Sword-Dancer by Jennifer Roberson, Tiger and Del Sword fantasy book series

Denver Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Club

SWORD-DANCER
by
JENNIFER ROBERSON

Sword Dancer (1986)
Book one of the Sword series

This book falls into the sword and sorcery fantasy sub-genre.

cover art by Kathy Wyatt
DAW paperback - 286 pages

From the back cover:
Southron Blade Skill, Northern Sword Magic....
       He was Tiger, born of the desert winds, raised as a slave and winning his freedom by weaving a special kind of magic with a warrior's skill. Now he was an almost legendary sword-dancer, ready to take on any challenge --- if the price was right...or the woman pretty enough.
       She was Del, born of ice and storm, trained by the greatest of Northern sword masters. Now, her ritual training completed, and steeped in the special magic of her own runesword, she had come South in search of the young brother stolen five years before.
       But even Del could not master all the dangers of the deadly Punja alone. And meeting Del, Tiger could not turn back from the most intriguing challenge he'd ever faced --- the challenge of a magical, mysterious sword-dancer of the North....

This is the story of Tiger, a renowned Southron sword-dancer, and Del, a beautiful Northern swordswoman carrying a mysterious blade. She is determined to find her younger brother who was kidnapped by slavers. He is interested in her, but needs some convincing that she can handle herself and a sword. Their adventures take them across a merciless desert, through seedy towns, and into palaces.

RATINGS:
How we each rated this book

Dan	8	Amy	8	10 Wow! Don't miss it 8-9 Highly recommended 7 Recommended 5-6 Mild recommendation 3-4 Take your chances 1-2 Below average; skip it 0 Get out the flamethrower! U Unfinishable or unreadable - Skipped or no rating given
Cheri	7	Barb	8
Aaron	4	Cynthia	3
Lars	9	Jackie	7

Sword-Dancer can be read as a stand alone book, but for those interested in the further adventures of Del and Tiger, there are more books in the series.


Sword-Singer (1988)	Sword-Maker (1989)	Sword-Breaker (1991)	Sword-Born (1998)	Sword-Sworn (1999)
cover art by Kathy Wyatt DAW paperback 382 pages	cover art by Corey Wolfe DAW paperback 464 pages	cover art by Corey Wolfe DAW paperback 460 pages	cover art by Jim Burns DAW paperback 409 pages	cover art by Jim Burns DAW paperback 429 pages

Bibliography:
Jennifer Roberson (1953- ) is a US fantasy and historical fiction writer.

Tiger and Del Sword series
--Sword-Dancer (1986)
--Sword-Singer (1988)
--Sword-Maker (1989)
--Sword-Breaker (1991)
--Sword-Born (1998)
--Sword-Sworn (1999)

Omnibus editions of the Tiger and Del books
--The Novels of Tiger and Del, Volume I (2006)
--The Novels of Tiger and Del, Volume II (2006)
--The Novels of Tiger and Del, Volume III (2006)

Chronicles of the Cheysuli series
The Cheysuli series, which concerns a race possessing the ability to take animal form and to make bonds with such creatures.
--Shapechangers (1984)
--The Song of Homana (1985)
--Legacy of the Sword (1986)
--Track of the White Wolf (1987)
--A Pride of Princes (1988)
--Daughter of the Lion (1989)
--Flight of the Raven (1990)
--A Tapestry of Lions (1992)

Omnibus editions of the Cheysuli books
--Shapechanger's Song (2001)
--Legacy of the Wolf (2001)
--Children of the Lion (2001)
--The Lion Throne (2001)

Karavans books
--Karavans (2006)
--Deepwood (2007)

Roberson has collaborated with Melanie Rawn and Kate Elliot on The Golden Key (1996)

Historical fantasy books
--Lady of the Forest (1992) and Lady of Sherwood (1999) are about Robin Hood and Maid Marian.
--Lady of the Glen (1996) is a novel of Scotland.

Anthologies edited by Roberson
--Return to Avalon (1996, with Martin H. Greenberg)
--Highwaymen: Robbers and Rogues (1997)
--Out of Avalon (2001)

Other books
She wrote media tie-in book Highlander: 3. Scotland the Brave (1996)

She has also written several books outside the fantasy genre: romantic suspense Smoketree (1985), western Kansas Blood (1986) (written as pseudonym "Jay Mitchell"), and historical romance Royal Captive (1987) (written as pseudonym "Jennifer O'Green")

Links:
Jennifer Roberson's webpage
Jennifer Roberson - Wikipedia
The SF Site Featured Review: The Golden Key
The SF Site Featured Review: Sword-Born
The SF Site Featured Review: Sword-Sworn: The Final Novel of Tiger and Del

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This page was last updated October 27, 2008