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Pretty, but lacking in story. It's basically an artist's notebook of sword drawings, but ultimately they come across as fairly generic, and lacking in specific history or storytelling to make them compelling. ( )

The swashes get buckled in this book and they do so in style. Absolutely gorgeous renderings (in digital media) of swords make this a treat for the eyes, while each sword is provided a description and/or reason for existing. The author breaks it all into sections, such as Ninjas, Samurai, Raiders, Landsknechts, and so forth. There is even a breakout on the Silla Knights of ancient Korea, which sent me scurrying for a Wiki viewing. The Scimitars of the Sultans are even explained to the differences between Persian, Turkish, and Indian, which is so much more than I expected from a book that gets filed in the children's section.

I would pair this with Richard Francis Burton's [b:The Book of the Sword: With 293 Illustrations|860620|The Book of the Sword With 293 Illustrations|Richard Francis Burton|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1328869021s/860620.jpg|846059]. One would enhance the other and provide even more respect for the Queen of Weapons. The sword is truly sacred.

BTW, the typeset used is Historical Fell, which means you need to get thyself to a bookstore just to view the professionalism of what a real book aspires to be.

Book Season = Autumn ( )

A. loves making paper swords and was interested in looking through this book for inspiration. It did not hold his interest for long, although he enjoyed leafing through it. I think we both would have liked it more if it had more historical info about swords/sword crafting along with the illustrations. ( )

Z liked flipping through this but only read it in drips and drab, since "swords are not a favorite weapon or tool." ( )