A review by gengelcox
The Bronze Axe by Jeffrey Lord

adventurous fast-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

1.5

I discovered the Richard Blade series as a teen while scouring used bookstores for more SF and fantasy to devour, the local and school libraries being somewhat bare in that genre. Used paperbacks were a great bargain. For the price of a couple of sodas, I could get something to keep me occupied for a couple of hours or an evening. This was back when I could read a couple of novels a day. Of course, it helped that I wasn’t reading anything really difficult. Most of my fare consisted of action/adventures like the Doc Savage books. Richard Blade fit into that mold, but with an important difference for a boy just post-puberty: these novels had sex scenes. 

The first book sets the formula for the series. Blade is a secret agent of the British government, a James Bond clone, who is “recruited” to test an experimental computer-brain interface that is supposed to increase his knowledge exponentially. The experiment does something else: it enables Blade to see and exist in another dimension (how this is accomplished while his body stays in the home dimension is handwaving—these are science fantasy books, the science doesn’t have to be believable). When Blade arrives in these dimensions, it’s just him—no clothes, no equipment. But because he’s such a splendid physical specimen, not to mention able to master many martial arts, he is able to hold his own, and often more than that. In this first book, he rescues a princess, goes mano-a-mano with a seasoned warrior, is captured with his companions and defeats three large bears, and challenges and defeats a pirate. When the battle is all said and done, he finally returns but someone brings back something from the dimension: a large, pure black pearl. 

Is it good? Not really, in plot, characterization, or depiction of sex. The latter is more lurid than arousing, the characters have limited dimensions, and you know from the start that Blade is going to prevail (else, how could there be a book two?). This type of book is like cotton candy. You know it’s just sugar and bad for you, but you still read it as a treat even though you know it will likely give you a tummyache.