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Type of bind: Paperback
EAN num: 9780972488204
ISBN number: 0972488200
Label: Centerpunch Press
Manufacturer: Centerpunch Press
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 168
Printing Date: 2003-04
Publishing house: Centerpunch Press
Age index: Ages 9-12
Sale Popularity Level: 714148
Studio: Centerpunch Press
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
National award winner, with foreword by Nancy Cartwright, the voice of Bart Simpson. The day Sam Hatcher turns sixteen he meets Rigby Skeet, a wise-cracking guard, and their adventure in the ancient kingdom of Parmall begins. They embark on an exciting search for King Olive, who was betrayed by his evil--and very strange--brother, and imprisoned in the BonemanÕs dungeon.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
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I had the good fortune of knowing and working with Will back in college, several decades ago, and what a joy it was to discover that someone (his brother) had published this wonderful work!
Will has a delightful, assured voice as a writer, and this book is filled with his characteristic wit, warmth and wonderfully drawn characters. It's a simple story, but one impossible to put down. Beautifully written and brilliantly drawn.
We lost Will way too soon. (He died in 1980, within a few months of writing this book, which he copied and distributed to family and friends.) But reading "Swords for Hire" reminds me of why we all loved Will so much, and how sad it is that, though his work lives on, he never had the chance to share his great talents for many more years.
Rated by buyers 
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I have given this book as a gift to two very big bookworm friends of mine for the simple and pure fact that I knew they would appreciate this. For a book that lacked the usual number of editings due to the author's death, this still manages to be fairly entertaining! It blends ultimate silliness and nods toward all of us fantasy geeks along with, well, some very respectable fantasy/adventure plot. It's traditional and fairly predictable, but it's just so darn funny and sweet that I could not help but love it. Energetic, darling read.
Rated by buyers -
Some time back, I ran across a posting somewhere that said Swords For Hire: Two of the Most Unlikely Heroes You'll Ever Meet by Will Allen was a fun read in the mold of The Princess Bride. Having loved Bride, I decided Swords had to go on my library hold list. I started it last night around 7:30 and didn't put it down until I finished it at 9. It really is a fun read that had me shooting the movie of the book in my own mind...
King Olive is locked up in an ultra-secure dungeon of The Boneman. This is because his brother, a strange individual named Boonder, slowly poisoned him in order to take over the throne. But really, Aleron is running the kingdom as Boonder's aide, as Boonder spends most of his time putting worms on his head. Olive is able to smuggle a note out about his existence, and it ends up in the hands of two rather strange and quirky potential heroes. Rigby Skeet is a crazy soldier who didn't fit in with the regular regiment, so they let him find his own quests. Sam Hatcher is the son of a farmer (and former war hero) who wants more than what life is giving him. He doesn't fit the mold of a soldier either, but they send him off to Skeet for an apprenticeship. These two oddball adventurers get the message and decide that this is the quest they must pursue. They're really not sure how they'll pull it off, but something will come to them as they head in that direction...
The characters in the story are crazy and would turn into screen characters with little effort. Skeet's off-the-wall behavior and dialogue is reminiscent of The Princess Bride and that cast of characters, and it's no stretch to think that fans of Bride will enjoy this one as well. The only sad part is that Will Allen died many years ago of cancer. This book is something he wrote but that was never published. His brother decided to release it to the world, and the reaction has been unanimously positive. It's disappointing that he can't follow up on stories involving these people, but I'd love to see this go to the big screen...
Rated by buyers -
Will Allen wrote with the total freedom of knowing this was for people who loved him, and with the understanding of the fantasy tradition.
As a result, Swords for Hire is a fast-paced, witty nod to fantasy--observing cliches when that seems fun, blasting them when blasting them seems fun.
If I hadn't known this was the only full-length work of a dying young man, I still would have enjoyed it. OK, so it's not Lord of the Rings--it's not meant to be. It's also not meant to be Princess Bride (I actually preferred Swords for Hire to PB), but is a tribute to good writing. As that, it works.
Rated by buyers -
This book is so much fun to read, whatever your age. I was able to read it in one sitting- it is quick, light, funny and smart. Swords for Hire pokes fun at the epic fantasy novel in all its various elements, succeeding in about 160 short pages what most fantasy authors take three long books to do. And this book *is* complete with a quest, a visit to a sorcerer, dangerous battles and evil villains. The humour is easy for children to understand, but that doesn't mean that even the most refined adult won't be chuckling (after all, who can help but laugh at a man who puts worms on his head?). And everyone will be satisfied with the perfect ending! Great fun for everyone- read it and see for yourself!
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