Sky of Swords: A Tale of the King's Blades

This book is literary genius. The historically conflicting endings of the first two books are resolved in a clean and brilliant stroke. The main character is likeable, and her perspective sheds an intersting light on the two main characters from the first two novels. About half-way through Sky of Swords, when truly shocking things had been happening that are in total conflict with the first novel, the light suddenly went on in my head as suddenly I *knew* what Duncan was doing. And I was truly impressed. Altho it has been recommeded that they should be read in the cyclical order of Gilded Chain, Sky of Swords, then Lord of the Firelands, despite Firelands having been published before Sky, don't ruin that one moment of realization that is so rare in any work of fiction by doing this. Read them in the order that they were published.Pure literary genius.

Something needs to be kept in mind whenever reading a series by Dave Duncan, and that is that he's BRILLIANT. That doesn't just mean that he creates entire worlds that are unique, richly detailed, and believable. It doesn't just mean that his characters are fully fleshed out individuals. It means that when you read the ending you say "Wow! How did he come up with that." Well, it's because he's brilliant. It also must be because he started with an idea of the ending and crafted the entire story to lead up to it. Unfortunately it's difficult to review his stories without giving the ending away. If you've read some of Duncan's other series, like "The Seventh Sword", "A Man of his Word", or "The Great Game", you'll know what to expect."The Sky of Swords" is the conclusion of a trilogy. The first book is "The Gilded Chain" about a character named Durendal. The second book is "Lord of the Fire Lands" about a character named Radgar, although many of the characters from the first book also appear in the second. The problem is that something happens in the second book, which specifically doesn't happen in the first. Resolving this contradiction is really the whole purpose of the third book. Although it's possible to read this as a stand-alone novel, it's really a bad idea.The thing about resolving the contradiction is that the characters haven't read the books, and don't know that there's a contradiction. Events have to occur which force them to want to change things. For this reason "Sky of Swords" is not as happy a book as the first two were. It's rather dark and depressing, as the characters are being driven to desperation. It wouldn't be much fun to read this story by itself. The ending not only resolves the contradiction though; I found it very satisfying.

The Gilded Chain was a well thought out book and The Lord of the Fire Lands would have been great except for it's different and disappointing ending. Now with the third book in the series the first book looks even better and the second not only makes sense but is also validated by the third. Reading Sky of Swords was a great different approach to the first two as well as a good stand alone read. I can't wait for the next Blade or Dagger book!

Sky of Swords fulfills the ultimate goal of any volume in a series: it is not only an excellent story in its own right, but it retroactively improves the volumes that have gone before it by bringing to light hidden depths. This book focuses on Princess Malinda, who had minor but important parts in the first two books, and fleshes out her story in a way that adds shades of newly-discovered meaning to the earlier books. For those who mistakenly thought (as I did) that this series was to consist of stand-alone volumes, well, we were wrong. I suppose it'd be vaguely possible to read each of these volumes individually, but the full effect of the story is only found in reading them together. I'm beginning to believe that Duncan couldn't write a straightforward generic fantasy if he tried to; so much the better.

I was very impatiently waiting this third King's Blades book to see how Dave planned to resolve the very puzzling contradictions between the first and second books. I was not disappointed - I literally had to keep reading until I got to the end. If King Ambrose is Henry VIII (and he clearly is, with all his multiple wives and his problems with the 'conjurers'), then Malinda is Elizabeth I. And we get plenty of backstory to help us understand the woman she grows up to be. Some things left me sad (poor little Amby's curtailed life, all the Blades who died, sniff) and some things made me happy (the rehabilitation of Radgar, whom I loved in Lord of the Fire Lands), and there were a lot of things I would have liked to have seen amplified, but then the book would have been too heavy to lift.The Noble and Ancient Order of King's Blades is one of Dave's most enchanting inventions, and I sincerely hope that he can find more stories to tell in this universe. I've never met a King's Blade I didn't love. -- Jane