Review: Murder in Cormyr by Chet Williamson

Murder in Cormyr by Chet Williamson is the first Mystery novel, the other two being Murder in Tarsis (part of Dragonlance) and Murder in Halruaa. It was released in 1996 and was Williamson's first and only publication in the Forgotten Realms. You can watch/listen to my review here.

This is a standalone murder mystery set (obviously) in Cormyr. It is of a similar sort to Ellis Peters’ Cadfael series, or some other murder mysteries I am not familiar with.

Ironically, I’d already read a couple murder mysteries set in Cormyr, The Wyvern’s Spur by Kate Novak and Jeff Grubb and Spellstorm by Ed Greenwood, and after reading this but before this review was published I also read Stormlight by Ed Greenwood which fits the label too.

The setup for this one is in rural, eastern, Cormyr near the Vast Swamp. In the village of Ghars someone is beheaded and ghosts are causing the locals to fear. Benelaius had come to retire from the War Wizards quietly with his cats, but events require him to help his new community. The back blurb would tell you more but that reveals an event that takes place halfway through the book. Ware!

The novel is in first person, a rarity for the Forgotten Realms. I’m having a hard time thinking of other novels in such a form. The narrator is Jasper, Benelaius’s indentured servant who is short because of his 1/4 halfling blood. He blames this blood for his thieving ways which is some odd racism. 

The tale opens with a recounting of local history, which is quite a treat, and then we discover how Jasper is caught thieving and making the acquaintance of the retired War Wizard, Benelaius. He did this on a dare which could be chalked up to his youth. Instead of sending him to jail, he goes into what is almost slavery, but not quite since Cormyr doesn’t do slavery or serfdom. 

The story is set over a few days in the month of Eleint in the years 1366 DR, with a small section in 1367 DR at the end. In an odd turn of events, the Vast Swamp is experiencing a drought. It is also going to feature a certain market event for the country, the Grand Council of Cormyr’s Merchant Guild is having their annual meeting there, and Vangerdahast makes an appearance! 

Williamson supposedly had never played Dungeons & Dragons while writing this novel. Because of that, you see o’clock used instead of bells and week over tenday and some geography seems slightly distorted. But I wasn’t sure how having magic in what is so obviously set out to be a whodunit would work at all. The formula seems like it couldn’t handle such powerful force that could easily solve any murder mystery, right? 

But Williamson makes an entertaining and lighthearted read, that is at times dark as the Realms can be. It works as a mystery and a Realms novel. This isn’t an epic quest, not anything dealing with gods or vast polities or entities, but about small-town folk and conversation. We get glimpses of literature, epic poetry, and scientific learning to bott! In particular, The Adventures of Camber Fosrick stands out as a fun in-world piece of information.

We do get some politics of Cormyr, The Iron Throne, and a tiny bit of Sembia. I enjoy Benelaius and his cats and the adventurer Kendra. Getting the people that inhabit Ghars really makes it come to life too and will help as in my current campaign the party will go there soon. I always appreciate Cormyr, and it was nice to see such an unspotlighted piece of it, and in a Good novel no less.

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You can track my current progress here.

Completed Series: Paths of Darkness by R. A. Salvatore

Paths of Darkness is the fourth series in the wider Legend of Drizzt. These days it is a trilogy but was originally published as a tetralogy. That’s because Servant of the Shard was put into the Sellswords Trilogy, the fifth sub-series. I started this one in November 2021 and finished in August 2023. I’ve preciously reviewed The Dark Elf Trilogy, The Icewind Dale Trilogy, and Legacy of the Drow. 

The Silent Blade (1998) - Exceptional

The Spine of the World (1999) - Mediocre

Sea of Swords (2001) - Acceptable

The Silent Blade is actually surprisingly fine. It is also the best in the series. It continues where Passage of Dawn left off, the Companions of the Hall are together again, even if Wulfgar is having problems. It’s a fun enough adventure and I have more thoughts here. You can watch it if you wish. 

The Spine of the World is generally considered the worst Drizzt novel, largely because it isn’t one. It’s a Wulfgar novel. I have previously reviewed it as well, and I will admit I was probably a bit lax in my criticisms because it was the first Drizzt novel I read after my friend passed away, and he was a Drizzt fan. If you want someone else’s thoughts, looks here. 

But I do have some thoughts on Wulfgar’s quest for redemption. He finds himself the bad guy and getting mixed up in events bigger than him. Even though it’s done by the ever clunky hand of Salvatore, I can appreciate redemption, even a gritty one. Read more thoughts here, watch here.

Sea of Swords is one I haven’t reviewed yet, so follow my thoughts.

In 1366 DR a pirate with a terrible name is out pirating. She is a target for the Sea Sprite. Not just because of her occupation but because she also has ownership of Aegis Fang. A half-elf, with no reason besides extreme racism also hunts down Drizzt. The Companions wish to be reunited with Wulfgar, who turns out is also at sea. 

There is some good action and adventure fans love. It’s monotonous and overdone after awhile, this is typical of the series. Of course we never fear for the Companions, all over powered and Drizzt very much a Mary Sue. This is the return that could never have happened and Drizzt could have sailed into the sunset and been written by other authors. (The precious 2 books are about other main characters.) 

Besides one moment of surprise I certainly would read no more of these if I wasn’t in my quest to read all Forgotten Realms novels. Overall the novels are better on average than the previous series, but not by a large margin which makes this Acceptable. 

Watch my review of Sea of Swords here.

Art by Clyde Caldwell for The Silent Blade that ended up not being used

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You can track my current progress here.

Little Realms Things - My Wife’s Phone Case

 This is a new series of short posts I came up with some months ago. Essentially I look at items around my house that are nice pieces of the Forgotten Realms. First up is a phone case. I purchased this from Redbubble for a work phone. When I quit that job back in December my wife had the same type of phone but her case had recently broken. Lo and behold she started using this neat case. It shows a map of Faerun particularly the Heartlands and Inner Sea and further south.

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You can track my current progress here.

Review: Realms of the Underdark

Realms of the Underdark, edited by J. Robert King, is a 1996 Forgotten Realms anthology. It is about the same size as other Realms anthologies but with fewer and longer stories. There are only five proper ones. If you would prefer to listen/watch this review, do so here.

We start with a publishing house in Waterdeep, a compliment to the real-life TSR called Tym Waterdeep Limited, or TWL that published Cormyr: A Novel in the Realms, apparently, the in-universe author being Greenwood Grubb. Volo’s guides are published by them too. It’s pretty interesting and very fun. Very much Realms quirky, as the owner is named Justin Tym. Brian Thomsen wrote this segment and it is set in 1367 DR. 

The first story is by Mark Anthony who gives a Drizzt story. "The Fires of Narbondel" was a test to see if he could write a novel in the series. He did write one after this but it was never published. This more specifically follows Zaknafein as Drizzt is a child, so would fit as an interlude for those reading Homeland. 

Zak is the weapon master of House Do’Urden and Drizzt’s father and trainer, though Drizzt is too young to begin training at this point. Zak is essentially equivalent in skill with the blade to Drizzt, and he also has more of a conscious than the Lolth worshippers of Menzoberranzan (I won’t generalize all drow as so evil). Narbondel is essentially the sorcerous clock of the city, being in the Underdark this helps the inhabitants of the city know what time it is. 

The affairs turn to Malice as she wishes to go from 9th to 8th house of the city to gain a seat on the council. They use the Festival of the Founding as a ploy, to celebrate the 5000 years of the city’s existence. Malice specifically wants Lolth, who visits in disguise to the city, to grace her house. Drizzt is a child at this point and becomes embroiled in the search for the dagger of Menzoberra, the weapon of the supposed founder of the city. A yochlol has told Malice of this weapon-artifact. 

The whole story of evil is as cartoony as Salvatore’s writing of the drow. The addition of Jalingfang, the Spider Mage, was nice. It also doesn’t suffer from too much action or juvenile philosophy. I think fans of Drizzt should enjoy it, and those that are not fans may not enjoy it but may want to try it out to see. 

The second is "A Slow Day in Skullport" by Ed Greenwood. I’ve previously read this is The Best of the Realms II. It is a nice change of pace since drow are not key here.

Durnan (a thinking man’s Conan), and Mirt (John Falstaff and Glencannon mixed) are the stars of this show, both being Lords of Waterdeep. The story is in Skullport, a city beneath Waterdeep, in 1358 DR, during the same time as Spellfire. It is a romp, very Leiberian sword and sorcery in feel; if you see Waterdeep as Lankhmar and a beholder as an eldritch sorcerous evil. Asper, Mirt’s wife who is somewhat rare in his stories, makes an appearance. Halaster, Elminster and ilithids, oh my!

Story three is "Rite of Blood" by Elaine Cunningham. I had grown used to her short stories of Danilo and Arilyn so was surprised when Liriel Baenre was the star. This is the protagonist of the Starlight and Shadows Trilogy that I’ve been meaning to read forever because I think Cunningham will do the drow better than Salvatore. And I wasn’t disappointed, while largely evil still, I found Cunningham does a good job making the drow feel less like cartoons than Salvatore, same with Anthony’s story above. 

Xandra Shobilar is going to get a target for Liriel’s Blooding, a coming-of-age ritual where she is to track and kill an intelligent, sapient creature. The target is a Red Wizard of Thay, one of the school of necromancy. This is an overly cunning and knowledgeable prey for the prodigy wizard, Liriel. That’s because Xandra wants him to be an opponent that will kill the young drow she is jealous of. 

Liriel has golden eyes, just as Drizzt has lavender compared to the normal red of drow. She is the daughter of  Gromph, of all people. She seems more in line with the wiles of most drow than Drizzt but this is also a rather young drow and I’ll have to read to see how her character changes. 

Story four, Roger E. Moore’s "Sea of Ghosts" follows a deep gnome and a derro, once slaves of the drow, who return to destroy an egg they were once forced to bury. It is set beneath The Eastern Shaar, which is the first time I’ve read fiction there, so that was appreciated. As was the little-known dwarf settlement, Raurogh’s Hall.

Wykar is the gnome and Geppo is the derro. The latter is more tame than normal, he doesn’t act in great violence and he doesn’t lie. It’s a nice outsider derro take, and the first I’ve read of them since Venom in Her Veins. 

As is not surprising with a sea setting in the Underdark, kua toa are antagonists. I was not super interested in this one at first, but the magic rings and interesting quest and companions piqued my curiosity. It has a rather disturbing and touching ending.

Story five is "Volo Does Menzo" by Brian M. Thomsen. At the time of this release, he was managing editor of fiction at TSR, and since the last piece in the work is a fictional afterword just like the foreword at the publishing house of TWL, Thomsen does 3 of the 7 sections within!

This final story is about Volothamp Geddarm and a tavern master from Skullport, Woodehous. This ties into the foreword and afterword, and also into Once Around the Realms, a story of Volo traveling all around Faerun written (unfortunately) by Thomsen. Specifically, it is a trip to Menzoberranzan for Volo’s Guide to the Underdark. Of course, this journey is made as slaves. 

The story is fun and short. There is a reference to Morpheus which felt out of place, and some exceptionally dumb drow. The “long-winded piece of fiction” comment made me chuckle, though.

"Back at the Publishing House". Justin Tym and TWL return. They weren’t used over much. Tym has a similar role in Realms of Magic and is referenced in Realms of Mystery, Realms of the Arcane and The Mage in the Iron Mask. 

Also there is no R. A Salvatore in the collection, which is surprising since he’s the poster boy of the Underdark. I’m glad he wasn’t , and you still get Drizzt I think fans of the series will enjoy. 

Too focused on Menzoberranzan and Skullport but fun overall. It's an acceptable anthology.

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You can track my current progress here.

Intermission: Shelves Together

 I have just moved and am not quite settled enough for more reviews, those shall follow shortly. I’m the meantime I wanted to share two things.

The first is the bookcase with my Forgotten Realms novels. As you can see, they are stuffed together! The top shelf even has 3 faces. This is the first time they’ve been in one case, rather than spread throughout the rest of my books, since I lived in Colorado. 

The second thing are my ttrpg books! I had some on a shelf until December 2021, but the last time all were on a shelf was May 2020. I made a small video of this one if you care to watch!

Amarast!

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You can track my current progress here.

Milestones Galore: 100 Books Read!

 On Saturday, April 13, I finished Pool of Radiance by James M. Ward and Jane Cooper Hong. This was the 11th novel-collection set in the Forgotten Realms that I’ve finished this year. This means two things.

The first is that I have now matched the number I read last year, and it’s only the middle of April! Admittedly, I read less than desired last year, but this is a good start to a better number this year.

Secondly, this was the 100th fiction book I’ve finished! From 2017 when I first read Brimstone Angels to 2020 to when I started this blog, this feels like a good milestone. This also means I’m about 1/3 through my goal to read all the fiction set in the Realms!

It’s been a great journey full of adventure. Thank you, everyone who has stopped by and been along for the ride. From beyond the Sea of Swords to lands far in every direction, I’ve experienced magic, deadly perils, and great friendships. Thanks to Ed Greenwood and all the writers and editors that made it happen. I hope the Realms continues to be a joy for me for years to come. 

Amarast!

D&D Honor Among Thieves - One Year Later

 March 31st, 2023 saw the official release of the film Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. At the time of watching it a couple days before it was released generally, I enjoyed it but was nit-picky on a few points. Those points stand, except the Elminster/Simon thing with the Helm of Disjunction. What has become obvious over the last year is how much I have enjoyed the film.

There are new places that fit well in the Realms, like Revel's End or Korinn's Keep. Something like the High Sun Games arena smack in the middle of Neverwinter is a bit silly, this can be overlooked for the sheer amount of joy the film brings. It really evokes the tabletop experience, being both chaotic and enchanting. Plus there are nice details, like the Spear of Aoth Fezim being mentioned, Fezim being the star of the Haunted Lands Trilogy, and the Brotherhood of the Griffon series, both by Richar Lee Byers. Also the use of Thorass script, which I will be exploring later.

You can tell fans of the Realms made the film. Even though Ed Greenwood didn't make a cameo like Stan Lee the film has been watched more than a dozen times in my house and I look forward to watching it more.