The Book of Swords

In the introduction to this collection of short stories, the editor writes that he has always been a fan of "Sword and Sorcery" Fantasy, and he recognizes the essential stamp of that style on the realistic "Grimdark" Fantasy that has been gaining popularity since the mid-1990's. To me, the general difference between those sorts of stories is that the former tends to have more success (or at least survival) for its protagonists, and those protagonists tend to be more heroic (even if they're brooding troubled Byronic anti-heroes). The stories in this collection vary between those two subgenres, and I think that makes the total package stronger. There's no guarantee that things will turn out well for any of the characters, but neither is show more there a promise that it will all always go wrong. show less

I found this book to be rather disappointing. It was advertised as an anthology of Sword & Sorcery stories, but it really isn't. By my definition at least, Sword & Sorcery stories are usually a fast paced and action oriented with an almost nihilistic feel. Their heroes are usually self centered, morally ambiguous people with goals along the lines of getting treasure, conquering a kingdom, or killing an enemy. The only story along those lines is "Waterfalling" by Lavie Tidhar.

Despite the fact that the genre is mislabeled, the stories themselves are pretty goo, with one glaring exception—George R. R. Martin's "The Sons of the Dragon.," which is a shame since A Song of Ice and Fire is so popular that a lot of people will pick up the show more anthology just for this "story" and be disappointed. I put "story" in quotation marks because it reads more like an excerpt from a history textbook on the kingdom of Westeros than an actual story.

If you're considering buying this because you love Sword & Sorcery of for GRRM's story give it a pass. Otherwise it is still an enjoyable fantasy anthology. show less

Some good stories here, but don't be fooled by the title - the stories for the most part don't have anything to do with swords. I fell for the trap and assumed this would be somehow related to swords, combat, something like that. This is just another vehicle for fantasy writers to write short stories, which may or may not have swords in them. Many of them are about rogues, not swordsmen. It would probably also help if I was more familiar with the worlds of some of the authors, so if you are fans of some of these writer's longer works, the stories may appeal to you more.

Decent library read. Like most anthologies in my experience, it's uneven, with some great stories that make me want to read more from those authors, and some clunkers that feel like filler. For me the best stories were by Ellen Kushner, Rich Larson, and Scott Lynch, and I'll be reading more from them. The clunkers for me were the stories by Robin Hobbs and George RR Martin, the latter of which was so dull to me that I didn't bother finishing it and can't imagine that anyone not already a fan of that fictional world would want to, either.

I've been reading various anthologies by Gardner Dozois since I was about 9 years old. He has a well deserved reputation as one of the best editors in modern fantasy. I was thrilled with this collection of sword and sorcery stories.

I have to admit that I didn't read all of the stories in this collection. I'm holding off on the Robin Hobb story until I finally get around to reading her books.

My favorite stories in this collection are "The best man wins" by KJ Parker, "The Mocking Tower" by Daniel Abraham, and "The Smoke of Gold is Glory" by Scott Lynch. I'm a fan of rogues and mentors and trick endings.

I love Gardner Dozois’s work as an editor; I may not always like every story in every anthology he edits, but I can always be confident that each story will be of very high quality. His latest, "The Book of Swords," is a collection of short stories and novellas concerning, well, swords, generally in the realm of speculative fiction. As with any anthology, my favourites may not be yours, but I’ll mention the two I most enjoyed: “The Smoke of Gold is Glory,” by Scott Lynch, and “The Sons of the Dragon,” by George R.R. Martin (yes, a new Game of Thrones tale) - both of which just happen to feature dragons as well as swords. I also quie adored “‘I Am A Handsome Man,’ Said Apollo Crow,” by Kate Elliot; “The Sword of show more Destiny,” by Matthew Hughes, and “The Sword Tyraste,” by Cecelia Holland, but there is also fine work by Lavie Tidhar, Rich Larson, Elizabeth Bear, Garth Nix, Ellen Kushner, C.J. Cherryh, K.J. Parker, Robin Hobb, Walter Jon Williams, Daniel Abraham and Ken Liu. Highly recommended! show less

Some of the stories were well written, interesting and somewhat original, in fact most.
I liked CJ Cherryh's and K.J. Parker's particularly.
GRRM called it in. Giving yet another Westros history lesson, his carelessness is indicated with lots of leals and the use of prevaricate when he means indecisive delaying.