The Broken Sword
Reddit take
Not enough linked mention summaries yet; the source excerpts below are the evidence.
Pros
- Amazing read, loved every bit of it. Tremendous work of imagination and myth making.
- I recently read this for the first time and it goes near the tip top of my all time favorite fantasy books.
- Nothing like Lotr but a masterpiece of tragic epic fantasy storytelling nonetheless
- As the OP quite correctly says, more bleak, more tragic, and highly recommended.
- Parent context: I read it last year. I've never read LotR, but I was curious about reading a short standalone with vikings. Reply: Could have been shorter!? I thought it was too short. Would have definitely loved a version that was at le...
Cons
- It was interesting book. 50% of it is a good story, but other 50% is description, a lot of which is too much. It's only around 200 pages as you said, but I think it took me around a month to get through. The story of the book is good,...
Sentiment
12 positive (92%) · 1 mixed (8%) · 0 negative (0%)
Trust + time weighted score: +92% · raw score 92%
What redditors said (10 of 13)
Amazing read, loved every bit of it. Tremendous work of imagination and myth making.
I recently read this for the first time and it goes near the tip top of my all time favorite fantasy books.
Nothing like Lotr but a masterpiece of tragic epic fantasy storytelling nonetheless
As the OP quite correctly says, more bleak, more tragic, and highly recommended.
Parent context: I read it last year. I've never read LotR, but I was curious about reading a short standalone with vikings. Reply: Could have been shorter!? I thought it was too short. Would have definitely loved a version that was at least 50-100 pages longer. Then again, I breezed through The Broken Sword in a single day.
I love the broken sword. It pulled me in and I finished in within two days--it really is pretty gruesome & shocking. But that's what I like the most about it. There's no sentimentality or nostalgia here.
It was interesting book. 50% of it is a good story, but other 50% is description, a lot of which is too much. It's only around 200 pages as you said, but I think it took me around a month to get through. The story of the book is good, especially with how short it is, but perhaps it could have been a bit shorter.
Yup. It's my favourite fantasy novel.
The Broken Sword is an excellent novel that compacts a lot into its short length. It is fast tempo, but has a surprising amount off depth, especially on its characters. I really enjoyed it a lot.
the book is bleak, cold, and lined with tragic characters, but contrasted with interesting folklore, huge battle scenes, and elegantly described environments. Elves, trolls, witches, Vikings, it really has it all. How Anderson found a way to fit a massively scaled fantasy world into a book of 207 pages will continue to blow my mind.
Compare
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