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sarawackadoo's review against another edition
2.0
Be careful what childhood favourites you decide to reread...
el_reads17's review against another edition
5.0
4.5/5 It started slow but I was soon hooked and couldn't put it down. The characters were loveable and I was rooting for kick-ass Kero all the way! One weakness is that sometimes, the sense of time was hard to grasp. I wasn't sure if months or mere weeks had passed in the storyline.
This is my first Mercedes Lackey book and I look forward to reading more of her work in the future.
Recommended for any fantasy fans.
This is my first Mercedes Lackey book and I look forward to reading more of her work in the future.
Recommended for any fantasy fans.
gypsydawn's review
5.0
still amazing
I read this book the first time when I was just a teen. Somehow I stumbled upon the only stand alone in the Valdemar universe! That foray launched me into a true love affair with reading, and it’s all due to this book.
I’ve recently chosen to reread the entire universe (in order) and finally landed on this one. I was nervous. My memories are so clear and I was worried it wouldn’t hold up - but it did!!! It’s just as good as I remember!
I read this book the first time when I was just a teen. Somehow I stumbled upon the only stand alone in the Valdemar universe! That foray launched me into a true love affair with reading, and it’s all due to this book.
I’ve recently chosen to reread the entire universe (in order) and finally landed on this one. I was nervous. My memories are so clear and I was worried it wouldn’t hold up - but it did!!! It’s just as good as I remember!
tribefan33's review against another edition
5.0
This is the book that introduced me to the world of Valdemar! I bought it in an airport because of the cover art! Best purchase ever!
kay1212's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
marcopolo's review against another edition
2.0
Not a bad story, in and of itself, but the whole way mercenaries were presented as this idealized band of wonderful people just came across as completely contrived and not believable, even in a make belief fantasy setting.
War is ugly. War is cruel and harsh. Mercenaries are, by definition, selfish and out for themselves. They are not a lovely little club of best friends in 'guilds' of wonderful chivalry and perfect ideals.
War is ugly. War is cruel and harsh. Mercenaries are, by definition, selfish and out for themselves. They are not a lovely little club of best friends in 'guilds' of wonderful chivalry and perfect ideals.
wild_dog's review against another edition
3.0
When I started this reread, I could not, for the life of me, remember a single thing that happened in this story. And that continued until the last maybe 50 pages of the book, where I definitely remember the Daren blood-magic/etc. situation and final battle sections. But still, I find it pretty telling I couldn't remember any of this book except the most detailed of the battles (also, that probably says something about me).
Maybe if I'd read this as a kid, the self denial/torture would have landed better (my first read had to have been late-teens/college). As is, this came across pretty moralizing on all fronts (so many perspectives, all moralizing at each other!), and I spent maybe 50% of this book rolling my eyes at what I assumed was a particularly egregious ~*~LIFE BOND~*~ and it wasn't??? I'm shook. I thought this was just another example of Lackey's overemphasis of life bonds and instead it's just shitty romance writing!?!?!?!? Regardless, I found a large part of this book to be pretty uninspiring, largely because I couldn't connect with the characters emotionally. I like Kerowyn, I love her practicality and bullheadedness, I just don't care about just how often she spends brooding to herself about what a "freak" she is. After a while, it just feels like an attack when you identify with a character's actual personality, but the author can't stop writing in self-doubt and loathing. Let me identify with this woman, stop questioning MY personhood when you have her question her own ALL. THE. TIME.
Also, WOWOW I don't know if I was more shocked or happy about just how bad this book makes Valdemar and the Heralds look. Like, maybe that's just me, but this outside perspective does NOT do any favors for the particular strain of moralizing Eldan does (also ugh, Eldan) and it was utterly refreshing to read Kerowyn being totally unimpressed by the Companions.
I also find the organization of the text a little bizarre. It comes across feeling that there was set up for the trilogy format the rest of the series follows, but instead Lackey just didn't write enough for those three distinct stories to each be their own book. So this is more of a weird anthology, but with the whole thing feeling like there's just not enough meat to the story. Just kind of a subtle feeling of disappointment that nothing was ever taken far enough. Those unwritten bits between the sections are the parts I was most interested in reading about.
Overall, an entertaining read, but nothing to write home about.
Maybe if I'd read this as a kid, the self denial/torture would have landed better (my first read had to have been late-teens/college). As is, this came across pretty moralizing on all fronts (so many perspectives, all moralizing at each other!), and I spent maybe 50% of this book rolling my eyes at what I assumed was a particularly egregious ~*~LIFE BOND~*~ and it wasn't??? I'm shook. I thought this was just another example of Lackey's overemphasis of life bonds and instead it's just shitty romance writing!?!?!?!? Regardless, I found a large part of this book to be pretty uninspiring, largely because I couldn't connect with the characters emotionally. I like Kerowyn, I love her practicality and bullheadedness, I just don't care about just how often she spends brooding to herself about what a "freak" she is. After a while, it just feels like an attack when you identify with a character's actual personality, but the author can't stop writing in self-doubt and loathing. Let me identify with this woman, stop questioning MY personhood when you have her question her own ALL. THE. TIME.
Also, WOWOW I don't know if I was more shocked or happy about just how bad this book makes Valdemar and the Heralds look. Like, maybe that's just me, but this outside perspective does NOT do any favors for the particular strain of moralizing Eldan does (also ugh, Eldan) and it was utterly refreshing to read Kerowyn being totally unimpressed by the Companions.
I also find the organization of the text a little bizarre. It comes across feeling that there was set up for the trilogy format the rest of the series follows, but instead Lackey just didn't write enough for those three distinct stories to each be their own book. So this is more of a weird anthology, but with the whole thing feeling like there's just not enough meat to the story. Just kind of a subtle feeling of disappointment that nothing was ever taken far enough. Those unwritten bits between the sections are the parts I was most interested in reading about.
Overall, an entertaining read, but nothing to write home about.
tessisreading2's review against another edition
4.0
An adolescent favorite, basically as great as I remember; this was one of my preferred Valdemar books because there was so little Valdemar in it. When Valdemar does make an appearance, it's a bit... well, much, as always; everyone is noble and well-intentioned and the Companions are magic horses and royalty take their roles seriously and it's A Lot. But before that, there's a huge amount of Kerowyn being awesome, which makes up for it.
hrewannabe's review against another edition
5.0
By the Sword was the first book I every picked up by Mercedes Lackey, putting it in my pile at the goodwill store I had no idea what I was doing. Reading the book from the first to last page I was enchanted by Kero's life. And before I knew it I had finished the book. After finishing the book I didn't think anything about it till I picked it up again and by then i was reading it over and over again to the point where I have no idea how many times I've read it; By the Sword also got me more interested in Mercedes Lackey's other books and before I knew it each time I went to a bookstore I was looking for the next book of hers that I could read. This defiantly sparked a lover for romantic fantasy
claire_loves_books's review against another edition
3.0
I really enjoyed some of this but at other times I found it painfully slow going and dull. I wasn't actually that invested in Kero and having skipped the [b:Vows and Honor|14005|Vows and Honor (Valdemar Vows and Honor #1-3)|Mercedes Lackey|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1296245302s/14005.jpg|16097] series I wasn't that interested in the Kero's family, so the main plot just seemed to take a while to get started.
While Kero is interesting she's also kind of cold- so driven towards independence that she's willing to make life a lot more unpleasant for herself and give up a chance for a happy life
While Kero is interesting she's also kind of cold- so driven towards independence that she's willing to make life a lot more unpleasant for herself and give up a chance for a happy life