The gods decide to devise a Game of great fun: their colleague Vulcan forges 12 magic Swords, each with a different power, and scatters them across the world. Play begins in grand and gloriously violent fashion as Swords are gathered and used to control chance, enhance fortune, and change destiny. The holder of a Sword wields power undreamed... power to change the world and the holder. To add to the enjoyment, foolish mortals are invited to join, risking their puny lives. Demons and elementals need no invitation. But something had gone wrong in the forging, and the Game...

Vintage paperback

The third and final novel in 'The Book of Swords' trilogy. More stories of the twelve Swords continue with the Lost Swords series. The gods, the creators of the twelve Swords, realize their error in giving powerful Swords to humans. The humans, both good and evil, are ready to fight to the death to acquire and retain the Swords. With the Swords, new ideas and new dreams have entered the world. A change is taking place that threats the gods' very existence.

The Swords were forged on a lifeless, wind-scoured mountaintop, with fire drawn from the earth's belly, and metal that fell from the sky. They were tempered with human sweat and human blood by the hand of the god Vulcan, Master Smith.