The Spell of the Black Dagger (Legends of Ethshar) Paperback – February 4, 2003

Very good. If the bad girl was a little smarter it would be better but she was a street rat that got power so I get it.

Lately I've been going back and finding all the Ethshar novels I never read before, now that they are available on Kindle. I thoroughly enjoyed this one. I've been a fan of L.W.E. for 20+ years and his Ethshar books are my favorite ones. I hope you like it as much as I did!For those who may not be familiar with Ethshar, the novels are a series of stand-alone light fantasy stories which are loosely connected through (a) a common world setting and (b) central characters in one novel appearing as supporting characters in other novels.Watt-Evans tends to focus on various types of magical experts (warlocks, wizards, witches, sorcerers, etc.) and many of the stories revolve around one or two magical schools. The different schools of magic are distinct from each other, and are described very well without becoming too technical or mysterious.If you enjoy light fantasy and speculative magical themes, you will probably get hooked on L.W.E. . . . as I have been for many years!

I find that some of the Ethshar books chronicle important historical events, some are interesting side stories, and some are short stories ballooned into novels. I would place this in the middle as an interesting side story. There are several books in the Ethshar series that discuss the black dagger, so this provides the background. While the story is not integral to the larger Ethshar series, I found it was intriguing. Not one of the best, but had a decent plot and some interesting character development.

The Spell of the Black Dagger is the sixth book of the Ethshar series, and the first of the series to shift away from the author's typical style of stand-alone novels, drawing in characters and events from the previous books in the series. The tale presents itself as a sort of fantastical detective story seen through the eyes of two main characters: the enormously powerful Tabea the Theif, and the brilliant, but inexperienced, Lady Sarai.The story does not restrict itself only to a detective story, however, as the conflict quickly escalates into a whirlwind of political intrigue and magical experimentation. An excellent continuation of this series, though readers who lack the context of the previous books in the series will be confused on some points.

I normally adore Watt-Evans books, so this is probably the lowest rating I have given one of his stories. The plot is good. The characters are good. However, there is just something missing or wrong about it. Maybe it was that there were too many character cameos from other stories. It could also be that the level of magical power was spinning out of control and the way it was brought back into control seemed too rushed. It was certainly a good enough read.

I like this novel. It is probably best to read With a Single Spell first, but it's not necessary (gives familiarity with a few of the secondary characters).

OK, I have read quite a number of the Ethshar novels and I have enjoyed them all. This novel uses the same basic country(?) as the earlier novels with a new set of characters and a novel twist on the magic of the Ethshars. the plot is intriguing and full of action. definitely a good read.

Sorcery, magic and swords but believable well defined character make this book worth reading and re-reading. The premise is so entrancing that a black dagger resulted from faulty magic steals people's lives and their talents. The worst enemy to knowledge and skill is its total lack of anything but confusion envy and total mayheem???

Good book but l would read the books in order

All the Ethshar stories I have read are very good and they stand up on their own but personally I think Misenchanted Sword and With a Single Spell should be read first because they set the scene a bit. However if you want to just read this one I don't think it will be the end of the world not to have read them.

Excellent fun read in excellent series. Be sad when I finish them all