The Reluctant Swordsman (The Seventh Sword) Paperback – May 27, 2014

I just stumbled across this while looking for some new series to start on. I'm about 3/4 through the second book in the series and so far it's been great.I deduct a half star because I find the author's ability to describe a location to be a bit...off. I sometimes find myself re-reading a paragraph and still not quite getting the image he's trying to deliver.The author is, however, excellent at dialog, moving the plot forward and developing characters that have their own personalities. In fact, this isn't just an enjoyable series, it's a "page turner". I again find myself in the all too rare situation of staying up until 2am because I want to see what happens next.The basic premise is something out of "Quantum Leap" or "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" -- a man, Wallie Smith, from a modern western civilization (it's never really specified which) finds himself not only on another planet but in another body. The body is that of Shonsu, which to say, basically Conan the Barbarian, in a pre-literate, pre-medieval culture where the Gods are very real, very active and the locals aren't overly friendly.And the Gods have a job for him.They are not very specific about what it is.Wallie Smith / Shonsu must unravel the riddle of the Gods. The penalty for failure is death. The rewards for success are not very well defined. Well, what could possibly go wrong??

Just finished reading the trilogy (although there is now a fourth book in the series), and it was pretty good.Duncan creates a world where the population is medieval in nature, everyone lives near the river that runs the length of the planet, people's professions and their ranks within those professions are permanently marked on their foreheads, and the Goddess actively intercedes and performs miracles. Most likely the world is simply another planet, although one where divine actions are common.Into this world is propelled Wallie Smith, a middle-aged chemical engineer from Earth who recently died. His mind is installed into the body of a 7th-level swordsman (the highest level). After some difficulty in accepting the reality of what he's experiencing, he finally comes around and a demi-god gives him the knowledge and abilities of his host that are related to swordsmanship. Then he also receives a legendary sword and a mission in the form of a riddle. Note that the original owner of his host body, Shonsu, was given the same (or a similar) mission and failed. The remainder of the first book is his integration into the world and his efforts to get out of the temple city and on with his mission. This is not as easy as you would assume, as the swordsman garrison in the city is corrupt and its leadership is trying to steal the Wallie's sword.The plot of "The Reluctant Swordsman" isn't epic by any means, but it's an interesting introduction to the culture of the world he's now residing in. There's character development, particularly with Wallie who has a difficult time handling the casual slavery of the society as well as the casual murder by the swordsmen.Books two and three get more interesting, as the mission unfolds and we learn more about sorcerers, the enemies of all swordsmen. The people in Wallie's group also grow and develop and become major contributors to the mission. A lot of times things don't go very well for Wallie. The epilogue at end of the trilogy, however, is very satisfying. We see how Wallie's educated 21st-century mind combined with Shonsu's physical skills and mental responses is exactly what was needed to complete the mission. This, despite the fact that Wallie's mind and Shonsu's mind (such as it was) were constantly in conflict.Downsides:◘ Too much introspection and second-guessing by Wallie. While this is integral to the story, I think it's overdone.◘ The pacing of the first book was too slow. It was essentially a very long introduction—a full-volume prelude to the actual story.◘ I figured out two of the major mysteries in the story well before Wallie did. Specifically, the nature of the sorcerers' fire demons and how they were able to transmit information quickly over long distances. This was doubly annoying because Wallie is a chemical engineer and should have put the clues together well before I did. I was thinking, "Open your eyes. THINK! The clues are all there!"Upsides:◘ Author Duncan has created a believable, consistent world with characters that I was interested in.◘ Wallie's second meeting with the demi-god, where he was shown a small bit of divinity, was fantastic. You hear about such things in the Bible, for instance, but Author Duncan does a great job of showing how even modern man can't handle seeing the nature of the divine (even in a small dose).◘ The writing is good and easy to read.Recommended.

Never having entered the "Fantasy" genre (I thought this was more the Dungeons and Dragons set) I read some good things about these books. That there were only 3 in the set I figured it would be a minimum time/money investment if things didn't turn out right. After the first 1/4 of The Reluctant Swordsman (when things finally get explained) I was totally hooked. I liken this series to The Seven Voyages of Sinbad. Entertaining. Fun. Interesting to read. The plot moves along nicely and things are explained in enough detail that the reader understands the plot without having to get overly involved in the minutia.The three books are tied together well, without a ton of time spent on recapping what has come before. Sometimes series books spend SO much time on what has previously happened that you might as well not have read the book before and just skipped to the last. Not so here.If you've not tried this genre of writing before and want to give it a go, this would be the series for you. Sit back. Relax. Enjoy Shonsu's world and be welcome to it!

This book came up on my Kindle recommendations. I'd never heard of it, but the price was low and I figured I'd give it a shot since I'd almost run out of good stuff to read.I'm now amazed that Dave Duncan isn't a household name--at least among lovers of well-written, engaging fantasy. The book grabbed me right away with lots of action and interesting situations. So much fantasy can get turgid, but this book, while not crazy funny, is humorous. I loved reading Wallie Smith's inner thoughts as he tries to navigate the completely unfamiliar World. I guess I might be amused too if I were an unassuming plant manager suddenly dropped into the body of a huge, athletic swordsman who talks to gods.Duncan's World is fully realized with great detail. All that and a page-turning story! I highly recommend this and the second book in the trilogy, The Coming of Wisdom. I just downloaded the third book and I'm about to go read it right now!