Okay, so I bought and read By The Sword yesterday. Wow. Just...wow.
[SPOILER]I was impressed that RJ played not two but three sides against each other. I also think FPW did a great job of making the reader feel as confused as RJ when he gets contacted by Slater a second time. I was wondering what the hell was going on, just as RJ was. I am very happy that FPW threw Glaeken out there in the beginning, so I didn't have to read all the way through to get some answers, as tension builds and builds. I like that...you're only like a dozen pages in, and BAM! It's Glaeken. And Dr. Wilson, thank you, thank you thank you for explaining the origins of the Twins. It was the one aspect in this whole series that just bugged the hell out of me. I mean, you could have made them spring fully grown out of Zeus' head for all I cared, just give me an origin! And you did. Thank you. Oh, and now you've got me all spun around with the Lady saying she's not exactly Mother Earth. I had been under the impression since Gateways that that is exactly what the Lady was. Now you've gone and changed it on me. Nuts.
Anyway, well done. You have no idea how hard it was ever since that limited run came out not to find some sort of spoilers, or read what you all had to say about it. And hell, I know Nightworld is out there, and if I really wanted, I could buy a used copy, but I'll wait the few more years, twitching like a heroin addict whenever I think about the fact that I can but won't read it...yet.[/SPOILER]
I was very impressed, and very entertained. Bravo!
Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats. -H.L. Mencken
Let not thy will roar when thy power can but whisper. -Dr. Thomas Fuller (1654-1734), Gnomologia, 1732