Dark Sword
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Forging the Darksword (1988)
Doom of the Darksword (1988) Triumph of the Darksword (1988) Legacy of the Darksword (1998) |
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| Author | Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman |
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| Cover artist | Larry Elmore |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fantasy, Role-playing game |
| Published | 1988, 1998 |
| Media type | |
| No. of books | 4 |
The Darksword series of books, written by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (cover art by Larry Elmore), which tells the story of a young man, born without magic in a world where everyone is born with it, who has been prophesied to destroy the world in which he lives. The series consists of the initial three books (The Darksword Trilogy), a supplemental role-playing volume, and a single-volume sequel. The books are published by Bantam Spectra (The Science-Fiction division of Random House).
The Prophecy is an integral part of the Darksword trilogy. In the chaotic times after the Iron Wars (in which the Technologists attempted to take over the world), the Bishop of the Realm decided to attempt a vision of the future, in order to calm the fears of the populace. In the month leading up to the attempt, he secluded himself in a small room and fasted, in order to purify himself.
The spell succeeded, but the strain was too much for the Bishop's weakened body. He died before the Prophecy was given in full, and the theurgist assisting him was rendered catatonic. Since the theurgist was the last of his profession in the world, no further attempts to see the future could be undertaken.
The Prophecy begins "There will be born to the Royal House one who is Dead yet will live, who will die again and live again. And when he returns, he will hold in his hand the destruction of the world--"
It is revealed in Triumph of the Darksword that the broken-off sentence would have ended with "or its salvation". It is also revealed that The Prophecy was only supposed to be a warning.
Darkstone is an ore that is similar in properties to iron but has the ability to absorb Life (magic). Near the end of Forging the Darksword, Joram deduced that, in a world that exudes magic, there must exist a force capable of absorbing it, going by the principle that 'for every action, there is an opposite and equal reaction'.
In Doom of the Darksword, Saryon asked Joram to create a setting for a piece of darkstone so that Saryon could wear it as an amulet. Saryon hoped that the darkstone amulet would absorb magic and prevent Bishop Vanya from contacting him through magical means. Saryon's theory proved to be correct.
The Darksword was forged by creating an alloy of iron and darkstone. The proportions had to be exact, or else the metal would be too brittle for use as a weapon.
Weapons forged from darkstone need to be infused with Life from a catalyst and can only be effectively wielded by the Dead, who have no magic to be absorbed, as Prince Garald discovered when he and Joram traded weapons while sparring.
Forging the Darksword reached 15 on the New York Times bestseller list on December 27, 1987.
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