King of Swords

⚖??⚔???<br /><br />Really Enjoy this one the characters and the world building was really interesting, just be aware there is alot of politics in the starfolk domain, and things are not always what they seem.<br /><br />looking forward to book 2 <br /><br />Happy Reading ???????????????????????????

This book is exactly what I wanted it to be: a light, popcorn read. <br /><br />I wasn't' expecting Rothfuss or anything, just a mildly humorous fantasy book that was set in modern day, which is what this turned out to be. You have Rigel who is head over heals for the alien (It's cool, he's half alien after all). Rigel wields the most dangerous weapon in the known universe and is shunted to another....realm? Planet? Galaxy? Something. Here he is a lower class citizen in love with the upper class. Because of this he gets stuck in the middle of a great assassination plot. Where everyone wants to either use him or make sure no one else can use him.<br /><br />You know what? The best way to describe this book is the lovechild (I made a joke, read the book to get my glory) of Patrick Rothfuss (I actually checked to see if it was him under pseudonym) and Edgar Rice Burroughs circa Princess of Mars.<br /><br />I'll finish this series as each book comes out. And I'm not going to recommend this book to anyone, if any of what my review or the book flap sends you.... it's exactly what's on the tin.

An Alien is saved from a bear by a women with a gun and a mysterious past and they travel across Canada where they fall in love and learn all about each other... <br /><br />The premise was kind of intriguing but the execution wasn't up to much. Terrible writing with a lovely rape joke right there at the beginning. Gun-ho stuff, if that's what you're after. Good luck to you.

12 pages and tossing. My first Duncan and not impressed or interested. I hope his other titles in my TBR fare better.

2 stars - <a href="http://magazine.metaphorosis.com/review/2016/King-of-Swords-Dave-Duncan" rel="nofollow noopener">Metaphorosis Reviews</a><br /><br />An unusual teenager gets swept off to another dimension by elves - and find's he's half elf himself.<br /><br />I bought King of Swords and its sequel, Queen of Stars, without even thinking, just because I like David Duncan. I'm one of the long-term fans he refers to in the dedication. Unfortunately, either Duncan is in a slump recently, or I am. He's been producing a lot of new books, and I've liked very few of them very much.<br />One of my key gripes about this book is its premise - discontended human goes through portal to a happier world - I've read a lot of books along those lines, and they very rarely work. There's just something about the idea I don't care for. This one is no different. <br /><br />Part of the problem is that regular humans are slaves in the elfworld (and genetically degenerate enough to deserve it, apparently). Halflings like our hero Rigel don't do much better, but that suits him just fine, because ... I'm not sure. The main thing seems to be a beautiful woman, who he makes it his life's ambition to kiss (that just sounds creepy to me). Duncan doesn't do much to establish the world, and it frankly feels like he's not trying very hard. There's a lot of exposition, but even so, some of the characters' actions are unfounded. It has a facile feel that didn't interest me much. Throughout the book, whenever I put it down, I tended to forget I was reading it. Definitely not one of those books I like awake thinking about, or can't wait to pick up again. By the end, I pretty much didn't care about any of the characters.<br /><br />Duncan has written much better books in his time; just not lately. This one, unfortunately, is eminently forgettable. Also unfortunate, I have the sequel already.<br />

I would put this novel into the hands of a young high school boy - not because he could handle it or love it, but because that is what it seems to have been written for. With a heavy emphasis on breasts and other assorted body-parts this book plays right into that age bracket.<br /><br />This is and adequate fantasy with very simple world building and story telling. Nothing too taxing for anyone, but enough action to keep you mildly intrigued.<br /><br />What I didn't like is that it is not unlike so many other novels in this genre. It is difficult to get excited by another fish in an already over-crowded pond. There was nothing here to make this book stand out for me. I had a difficult time caring for or about the characters.<br /><br />I have never read anything by this author, but had heard tons of praise and I simply expected so much more from someone who gets the accolades this author did.<br />

This is the first Dave Duncan book I haven't been crazy about. The story starts off abruptly, with a lot exposited very quickly in a way that doesn't feel organic, and the characters are pretty cardboard. I won't be picking up the rest of the series, because it didn't hook me enough to care what happens next.

Clearly, I'm still young at heart. I've been looking forward to this book since I pre-ordered it back in July? June? And the anticipation and the build-up to release day gripped me with the fervour and mania of a Harry Potter release. Not so that I would've prostrated myself at a book shop with a huge sword and contact lenses for white eyes, of course - even a decade ago, my enthusiasm for book releases didn't involve such machinations. And yet, even though I have a child of my own and a respectable job for which I actually have to rise early, I still chortled with glee as I hastened up the stairs after yesterday was done. I whistled to myself as I showered and generally made ready to sleep. But I did not sleep ... I read.<br /><br />Immediately I was engulfed. There's something about the way Dave writes his scenes, as if you're in his head and simply observing thought processes which come hurtling off the page and roll over you with cinematic clarity. His dialogue is often to the point, though characters who meander are plentiful throughout his work and even though the back-and-forth is snappy, the mental work of the lead in most scenes is still miles ahead of the speech and you really have to pay attention to keep up with what is being thought as much as what is being said. Some of his most recognisable (and to me, beloved) tropes are present, a young man struggling against powerful odds and forces, which give the story its distinctive adventure texture. A monarch, often aging, always cantankerous or at least seemingly a little batty, and a unique, flushed-out world full of intrigue, schemes, impossible geography and a plot to throw yourself into and float through. It's a beautifully put-together adventure, and reminded me, on the surface, of <a href="https://goodreads.com/author/show/205.Robert_A__Heinlein" title="Robert A. Heinlein" rel="noopener">Robert A Heinlein</a>'s <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/50856.Glory_Road" title="Glory Road by Robert A. Heinlein" rel="noopener">Glory Road</a>.<br /><br />Of course, it wasn't a perfect read. There were a few grammatical issues, which you'd expect the proof-reader to have spotted: two occurrences of "halfing" rather than "halfling", a "taller then himself" rather than a "than" (a common misuse I abhor), and "pour souls" rather than "poor", which is just sloppy. Furthermore, the publisher slacked off on the "also by" information, missing out at least one of his published titles (in a series, no less) and listing a standalone twice. These are niggles, by definition they don't add up to much, but they do all serve to cheapen the book, to downgrade the work in one's mind to that of a lower class publication, especially when competition on the platform is so staggeringly huge from self-publishing. I daresay I missed an error or two myself; I hurtled through the story as a voracious fan, rather than a critic - but if even I can spot those when I'm not even looking for them there's no excuse: the publisher takes a cut and has a duty to therefore make the work the best it can be and I'm sorry to say that, in my opinion, this time they failed.<br /><br />Finally, I come to my issues with the book as a whole. The things Dave himself did that I wasn't keen on. Not to say that I didn't enjoy it, but I didn't give it top marks either, and there's a reason for that. Primarily, which I find mad given that I'm the younger side of thirty and Dave has five decades on me, I found the book too modern. It starts off in our world, which is fine, we've seen it before. But it's a modern world, a world where "the web" and phrases like "Holy Shit" are used (and rightfully so, because they are, today). A real slice of the modern life, mentioning sampling DNA and passport verification and gun laws - all information you wouldn't think out of place in a novel claiming to be a "modern thriller". <br /><br />I think this hit me so hard because Dave's books have always been escapes. The Brothers Magnus series, the Longdirk books, The Great Game, Wildcatter - these have all, if set in our world in whole or in part, been done so a long time ago or in a time yet to come. The Seventh Sword, though arguably featuring a Human of today, was written twenty-five years ago, and there's something about the opening - that obituary, the style and tone of it, and the undeniable juxtaposition between it and the world of the Goddess that says "I’ve a feeling we’re not in Canada anymore, Toto", without needing to bring a dog into the picture. Even when the forth book was added to that series and the style of Dave's writing was so clearly evolved, the world we live in now, with its phones and Internet, didn't intrude. It might've been present in mind, but that never made it to the page, and the pages were richer for the lack of it. <br /><br />The works that have big worlds all their own - The Dodec books, the King's Blades, Pandemia, and a deal of the standalones just to name a few - these all have that famed Duncanness to them, which is present in King of Swords too, you can't deny that. But I think they're immeasurably stronger for not focusing on the here and the now. It’s not something I was comfortable with, it lent a sense of story to the book, made me stop and remember I was actually reading a book, rather than enjoying an adventure.<br /><br />I feel horrible for thinking this way, because there's nothing wrong with a contemporary hero. Rigel's well-written and gifted of that quickness of thought and pervasive perception Dave instils wonderfully in book after book. And yet this huge barrier, this awareness and presence of Today, of the real, tangible world outside, the world I pick up a good yarn to escape from and leave behind for a while, was still there, slapping me in the face for the first five chapters and woven into Rigel's thought processes and phrases and comparisons. It's clever, inasmuch as he's a man of his time and that's well-reflected, but it's a time that should, I felt, have been less central, less present.<br /><br />I hope I've explained that enough. I don't want to come across as having hated the book; the next time there's a new Dave Duncan I'll be pre-ordering and working with a spring in my step on release day with as much enthusiasm and innocent happiness as this time. But it wasn't perfect, and whether that's a reflection of the increasing complications of my own life and awareness or whether I do have a genuine issue with the book is for Dave's other fans to decide. I'm glad I bought it, and will add it to my bookshelf with the solemnity and respect a new title by one of my favourite authors deserves. Indeed, there's a good chance I'll reread it someday, which is something I reserve for an exclusive group of writers indeed. <br />

Well-written Duncan; the protagonist is a "changeling"—thinks he might have been exchanged by a fairy or elf for a human baby; he has no nipples or navel, heals super quickly, is taller than most people and has white hair. His name is Rigel.<br />While pedaling his bicycle on Vancouver Island, he has a run-in with a bear and is severely wounded, but the bear dies somehow. He's “rescued” by a woman with a motorhome who claims to be a private detective. While looking for clothes in a Wal-Mart, the pair are attacked by all the other Wal-Mart patrons with apparent intent to kill; he defends himself with a sword that appears out of nowhere. All of a sudden the pair are no longer in the Wal-Mart; they have been transported to another world, continuum, or reality.<br />And then things get weird. This is book #1 in The Starfolk; I expect that Rigel will eventually find that he is *not* the hero of this series (Duncan has a habit of doing this with protagonists; see “The Reluctant Swordsman”), but will serve as backup to the real hero.<br />I look forward to reading more of these, if Dave finished this series before he died. He was a good writer, and a nice guy, and will be sorely missed.

as some others have indicated, I am a huge fan of Dave Duncan: he is one of my favorite authors. However, this book was not very good. One of my other favorite authors his Piers Anthony. this read not like a Dave Duncan book, but like a badly written Piers Anthony book. Additionally, I don't like it when there are unrealistic things. This character had knowledge that is clearly Dave Duncan knowledge, and not within this character's knowledge. With this character's educational background, he would not know so much. I have seen reviews saying that the 2nd book in this series is also not very good, so I will reluctantly skip that. Perhaps someday I will come back and read it, but there is no shortage of things to read, and I have already read ton of Dave Duncan books which I loved, so I don't have to feel guilty in any way!