fantasy lovers out there, this is a light and very addictive read and I would heartily recommend it to you! I can't wait to find out what happens in the next volume!!!
I wish you all Happy Reading and many more wonderful Books to come!!!
March 9, 2018
You'd think there is a breaking point or at least a breakthrough in the book called *ahem* Sword-Breaker.
Alas, same old, same old.
This is the fourth book in the series. For me anything extending beyond trilogy needs to fulfil one of the following conditions: it is either a superb cast of various characters that need space to be properly fleshed out and developed and play their part in the tale or there is a deviously complicated plot, a story that takes ages to grow and evolve. The problem is that Tiger and Del has neither.
Tiger made his Northern sword, a jivatma, but in the process trapped an angry sorcerer’s soul in it. The sorcerer wants out therefore Tiger needs to find sorcerer’s equally powerful and fabled brother to get rid of this problem. This is not so easy, especially that everybody thinks he has killed a prophesied messiah, a jihadi supposed to turn sand into grass. In addition to all the tribes and zealots after him, sword-dancers were hired by a daughter of a tanzeer supposedly killed by Tiger (it was Del who did the good deed). Should be fun, but somehow isn't. While the Sword-Breaker is a pleasant read, it doesn’t really bring anything new to the story that we have notseen read previously.
Relationship issues? Check.
Bickering with the horse? Check.
Gallivanting around Punja and braving the desert? Check.
Check, check, check.
All this has been before: Sword-dancing, circle challenges, abductions, betrayals and other mercenary whatnots, sorcerers, tanzeers, jihadis, tribes, battling with the sword and coming to terms with magic.
Also, a hefty dose of reminiscing, recounting, and remembering what has transpired before. The actual main plot is resolved in the final chapters so you have a 40-chapter long prelude to it. And because we are talking here about a 460-pages long book, be prepared for loads of regurgitated excitement. The climax, on the other hand, was decidedly anti-climatic for me.
Overall, I’d cut the 4 books into 3 without losing much. It really baffles me that there are THREE more instalments ahead. At this point, I really do not see the reason for continuing the series. Apparently, Roberson had different ideas and so out of sheer curiosity I will check them out.
___
Also in the series:
1. Sword-Dancer
2. Sword-Singer
3. Sword-Maker
5. Sword-Born
6. Sword-Sworn
7. Sword-Bound
Alas, same old, same old.
This is the fourth book in the series. For me anything extending beyond trilogy needs to fulfil one of the following conditions: it is either a superb cast of various characters that need space to be properly fleshed out and developed and play their part in the tale or there is a deviously complicated plot, a story that takes ages to grow and evolve. The problem is that Tiger and Del has neither.
Tiger made his Northern sword, a jivatma, but in the process trapped an angry sorcerer’s soul in it. The sorcerer wants out therefore Tiger needs to find sorcerer’s equally powerful and fabled brother to get rid of this problem. This is not so easy, especially that everybody thinks he has killed a prophesied messiah, a jihadi supposed to turn sand into grass. In addition to all the tribes and zealots after him, sword-dancers were hired by a daughter of a tanzeer supposedly killed by Tiger (it was Del who did the good deed). Should be fun, but somehow isn't. While the Sword-Breaker is a pleasant read, it doesn’t really bring anything new to the story that we have not
Relationship issues? Check.
Bickering with the horse? Check.
Gallivanting around Punja and braving the desert? Check.
Check, check, check.
All this has been before: Sword-dancing, circle challenges, abductions, betrayals and other mercenary whatnots, sorcerers, tanzeers, jihadis, tribes, battling with the sword and coming to terms with magic.
Also, a hefty dose of reminiscing, recounting, and remembering what has transpired before. The actual main plot is resolved in the final chapters so you have a 40-chapter long prelude to it. And because we are talking here about a 460-pages long book, be prepared for loads of regurgitated excitement. The climax, on the other hand, was decidedly anti-climatic for me.
Overall, I’d cut the 4 books into 3 without losing much. It really baffles me that there are THREE more instalments ahead. At this point, I really do not see the reason for continuing the series. Apparently, Roberson had different ideas and so out of sheer curiosity I will check them out.
___
Also in the series:
1. Sword-Dancer
2. Sword-Singer
3. Sword-Maker
5. Sword-Born
6. Sword-Sworn
7. Sword-Bound
December 13, 2017
Del loosens up, Tiger grows up, the Stud remains his usual charming self!
And I'm starting to love this series!
And I'm starting to love this series!
December 14, 2017
This series is just so well put together. The characters are the best aspect of the story but magic, environment and the stud are essential aspects of the story that really give the series significant depth!
And that ending is just inspired. I cannot wait for more adventures of Tiger and Del!
And that ending is just inspired. I cannot wait for more adventures of Tiger and Del!
March 23, 2022
Maybe three stars. Well, hmm. Let's think about this for a moment. No, I'd say that it's more like 2.5 rounded up to 3 since I am feeling magnanimous.
This one didn't accomplish very much. Well, unless I count the loss of Del's shoulder chip; thank goodness that's been reduced! The main problem with this book is the endless re-hashing. Previous events are gone over, discussed, brought up, mulled over, ... you get the idea. I can see the need for an occasional pointed reminder, but holy cow. It would have been better to have one of those "What has Gone Before" summaries as a preface to the whole shebang. But that would be too helpful. Instead we have an overabundance of filler.
We basically have Tiger & Del running all over the Punja directly following the events at the end of Book 3. Things happen, some of which are good while others are eyeroll-inducing. Tiger's sword is still possessed, (that still sounds really silly to say!), so amidst the reacting and racing around is the quest to exorcise it. The ubiquitous conversations regarding male and female roles is unfortunately still foremost. Regarding the conversations, at lease the dialogue is done really well. She certainly writes excellent dialogue.
I don't think this one was all that important to the series. Actually, you could probably skip this one and not be too heartbroken. It's neither fabulous nor awful, but rather distinctly mediocre.
I suppose that I'll be soldiering on to finish the series, but not right this minute.
This one didn't accomplish very much. Well, unless I count the loss of Del's shoulder chip; thank goodness that's been reduced! The main problem with this book is the endless re-hashing. Previous events are gone over, discussed, brought up, mulled over, ... you get the idea. I can see the need for an occasional pointed reminder, but holy cow. It would have been better to have one of those "What has Gone Before" summaries as a preface to the whole shebang. But that would be too helpful. Instead we have an overabundance of filler.
We basically have Tiger & Del running all over the Punja directly following the events at the end of Book 3. Things happen, some of which are good while others are eyeroll-inducing. Tiger's sword is still possessed, (that still sounds really silly to say!), so amidst the reacting and racing around is the quest to exorcise it. The ubiquitous conversations regarding male and female roles is unfortunately still foremost. Regarding the conversations, at lease the dialogue is done really well. She certainly writes excellent dialogue.
I don't think this one was all that important to the series. Actually, you could probably skip this one and not be too heartbroken. It's neither fabulous nor awful, but rather distinctly mediocre.
I suppose that I'll be soldiering on to finish the series, but not right this minute.
September 27, 2017
Tiger is getting old. For a sword-dancer that is. And how he can complain. But I guess anyone above 35ish can relate. The body is not build for growing old. Otherwise Tiger and Del are up to their usual stuff. Kick ass and discuss male/female roles, while travelling across their North/South world. They are still fun, the world still dangerous and their interaction worth the read (especially if you like strong, funny women).
Unlike the previous ones this one has way too much repetition. While I like a writer to do a short plot line summery if it's well done, this was way over the top. The book could easily have been 100 pages shorter and while my rating is the same as the other ones, the others were above 3 starts, this one just below.
Unlike the previous ones this one has way too much repetition. While I like a writer to do a short plot line summery if it's well done, this was way over the top. The book could easily have been 100 pages shorter and while my rating is the same as the other ones, the others were above 3 starts, this one just below.
October 5, 2020
There has never been, and I doubt there ever will be, a Tiger and Del novel that I don't love. They strike a chord with me that is simply not avoidable. They are a typical old married couple who just happen to inhabit a very well imagined fantasy world. Their story pulls you in and won't let go. None of Jennifer's other series grab me the way this one does. I read and reread them and every time it's like stopping by to visit old friends.
March 15, 2013
I've had fun re-reading Tiger and Del's journeys for a lot of reasons. One thing that really strikes me is how their romantic relationship is handled. It's refreshing to read a series that isn't about love triangles or constant awkward and forced interruptions and predicaments designed to keep the main couple apart for as many books as possible and supposedly keep the interest in the romance for the readers going when all it really does is annoy me. This series does what I've been wishing some urban fantasy authors would do, after it paired the couple up it took it's time letting them get to know each other through the course of telling the rest of the story, so that they became believable partners in their adventures and in their romance. And then it keeps challenging their romance through continued developments in the story and as they grow and get to know each other better as well. You know, an adult relationship. Sometimes they screw up. Then they make up. It isn't easy, there are hard times and hard feelings. But there's deep devotion too. For a relationship that doesn't go into expressing itself in words very much, it's still one of the most well-developed adult relationships I've seen in fantasy. They get each other. He certainly gets her. I think some of the formulaic urban fantasy books that are coming out now, and their publishers, might benefit by taking a second look at this series and seeing that there is more than one way to go and still be successful, it isn't necessary to always stick to the currently accepted recipe, especially when the market is becoming over-saturated.
And what about that big hair on the cover, how funny is that? In 1991 I probably thought they both looked great and lamented that my thin hair could never look like Del's. The change to the cover of book 5, published in 2002, is drastic, what a difference a decade makes.
And what about that big hair on the cover, how funny is that? In 1991 I probably thought they both looked great and lamented that my thin hair could never look like Del's. The change to the cover of book 5, published in 2002, is drastic, what a difference a decade makes.
November 14, 2014
Tiger spends most of the book complaining about how his old knees are hurting, but he still manages to do some ass kicking when absolutely needed – although he does his best to tell every punk kid he comes across that he would LOVE to fight them to the death – just not right now, kay? Daddy’s tired.
There are epic adventures, quests, and prophecies – but all hilariously counter pointed by Tiger’s grumbling about how much he hates all that epic stuff.
December 10, 2017
Six word review: Chased by baddies, possessed sword, magic.
Stars: 7 / 10
So this is book four of the series, so don't read the review if you haven't read the first three. Spoilers for this book are hidden, but I can't guarantee spoilers for the other books are.
Tiger and Del, after causing quite the exit at the end of book three, must flee the wrath of, well, pretty much everybody. Del spends most of the book trying to get Tiger to face what he needs to do to/with the sword and worrying that Tiger is the one possessed, not the sword. Tiger is basically pretty beat up, sick, old, and hurting through most of the book, and Del is either annoyed or worried, depending. . The book ends with a cause for them to proceed to the setting for book five.
There was a little bit of character development in Del and Tiger, and in their relationship, but this is not one of my favorites in the series, mainly because Del seems a little more distant through most of the book (for good reason, I admit) and Tiger spends lots and lots of time inside his head worrying instead of doing. It's basically a long chase scene through the desert with a few side trips. However, the resolution to whether Tiger is or isn't the messiah of the desert is excellently accomplished, and in true Tiger fashion, so I must give kudos for that.
Stars: 7 / 10
So this is book four of the series, so don't read the review if you haven't read the first three. Spoilers for this book are hidden, but I can't guarantee spoilers for the other books are.
Tiger and Del, after causing quite the exit at the end of book three, must flee the wrath of, well, pretty much everybody. Del spends most of the book trying to get Tiger to face what he needs to do to/with the sword and worrying that Tiger is the one possessed, not the sword. Tiger is basically pretty beat up, sick, old, and hurting through most of the book, and Del is either annoyed or worried, depending. . The book ends with a cause for them to proceed to the setting for book five.
There was a little bit of character development in Del and Tiger, and in their relationship, but this is not one of my favorites in the series, mainly because Del seems a little more distant through most of the book (for good reason, I admit) and Tiger spends lots and lots of time inside his head worrying instead of doing. It's basically a long chase scene through the desert with a few side trips. However, the resolution to whether Tiger is or isn't the messiah of the desert is excellently accomplished, and in true Tiger fashion, so I must give kudos for that.
January 4, 2023
I really like Tiger and Dell but the books are so long. I’m glad to see that this saga in their life is finally over. Tiger and Dell definitely had a lot of adventures in this book. Now that Dell has been exiled from the north, she is staying with tire in the south, but now that Dell has finally killed her nemesis, they are both hunted in the south. Tiger is being pursued by different sword dancers for supposedly killing the religious prophet, and also for killing a Tangiers father. This story is interesting because tiger is being pursued for killing somebody he did not kill, and Del is being pursued for somebody that she did not kill. Nobody really knows the truth of who killed whom. Tiger wants to get this mage out of his sword, and they have some very interesting Adventures while they try to do it. I did listen to this book on audible, and it was the same narrator is the previous books.
August 10, 2022
An improvement on the previous book, but honestly, now that I'm thinking about it; I think I would have liked it better if books 3 and 4 were one book. Then you'd get book one: meeting, book two: team up north; book three: MAGIC IS REAL.
As it is this part of the story just drags.
Also: knowing where the next step of the story goes, it's weird that this is even more about Del's breakdown. No place, no family, no purpose, oh and also no sword. ... But this is about Tiger, who has a new sword, a new purpose, magic, oh and also maybe the messiah?!
I did like that we saw more southern women doing shit (even though they were implicitly and explicitly punished for stepping out of their place.)
As it is this part of the story just drags.
Also: knowing where the next step of the story goes, it's weird that this is even more about Del's breakdown. No place, no family, no purpose, oh and also no sword. ... But this is about Tiger, who has a new sword, a new purpose, magic, oh and also maybe the messiah?!
I did like that we saw more southern women doing shit (even though they were implicitly and explicitly punished for stepping out of their place.)
September 26, 2022
What can I say? Close to perfect!
This series is masterful. Start at book 📚 one ...duh
WTBS OMG! There is very little to no viewpoints from the bad guy or subplots away from the main characters I love this straightforward simplicity yet it is so well written it is art. Only those whose taste is only in their mouth could dislike Tiger and Del...
In my expert yet humble opinion I've read so many fantasy and science fiction books 📚 over the decades there is a comma in the number ijp lol but frfr ...please forgive my small brag but truly unless you like overly complicated novels with unessential subplots and perspectives you will love this book!!
Enjoy!
This series is masterful. Start at book 📚 one ...duh
WTBS OMG! There is very little to no viewpoints from the bad guy or subplots away from the main characters I love this straightforward simplicity yet it is so well written it is art. Only those whose taste is only in their mouth could dislike Tiger and Del...
In my expert yet humble opinion I've read so many fantasy and science fiction books 📚 over the decades there is a comma in the number ijp lol but frfr ...please forgive my small brag but truly unless you like overly complicated novels with unessential subplots and perspectives you will love this book!!
Enjoy!
October 6, 2020
This book wraps up the main plots of the series, with decent action, heartfelt relationship decisions, and bad guys defeated. They 'ride' off into the sunset, and it's a good place to stop. Ultimately I liked the way the relationship progresses, but the world felt weirdly disjoint between North and South, and the writing wasn't so fantastic that I feel like I need to reread.
A good series for a cozy night with hot cocoa and a blanket.
The next two books are worth reading if you absolutely loved the first 4.
A good series for a cozy night with hot cocoa and a blanket.
The next two books are worth reading if you absolutely loved the first 4.
February 4, 2023
2 Somehow, I managed to find this really enjoyable. I didn’t think much of the first one but this one , in which the partnership is relatively honest and all the secret doings have been completed and treachery between the two is no longer a plot point. And Stud is a stud. A great 3rd character. Looking forward to the next one. Don’t be put off by the cover art through. I find it hideous.
August 21, 2023
Probably 3.5 stars, with a bit extra for nostalgia. I found the first two of this series disappointing in comparison to my memory of them, but the third and fourth seemed to improve, perhaps because Del finally emerged from her cloak of obsession and relaxed. Not sure whether I'll bother carrying on with the next ones, which I don't seem to remember at all.
December 14, 2019
Not the best of the series, but still very engaging. I saw a gaping hole in the logic of the plot, but I suppose it is internally justifiable. Besides, yay adventures. There are aspects I wished got more attention, like the resolution of the entire quest they had been on.
December 18, 2019
A great start to a new story in its ending. Roberson had taken the story as far as she could in its current world, so in the end she broke the boundariesmand expanded her world. Recommended.
January 3, 2020
So clearly you can’t judge a book by its cover. The artwork on this one cracks me up. Had I seen it before downloading this captivating series, it never would have happened! 😬
December 22, 2022
I was annoyed with the author at the start of this book, but things soon improved. This story takes part in the south and involves honour, oaths and glimpses into the future.
August 30, 2014
I'm sorry miss Roberson, but unlike your previous books, I have to give this one 3 stars. If I have to describe this book by one word it would be: filler. Nothing really happens in this one, at least nothing we haven't seen before.
While in the first three books Tiger and Del at least had some mission or quest to accomplish, this time around, they are just aimlessly wandering through the desert, fighting and avoiding various foes. This whole premise made the book a little too similar to the first one. The only difference this time is that Tiger is in great pain throughout the story, both physical and mental.
I don't know whether to blame Roberson or her editor, but the time Del frowns in this book is infuriating. And when she doesn't, "her pale eyebrows shot downward". Enough already! Is this her only facial expression? This makes her extremely one dimensional.
I was also kinda disappointed how everything is laid out for them in the end. And while some of the previous books at least end in some kind of a suspenseful cliffhanger moment, this one doesn't and so it actually feels like a real end. But we know it's not.
So despite this rather bland episode, I will continue reading the next ones, as there are still some unanswered questions. Let's just hope that Roberson picks up the pace as this was (is) a rather entertaining series.
While in the first three books Tiger and Del at least had some mission or quest to accomplish, this time around, they are just aimlessly wandering through the desert, fighting and avoiding various foes. This whole premise made the book a little too similar to the first one. The only difference this time is that Tiger is in great pain throughout the story, both physical and mental.
I don't know whether to blame Roberson or her editor, but the time Del frowns in this book is infuriating. And when she doesn't, "her pale eyebrows shot downward". Enough already! Is this her only facial expression? This makes her extremely one dimensional.
I was also kinda disappointed how everything is laid out for them in the end. And while some of the previous books at least end in some kind of a suspenseful cliffhanger moment, this one doesn't and so it actually feels like a real end. But we know it's not.
So despite this rather bland episode, I will continue reading the next ones, as there are still some unanswered questions. Let's just hope that Roberson picks up the pace as this was (is) a rather entertaining series.
October 6, 2021
So, I've been re-reading this series, that I read the first 5-6 books of some 20+ years ago both because I had forgotten the stories (with the exception of the first) and to see if they had improved with age (or if as I age (and presumably mature) my views have changed).
The first book was when I first read it was a fun sword and sorcery novel with a fairly blunt feminist angle. I enjoyed it for what it was then and I enjoyed it just as much now... although a little subtlety would have been nice.
The subsequent books declined in enjoyment when I first read them, as the author attempted to transform a fun sword and sorcery series into a more serious high fantasy series (still with a baseball bat across the skull feminist commentary), with mixed success. In this more recent reading, I would say that I liked books 2-4 better now than I did then... although I'm still ambivalent about the transformation from sword and sorcery to high fantasy.
Books 3-4 are really one over-arching story, and for all the weaknesses of book 3 in world building, book 4 makes efforts to resolve them. This is one book that is definitely better on second reading.
The first book was when I first read it was a fun sword and sorcery novel with a fairly blunt feminist angle. I enjoyed it for what it was then and I enjoyed it just as much now... although a little subtlety would have been nice.
The subsequent books declined in enjoyment when I first read them, as the author attempted to transform a fun sword and sorcery series into a more serious high fantasy series (still with a baseball bat across the skull feminist commentary), with mixed success. In this more recent reading, I would say that I liked books 2-4 better now than I did then... although I'm still ambivalent about the transformation from sword and sorcery to high fantasy.
Books 3-4 are really one over-arching story, and for all the weaknesses of book 3 in world building, book 4 makes efforts to resolve them. This is one book that is definitely better on second reading.
March 31, 2015
A bit slow to start, this 4th book wound up being what could've been a great ending for the series! Many familiar characters and resolved events from all the previous books. Lots of magic and sword-play. There are only a few remaining questions. Who are Tiger's people? Where did they come from? Was Tiger abandoned as a baby or were his parents killed? Were they forced to give him up or was it voluntary?
Here's a kind of funny bit…at one point in this book, Tiger tells a story of events from his past. In that story he mentions how he came to have his horse. Here's the funny part: If Tiger was 16 when he got the stud, and he's 36 or so years of age now, that makes the horse at least 20 to 22 years old! I doubt he'd still be riding an old horse like that, especially in such harsh conditions and his life and the terrain takes him. Ha! I think that was just a goof on the part of the author or editor that they didn't think of that. :)
Here's a kind of funny bit…at one point in this book, Tiger tells a story of events from his past. In that story he mentions how he came to have his horse. Here's the funny part: If Tiger was 16 when he got the stud, and he's 36 or so years of age now, that makes the horse at least 20 to 22 years old! I doubt he'd still be riding an old horse like that, especially in such harsh conditions and his life and the terrain takes him. Ha! I think that was just a goof on the part of the author or editor that they didn't think of that. :)
June 5, 2014
Originally read in 1993.
Unfortunately there is no way I can rate the first four novels of the Tiger and Del saga individually. They are too deeply steeped in memory and woven together in my mind for me to separate and break them down objectively even after rereading them for the first time in about a decade. I simply must give them five stars. I think the Sandtiger and Delilah deserve at least that much.
Unfortunately there is no way I can rate the first four novels of the Tiger and Del saga individually. They are too deeply steeped in memory and woven together in my mind for me to separate and break them down objectively even after rereading them for the first time in about a decade. I simply must give them five stars. I think the Sandtiger and Delilah deserve at least that much.
October 19, 2022
As always Roberson spins a good tale. I didn’t score this higher as there is a big build up of what someone called the Jhihadi(messiah) will bring to the South. It implies a significant event loaded with magic will occur. What happens is a bit anticlimactic, in that regard. But other than that it is great Tiger & Del adventure.
June 8, 2008
The Sword-Dancer series never impressed me as much as the Chronicles of the Cheysuli. It just doesn't seem to have the same depth or social relevance. But the Sword-Dancer books are solid fantasy with talking, uppity swords, so it's all good!
April 28, 2011
Still some unanswered questions and my interest remains to continue on the adventures of Tiger and Del. I laugh outloud now all the time during their conversations with each other. I can't wait for the story to continue. I am enjoying this series. Both characters are fantastic.
October 24, 2010
I have the same feelings about all the Tiger and Del books and so I will use the same review for them all:
Please look for my review of Sword-Dancer (Tiger and Del #1) to see why I liked these books so much.
Please look for my review of Sword-Dancer (Tiger and Del #1) to see why I liked these books so much.
May 18, 2011
Another great Tiger and Del adventure. This book hooked me in instantly and I couldn't let go until I hit the end. Jennifer Roberson tells an amazing story about magic, friendship, revenge, and of course: Sword dancing.
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