Review by Booklist Review
Presenting swords used by certain groups such as warriors, villagers, knights, kings, samurai, and sultans, this large-format book features many detailed, beautifully executed drawings of the weapons. The digital artwork varies in style from fine line work reminiscent of crosshatched ink drawings to soft-focus scenes creating a more painterly look. The brief text offers information that is too often scanty, mixed with legend, or hazy to the point of inaccuracy ( Since the dawn of time, men have taken up the sword in combat ). A lengthy bibliography is appended, though the volume has neither an index nor source notes. Clearly a labor of love, the book results from the artist's lifelong interest in the sword and will appeal to others with the same fascination, provided they are satisfied with a highly visual, rather romanticized presentation of the subject.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2008 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 6 Up-This absorbing, large-format collection of sketches, paintings, and historical notes on sword craft is not called an artist's devotion for nothing. Boos's treatment of his subject is reverential and his artwork is outstanding, combining meticulous attention to detail and a designer's sense for layout. The spare text provides just enough information but generally allows the illustrations to speak for themselves. Each chapter covers a different period or place in the history of the sword, including the Iron and Bronze Ages, the Middle Ages in Europe, Japanese samurai and ninjas, the Silla knights of Korea, African sword craft, Islamic designs, and more. Although the author, a former video-game designer, "would have it known that [his] qualifications are modest," he manages to portray an incredible variety of styles, from hilts to blades to the intricate metalwork that makes each sword not just a weapon but also a work of art. It's easy to get caught up in his enthusiasm, and the right reader will spend hours poring over every loving detail. Give this to fans of history, art, or swordplay fantasies.-Rebecca Donnelly, Loma Colorado Public Library, Rio Rancho, NM (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
An unabashed browsing item, this big, square album is chock-full of digitally painted images of knives and swords, laid out in generic arrays with every nick, notch, decorative motif and gleaming highlight rendered in lovingly realistic detail. Though arranged in chapters according to type of user ("War Maidens," "Landsknechts," "Ninja" and so forth) and sometimes (there are many wordless spreads) even supplied with perfunctory descriptive captions, the sheaves of blades and galleries of elaborate guards and hilts are strictly eye candy. Detail junkies will revel in the specialized vocabulary run amok: Such more or less obscure terms as tang, wakizashi and blood groove (which, disappointingly, has "nothing to do with blood") litter the pages, ripe for the picking. Armchair warriors, junior members of the Society for Creative Anachronism and budding graphic artists will be riveted. (bibliography) (Nonfiction. 9-16) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
