''The Swords of Night and Day'' is a
fantasy novel
Fantasy literature is literature set in an imaginary universe, often but not always without any locations, events, or people from the real world. Magic, the supernatural and magical creatures are common in many of these imaginary worlds. Fa ...
by
David Gemmell
David Andrew Gemmell (; 1 August 1948 – 28 July 2006) was a British author of heroic fantasy, best known for his debut novel, ''Legend (Gemmell novel), Legend''. A former journalist and newspaper editor, Gemmell had his first work of fict ...
, as well as a pair of legendary
sword
A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed ti ...
s within the book. They also appear in Gemmell's book ''White Wolf''. The book is set 1000 years following the death of Olek
Skilgannon.
The novel is an exploration of the future of the
Drenai
David Andrew Gemmell (; 1 August 1948 – 28 July 2006) was a British author of heroic fantasy, best known for his debut novel, ''Legend''. A former journalist and newspaper editor, Gemmell had his first work of fiction published in 1984. H ...
world, focussing heavily on Jiamads (joinings of beast and men honed to fighting perfection). The story also contains a satisfactory ending to Skilganon's original life, including not only his first demise, but that of Jianna, the Witch Queen with whom he was deeply in love. The story, however, appears to deal broadly with the idea of resurrection and life-after-death, albeit in a living, breathing world. Questions of identity retention and one's place in the world are also raised, with Skilgannon continuously referring to the grief of losing his world, his anger at being returned to fight a battle that is not his and at those who brought him here. Finally, however, there is a strong theme of redemption, in keeping with Gemmell's usual plot lines; despite his having to return to blood and violence Skilgannon has in fact been offered a second chance.
Both swords are mirror polished and extremely sharp, both having been enchanted by
the Old Woman. The Sword of Day is golden in colour while the Sword of Night is silver. Intended as inferior copies of the legendary Swords of Blood and Fire, they had become infamous in the hands of Skilgannon.
The swords are frequently mentioned throughout the books as curved blades, and on the two UK hardback covers, are depicted as
katana
A is a Japanese sword characterized by a curved, single-edged blade with a circular or squared guard and long grip to accommodate two hands. Developed later than the ''tachi'', it was used by samurai in feudal Japan and worn with the edge fa ...
s. The swords are described as being
scabbarded in a single, curved sheath roughly five feet in length.
The swords, as with all weapons made by the Old Woman, are possessed to a degree, in a similar manner to Snaga, the axe of
Druss the Legend. Rather than a tangible demon, however, the swords simply drive the wielder to blood lust.
The Swords of Blood and Fire are wielded by Decado in this novel. The character of Decado is a darkened mirror of Skilgannon himself, fulfilling Skilgannon's previous role as Jianna's right-hand man. He is the first evidence Skilgannon obtains of his bloodline continuing through Garianne and fulfills a variety of roles, enemy, rival, wayward son and saviour.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swords Of Night And Day, The
Fictional swords
British fantasy novels
2004 British novels
Drenai
Novels by David Gemmell
Bantam Press books
Del Rey books