''The Sword of Knowledge'' is a trilogy of

shared world A shared universe or shared world is a fictional universe from a set of creative works where more than one writer (or other artist) independently contributes a work that can stand alone but fits into the joint development of the storyline, chara ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

novels credited to the authors

C. J. Cherryh Carolyn Janice Cherry (born September 1, 1942), better known by the pen name C. J. Cherryh, is an American writer of speculative fiction. She has written more than 80 books since the mid-1970s, including the Hugo Award-winning novels '' Downbelo ...

Leslie Fish Leslie Fish is a folk musician, author, and anarchist political activist. Music Along with The DeHorn Crew, in 1976 she created the first commercial filk recording, ''Folk Songs for Folk Who Ain't Even Been Yet''. Her second recording, ''Solar S ...

Nancy Asire Nancy Asire (born 1945) was an American fantasy and science fiction author, best known for her ''Twilight's Kingdoms'' fantasy trilogy and her contributions to the shared universe series ''Heroes in Hell'', '' Sword of Knowledge'' and '' Merovin ...

, and

Mercedes Lackey Mercedes Ritchie Lackey (born June 24, 1950) is an American writer of fantasy novels. Many of her novels and trilogies are interlinked and set in the world of Velgarth, mostly in and around the country of Valdemar. Her Valdemar novels include i ...

. The three novels in the series were all published by

Baen Books Baen Books () is an American publishing house for science fiction and fantasy. In science fiction, it emphasizes space opera, hard science fiction, and military science fiction. The company was established in 1983 by science fiction publisher an ...

in 1989: ''A Dirge for Sabis'' (Cherryh and Fish), ''Wizard Spawn'' (Cherryh and Asire), and ''Reap the Whirlwind'' (Cherryh and Lackey). The books were first released as a complete trilogy in an omnibus edition in 1995. Although Cherryh is credited as a co-author on each of the books, she apparently did not write any of them. She did write a foreword for each book and may have helped plan the storylines, and therefore was credited as a co-author for all three novels. The publisher, however, eliminated Cherryh's introduction from most or all editions of the book. The novels are unusual for the genre in their treatment of

magic Magic or Magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces * Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic * Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...

. Specifically, although wizards exist in the books, they do not cast magic spells in the manner typical of works of

high fantasy High fantasy, or epic fantasy, is a subgenre of fantasy defined by the epic nature of its setting or by the epic stature of its characters, themes, or plot.Brian Stableford, ''The A to Z of Fantasy Literature'', (p. 198), Scarecrow Press, Pl ...

or tales of

sword and sorcery Sword and sorcery (S&S) is a subgenre of fantasy characterized by sword-wielding heroes engaged in exciting and violent adventures. Elements of romance, magic, and the supernatural are also often present. Unlike works of high fantasy, the tale ...

. Instead, individuals with magical powers in these books are capable of only two feats: wishing good things upon people, and wishing ill upon people. Additionally, the books take place in a culture beginning to develop

cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

and other technology appropriate for a

Late Middle Ages The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the Periodization, period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Eur ...

–style setting. Because of the limits of magical powers in these books and the technical developments portrayed in them, the novels could be considered examples of the low fantasy subgenre.

Citations

General references

* Cherryh, C. J. and Leslie Fish. ''A Dirge for Sabis'', Baen Books, 1989. * Cherryh, C. J. and Nancy Asire. ''Wizard Spawn'', Baen Books, 1989. * Cherryh, C. J. and Mercedes Lackey. ''Reap the Whirlwind'', Baen Books, 1989. * Cherryh, C. J. et al. ''The Sword of Knowledge'' (omnibus), Baen Books, 1995 (paperback); 2005 (hardcover). 1989 novels Baen Books books C. J. Cherryh Fantasy novel series {{1980s-fantasy-novel-stub