Farslayer's Story

core novel 1989 Empire of the East / Swords

Record

First published	1989
Original language	EN
Work type	novel
Canon status	core
Reader rating	3.85 (1,993 ratings, collected 2026-11-02)
First-edition ISBN	9780312931704
Internal chronology	4

Synopsis

The Sword Farslayer can kill its bearer's chosen enemy from anywhere in the world. A mermaid named Black Pearl, cursed from a fisherman's daughter into a river creature, finds it and gives it to Cosmo Malolo, a minor wizard who has promised to restore her humanity. His clan's generations-old feud with a rival clan turns the Sword into a deadly weapon, and a single night of bloodshed devastates both families. A growing cast is drawn in: a prince who loves Black Pearl, a servant of an evil wizard accompanied by a demon, another prince who wants the blade, and a healer who arrives on a griffin.

Where it sits

• Universe: Empire of the East / Swords
• Series: Lost Swords core; position 4 of 8 in the series' recorded order
• Author: Fred Saberhagen

Notes

• Published as The Fourth Book of Lost Swords.
• From the series record (Lost Swords): Eight novels that follow the Swords of Power after the first trilogy, centered on Prince Mark of Tasavalta and his family.

Neighbouring works

Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings and are never conflated: a book's place in one says nothing about its place in the other.

• Publication order, within the series Lost Swords: position 4 of 8: previous Stonecutter's Story (1988) · next Coinspinner's Story (1989)
• Internal chronology, within Empire of the East / Swords: position 11 of 15: previous Ardneh's Sword (2006) · next Coinspinner's Story (1989)

Sources

• Wikipedia: Books of Swords
• Fred Saberhagen's official site
• AbeBooks listing (Tor hardcover, 1989)
• Fred Saberhagen's site: Farslayer's Story

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