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VikingLegion
Senior Scribe
USA
483 Posts |
 Posted - 16 Mar 2019 : 21:47:05
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I finished Hand of the Hunter yesterday, another excellent book by Mark Sehestedt. My notes are fairly sparse on this one, I guess I don't have too much to say other than it's a solid continuation of the Chosen of Nendawen series.
I see the capital of Damara has been altered in the edition change from Heliogabalus to just Helgalab. Solid idea, as the original shared a name with a real-world Roman emperor. I wonder if I'll ever get filled in (from the novels) on how Gareth Dragonbane and his Super Friends ended up fairing during the initial Spellplague. I vaguely recall seeing somewhere that Drizzt and Kane meet somewhere, I don't know if that's going to happen in one of the Transitions books or if Kane, due to his monkey-mastery will outlive all the other humans of that particular adventuring group and meet Drizzt in the current timeline.
As for Nendawen "The Hunter", I love the description of an 8-foot tall humanoid with an antlered helm - obviously drawing heavy inspiration from The Wild Hunt mythos of European folklore. I still don't know exactly what he is, some kind of primordial or nature spirit or lesser power. Whatever he is, he is *not* nice, exhibiting all the ruthless and uncaring aspects of predatory Nature. Hweilan, the main protagonist, has gone from pampered castle girl to total badarse. Her arc reminds me a little bit of Arya from Game of Thrones. There were other GoT similarities as well, like being forced to eat a heart to complete a ritual, but nothing too blatant.
Tonight I will start book 3 of the trilogy: Cry of the Ghost Wolf.
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VikingLegion
Senior Scribe
USA
483 Posts |
Posted - 24 Mar 2019 : 18:24:03
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I finished Cry of the Ghost Wolf today, thus concluding the excellent Chosen of Nendawen trilogy. I won't say too much on it, being that there haven't been any comments on books 1 or 2 yet, leading me to believe nobody else has read it.
This one was maybe just a step behind the other two. Still very good, but perhaps just a tiny bit underwhelming. But when taken in its entirety, this was one of the better story arcs, with very interesting characters and really evocative writing. It left off on a bit of tease regarding the heritage of the main character, as though a future work was possibly planned. But there is nothing I can find, so I assume this is the end of the road for Hweilan and Co, unless she appears again in one of the short story collections.
Speaking of which, up next is the anthology Realms of the Dead.
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Edited by - VikingLegion on 24 Mar 2019 18:24:43 |
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George Krashos
Master of Realmslore
Australia
6643 Posts |
Posted - 24 Mar 2019 : 22:20:36
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I didn't mind the Chosen of Nendawen books save for this seminal aspect: the far too close to Earth choice of cultures (i.e. American Indian). That might not have been so bad had the author not so diligently scattered pseudo-American Indian speech throughout the narrative and told the reader it was Elvish. Just ... no. Destroyed my suspension of disbelief every time.
-- George Krashos |
"Because only we, contrary to the barbarians, never count the enemy in battle." -- Aeschylus |
Edited by - George Krashos on 24 Mar 2019 22:21:03 |
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VikingLegion
Senior Scribe
USA
483 Posts |
Posted - 30 Mar 2019 : 12:52:38
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quote:
Originally posted by George Krashos
I didn't mind the Chosen of Nendawen books save for this seminal aspect: the far too close to Earth choice of cultures (i.e. American Indian). That might not have been so bad had the author not so diligently scattered pseudo-American Indian speech throughout the narrative and told the reader it was Elvish. Just ... no. Destroyed my suspension of disbelief every time.
-- George Krashos
Hmmm, I definitely see what you're saying, but rather than bother me, I thought it really brought a sort of primal, barely-touched-by-civilization vibe to it that I found very enjoyable. A rough and tumble feel that I think works well with the Cold Lands, which I've always viewed as semi-frontier regions in my own head canon. To each their own I suppose.
Yesterday I finished Realms of the Dead, an anthology where each story features undead and is spread throughout all various periods of time. Overall this was a very strong anthology, only two stories didn't do much for me. The standouts, to me, were:
The Resurrection Agent - my first exposure to Erin Evans, about who (whom? I never know when to use that) I've heard so many great things. The hype is justified, as this was the weirdest, most imaginative and innovative story of the collection. Here we have a story of a spy that is intentionally sent into the most suicidal of missions, nearly always resulting in her murder. She is then brought back to life to testify against her killer. Her "handler" always severs her pinky finger before each mission to have something to bring her back with if the original body can't be recovered. There is a really neat plot twist when she is forced to fight one of her former bodies, now re-animated as a wight or ghoul. Excellent stuff!
A Prayer For Brother Robert - normally I'm not crazy about Phil Athans' work, but this one knocked it out of the park for me. Two words: Crawling Claws. This is an old-school D&D monster going all the way back to the late 70s, but how often do they get a chance in the spotlight? I want to say there was a short adventure set in Yhaunn that featured them, but I'm really stretching my memory on that one. This story had a bit of a B-movie horror feel, but in the most enjoyable way.
The Bone Bird - another fine example of how consistently strong Jaleigh Johnson's storytelling is. I wasn't familiar with this particular form of undead - an "entomber" - but it seems to be a super-strong, hulked-out zombie type.
Pieces - Richard Lee Byers - an update on Bareris and Mirror
Soul Steel - Lisa Smedman - a very cool vengeance story about an elf that makes an ill-advised pact with a lich
Wandering Stones - Bruce R. Cordell - really weird tale about a dragon tracking a woman to a ghost-infested town. The lore was strange in this one, not like anything I recognize in the Realms, but then again I'm a bit lost in this Post-Spellplague world. Cool reveal at the end, portending some mysterious event that is left unresolved.
Feast of the Moon - Cristopher Rowe - a satisfying tale about a stubborn Malarite on a ritual hunt.
The King in Copper - Richard Baker - backstory on the Hulburg area and the reason why it is so taboo to steal from the dead in this region.
Dusty Bones - Rosemary Jones - a side story of the Carver family we met back in City of the Dead.
The Many Murders of Manshoon - Ed Greenwood - a sprawling, rambling mess where everyone is either a shape-shifter or utilizing illusion magic. Also highlighted is the endless supply of Zhentarim. They are cut down like mayflies and yet there is always a never-ending line of them to take their place.
A Body In A Bag - Erik Scott de Bie - I can't decide on this story about a love-struck tiefling trying to win the heart of a goth necromancer girl. It was either a charming, witty romance tale, or a cheesy teenage groan fest.
Iruladoon - RA Salvatore - I can't even remember what this was about even though it was the one I read last. I just looked it up, there was a wizard named Addadearber and a ranger on some remote, haunted forest on the shores of Lac Dinneshir in Icewind Dale. It was some sort of ghost/primal nature spirit type story, but it didn't do a whole lot for me.
Up next, building off my excitement of having read Erin M. Evans short story, I delve into one of her novels: The Ghost Catcher.
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VikingLegion
Senior Scribe
USA
483 Posts |
Posted - 30 Mar 2019 : 13:17:37
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by gylippus
5. Too bad there are not more stories with Galvin. I liked his character quite a bit and would have looked forward to him becoming even more powerful. I believe he is around level 11 (2e), which puts him up there with some of the most powerful druids.
I want to say he was in one of the early Realms of... anthologies, but it's been a long time, and I won't swear to it.
You are correct. Galvin appears in the story Grandfather's Toys in the anthology Realms of Valor. I recall thinking it was a pretty ho-hum story and it didn't make the cut of the ones I detailed in that writeup. I think it was about a bunch of clockwork menaces in some remote tower, or something like that... |
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Taleras
Seeker
75 Posts |
Posted - 02 Apr 2019 : 04:04:31
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quote:
Originally posted by VikingLegion
Iruladoon - RA Salvatore - I can't even remember what this was about even though it was the one I read last. I just looked it up, there was a wizard named Addadearber and a ranger on some remote, haunted forest on the shores of Lac Dinneshir in Icewind Dale. It was some sort of ghost/primal nature spirit type story, but it didn't do a whole lot for me.
The first time I read this one, I had no idea what it was about. After getting through a chunk of the Drizzt novels I believe it is referring to some spoilery stuff that I won't mention here around the Gauntlgrym era. |
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Seravin
Master of Realmslore
Canada
1265 Posts |
Posted - 02 Apr 2019 : 08:45:03
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quote:
The Many Murders of Manshoon - Ed Greenwood - a sprawling, rambling mess where everyone is either a shape-shifter or utilizing illusion magic. Also highlighted is the endless supply of Zhentarim. They are cut down like mayflies and yet there is always a never-ending line of them to take their place.
Did the women find a way to be inappropriately dressed as well at some point? Just a hunch...as well Zhentarim are FR's stormtroopers. An endless supply of fodder. Only it doesn't make near as much sense since Faerun is not a galaxy with cloned troops capable of hyperspace transport. I never understood the Zhentarim numbers (never mind the mages they have) nor how they maintain standing armies at the Citadel of The Raven and Darkhold in a world building context. Cult of the Dragon cells (with dracoliches to back them up) and Knights of the Shield covert guilds, and Maulgrym and other enenimes make much sense in a world building way to me than Zhentarim. |
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VikingLegion
Senior Scribe
USA
483 Posts |
Posted - 03 Apr 2019 : 20:59:55
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quote:
Originally posted by Seravin
quote:
The Many Murders of Manshoon - Ed Greenwood - a sprawling, rambling mess where everyone is either a shape-shifter or utilizing illusion magic. Also highlighted is the endless supply of Zhentarim. They are cut down like mayflies and yet there is always a never-ending line of them to take their place.
Did the women find a way to be inappropriately dressed as well at some point? Just a hunch...as well Zhentarim are FR's stormtroopers. An endless supply of fodder. Only it doesn't make near as much sense since Faerun is not a galaxy with cloned troops capable of hyperspace transport. I never understood the Zhentarim numbers (never mind the mages they have) nor how they maintain standing armies at the Citadel of The Raven and Darkhold in a world building context. Cult of the Dragon cells (with dracoliches to back them up) and Knights of the Shield covert guilds, and Maulgrym and other enenimes make much sense in a world building way to me than Zhentarim.
I tend to view it as a large portion of the rank-and-file soldier Zhents (not the mages, whose numbers are just ludicrious) might not necessarily be all card carrying Banites/Cyricist types. Some might just be from disadvantaged areas, moving to Zhent controlled regions simply to get work. "Hey, it's a tough world and if my choices are me and my family starving, or I have to go crack a few kneecaps as a thug/enforcer, well that's what I'm going to go do even if I find the work distasteful." I like to think they're not all caricature bad guys. The mages, on the other hand.... it seems like every single one is a sneering, preening, power-mad wannabe tyrant, with very little nuance between them. That's why I barely even read the names anymore, just sort of gloss over them because they are so eminently disposable. |
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VikingLegion
Senior Scribe
USA
483 Posts |
Posted - 03 Apr 2019 : 22:14:09
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Yesterday I finished The God Catcher. Much like my first Elaine Cunningham novel, I liked it a lot while not absolutely loving it. And yet, immediately I could tell that this is an awesome talent that is going to create wonderful things, exactly as EC went on to do. I loved the imagery of a neighborhood springing up around the "corpse" of a giant statue that went rogue and then defunct during the chaos of the Spellplague. Cool cover art too, it made me think just a little bit of Ready Player One and the "stacks" built for the poorer section of society.
Erin M. Evans seems to know quite a bit about the thieving arts. I feel like I could pick a lock and detect traps after reading this book. The knowledge was very in depth, like a tutorial. Just how does she know so much about roguish skills??? :)
The great game that dragons participate in was very intriguing. I wonder if that was primarily her creation or if it exists in other FR lore.
The characters were excellent in this story. Not to make too many Elaine comparisons, but it was a similar level of development going on. I particularly liked Feremmo Magli, the dapper assassin. It's nice to see a contract killer who enjoys his work and isn't the brooding, angsty, all-black wearing type. Magli read something like a dark mirror version of Danilo Thann to me. Early on in the story it was mentioned that the main character had some Uskevren blood in her on her mother's side. I was very much hoping to see more of that lineage and who, exactly, her grand (and possibly great-grand) parents were, but that avenue sort of trailed away with no more information.
Anyway, very good debut novel for Mrs. Evans, I'm eager to see more! Up next I stayed with the EG Presents series for Circle of Skulls.
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Edited by - VikingLegion on 03 Apr 2019 22:19:40 |
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Zeromaru X
Great Reader
Colombia
2442 Posts |
Posted - 08 Apr 2019 : 02:07:20
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quote:
Originally posted by VikingLegion
The great game that dragons participate in was very intriguing. I wonder if that was primarily her creation or if it exists in other FR lore.
The Xorvintaal was created for core D&D during 3.5 (IIRC, it debuted in the Monster Manual V), and Erin Evans adapted it to the Realms in this novel. Richard Lee Byers later expands in the lore of the Xorvintaal in the three first novels of the Brotherhood of the Griffon series. |
Instead of seeking change, you prefer a void, merciless abyss of a world... |
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VikingLegion
Senior Scribe
USA
483 Posts |
Posted - 10 Apr 2019 : 02:27:31
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Excellent, thanks for that Zeromaru!
I finished Circle of Skulls yesterday. I kinda feel like James P. Davis doesn't get his due. He writes really creepy, super evocative stories. He incorporates some great visuals too, I can "see" several of his scenes playing out for me in great cinematic fashion. He taps into my teenage anime-nerd phase where all the protagonists wear black dusters and do that sword-drag-on-the-ground move - I know you know what I'm talking about!
Anyway, this book showed a really dark and seedy side of Waterdeep. It's easy to assume there is a nasty underbelly to the city, but this particular brand of rot is not among the usual culprits in the squalid areas, but instead among the upper crust - as several noble/aristocratic families are secret members of a cult of Asmodeus; venerating a devil-god in exchange for material prosperity. I particularly liked the mobs of ahimazzi - soulless ex-nobles who have nothing more to give and become near mindless (but not undead) shuffling cannon-fodder.
If I have some criticisms of Davis they are:
1. I tend to get a little lost at times in his stories. I don't know if I'm just not a careful enough reader, or if he is slightly unclear at times.
2. His protagonist in this book was so similar to the one from Bloodwalk I had to look up the previous book to make sure it wasn't the same guy. Both are reluctant heroes. Not quite anti-heroes, but definitely not in it for the most noble of reasons. Both also have celestial roots, cool outfits/swords, and some of those anime moves I mentioned previously. These guys were near clones.
Aside from that one gripe, I liked this story quite a bit. In fact, the entire "Ed Greenwood Presents Waterdeep" series has been well above average and exceeded my expectations. Up next: tonight I will start Unbroken Chain by Jaleigh Johnson, who has been another very pleasant surprise for me. |
Edited by - VikingLegion on 10 Apr 2019 02:28:37 |
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VikingLegion
Senior Scribe
USA
483 Posts |
Posted - 17 Apr 2019 : 01:34:13
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I finished Unbroken Chain yesterday. I'm guessing no one else has read it, and that's a shame because this book was terrific. I don't even know where to start, I'm having trouble ordering my thoughts.
First, before I forget: Jaleigh Johnson is excellent. I picked her out in one of the anthologies early on, I couldn't put my finger on it exactly, but something about her storytelling really stood out from all the other voices in that collection (I believe Elaine commented on it right after, also touting the praises of this author.) That short story was no fluke, she's been consistently good in everything I've read from her, and I think this was her best yet.
This book focuses on a city of shadar-kai in the Shadowfell. I know, I know... too many shadow-related creatures... Well Seravin, if you thought Sembia took a turn for the worse with the gothic/shadow transformation, this book probably isn't for you. It's basically like "What if D&D made a pitch for a Hot Topic clothing line." I say that *mostly* in jest, but these guys do have some serious teen-angst angle going for them. Due to the gloomy and overall depressing nature of their home plane, they experience a phenomenon called The Fading, where they become so apathetic they literally melt away, surrendering their souls to the environment. So, to combat this, they have to *feel* as strongly as possible - some turn to cruelty and ambition, some become thrill-seeking adrenaline junky types, some resort to "cutting" to focus their thoughts (yep, more goth/teen stuff).
But all that edginess aside (and it might be hard for some to get by), the exploration of their city and culture was absolutely fascinating. Reading this book gave me the same sense of wonder and excitement that I haven't felt since teenage me read Homeland and got to see how the mysterious and enigmatic (at that point) drow lived their day-to-day lives. These guys share some similarities to dark elves (with a reversed color palette swap) mostly in their fanaticism. The cynic in me says that was a calculated move by WoTC to come up with "The Next Drow", but these guys are unique enough to stand up by themselves. Rather than being all agility-based, stealthy killers, the shadar-kai (at least in this city) lean more towards the platemail and greatsword aesthetic. I can see their armour being highly stylized and very gothic/baroque, with all kinds of protrusions and swirling designs, faces carved into the pauldrons and kneecaps and so on - not entirely unlike the old school githyanki illustrations. An even better visual comparison might be the armour of the Necromongers (cheesy name, but they looked cool as hell) from The Chronicles of Riddick, for anyone that might remember that mostly forgettable movie. These shadar-kai are practically begging to be illustrated by Tony DiTerlizzi.
If I can continue my ramble to an even greater tangent - I think many of us older fans have been, perhaps unfairly, dismissive of anything that came about in the 4e era. I know I never gave it a fair chance. But after reading the book Arts and Arcana, and liking a good deal of what I saw, I'm trying to keep a more open mind on the lore aspect. Yeah, it's not what we all grew up reading and playing. It's something very different in nearly all ways - visually, philosophically, etc. - but that doesn't mean there isn't some cool stuff in there to mine from.
Back to the book: the main character is an outcast from a small, primitive backwater settlement, transplanted to an enormous city of shadar-kai. He must learn to adapt to a vastly different lifestyle from everything he's ever known. It's your fish-out-of-water story where he needs to overcome his own fears and lack of trust to adjust to a new way of living. Naturally, as he gains friends and status, there are those around him that are jealous and can't stand to see him succeed. There's so much more than just this going on, but this post is getting on the long side so I'll leave the rest for anyone that may give this book a chance, which I strongly urge.
Up next: today I started in on Elminster Must Die. |
Edited by - VikingLegion on 17 Apr 2019 01:37:03 |
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Madpig
Learned Scribe
Finland
148 Posts |
Posted - 17 Apr 2019 : 08:04:04
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quote:
Originally posted by VikingLegion
Up next: today I started in on Elminster Must Die.
Have to say that El must die (and that trilogy overall) was quite painful read at times. As I am non native Eng speaker, it was sometimes quite hard to keep track. And I mostly read in Eng all the time. Also El and Drizzt stories are like Batman or Superman stories: yes there might be troubles, but they will always prevail in the end. |
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Seravin
Master of Realmslore
Canada
1265 Posts |
Posted - 17 Apr 2019 : 11:00:15
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| I have to say, I couldn't get through that series. I hated the time skip and spell plague and reading this series just didn't work for me. I like Ed's novels almost entirely because of the lore and occassionally the characters (I love the Knights and Rangers 3 and Chosen). Elminster was kind of pathetic, everyone was dead, meh..and the point of 4th edition was to erase the previous lore and start over 100 years ahead fresh, so..nope. Add that with Ed's "loose" writing style with Deus Ex Machina and complicated backstories/characters that die in one page or chapter and I can't be bothered. |
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VikingLegion
Senior Scribe
USA
483 Posts |
Posted - 20 Apr 2019 : 15:39:04
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*Sigh*, no discussion on Unbroken Chain, as I suspected. Though I'm excited there is a sequel not too far ahead in my reading order.
As for Elminster Must Die, I just finished powering through it in a Herculean effort to just get it done. This book had basically everything I dislike about EG novels: the absurd body counts, the excessive snarkiness, confusing/improbable plot lines, a dizzying cast of throwaway characters, weird/creepy sexuality that reads more like how a 12 year old boy thinks sex works, and - of course - Elminster's nigh omnipotence, even when supposedly handicapped.
It took me all of 10 pages or so before I was already rolling my eyes. There is a scene where Storm is spying on Elminster and The Simbul during their lovemaking, and silently wishing it were she, and not her sister, getting it on with him. Ok, first of all... watching your own sister getting intimate with anyone is pretty sketchy to begin with. But to see her banging a decrepit, scrawny, old vulture of a man and thinking "Oh, I got to get me some of that" is even weirder. To make matters infinitely worse, said old man is the man who RAISED STORM AS HER FATHER. I remember reading in earlier Elminster books how El recalled when he first was given care of the girls, how they were so young and small he would bounce them around on his knees and delight them with simple magic tricks. Now he's screwing one while another peeks at them from behind a tree, wishing she were the one making love to him. It's really weird pervy old-man wish fulfillment writing.
As for the story, I kinda liked this old, tired, magic-denied version of Elminster. I figure it would make for a more interesting tale, him having to rely on his wits and clever usage of whatever magical baubles he could scrounge up, rather than the normal godlike command of magic, with an actual goddess to bail him out of any jam. It started off fairly well, but I didn't like the turn it took as El started slaughtering Cormyrian war wizards and high knights that were, for the most part, simply just doing their jobs and trying to apprehend a felon. Of course Elminster was able to justify his theft of magical items from the Crown, and thereby further justify his killing of said agents as purely self defense, but it was an ugly look on him, no doubt.
My favorite character ended up being Thirsty the stirge - a trained pet of the villainous noble Marlin Stormserpent, whose beak was often coated in a paralytic poison. Lord Delcastle was fairly amusing at times, but he came off a bit too much like a Danilo Thann Lite.
Manshoon showed up as the mastermind behind a very tortured, convoluted plot. But even his competently executed plan didn't ultimately change much, as Elminster's ashes still retained enough sentience and was able to possess the body of his great-granddaughter, who happens to be a stripper/pole dancer at a local Suzailan club, because... well, why not? At one point, as she is getting naked for bed, Elminster - who is hiding in her room under a pile of dirty laundry - has to subdue her. He lunges out and wrestles her down to the bed, grabbing whatever parts of her unclothed anatomy he can during the wild tumult. But I suppose this is the least weird thing he's done with his own female family members...
So now he's in her body, sort of acting as a mentor to train her as the next great Defender of the Realm, but able to mentally assert his complete control in those times where he needs to take the reigns. Also there is a hint of Mystra returning at the very end, so I suppose I can look forward to Elminster regaining his godlike status in the not too distant future. Also, Mirt the Moneylender comes completely out of left field, having spent the last 100 years or so trapped within a magical hand axe, so there's that. I had some more notes on this one, but honestly I'm tired of beating a dead horse, so I'll just end it here.
Up next is Gauntlgrym. |
Edited by - VikingLegion on 20 Apr 2019 15:40:26 |
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Lamora
Seeker
USA
81 Posts |
Posted - 20 Apr 2019 : 22:19:40
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Little late, but I do remember Unbroken Chain fondly. I wasn't too big into the Realms at the time I picked up the book. I got into the Realms from Salvatore's writing as I am sure many have. So I had no clue what to expect from Unbroken Chains. But it is one of my favorite Realms books. I really enjoyed the characters and the setting was quite unique. I would definitely put Johnson up there with Kemp and Elaine and Salvatore as some of the best Realms authors.
I am completely with you on Ed books. They are so bad (to me)! The only 2 I liked from him were Elminster in Myth Drannor (for the lore) and the very 1st Elminster book. Every other book from him seems to throw every villain plus the kitchen sink at the protagonist. I won't ever forget a sequence in the Spellfire books where mages, maybe liches, and then dragons all wondered upon Shandra out of nowhere back to back to back. It was so unbelievable to me. Though I did enjoy his combo with Elaine on Waterdeep. Credit where credit is due.
I am looking forward to your view on Gauntlgrym. Salvatore did some interesting things with his resurrected characters, but... well; I won't spoil anything until after you finish. |
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VikingLegion
Senior Scribe
USA
483 Posts |
Posted - 28 Apr 2019 : 22:13:51
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I finished Gauntlgrym a couple days ago. RAS was absolutely my favorite author for many of the early FR years, but it seems as though his last several novels have been books in search of a story. In this one, I just couldn't buy in on the Dahlia character. On the surface she's terribly cliché - a young elf returns to her village to find it up in smoke and everyone she knew being put to the sword. She vows vengeance and then uses that anger to transform herself into a great fighter - an origin I'm sure we've all seen a thousand times. But how did so young an elf become so supremely skilled as to be able to outfight just about anyone? I know a great deal of her effectiveness comes from her very powerful and exotic weapon, but where did she get that from? Who trained her in the use of such a non-conventional implement?
Personally I think Kozah's Needle was made just so RAS could go even more overboard with his in-depth fighting descriptions. I used to be all-in on the fight scenes, perfectly recreating in my mind the exact positions of each combatant, almost down to the point of using figurines to represent them. Nowadays, it's all I can do to hold my attention firm as I scan over the action, trying to sort out if anything of major importance happens. I just don't care that her rear plant foot was offset at a 30 degree angle instead of her traditional 45 degrees while she used her off-hand to reach under the 2nd flail bar and flip it's position while flaring her left hip out into a spinning.... bleh.... ok, so she just smacked an orc in the face and knocked him out, great, moving on... As for the rest of Dahlia, well there's just not much there to evaluate. I think she's a really shallow, undeveloped character. What little development we see sort of played false to me anyhow - she goes from being an utterly ruthless, completely self-assured and confident villain, to a bit of a milksop patsy of the Red Wizardess Sylora Salm, to an energetic, smiling, fun-loving companion-in-arms to Drizzt that is going to rekindle his elven spirit and push him out of his current grim demeanor. She's just not working for me, although some of her lightning attacks and post-enemy-defeat poses did score pretty high on the coolness factor, even if they were a bit forced.
Did I know that Drizzt has a summonable unicorn mount from somewhere else or was this its first appearance? It was mentioned that Silverymoon "commissioned" the unicorn for him. How exactly does that work? I guess that must mean it is not a naturally born creature, but rather a magical item not unlike Guenhwyvar.
This story helps me understand that weird short story in the previous anthology a little bit better - the one about the mystical forest on the outskirts of Ten Towns. I still can't get past the wizard named Addadearber though. I think RAS should give a close friend or family member (his son, perhaps?) a one-time VETO power per book, on any character name, because man, Bob has come out with some atrocious ones over the years - I'm looking at you Cordio Muffinhead. I mean, his main character, the iconic dark elf that is amongst the most popular of all fantasy creations, has such a clumsy name that you will hear at least 3 or 4 different pronunciations when talking to other fans. Imagine if he spent just a little more time coming up with something a little smoother there. We still don't know the official story that is going to be used in the FR movie in development, but I'm not exaggerating when I say that the goofiness of this name may be an impediment as to whether that earns the final nod or not. Imagine a trailer for a film and you hear that guy with the iconic "In A World voice. Now picture him getting to the end and saying something like, "Homeland: The Legend of Drizzt Do'Urden" and thinking how badly that will test in a focus group. It sounds like you have marbles in your mouth. Hey, what did that guy say? Drizzle Dundee? Jerzit Durden? The hell is that? The film would probably have to be named "The Legend of the Dark Elf" or something, but you can only avoid that name for so long before it has to come up.
Lastly, the entire Gauntlgrym storyline bugs me, simply because... well, didn't we already do this with Mithral Hall? Bruenor faked an illness way back in, I think the very end of the Crystal Shard series, no? He tricks Drizzt into helping him find this near mythical ancient stronghold that will help him reclaim the glory of his people. So he bails on his kingdom up in Icewind Dale to go chasing after a legend that will help him rekindle dwarfdom in the North. Now, many years later, it seems like he's bored with being the king of Mithral Hall, so he starts it all over again with an even MOAR LEGENDARY homeland of the original Delzoun dwarves. The whole thing seems a bit clunky and ill-conceived to me. However I do like the tie in between Gauntlgrym and ancient Luskan - the cooperation between the races that formed this immense prison for the primordial that supplies power to the dwarven forges. So many good elements and themes there - the arrogance/hubris of mortals to cage this being and attempt to siphon its power - it almost feels like an allegorical comparison to mankind harnessing nuclear energy, and what occasionally happens when fail-safes, well, fail to be safe. The utter devastation of Neverwinter was epic and all, but maybe a bit too much after basically everything we know about Faerun has already been turned on its head in the post-Spellplague world we find ourselves in. I suppose it was a way for the video game makers to just utterly nuke any preconceived notions of what Neverwinter is supposed to be so they can build it up from the ground in their own direction without fans of the original games calling them out on errors. But again, I think the apocalypse and subsequent 100 year time jump was already ample explanation for any differences, but what do I know?
Ok, I think I've rambled enough. This book had some good things going for it, but overall failed to please on many levels. Up next I will read Sandstorm. |
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Seravin
Master of Realmslore
Canada
1265 Posts |
Posted - 29 Apr 2019 : 10:08:45
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I did groan out loud at the shield that summons beer to give stat boosts. That seemed right out of an MMORPG (sigh). I wasn't connected to old Neverwinter, but I imagine so many cities got completely nuked in this era (Tilverton, Ordulin, Neverwinter, more in the south..) just loses its impact after the 7th Chernobyl hits the Realms. I almost think we are supposed to hate Dahlia, I never connected to the character or cared. I remember going to a book signing / talk with RAS when Gauntlgrym came out and we had loads of questions about the new world era and characters, and Bob just wanted to know what everyone thought of the weapon she carried. Double sigh.
I definitely get it with Bob's goofy names, but I seem to be immune to bad naming conventions. The things that get my goat revolve around massive plot holes. |
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Lamora
Seeker
USA
81 Posts |
Posted - 29 Apr 2019 : 15:54:49
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| The thing very obvious about Gauntlygrym and in the upcoming novels is that Salvatore seems to be repeating himself. Its like he can't think of any new plot points. Its just more Drow plotting involving Drizzt and more Dwarven Homelands. Just like you Viking, I also started skimming the battle scenes. We have seen all of this before. The battles just start to drag after a while. Heck, if Salvatore had just included actual magic in his battles it would go a long way to help shake things up. Cattie-Brie is now a mage, but she doesn't really travel with Drizzt. So her magical abilities aren't used in battle. Thus its always just arrows and intricate swordplay. I know Salvatore has unique ideas, but his newer novels definitely don't show them. |
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Arannis
Acolyte
USA
13 Posts |
Posted - 29 Apr 2019 : 16:54:18
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| I don't disagree with you VikingLegion. The stories do seem a bit repetitive and I never did get into Dahlia as a character. I also didn't realize the beer shield gave stat boosts, I thought it was just really good beer(is there such a thing? :P) I agree some of RAS names for characters can get out of hand, but I personally don't think Drizzt Do'Urden is one of them. Even with all this, I still love the way he writes fight scenes and will probably read every Drizzt book that comes out! |
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Madpig
Learned Scribe
Finland
148 Posts |
Posted - 30 Apr 2019 : 08:33:46
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| I think this was best of RASs 4th edition novel. All after this one seemed to be kind of weathering the storm and waiting for 5th edition. |
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Seravin
Master of Realmslore
Canada
1265 Posts |
Posted - 30 Apr 2019 : 08:41:55
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| Was this the one with the vague "mystery" of Barrabus the Gray as well? |
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Madpig
Learned Scribe
Finland
148 Posts |
Posted - 02 May 2019 : 11:57:00
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quote:
Originally posted by Seravin
Was this the one with the vague "mystery" of Barrabus the Gray as well?
Indeed it was. I think RAS is not so much to blame as usual. I think he would have done things very differently without that 4th edition timejump and unnecessary focus on Shades and Neverwinter area. |
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VikingLegion
Senior Scribe
USA
483 Posts |
Posted - 02 May 2019 : 18:39:10
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quote:
Originally posted by Seravin
Was this the one with the vague "mystery" of Barrabus the Gray as well?
Well I do recall Artemis Entriri stabbing a Shade with his vampiric dagger, so if Barrabus isn't a certain well-known Fighter-Thief who kills people for money, I'll eat my hat. |
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Madpig
Learned Scribe
Finland
148 Posts |
Posted - 03 May 2019 : 09:23:03
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quote:
Originally posted by VikingLegion
quote:
Originally posted by Seravin
Was this the one with the vague "mystery" of Barrabus the Gray as well?
Well I do recall Artemis Entriri stabbing a Shade with his vampiric dagger, so if Barrabus isn't a certain well-known Fighter-Thief who kills people for money, I'll eat my hat.
Be prepared for even more anticlimatic explanation regarding his status  |
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VikingLegion
Senior Scribe
USA
483 Posts |
Posted - 04 May 2019 : 13:50:15
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quote:
Originally posted by Arannis
I don't disagree with you VikingLegion. The stories do seem a bit repetitive and I never did get into Dahlia as a character. I also didn't realize the beer shield gave stat boosts, I thought it was just really good beer(is there such a thing? :P) I agree some of RAS names for characters can get out of hand, but I personally don't think Drizzt Do'Urden is one of them. Even with all this, I still love the way he writes fight scenes and will probably read every Drizzt book that comes out!
Yeah, after going back and reading my Gauntlgrym writeup, I think I came off a bit harsher than intended. While I stand by the critiques, I, like you, will still read every Drizzt book, even if I wasn't doing a complete FR read-through. I owe RAS that much for being such an integral part of my teens and early twenties. I think maybe I'm so critical simply because the bar was set SO high with those first 8-10 Drizzt books, it's nigh impossible to reach those heights again. Oh, and I also stand by Drizzt being a horrible name for one of the most iconic characters in modern fantasy. RAS himself even pokes fun at the mispronunciations of it several times in his books, with people who just met him saying "Drizzit" until they are corrected. It's just not a well-constructed word, there's no comfortable flow to it. As I said before, I've personally heard, while talking to other fans, at least 3, maybe 4 separate ways to say it. And every single one of them sound like some drippy, nasally-toned desk clerk, not a heroic and inspiring ranger.
Moving on, I have 2 books to review. One of which I was able to blast through in a day, being a collection of short stories that I have already mostly read. I'm talking about The Legend of Drizzt Anthology, annotated by RA Salvatore. I absolutely LOVE reading author commentary, it's such a treat to get a bit of insight into their thought process for any work, or even just a funny anecdote or incident that happened during the creation period. So even though I only read 4 of the 12 stories in this book, I definitely read all those comments that preceded each. So, on to the shorts:
The First Notch - appeared in a Dragon Magazine issue that I probably have, but this story somehow eluded me. It was an entertaining tale of a young (beardless!) Bruenor out in the tunnels after a rogue ettin. The story itself was fine to above-average, but what really stood out to me, and was commented on by RAS, was the internal consistency in Bruenor's character that persisted over ~20 years. A lesson learned in this story - penned in 1989 - was instrumental in the treaty between the dwarves of Mithral Hall and King Obould's empire.
Dark Mirror - I might be in the double digits for reading this story. We've already covered how brilliant it was way back in this thread. But it was there and even though I said I wasn't going to re-read any, well... I did it anyway. And yup, it got me again. This tale is damn near the pinnacle of what a short story should be, and ranks amongst my absolute favorites, not just in FR or even D&D tales, but from all genres.
The Dowry - interesting, it was published and included at the end of one of RAS's Demon Wars books as some sort of cross-promotion between WoTC and CDS Books. The story had a very interesting premise - Drizzt and Cattie-brie want to impress Deudermont before joining his crew. To this end they decide they are going to capture a prominent pirate. But it turns out that "pirate" is ship-mage Robillard posing as a pirate boss so he can catch young thugs "trying out" for a life of piracy. It was a cool, witty, and amusing concept. But where it failed was in how contrived the battle scene ended up. Predictably, the two sides (Robillard covered in illusion magic, Drizzt/Cat wearing disguises) came to blows as they couldn't determine each other's identities. And here's where it got goofy. Cat is normally dead on with her bow, blasting through opponents and killing them like flies. But here every shot is a shoulder or leg hit. Drizzt's slashes are just surface cuts and/or pommel-smash knockouts, rather than opening up blood geysers like usual, resulting in zero casualties among the crewman of Sea Sprite, which would've made things *really* awkward... I don't want to say it ruined the story, but it definitely crippled my "buy-in" factor.
To Legend He Goes - another new tale. This was originally meant to be the first chapter of Gauntlgrym, but Phil Athans convinced RAS to chop it so it could be expanded into a short story. It tells the tale of Wulfgar's final battle. He is now over 100 years old (good bloodlines, I guess!) and is escorting a hunting party across the ice. His body is failing him, and he laments how he might die in his bed, but when a few members of the group are trapped and beset by yetis, he goes out to rescue them, defeating the beasts but taking mortal wounds in the process. It ends with his soul traveling to Iruladoon - that strange demi-heaven we were introduced to before where Cat and Regis have been residing for quite some time now. He is distressed that he didn't go to the Halls of Tempus, so we can surmise that this pocket plane is not a completely voluntary, true heaven as far as all its occupants are concerned.
That brings me to an interesting tangent. I'm sure great philosphers have already discussed this, but there's a big paradox when it comes to any kind of reward-based afterlife - if Wulfgar's Heaven is he and a twenty year old Cattie-brie (as she appears to him at the end of this tale), but Drizzt's Heaven is him with a ~40 year old Cat that is his wife, which version of Cat is there? Do the 3 of them all live together in the same forest glade, with Cat swapping partners and ages every other week?
For that matter, let's say your version of Heaven is spending eternity with your wife of 50 years. But maybe she just sort of feels lukewarm about you, staying together out of a sense of obligation rather than true love. She has had a devastating crush on Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson for decades, and her preferred Heaven is endless days of bliss with him, and you are nowhere in the picture!
So, in D&D terms, does every individual soul get their own personalized pocket heaven where everything is customized exactly to themselves and there is no true communal experience? Does Wulfgar get a shade of the young Cat he was engaged to before he fell against the yochlol? Does Drizzt get his mature wife? If so, neither of them are the "real" Cat, but rather simulacrums or copies, not the original. I know this is kind of a strange, metaphysical question to be asking here, particularly if we apply it to real-world religions, but in the D&D multiverse characters can actually travel to - bodily and without expiring - the outer planes that serve as the Heavens and Hells of existence; therefore they would have to be more like shared dimensions and not as "pockety" or tailored to the individual.
At any rate, the intro to this story helped me understand Iruladoon a bit more than I had before. Up next, I also managed to finish the novel Sandstorm this week. So I'll go straight into that review later tonight or tomorrow (gotta run)
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Edited by - VikingLegion on 04 May 2019 13:54:32 |
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Gary Dallison
Great Reader
United Kingdom
6351 Posts |
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VikingLegion
Senior Scribe
USA
483 Posts |
Posted - 04 May 2019 : 16:20:18
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quote:
Originally posted by Gary Dallison
Well I play it that the afterlife is like a drug induced fantasy designed to keep the soul calm and willing while the owner of the outer planar dominion slowly leeches away their life force to power himself until the soul is utterly consumed.
Can you tell I'm an atheist
Wow, that's bleak! Not unlike the machines putting humans in The Matrix to keep them as docile energy-producers - Coppertops - as they say in the movie.
Has any extremely powerful mortal in your fiction (or campaign) ever managed to tumble to the dark of things and lead some kind of revolt against the false gods? |
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Gary Dallison
Great Reader
United Kingdom
6351 Posts |
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VikingLegion
Senior Scribe
USA
483 Posts |
Posted - 04 May 2019 : 17:15:36
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I also finished Sandstorm, the only FR novel by Christopher Rowe. It's a shame he didn't get another commission, because this book was wonderful. The dialogue was clever and witty, without going overboard into snarkiness. The characters were super interesting, many of them centering around a strange traveling circus led by a kenku barker. My interest was piqued immediately by this oddball cast, and only deepened as it went on, my favorite being the goliath strongman who was this delightful mix of simple wisdom and childlike wonder at the same time, if that makes any sense, being those two things seem to be opposites.
There was a tremendous amount of history and intrigue in this story, it was actually a bit difficult to follow at times and required a greater than average amount of concentration. There were two characters I had crossed/confused for maybe 5/6ths of the story and only got it straight at the very end. A good deal of my confusion came from not knowing the Arabic-inspired "adh", "yn", and "el" naming conventions for family relations. Maybe it was spelled out early on and I simply missed it. I was amazed by the amount of lore and detail a 1st time Realms author packed into one book, and then I saw in the acknowledgments that Steven Schend was first and foremost. Then it all made sense to me. Schend's writing is astoundingly detail-oriented, to the point where one must be a Realms scholar to follow all of it. And that is just not my level of knowledge, even in Pre-Spellplague Faerun. Post SP, forget about it! I do enjoy Schend's work, but man he makes you earn it. This book followed in that vein.
I LOVE the new-look Lands of Intrigue. I feel like I'm shedding my old curmudgeon/grognard self with some of these 4e novels, particularly Unbroken Chain and this one. There's some cool stuff in there if you are open to the new experiences. Calimshan has gone from a somewhat boring, drab, grimy human-dominated city of 2 million slaves and vastly wealthy pashas with a nod to Middle-East culture, to a colorful, awe-inspiring, djinn controlled, fantasy-scape of a city, with all manner of elemental beings vying for control in the wake of the return of Calim and Memnon. This is Arabian Nights on steroids. I haven't been a fan of a great deal of the Realms makeovers (necro-Thay, goth/shadow-Sembia, etc.), but this one really nailed it and is much better for the change in my opinion.
Speaking of elemental beings, I think this is the 3rd book in a row with a genasi presence. I see that they, along with the eladrin, are among the "product push" races of 4e. I commented in an earlier review of my surprise that genasi can choose to change which element they manifest - that was very new to me from what I knew of 2e Planescape genasi. That specific ability features heavily into this story. When the main character, an earth-soul, is speaking to a female wind-soul, she describes her family life:
She laughed. "The Cabalists believe the great clans of earthsouled and stormsouled and all the others should keep their lineages apart. They use words such as 'pure' and 'inviolate.' When couples of different expressions, well, have children together, for instance, the Firestormers say they've blurred the szuldar."
Cephas asked, "This is widely believed?"
She shrugged, "It's hard to say. There are many who find the idea repellant, this programmatic separation of the expressions. I know I do. And my parents. My father is watersouled, and my mother most often expresses as fire.
"Yet you are windsouled?"
Again came the laughter like bells. "My mother was born windsouled but found the fire suited her better."
What a cool concept. Imagine playing a character that can be born one way but chooses to change themselves into a better fit. Roleplaying in general is all about being able to try on a new skin and be something you aren't in the real world. But think about how awesome the genasi race must feel for some angst-filled teenager that is unsure of themselves, specifically some aspect of their own sexuality or gender identity. The cynic in me says the D&D team probably pushed this angle to simply attract another demographic for more sales, but I'd prefer to believe it was a really kind and thoughtful move by the staff to create a playable race that felt comfortable for gay or transgender players. There's been such a concerted push in recent years for inclusivity, and it feels to me like this is probably the ideal metaphor for some players struggling with coming out. If that's the case, nicely done WotC! If I'm crazy and reading way too deep into this, and they are simply a race of elemental beings and someone thought it would be neat if they could willingly alter themselves for different combat bonuses, well... still a pretty cool concept!
Anyway, the next book will be Bruce R. Cordell's Sword of the Gods.
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Edited by - VikingLegion on 04 May 2019 17:17:37 |
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Once More Unto the Breach!! *SPOILERS*
