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- Wirikidor? What kind of name is Wirikidor?
- An old one, soldier. It's from a language so old that the name of the tongue is forgotten and no trace remains of the people who spoke it. It means 'slayer of warriors', and it was part of the spell I put on the thing, so now that's its name.

The realms of fantasy are practically infested with magical swords of all sorts but I believe there isn't any to rival this Wirikidor in terms of fickleness and general unreliability. It brings on the head of its wielder, a lowly scout in the armies of Ethshar named Valder, more troubles that its alleged prowess in battle would suggest. Probably our man Valder should have been more careful not to annoy the grumpy wizard who did the enchantment.

This is my first novel by Lawrence Watt-Evans, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the trip to Ethshar. It probably helped that I went in with no expectations of any kind except picking a nice slim sword & sorcery book for my vacation. In a lucky coincidence, Watt-Evans fits in nicely between the previous forays in the sub-genre (Leiber, Moorcock) and the more recent crop of authors who seem so enamoured of the dark and gritty aspects of magical adventures. Published in the mid-eighties, "The Misenchanted Sword" benefits from some of the charm of traditional fantasy (according to some information I found on the internet, the world of Ethshar was first developed for a table-top strategy game) and from the editors more strict control of page count. It is also an attempt to modernize the genre by borrowing from science-fiction in its structure and by offering a highly unconventional type of hero in Valder.

while the setting is pure fantasy (two empires locked in a centuries-old conflict, dragons, wizards and sorcerers, gods and demons), the plot made me think of SF through the way Watt-Evans prefers to explore in detail the implications of an idea rather than go for the usual quests made popular by Conan, Fafhrd or Elric.

He turned down offers that ranged from dull and dangerous to downright bizarre, requests for aid from silk-robed aristocrats and starving children - the latter leaving disappointed, but always well-fed. He refused to rescue princesses, slay dragons, depose tyrants, locate lost siblings, kill pirates, loot tombs, battle wizards, terrorize witches, dispose of demons, settle boundary disputes, and search for everything from ancient magical treasures to a missing cat.

Instead of a new technological advance, the central idea of the story is the one given in the title: how will the magical properties of the sword Wirikidor affect the life of Valder the soldier? Will he become another Elric, a brooding nexus of wrath and wholesale destruction? Will he become a king like Arthur, feared and respected by the mighty lords of Ethshar? Will he crave power, wealth and fame?

The answers are to be found within the pages of this first book in the world of Ethshar, following Valder over the decades as he struggles to maintain his sanity and his common sense when faced with supernatural circumstances. (view spoiler)[ Valder refuses glory, hanging up Wirikidor over the mantel of his inn, where it remains unused for decades:

Every sort of person imaginable stops at an inn, sooner or later, and after a day on the road most are eager to talk, so it's never dull. I hear news that never reaches the city, and get many of the great adventures described first-hand. It's a fine life.

I thought this was a great resolution of the killing-sword dillema on the part of the author, even if the ultimate spell to make Valder immortal felt like a get-out-of-jail-for-free finish (hide spoiler)]

As an added enticement, I would mention that the novel is also structured as a stand-alone story, so there's no need to be wary of having to read a multi-volume saga like Wheel of Time to get to the point. There is some room left for a sequel, and I hope Valder or somebody like him will be part of the next Ethshar adventure.
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