Books of Swords
book series written by Fred Saberhagen
The Book of Swords Series is a series of science fiction fantasy novels by American Fred Saberhagen, published from 1983 to 1995. The story revolves around the Twelve Swords of Power, which were forged by the gods and given to humanity, and how various characters acquire and use them. The series spans several decades and features dozens of characters.
Works
The Book of Swords
The First Book of Swords (1983)
The Second Book of Swords (1983)
The Third Book of Swords (1984)Omnibus: The Complete Book of Swords (1985)
Books of Lost Swords
Woundhealer's Story (1986)
Sightblinder's Story (1987)
Stonecutter's Story (1988)Omnibus: The Lost Swords: The First Triad (1988)
Farslayer's Story (1989)
Coinspinner's Story (1989)
Mindsword's Story (1990)Omnibus: The Lost Swords: The Second Triad (1990)
Wayfinder's Story (1992)
Shieldbreaker's Story (1994)Omnibus: The Lost Swords: Endgame (1994)
Short stories
An Armory of Swords (1995), an anthology of eight stories in the Swords universe by eight authors, including "Blind Man's Blade" by Saberhagen.
Related books
The Book of Swords series is also linked to the Empire of the East series, which is set in the same universe and presents the backstory to the series. The first three works in the Empire of the East series predate the Book of Swords series (The Broken Lands (1968), The Black Mountains (1971), and Changeling Earth (1973), also titled Ardneh's World), with the fourth Empire of the East book, Ardneh's Sword (2006), returning to the universe long after the Book of Swords series was complete.
Composition
Saberhagen wrote the first books in the series in the 1980s with the intention of developing them into a video game. Although some preliminary code and art was developed, the project was deemed technologically infeasible.
Premise
The Book of Swords series blends science fiction and fantasy, combining fantastical settings with logic-puzzle plots based on science fiction.
Setting
The books are set far into the future.
“Books of Swords” enters the record as book series written by Fred Saberhagen. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Books, Swords and book can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4943091. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1983, 1995, 1984 and 1985.
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