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A Two-Edged Sword - Thomas K. Martin Book Review

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Review Summary
Steve Wilkinson volunteers to participate in a sleep experiment at his college, but something goes terribly wrong. As his spirit is wandering in the land of dreams, he is called through to another world/dimension by a wizard. In this world, there are the traditional fantasy races: Olvir/elves, Umbrian/humans, etc. The enemy is the Morvir, a country where male children are taken from their homes at age 5 and trained for war. Only the best become officers and soliders, the rest are castrated and sent back to work the fields and do other menial labor. They are ruled by the Dark Queen who wants to take over the land. The only one who can stop her is the Dreamer...

Unfortunately, Steve has no idea what is going on. He is a typical college student and understands little about battle, honor and such. However, he is a fast learner. He quickly becomes one of Erelvar's legir (sworn man) and becomes embroiled in the conflict between the races.

This is a fast paced fantasy adventure. The world was familiar, yet slightly different than a traditional fantasy setting, which was fun. The characters were well-drawn. All of them learned, developed and matured throughout the novel. Martin spent some time showing the war through all of the different races so that the reader could understand how they viewed the conflict. Each of the characters had weaknesses and all suffered crippling losses. Steve's knowledge of technology helped, but he didn't single-handedly save the world. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fantasy. Even though it is rather typical in the premise (person from modern world sucked into another world where he is the only one who can save them from destruction, etc.), Martin's writing style makes this book a great read.

Debbie, Resident Scholar


Detailed literary breakdown of A Two-Edged Sword
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 30%
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 30%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 20%




Tone of book - very upbeat
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - part earth & part fantasy world
Coming of age Yes
Youngster becomes - great warrior
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book

Main Character
Identity: - Male
Profession/status: - student
Age: - 20's-30's
Has magical/special powers? Yes
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
How sensitive is this character? - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - very athletic

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - long-lived adults
Profession/status: - mage/magician
Has magical powers? Yes
Magical/mental powers of main antagonist: - mind reading - can fly
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - an average amount
How sensitive is this character? - mean, arrogant
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - very athletic

Setting
Earth setting: - general past
Takes place on Earth? Yes

Style
Person? - mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths
How much dialogue? - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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The Riddle of the Wren by Charles de Lint




Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).
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