The last of the three part tale of Elminster's time as the thief Eladar the Dark on the streets of Hastarl. While not necessarily canonical, this does seem to have been the vision Mr. Greenwood had for young Elminster, but was unable to make it so in the final novel because of TSR's Code of Ethics at the time. Make sure to read my thoughts on Far Too Many Thieves(here), and Dark Times in Hastarl(here) before this post. Like the previous part, this was published online in August of 2005, and can be read in the archive here.
Dark times came about in the last iteration of this story, and Elminster is likewise in a dark place. There is a small section about the Magister we met in Elminster: The Making of a Mage, that was unexpected but brightened the dreary tone a bit. We see the conclusion to Elminster's tussle with the magelord Orluth and the petty gang of thieves, the Moonclaws.
In some sense, the way Elminster is able to defeat enemies more numerous than he is reminiscent of just about every Salvatore Realms novel I have read. That being said, Elminster always has more close calls (friends dying, and staying dead for example), and he is more clever and tactful. The ending was interesting, fun, and unexpected in typical Greenwood style. I wish it had continued for a just a couple more paragrpahs, but alas, it is what we have. Maybe, Tyche willing, we will get more shorts of Elminster's early life later on. This story is Good, and one you should read if a fan of the Old Mage.
No comments:
Post a Comment