Over-long and derivative, with a fair few unconvincing character moments. For example: a visiting dwarf remembers a secret passage he saw once, whereas the crown prince, raised in the palace where that secret passage is, doesn't give it a single thought in wartime when the dodgy vizier is loose and shepherding enemies in. Or the great effort to get to a magic lake for a druid to hear a prophecy, only for that druid, days later, to forget he ever heard it (better to perform mind-magic to see if a lost person is alive, even if it brings down all manner of evil creatures, even if the stupid prophecy you insisted on getting, Allanon, says that said lost person is alive). Or that a number of nobles haven't so much as heard of an (admittedly small) kingdom that's only a week or two walk away. (Have none of them ever looked at a map?)

I mean, it's sloppy but it's not utterly dire. I liked some of the characters, and I genuinely enjoyed the twist of what the sword actually does. There's also a fair few creepy monsters about which is always fun. On the whole, though, Sword does suffer from first-book-syndrome, and it certainly isn't as fun or interesting as its two immediate sequels.