The Second Book of Swords
core novel 1983 Empire of the East / Swords
Record
| First published | 1983 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 3.86 (5,798 ratings, collected 2026-11-02) |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780812553017 |
| Internal chronology | 2 |
Synopsis
The gods created twelve powerful Swords as a diversion, and they watched mortal nations fight over them. But the smith Vulcan made the blades able to kill gods, and what began as a divine game has turned deadly serious. The gods now want the Swords back, yet even they must act with caution around the weapons they made. Mark, the young son of the smith Jord, carries one of the Swords, and powerful factions across the land continue to compete for the rest.
Where it sits
- Universe: Empire of the East / Swords
- Series: Books of Swords core; position 2 of 3 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Fred Saberhagen
Notes
- From the series record (Books of Swords): Three novels in which twelve god-forged Swords of Power are scattered among mortals, thousands of years after the Empire of the East.
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 Books of Swords: position 2 of 3: previous The First Book of Swords (1983) · next The Third Book of Swords (1984)
- Internal chronology, within Empire of the East / Swords: position 5 of 15: previous The Black Mountains (1971) · next Sightblinder's Story (1987)
Sources
- Wikipedia: Books of Swords
- Fred Saberhagen's official site
- AbeBooks listing (Tor, 1983)
- Fred Saberhagen's site: 2nd Book of Swords
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