There was a book I read in like, 6th grade, around 10-12 years old. Sci-fantasy type thing, but one thing that always stuck with me is that there were lightsaber-ass swords that only worked if you let the handle pierce your hand to call forth the blade.
I looked the series up awhile ago and found out that the author, Margaret Weis, also did a bunch of writing for Dragonlance, the D&D fiction books.