The Call of the Sword
by Roger Taylor
The Chronicles of Hawklan (book 1), Chronicles of Hawklan Universe (Chronicles 1)
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The castle of Anderras Darion has stood abandoned and majestic for as long as anyone can remember. Then, from out of the mountains, comes the healer, Hawklan - a man with no memory of the past - to take possession of the keep with his sole companion, Gavor. Across the country, the great fortress of Narsindalvak is a constant reminder of the victory won by the hero Ethriss in alliance with the three realms of Orthlund, Riddin and Fyorlund against the Dark Lord, Sumeral, hundreds of years show more before. But Rgoric, the ailing king of Fyorlund and protector of the peace, has fallen under the malign influence of the Lord Dan-Tor, and from the bleakness of Narsindal come ugly rumours. It is whispered that Mandrocs are abroad again and that the Dark Lord himself is stirring. And in the remote fastness of Anderras Darion, Hawklan feels deep within himself the echoes of an ancient power and the unknown, yet strangely familiar, call to arms... show lessTags
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humouress Call of the Sword (1988) has a similar premise to Eye of the World; a hero reawakened to fight the old battle against evil, with no memory of his past; a wasteland in the north where the evil is imprisoned and nightmarish creatures roam.
Member Reviews
{first of 4 in The Chronicles of Hawklan/ first of 12 in Chronicles of Hawklan Universe; fantasy, epic fantasy, adventure, sword and sorcery}(1988)
The prologue starts with a text which depicts a battle in which a great evil was defeated and imprisoned but not without cost to the defenders including the loss of Ethriss, one of the four immortal Guardians; and they know that they have only put off the inevitable and there will be a second coming of Sumeral.
Hawklan is a gentle healer who appeared out of the mountains above the Orthlundyn village of Pedhavin twenty years before the story proper starts. He has no memory of his life before that but he did have the key to open the long-sealed gates of the legendary castle-fortress of Anderras Darion. He has since made a life there and made good friends, among them the raven Gavor who is as intelligent as a human (although he might claim more intelligent).
After the tinker Derimot Findeel Dan-Tor (who may be a predecessor of Padan Fain of The Wheel of Time) visits Pedhavin, Hawklan feels impelled to visit the Gretmearc, the perpetual market in the neighbouring land of Riddin, where he may find answers - or great danger. Before he leaves his friends tell him he needs to carry a sword and, from out of the depths of Anderras Darion, a black sword falls at his feet
This was probably one of the first series I bought in its entirety for my own shelves, back in my student days and I really enjoyed revisiting this world. I'd say it's epic fantasy because of the scope but it has an intentionally gentle feel to it though it still had me on the edge of my seat (so to speak) at times - and there I was worried that it wouldn't live up to my nostalgia. It’s well written and I like the humour too, which had me chuckling a few times.
(March 2025)
4.5-5 stars show less
The prologue starts with a text which depicts a battle in which a great evil was defeated and imprisoned but not without cost to the defenders including the loss of Ethriss, one of the four immortal Guardians; and they know that they have only put off the inevitable and there will be a second coming of Sumeral.
But in His falling, two things He did. His mortal hand loosed the spear that struck down Ethriss, and His spirit shrank and vowed and learned and hid in the hearts of His most faithful until some future time would come.The peoples who exist in the present time (as the story begins) show more don't even have any racial memory of that war or the expected resumption except for a few practices and superstitions that they hold onto though they don't remember the reasons for them.
Hawklan is a gentle healer who appeared out of the mountains above the Orthlundyn village of Pedhavin twenty years before the story proper starts. He has no memory of his life before that but he did have the key to open the long-sealed gates of the legendary castle-fortress of Anderras Darion. He has since made a life there and made good friends, among them the raven Gavor who is as intelligent as a human (although he might claim more intelligent).
After the tinker Derimot Findeel Dan-Tor (who may be a predecessor of Padan Fain of The Wheel of Time) visits Pedhavin, Hawklan feels impelled to visit the Gretmearc, the perpetual market in the neighbouring land of Riddin, where he may find answers - or great danger. Before he leaves his friends tell him he needs to carry a sword and, from out of the depths of Anderras Darion, a black sword falls at his feet
Hawklan stood up and wrapped his right hand firmly around the hilt of the sword. As he did so, he heard a sound like a distant trumpet. A faint, infinitely distant clarion call from another age. For an instant he felt a surge of recognition, also from times past, but it slipped away like a dream at dawn.and has the effect of immediately transforming him from healer to warrior just in the way that he instinctively carries it.
'My sword,' he heard himself say softly.
Hawklan wore the clothes and the sword as if they were a natural part of him. The brothers saw before them the man they knew as a healer. A gentle, slightly innocent man, full of gentleness and light. But his healer's cowled robe had been laid aside and, standing armed, breeched, and booted, in a metal-buckled jerkin and with a long hooded cloak over his shoulders, the whole in black, his bearing was purely that of a warrior and leader. A warrior and a leader the like of which could be seen in the thick of battle in many of the carvings that filled the Castle.Meanwhile, we learn that Dan-Tor has come from another neighbouring country, Fyorlund, where he has weasled his way into position as the king's right hand - although he is no native of Fyorlund either but owes his allegiance elsewhere - and he seems to be undermining that country's policies from the inside.
This was probably one of the first series I bought in its entirety for my own shelves, back in my student days and I really enjoyed revisiting this world. I'd say it's epic fantasy because of the scope but it has an intentionally gentle feel to it though it still had me on the edge of my seat (so to speak) at times - and there I was worried that it wouldn't live up to my nostalgia. It’s well written and I like the humour too, which had me chuckling a few times.
'I wonder what killed it? I can't see any injury. It looks healthy enough.'I do like the cover (Headline edition) by Mark Harrison (9) which shows Hawklan’s castle of Anderras Darion, built at the mouth of a hanging valley, and the picture is framed by what looks like the gateposts of the castle that is in the illustration; it takes me back to that time of life when I was just starting to discover the fantasy genre, and the covers of the books I was reading could transport me to another world. Just looking at them again now sends a thrill through me.
'Apart from being dead,' chuckled Gavor, then, apologetically, 'Sorry.'
(March 2025)
4.5-5 stars show less
I think Robert Jordan strip-mined this or used the same sources for parts of The Wheel of Time, but I'm not saying he used the parts better. This volume is distinguished from its contemporaries by having the most pointlessly annoying sidekick of a peg-legged bird, Gavor, and his ceaseless "dear boys." If I could have throttled him, I would have, and let Hawklan get turned to the dark.
I thought I liked fantasy books that were all about the world and short on characterization, then I read this. Hawklan is boring and Gavor is just insufferable. I'm sure there's some in-universe explanation for at least one of those later on, but it's quite a slog in this book.
It is interesting to see the bits that Robert Jordan borrowed, though.
It is interesting to see the bits that Robert Jordan borrowed, though.
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Author Information
13 Works 828 Members
Author Roger Taylor was born in Heywood, Lancashire, England in 1938. He has written twelve fantasy novels all set in the same universe, but there is only minor interaction between the books. The first four books are collectively known as the Chronicles of Hawklan. He is also a civil and structural engineer and enjoys teaching and practicing show more aikido and shooting pistols, rifles, and shotguns. He currently lives in Wirral, Merseyside, England. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Call of the Sword
- Original title
- The Call of the Sword
- Original publication date
- 1988
- People/Characters
- Hawklan; Gavor (raven); Tirilen; Derimot Findeel Dan-Tor (the tinker); Loman; Isloman
- Important places
- Anderras Darion (Hawklan's Castle)
- Dedication
- To my wife
- First words
- In the ninth hour of the Last Battle, Sumeral, warring with Ethriss in ways beyond the knowledge of man, gazed upon the pitiless slaughter being wrought by the two great armies and, wearying of it, was overwhelmed with a desi... (show all)re to seize at one stroke His final victory.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)'Watch the shadows. Your days of peace are ended.'
- Original language*
- English
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
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- Languages
- English, German
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- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
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