Death-dances are few and far between the goal is simply to win within the confines of “the circle.”īut Tiger is an outcast, a man who attained the highest level of achievement at the training school he attended faster than anyone before him, only to voluntarily break all oaths in order to save Del. Tiger and Del have settled into semi-retirement to raise their daughter, establishing a school for those who wish to become sword-dancers, part of a highly ritualized rite in which specially trained sword-fighters are hired to settle feuds among rich and powerful desert princes. Sword-Bearer marks a return to the vivid world of Jennifer Roberson’s highly popular Sword-Dancer saga, featuring iconic characters Tiger-the South’s most famous and gifted sword-dancer-and Del, a Northern-born woman and expert sword-singer. “What?” I asked aggrievedly, feeling left out.A return to the vivid fantasy world of the highly popular Sword-Dancer saga, featuring iconic characters Tiger and Del. Two sets of Northern-blue eyes met one another briefly, exchanged some kind of realization, a message to which I was not privy.

Snow had gathered upon the crowns of two pale blond heads.

“Maybe,” I said at last, “it’s simply one of those very, very, very strange, weird, utterly inexplicable, impossible-to-believe things that actually are real. “It’s snowing!” he exclaimed, nearly upon us.Īnd so the three of us, having established that it was indeed snowing, stood there together looking out onto the whitened world and into the gray, shedding skies, and discussed reasons and causes. “This is impossible.”Īnd then we heard a call, turned as one, and saw Alric walking toward us from his own house.

She squinted and blinked as flakes landed in her eyes, then lowered her startled gaze to me. You grew up in the North where it does this kind of thing all the time.”ĭel stepped out into the morning as I moved aside. “It is, isn’t it? I mean, you should know. I turned to face her and found a question. I mean, how often, in dreams, do you pee?Īnd then Del stepped into the doorway behind me and said in shock akin to my own, “It’s snowing!” But a review of my actions upon climbing out of bed assured me I was not. The east side of Alric’s and Lena’s four-room house, facing me, was snow-furred. Oh, structures still showed dark against the pallor of the morning, but roofs were covered. I stood before my door, completely flummoxed.

Maybe two inches.Īnd demonstrably cold when one is barefoot. It doesn’t do that here.įalling out of the sky. It then instantly registered that this was an utter impossibility. In fact, my mind, all on its own, instantly registered what it was. I’d been north across the border, so I knew what snow was. When I walked outside to tend morning chores, it was snowing.

Sword bearer jennifer roberson