A young man is transformed into a barbarian fighter in this adventurous series from “one of the leading masters of epic fantasy” (Publishers Weekly). In this complete collection of the high fantasy Seventh Sword series by Aurora Award–winning author Dave Duncan, Wallie Smith must face a new destiny and save an unfamiliar world from evil forces. The Reluctant Swordsman: Wallie goes to the … Reluctant Swordsman: Wallie goes to the hospital and wakes up in the body of a barbarian swordsman, accompanied by a voluptuous slave girl and an eccentric priest babbling about the Goddess. When he learns the Goddess needs a swordsman, he reluctantly agrees to set off on her quest.
The Coming of Wisdom: Wallie is staring death in the face when the Goddess gives him a new body and the fabled Sapphire Sword in return for being her champion. But Wallie and his weapon quickly find themselves outmatched in a world of high-stakes magic.
The Destiny of the Sword: Wallie is entrusted by the presiding goddess with a mission to bring together all the swordsmen to finally defeat the sorcerers and their terrible technology. And while he’s not quite convinced he should oblige, goddesses can be very persuasive . . .
The Death of Nnanji: For fifteen years the truce has held, but now sorcerers have started killing swordsmen again and swordsmen traitors are aiding them. Wallie, known now as Shonshu, must ride out to fight the war he hoped would never come, and his failure or success will determine the fate of the world for the next thousand years.
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Duncan delivers!!
Decent series
Dave Duncan tells a complete story but leaves room to expand in multiple directions. That style of writing takes a lot of planning and it shows.
A great, and original book series.
Fast-paced. It was very hard to out the books down. Always wanted to keep finding out what happened next.
Good read. Well written. Very enjoyable
I love these books!
The book seems well edited, which I appreciate. Something about it just does not hold my interest, sadly, because I bought the 4 book bundle based on reviews. I just can’t get myself to finish the first book, let alone the series. It just doesn’t pull me in. Maybe I’ll go back to it someday. But don’t let me stop you, lots of others loved the book based on reviews I’ve seen.
For many years I have owned the first 3 books of this series, and never knew that a fourth book had even been written. I have been slowly moving some of my physical book collection to my Nook for obvious reasons (yeah, there’s a thousand of them scattered around my house!). So when I found a deal on one of my favorite series’ I jumped at it – only to discover a bonus surprise with the addition of the fourth book capping the series with the next generation! Every bit as good as the original three ( a five-star review in and of itself), the last book concentrates on the passing of the metaphorical baton to the next generation and fulfilling some of the prophecies hinted at in the first three.
An intensely interesting world-building and integrating of our own with the fantastic world that Wallie Smith finds himself in, this series has truly stood up to the test of time (original trilogy published in 1988), and does not feel dated as some books written then tend to do. All in all, a truly great series and a great surprise find in Book 4.
Good fish out of water story. Fun
Couldn’t believe I got this book for 99 cents. I think of Lord of the Rings when reading this. The world building is incredible.
This was my second time through the series. I was very surprised to find the 4th book…I have never seen it before. Great read!
Good read
Love Dave Duncan’s books!
A treasured author of this genre. This is well up to his usual standard and more thoughtful than many similar stories with political and social questions that almost pass unnoticed till you think about the dilemma of the main character.
Bought this series on a whim while awaiting another author to write her next book. Had a little problem getting past the beginning chapters as the author kept shifting back and forth between story lines. After several chapters, they all began to meld together. This first of four books could almost be renamed, “The Reluctant Swordsman”! However once I understood where it was headed, I dove head first into aggressive reading. I finished this series in a week. For an easy read, go for it.
Interesting premise and good characters. Fighting fate does not work.
Duncan is a wonderful writer. I highly recommend his books
Overall, it was extremely mediocre, although the 4th book in the series was substantially better than the original 3.
There was a few parts that were had rather interesting interactions (which is what I had expected for a displaced person story), but a vast majority was rather dull inner monologue or dull descriptions of the nothing that’s happening at the time.
Main character fails to imagine use of his own knowledge and skills because he’s in a fantasy world. Also performs other strange and disappointing hypocrisies. Liked the first book better than the sequels. Greatly preferred Reaver Road [which yes is an uglier society with ugly ancient failings, but at least there’s less of modern man proclaiming he’ll do better and behaving worse].