F/SF

Continuing the saga of the Swords of Power, here is Sightblinder's story: The Sword of Stealth or the Sword of Disguise. Here too we are introduced to the overarching villain, and greatest tie-in to the Empire of the East: Wood, former supreme sorcerer of the Empire of the East, trapped for millenia in the prison he built to hold Orcus, has been freed by the foolish, power-hungry children of Honan-Fu.

The Sword of Stealth is given to/One lowly and despised/Sightblinder's gifts: his eyes are keen/His nature is disguised.

So speaks the Rhyme of the Swords. Arnfinn, lowly shepherd, finds himself in possession of the blade and in love with Honan-Fu's mad daughter. Wood himself has disposed of the great sorcerer, even as Mark and Ben approach Honan-Fu to apprentice Mark's superbly gifted sorcerous son, Adrien. Sightblinder shows you as the one most feared or most desired to those around you, while giving you sharp insight into the truth of them in turn. Will Arnfinn save his lady? Will Wood entrap Mark and end his labors- for Wood has the stolen Shieldbreaker in his possession?

Surprising turns of events with Sightblinder, especially at the end. Excellent use of its secondary gift of perceiving the truth of things objectively. Solid entry, feels like the actual entry into the story of the Lost Swords, relegating Woundhealer's story to a kind of interstitial prequel. ( )