Like its townsfolk, Lenburh is a quiet, meager place where very little ever happens. But when two of its most unlikely heroes stumble upon an enchanted, talking blade in Have Sword, Will Travel, they embark upon an adventure that will alter the courses of their lives forever—exposing them to unseen lands, unparalleled knights and unimaginable beasts, any of which could enhance or end them.
Odo, the miller’s hefty son, and Eleanor, the healer’s quick-witted daughter, have been best friends since childhood. One ordinary day, they find an ancient sword at the bottom of their nearly dried-up river. To their surprise, the sword is a magical one, and it wakes up, boldly introduces itself as Biter and knights Odo on the spot—even though Eleanor is clearly better suited for the title. Biter demands that the new Sir Odo and squire Eleanor earn their designations by taking on the task of a knight, so they suggest solving the only obvious problem they can think of: the drying-up river. Unknowingly, this leads Odo and Eleanor on a grand quest wherein they’ll need to work together with Biter to fight against and outsmart a collection of unexpected enemies who have long since lost their sense of chivalry and honor.
New York Times bestselling authors Garth Nix and Sean Williams have crafted a fun adventure tale with underlying complexity, in which our simple protagonists soon learn that their world is far more mischievous, malevolent and magical than they’d ever imagined. While simultaneously playing into many tropes of the high fantasy genre, Nix and Williams also comment on them in their own ways, making their readers reconsider everything they’d ever learned about mythical beasts and enchanted weapons.
Justin Barisich is a freelancer, satirist, poet and performer living in Atlanta. More of his writing can be found at littlewritingman.com.
