Sightblinder's Story

The Second Book of Lost Swords

By: Fred Saberhagen

Narrated by: Cynthia Barrett

Long ago, the gods forged Twelve Swords of Power and threw them on the gameboard of life to watch men scramble. But they had forged too well: The Swords could kill the gods themselves.

Now the gods gone, the Swords are scattered across the land, some held by those of good heart...others by those whose purposes are evil...and one, Sightblinder, is held by Arnfinn, a young country boy who knows nothing of the Tale of Swords or of Sightblinder's power; to make the viewer see that which he most desires - or most fears.

The tale begins innocently enough as Prince Mark of Tasavalta, accompanied by his nephew Zoltan and doughty Ben of Purkinje, seeks out the castle of the good and mighty wizard Honan-Fu, hoping that Honan-Fu will agree to tutor Mark's young son Adrian. But as they approach the lakebound keep, soldiers set upon them, and Mark is seized by an enormous griffin, carried off to the castle, and thrown into a hellish prison of enchantment.

Honan-Fu, powerful as he is, has been vanquished by the Ancient One, a being at once reptilian and human who has slipped the bonds of time, armed not only with his personal spells and demons, but with Prince Mark's captured weapon, the Sword of Force, Shieldbreaker.

It is up to Ben and Zoltan to rescue Mark. But first they must deal with ex-Queen Yambu, and the unlikely assistance she offers; with the innocent Arnfinn, holder of Sightblinder; and with the stunningly beautiful girl Arnfinn loves - the Lady Ninazu, Honan-Fu's daughter. Not to mention the enigmatic Emperor.

Told with Fred Saberhagen's enormous gusto and narrative skill, Sightblinder's Story will delight the listeners who made The First Book of Lost Swords: Woundhealer's Story a fantasy best seller.

©1987 Fred Saberhagen (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

I'm not a fan of the narrator...

Cynthia Barrett doesn't inspire me like some other narrators do. Otherwise, this is a great listen. Most of Mr. Saberhagen's work is this good or better.

slow but well worth it.

this is a slower book but it is setting the table for whirlwind of action and adventures.

Only non-fives review so far

I usually only review when I love something, and I realize this is a "barn door/stolen horse" situation, but I did not love the production of this book. I'm not sure whether it was the narrator or the producer, but the reading was peculiar. Words were mispronounced, there was inconsistent pronunciation of certain names or words through the text, and there were a surprising number of timing and emphasis errors - weird pauses, or things that should have been read a certain way to provide a particular meaning but weren't. Another issue was the inconsistency of name pronunciations between this series and the previous trilogy, which was narrated by someone else. It all made the listening a distraction rather than an enhancement. I'm going to continue with the series, because I like the story, and I hope things improve in subsequent books.

A good story

A good story with well developed plots and tie ins. This is part of a great set of books.

I can't believe she gets paid to narrate books

To Mr. Fred Saberhagen,

Please, for the love of Ardneh, why do you keep allowing this woman to butcher your books? Her character voices would almost be comical if they weren't so painfully bad. It's not even so-bad-it's-good bad. It's wait-did-I-just-step-in-dog-poop? bad. Everybody either sounds like a complete oaf or a screeching child. Seriously, Cynthia, nobody talks this way. Please... just stop. I'm begging you. Find another line of work.

And to whoever produced these books. What were you thinking? Were you skimming the bargain bin in the narrator section or something? Whatever you paid this woman, it was too much. Even if she paid YOU for the privilege, you still lost out. Pick any random person on the street who can read, and they'd be better than Cynthia Barrett.

To any future audiobook authors: Please keep this person as far away from your books as possible. It doesn't matter how good your book is. Cynthia Barrett will turn it into an absolute cringe fest.

Still enjoyable after all these years

I have enjoyed these books for several decades and have them in print but found them enjoyable to listen to while working around the shop or yard. The narrator for the first books of swords was fantastic. Once the narrator changed with the books of lost swords the enjoyment came at a price. This narrator is terrible. She could compete with AI for the most non-human recitation award. Can we crowd fund a new recording with the original narrator reading all the books?

Terrible narration, ruined book.

Her resume must look something like " are your protagonists too scary? I'm your narrator. With my almost three slightly different voices I can dumb down even the most intelligent of characters, I can make even the most evil of characters sound like a Disney clown or make any character younger than twenty five sound like a pre teen. I'm proficient in talking slowly to make bigger characters sound even bigger and I can put a southern drawl on any character who needs to sound unintelligent or confused." She is the worst. I won't buy another title she narrates unless it is a children's book for toddlers.

Great story. awful reader

I listened to the original Book of Swords trilogy and really liked it. The author was great, and he did a good job with the book, the concept and the names. It is too bad that neither the reader or the producer of the Lost Swords series could not take the time to listen to those before they approached this project. The reader, Cynthia Barrett, was AWFUL. She was overly dramatic when she did not need to be, her cadence and rhythms were disconcerting.

I wish that I had listened to this before I bought the rest of the books, because I would not have. I have a hard time getting past her voice and style to enjoy the book.