Many of the negative, or just mediocre, reviews at Amazon for By The Sword seem to not like the new focus of the series. Many seem to feel that now that the books are focused more on the Otherness, that they are not as worthwhile.

Another common complaint is that since there are so many characters in BTS, that Jack takes a backseat too much, and Gia and Vicky are almost completely absent (vicky is actually). Also, that it was the every day fixits that people liked, and they are not as interested in the larger Cosmic battle, that it is too conventional.

Now, I am not one of those people. By The Sword was one of my favorite books of the series, and I did not really miss Gia or Vicky. I feel I would if they were gone indefinitely, but I do not mind them taking on a lesser role.

I really enjoy the Otherness, it is what drew me to the series. If not for that aspect, I do not think it would have ever appeared on my radar. The Otherness: Glaeken, The Lady, Rasolom etc, really adds something to the series, that in my mind it would lack with just the Urban Mecenary angle. Something I also enjoy about long-running series is growth. I get tired of the character doing the same old same.

If Jack just kept on doing normal fixits in the face of the end of the world and all, it wouldn't seem right with his character. Now that he knows how much is out there, and how big it all is and it isnt going away, it seems natural to me that he would do his best, in his own way, to fix things.

but between the action, the Japanese Samurai elements, and Glaeken, I just thought By The Sword was excellent. I really love Samurai stories, so it was a real crossover treat. I am encouraged by it and Bloodlines. I feel that as long as they stay this good, the big Cosmic Battle will just be awesome.

Afterall, for me Jack is it, he is the Cake. All the other characters are the icing, and I do not even like icing that much, give me extra cake any day.

Many of the negative, or just mediocre, reviews at Amazon for By The Sword seem to not like the new focus of the series. Many seem to feel that now that the books are focused more on the Otherness, that they are not as worthwhile.

Another common complaint is that since there are so many characters in BTS, that Jack takes a backseat too much, and Gia and Vicky are almost completely absent (vicky is actually). Also, that it was the every day fixits that people liked, and they are not as interested in the larger Cosmic battle, that it is too conventional.

Now, I am not one of those people. By The Sword was one of my favorite books of the series, and I did not really miss Gia or Vicky. I feel I would if they were gone indefinitely, but I do not mind them taking on a lesser role.

I really enjoy the Otherness, it is what drew me to the series. If not for that aspect, I do not think it would have ever appeared on my radar. The Otherness: Glaeken, The Lady, Rasolom etc, really adds something to the series, that in my mind it would lack with just the Urban Mecenary angle. Something I also enjoy about long-running series is growth. I get tired of the character doing the same old same.

If Jack just kept on doing normal fixits in the face of the end of the world and all, it wouldn't seem right with his character. Now that he knows how much is out there, and how big it all is and it isnt going away, it seems natural to me that he would do his best, in his own way, to fix things.

but between the action, the Japanese Samurai elements, and Glaeken, I just thought By The Sword was excellent. I really love Samurai stories, so it was a real crossover treat. I am encouraged by it and Bloodlines. I feel that as long as they stay this good, the big Cosmic Battle will just be awesome.

Afterall, for me Jack is it, he is the Cake. All the other characters are the icing, and I do not even like icing that much, give me extra cake any day.

These reviewers forget that RJ is a PART of the larger Adversary Cycle. And they can eat me. The books are awesome.

Many of the negative, or just mediocre, reviews at Amazon for By The Sword seem to not like the new focus of the series. Many seem to feel that now that the books are focused more on the Otherness, that they are not as worthwhile.

Another common complaint is that since there are so many characters in BTS, that Jack takes a backseat too much, and Gia and Vicky are almost completely absent (vicky is actually). Also, that it was the every day fixits that people liked, and they are not as interested in the larger Cosmic battle, that it is too conventional.

Now, I am not one of those people. By The Sword was one of my favorite books of the series, and I did not really miss Gia or Vicky. I feel I would if they were gone indefinitely, but I do not mind them taking on a lesser role.

I really enjoy the Otherness, it is what drew me to the series. If not for that aspect, I do not think it would have ever appeared on my radar. The Otherness: Glaeken, The Lady, Rasolom etc, really adds something to the series, that in my mind it would lack with just the Urban Mecenary angle. Something I also enjoy about long-running series is growth. I get tired of the character doing the same old same.

If Jack just kept on doing normal fixits in the face of the end of the world and all, it wouldn't seem right with his character. Now that he knows how much is out there, and how big it all is and it isnt going away, it seems natural to me that he would do his best, in his own way, to fix things.

but between the action, the Japanese Samurai elements, and Glaeken, I just thought By The Sword was excellent. I really love Samurai stories, so it was a real crossover treat. I am encouraged by it and Bloodlines. I feel that as long as they stay this good, the big Cosmic Battle will just be awesome.

Afterall, for me Jack is it, he is the Cake. All the other characters are the icing, and I do not even like icing that much, give me extra cake any day.

Good points Turanthor, although I must admit to missing his more mundane repairs even if it makes sense to the overall story. And for those of us who've read the series in its entirety, Jack is very familiar and we require less of him, we kind of understand how he operates.

Welcome to the fray.

Just feed them pizza at 2 in the morning. After they wake up from their nightmares, they'll want to read Nightworld.

Stephanie

These reviewers forget that RJ is a PART of the larger Adversary Cycle. And they can eat me. The books are awesome.

I'm enjoying the discovery of the Otherness. How it's deep into just about everything that Jack does. I'm reading BTS now, I'll maybe finish The Adversary series, except for Nightworld, before the next book is delivered.

The way I see it, the Otherness needs to be explored in order for the reader to see how much it has affected Jack and all around him.

I loved the BtS the only complaint I could ever have is that it was short.....most the time thats my complaint about all the books I like. I never want them to end. I just may have to cry when RJ series ends. Please never end the series

I was kinda disappointed when the RP series began because I thought The Otherness was going to dropped while the fix-it's took over. But I've loved the roller coaster ride as the series crescendoed The Otherness as the storyline builds toward NIGHTWORLD. In a perfect world there would be a fix-it Jack series, but I'm happy with the direction of the series so far.

AC

P.S. Now if we could get the director of WATCHMEN to do the NIGHTWORLD movie....

I had this thought in the very beginning, when I hadn't realized Jack was a character in a sci-fi series (I had read the 2nd book before The Tomb and got quite a shock when the rakoshi appeared, as Legacies doesn't really have any obvious Otherness-ness if read for the first time). I don't think any less of Jack as the Otherness becomes more central in the books' plots; as already stated, this whole series is an offshoot dealing with the Otherness. But for me, I always thought more of Jack after reading about his latest neat solution to a "real life" fix-it.

His fix-its (and how they always tie back into the other aspects of the plot) are usually my favorite parts of that particular book, mostly because it makes me marvel at the time and care that was needed for the usually awesome solution to be hit upon. Not to say that writing about the Otherness requires any less time and care, but to me, to solve a baffling fix-it within the limits of our "real-world" options and scenarios seems to be a tougher challenge and requires extra research on FPW's part. The Otherness is great, but I also love my fix-it fix!

Welcome, Turanthor. You'll like it here.

BTS was a fine effort...except for the continuity fudge on who can be a shoten...it would have made for a far more horrific ending. I found BTS to be less interesting than the previous two novels however, I enjoyed it more than anything I've read, by someone other than FPW, in the last 2 or 3 years.

-Wapitikev

RJ is one of my favorite fictional characters, and the main reason I became a fan of fpw. I have come to enjoy the vastness of fpw's writing. I am still more interested in the RJ character, than any other character/storyline in fiction.

I wasn't much of a scifi fan. I accepted the fantastic situations Jack found himself in, because he is such a cool character. I still don't read much scifi. FPW's works are about as close as I've gotten. I've enjoyed every fpw story I've read.

Still, for me, more Jack, generally means better story.