Fencer Trilogy by K J Parker

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Submitted by Carl T. Holden 
(Mar 09, 2009)

I have just finished reading the final book in the trilogy. I came across the first - Colours in the Steel - in a second hand shop and, having finished it, immediately went out and bought the two subsequent volumes. The writng is so wonderfully detailed - Mr. Parker obviously enjoys both his subject as well as building machines of destruction - but is also blessed with that slightly cynical humour which establishes Terry Pratchett as a master craftsman.

The scenes are delightfully described, the action fairly rattles along; and the plots deviate all over the place, but always dropping those necessary clues and hints which leave the reader anxious to discover what happens next.

Of the dozens of fantasy books I have read over the years, I find it difficult to bring to mind any which gave me more enjoyment.

KJ Parker's Fencer Trilogy is quite interesting and different. The trilogy follows a main character who has some depth, strengths and weaknesses. Without spoiling the plot, suffice it to say that if you read all three books, you will learn quite a lot about weapon construction .... and the metaphor of making weapons directly impacts the plot line of the book in an inventive, disturbing and extremely surprising way.

I would highly recommend this book.

K.J. Parker has an extraordinary way of writing out sword battles. Every detail is so fine, so well said that it quite perfect. K.J. Parker's idea of having a government based entirely around sword duling and sword forging, and swords in general is just so magnificent. His idea in this series, mostly in book one, The Colours in The Steel is that in a court of law, the lawyers actually fence to resolve the issue. Divorces and Wills are cases of which the advocates do not fence to the death, but every other issue is to the death. Extraordinary writer, and wonderful books. I highly recommend this to anybody who enjoys medieval warfare. The only negative thing I have to say about K.J. Parker is that he used old english, including many old english words of which I had never even heard of. He is a brilliant man but I couldn't quite keep up with some of the vocabulary. Even so, this read was quite worth it. Perhaps better than the wonderful tale of The Lord of the Rind by J.R.R. Tolkien, different ideas but large battles which you could put into comparison with much of J.R.R. Tolkien's books. This was a fascinating tale and worth any negative thing you could posibly find about it.