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grid's review against another edition
5.0
I think this might just be the best one of the trilogy. I enjoyed it quite a bit.
jwels's review against another edition
3.0
I was wavering between giving this book 3 or 4 stars and decided on 3 stars. I liked the book but I got bogged down during some of it. I guess I'm wary of books that go from one place to another just to have the characters moving. If I notice the characters are just moving that's not a good thing. If a book is good I don't notice the movement it's just part of the story. While I recognize that there were reasons for the movement in this book , it was too much. The whole second book is about character development really not the action because there really isn't too much of it. However, I do like the characters and I'm glad we got some of the story told from their point of views. I'm not sure about going on to the 3rd book right now as I have other books that I want to dive into. I'm thinking a break from this story will help it in the future,
metaphorosis's review
3.0
reviews.metaphorosis.com
3 stars
Wallie Smith, chemical engineer now in the body of Shonsu the master swordsman, has a goddess' riddle to work out, and little in the way of hints. But he has a fellowship of able assistants of all stripes, and the best he can do is try to muddle it all out.
The Coming of Wisdom has all of Dave Duncan's usual light fantasy charm and personality, but less in the way of structure and plot. It's a solidly entertaining continuation of the storyline, but not much more, and the ending is weak.
Duncan most often writes about likeable everyman heroes in difficult spots; part of his appeal is his ability to bring readers along to ponder ethical and practical dilemmas. He accomplishes that ably in this book. Wallie, from a different world, struggles constantly to understand and work with local strictures and mores that seem impractical and even dangerous. He's been given divine proof that things are different here, and he'd better conform, but struggles to keep his own moral sense intact. Duncan does a nice job of making the struggle entertaining.
At the mid-point of the series, larger moral issues have faded into the background a ways. While Wallie struggled with slavery in the prior book, here it's an accepted fact. He owns his lover, and that's the way it is. To his credit, Duncan mostly pulls that off - Wallie seldom loses sight of the fact that it's not an equal relationship (with one uncomfortable exception). Other slaves don't come off as well, and there's one change of cast that not only highlights the issue of slavery, but suggests that Duncan simply changed his mind partway through the story, as he dumps a character who never did much but stand around and stare. There's a possibility it was an intentional plot support, but it comes off as clumsy and jolting. There are several minor inconsistencies in the world and environment that stick out as well. Gender continues to be out of balance, with a very male oriented story. At one point, Wallie determines that a young priestess 'deserves' a better life - as far as I can tell, only on the basis that pretty (and smart, but the emphasis seems to be on pretty). One woman has 'an old man's eyes' - seemingly because they're hard and cunning.
Duncan's strength has always been more in friendly style than intricate plot, but most of his stories can hold their own. In this book, however, after a time the plot seems to degenerate into a long chase scene. Go to city, have adventure, figure out part of the riddle, go to another city... While Duncan handles one of the key puzzles well, he fails to consider a host of possible explanations for others, and seems to forget one entirely. The goddess needs Wallie, and won't promise miracles, but does quite a lot of intervening. The approach holds up for a good while, but loses appeal toward the end. A parallel to Philip Jose Farmer's classic river series goes seemingly unacknowledged.
The more problematic issue, however, is the ending. As the end of the book approached, I wondered more and more intensely how Duncan would be able to pull off a finale in just 50 pages... 40.... 30... 10... The answer is, of course, that he doesn't. There's a little set piece to balance things a bit, but basically the book just stops, leaving the big action for book three. It's disappointing, and far from making me anxious for the conclusion of the trilogy, suggests that I know pretty well what's coming.
All in all, a decent read, and a modest continuation of the series, but not Duncan’s best, and not satisfying in itself.
vaderbird's review against another edition
3.0
5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
manwithanagenda's review
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
This fared better on a re-read than 'The Reluctant Swordsman'. Shonsu's quest is in full-swing now, but he finds his attempts to recruit swordsmen thwarted at every turn. This can be blamed on the Hand of the Goddess in part, but it doesn't help that a great many cities have been taken over by the mythical Sorcerers who have wiped out whole garrisons of swordsmen with a wave of their hands. They rule from the towers they've had constructed in these cities. Unfortunately, it appears they are doing a much better job at ruling than the swordsmen have done in generations.
Whatever Shonsu's feelings on the matter, he has to figure out what the sorcerers are up to and face down personal challenges as well. There is a welcome break in point-of-view characters in the form of a young priestess, Katanji and a few others, but they don't stick around nearly long enough. I will eventually finish my re-read of the trilogy, especially now that I realize that what I thought was the ending of the trilogy is actually only the ending of this book.
Seventh Sword
Next: 'The Destiny of the Sword'
Previous: 'The Reluctant Swordsman'
Whatever Shonsu's feelings on the matter, he has to figure out what the sorcerers are up to and face down personal challenges as well. There is a welcome break in point-of-view characters in the form of a young priestess, Katanji and a few others, but they don't stick around nearly long enough. I will eventually finish my re-read of the trilogy, especially now that I realize that what I thought was the ending of the trilogy is actually only the ending of this book.
Seventh Sword
Next: 'The Destiny of the Sword'
Previous: 'The Reluctant Swordsman'
abookandacup's review against another edition
The story is becoming better and better, we are discovering more of the world of the Goddess! And the team is definitely building in that one, living a lot of adventures and finally discovering the secret of the Sorcerers.
abookandacup's review
The story is becoming better and better, we are discovering more of the world of the Goddess! And the team is definitely building in that one, living a lot of adventures and finally discovering the secret of the Sorcerers.
revslick's review
3.0
Slightly more wordy than his last one and it definitely fits the mold of second novels within a trilogy; however, it is still a fun ride. Long live Wallie!
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