Review: Sandstorm by Christopher Rowe

Sandstorm is one of those odd standalone novels not incorporated into a series like Lost Empires or Ed Greenwood Presents Waterdeep. It was released in 2011 and was Christopher Rowe's first novel. I actually have chatted with Rowe briefly online, and realizing he had written a Realms novel pushed this one up my list.

This is the Fourth Edition of Forgotten Realms, so it's weird. That doesn't count it out as a good time, I enjoyed Brimstone Angels and Venom in Her Veins, and those are also during the Era of Upheaval. This one takes place in Calimshan, and fans of the desert kingdom south of Tethyr and Amn and across the water from Chult may want to give it a whirl.

Calimport is way less glorious after the Spellplague, though it was always tainted by its slave trade. Slavery is one theme of this book, and we are introduced to gladiatorial games on an earthmote, that is a floating piece of earth. It starts with a bang, a duel between a gladiator and a great tentacled cat. You often don't get covers showcasing events from the start of the book, but this is an exception. It's also notable because Raymond Swanland makes such good art.

Along with this cover, it has a sword & sorcery feel at the start. The magic is also less gamey and feels tad more authentic than in some other Realms novels.

Cephas is a gladiator slave on the earthmote. He seemingly tries to escape from just about every bout he is in; though he is a good fighter he longs for freedom. He has some innate connection to the earth and this relationship is explained once he goes on his journey.

Corvus Nightfeather is a Kenku assassin and a carnie of sorts for the Circus of Wonders. He is not the main character but stands out as unique and as my favorite. Along with a Kenku, you also get some other races that have populated D&D for the last decade or more. Things like Goliaths and Genasi, the latter being integral to the story. The story explores Genasi having two or more elemental aspects regardless of their birth element. For example, can air Genasi also acquire the fire aspect? This ties into a theme of identity and family, particularly the found family trope.

Lastly, Rowe makes good use of epigraphs from in-world texts. I am a big fan of this method, and seeing it in the Forgotten Realms is very fun. That being said, I did not enjoy this one too much, but I feel I could have put more effort into reading it. I think I will reread it at some point, it is very short. As of now, I'll give my arbitrary rating of Acceptable.

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Review: Dark Legacy by Mel Odom

I recently reviewed the entire Threat from the Sea trilogy by Mel Odom. What you, lucky reader, may not have realized is that there are more stories to read about this big Realms event. The first released was this short story, found in Dragon Magazine issue 255. The other is the anthology Realms of the Deep, which I will be reviewing soon.

story art by David Kooharian

In January 1999, the same month book one, Rising Tide, was released, we got a short story introducing the conflict. It can be found on pages 66-77. The story starts on the 22 Ches (actually misspelled as Chess in the article) 1355 DR. That means it is early Spring, essentially late March, and it is one year after the prologue of Rising Tide. 

Narros is woken by his wife, Klyss. They are merfolk of Laakos' Reef, forty miles east of Calimport. He says a prayer to Eadro before grabbing his trident and checking on the disturbance that woke them. Narros is the chief priest of the village and safeguards the temple that has housed an artifact for thounsands ofyears. He feels the disturbed currents coming from the passage that connects his reef home to the temple.

Narros and Klyss have two adult sons, and they take their charge of keeping the artifact very seriously. The old priest, Kallos, was fearful of what would happen if the artifact was removed. This artifact is the Taker's Circlet. When trouble arrives they go to Harric, their chieftain, for aid. Another character is the wealthy Revek who sells fish to surface dwellers, wears robes (most go naked) and has furniture.

We learn the locathah also revere Eadro, though in a different manner. We don't have them present, but they are mentioned. We do get a look at a pirate vessel, The Wayfarer captained by Kenson.

This story is immediately gripping. Not many of these short stories in Dragon are, but I found this was a very fast and interesting read. Overall, it is Good.

The story has a brief section on the 26th and another on the 29th of the month of Ches too. It is a satisfying end that connects well with the rest of the trilogy, introducing a people and place I would like to revisit someday. 

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Review: The Silent Blade by R.A. Salvatore

The Silent Blade is a 1998 novel by RA Salvatore and Book eleven in the Legend of Drizzt and book one in the Path of Darkness series. This of course takes place in the world of Forgotten Realms.it takes place in the year 1364 of Dale Reckoning, for those curious that’s about 130 years before the present fifth edition timeline. 

This will of course have some spoilers for the first ten books, beware. Read my thoughts on The Dark Elf Trilogy (books 1-3), The Icewind Dale Trilogy (books 4-6), and Legacy of the Drow (books 7-10). This review also has a video counterpart that can be watched here: https://youtu.be/W-1MnGOCzHM

It was nice having The Companions of the Hall back together even if their reunion in Passage to Dawn was lackluster. They of course start off at Icewind Dale and are leaving to bring Crenshinibon, the evil magical artificer commonly called The Crystal Shard, the south to Erlkazar to Spirit Soaring, temple to Deneir, in the mountains

Wulfgar is suffering, tormented by thoughts of Errtu in his nightmares. He’s no longer empathetic and his friends try to get him to feel again.

Entreri is back, he thankfully wasn’t present in the previous book, and I’m still of the opinion he should have died several books ago, but I digress. Entreri has returned to Calimport thousands of leagues to the south of Ten Towns in Icewind Dale, the furthest part of the Sword Coast still on it. These storylines. Initially don’t seem connected, besides the characters past connections. They do start connecting about half way through.

Part one sets up the Compnions storyline and Entreri’s, and honestly there was little combat in part one, and it was hardly drawn out 8 was really enjoying this, reminded me of the earlier Drizzt books. Wulfgars torment is deep, and it seems even friends or the old thrill of battle won’t dissipate his demons.

Part two brings Wulfgar more to the forefront, and his second encounter with a tribe of Uthgardt, the Sky Ponies, last seen in Streams of Silver was a greater view of the Companions past but also a larger view of the Forgotten Realms I often feel Salvatore misses in his works, seemingly forgetting them.

Jaraxle does make an appearance as well, a welcome one with his typical bravado and his webs of intrigue. Of the drow of Menzoberranzan, he is by far the most nuanced and interesting to read about. Though admittedly the guilds in Calimport sort of play the part of the warring houses of the drow city in this book. I much preferred this than the destructive and chaotic drow house wars which were a huge chunk of their society while the guild wars are just a piece. 

Cadderly is mentioned several times, but doesn’t actually make an appearance here. While he does appear briefly in Passage to Dawn, for those unaware, Salvatore wrote The Cleric Quintet that introduces the priest of Deneir and his friends.

This book also amps up the sexual content, but not in a gross amount. It felt more  adult rather than the juvenile feeling lots of the other Drizzt books had. 

I finished Pssage to Dawn all the way back in August of 2020, I needed a big break from Drizzt and that break helped a lot. I enjoyed this one throughly though my pace wasn’t the best. I’d say it’s Exceptional, considering how the other Drizzt books have gone.

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Completed Series: Lost Empires

Lost Empires is a series of four standalone novels set in the Forgotten Realms. There is no overlap with the books like there is in Sembia, these novels are truly standalone united by a common theme of some remnant of a lost or legendary locale.


I started with the first book in early March before getting to the fourth at the very end of April. I did not finish until mid July.

Forgotten Realms: Lost Empires series

The Lost Library of Cormanthyr by Mel Odom (1998) - Acceptable

Faces of Deception by Troy Denning (1998) - Bad

Star of Cursrah by Clayton Emery (1999) - Good

The Nether Scroll by Lynn Abbey (2000) - Mediocre

Overall I did enjoy Lost Empires. I have always been fascinated with history and each story has world building associated heavily with the past.

The Lost Library of Cormanthyr was fun, quick and easy. While the main character, Baylee, never has a problem (he is a typical Mary Sue) he is still enjoyable to read about. There are so many places visited, LLoC acts as a tour through the Realms of sorts. We see Cormyr, Waterdeep, Candlekeep, the Dalelands, Cormanthor, the Moonshaes and even the bottom of the ocean.

It is basically Indiana Jones in the Forgotten Realms. I may bring my party to Selarrnym someday to potentially rediscover some of what was left behind by the ancient elves.

Faces of Deception is easily the most disappointing book I have read in my quest to read every Forgotten Realms novel so far. It's not the writing, I have read a handful of books by Troy Denning and is writing is easy to digest. The story goes somewhere, but it was honestly surprising that it did. Sadly it has the biggest non-ending I've ever read. It's not a cliffhanger, it's an impenetrable wall. The characters don't progress, and the story is left dangling with no wrap up. It was so interesting at times, the traveling and countries of the Far East of Faerûn. Promising, but fails.

Star of Cursrah is the shining point of Lost Empires. It is a dual story, something I have never actually read before. The are a group of three friends in 1369 DR and another three in -6048 DR. The one in the past tells the fate of the ancient desert city while the group of friends rediscover it's location and story. Don't be deceived by the cover, it doesn't depict anything from the story really. The biggest fault in the story are the characters themselves, they are all unintelligent, with one exception. This is not too surprising as they are all kids, but it is a little annoying at times. Overall it is a fun tromp.

The Nether Scroll took my three months to finish. For those looking for a story driven Forgotten Realms novel, this is it. The only problem is that the plot suffers. Oddly Forgotten Realms novels are almost always about 300 pages long. If this story had been longer I feel it would have been way better. It took me until about page 120 for me to feel invested in the story, and it's never taken me that long for such a short book. 

It is somewhat redeemed by the interesting character dynamics including a young man with bad habits, a tough wizard, a nicely dressed goblin, and a fierce warrior woman. The ending was also a nice, not-cliffhanger.

The verdict for Lost Empires is you should read what sounds interesting to you since it is such a diverse set of books. Hopefully my review helps those interested in more than Drizzt and Erevis Cale find something for them. Overall I would say Lose Empires is Acceptable. Feel free to leave me your comments and questions.

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Completed Series: Sembia: Gateway to the Realms

Sembia: Gateway to the Realms is a large series, and the largest to date that I've read. There are seven books, including an anthology and then six novels written by five different authors. Each novel focuses on a different character, though they all deal with House Uskevren; either members of the family or house servants. While technically being standalone novels (and they even jump around a little) I would recommend reading them in order. Each book is exciting in its own right, and Sembia is a highly enjoyable series, a hallmark of the Forgotten Realms.

I started the series in early March with the second book, and in the middle of the month I went and read the rest in order, finishing in early April.

These are the reprints done a couple years after the initial releases.

The Halls of Stormweather by various authors and edited by Philip Athans (2000) - Acceptable
Shadow's Witness by Paul S. Kemp (2000) - Exceptional
The Shattered Mask by Richard Lee Byers (2001) - Acceptable
Black Wolf by Dave Gross (2001) - Good
Heirs of Prophecy by Lisa Smedman (2002) - Exceptional
Sands of the Soul by Voronica Whitney-Robinson (2002) - Mediocre
Lord of Stormweather by Dave Gross (2003) - Exceptional

Sembia: Gateway to the Realms is apparently what WotC wanted as an introduction to those interested in the Forgotten Realms. From the blurb on the back of the first book reads: “This anthology of seven stories introduces not just one realm of good and evil, not just one family of troubled heroes, but the whole of the remarkable Forgotten Realms world. Their adventure, and yours, begins here.” Each of these stories acts essentially as a prologue to the succeeding six novels. Each story also has really good foreshadowing for things revealed in the following stories. 

The vast majority of the stories spend most of their time in Selgaunt, a port city in Sembia, but we do get to see the Yhaunn, Ordulin, the Arch Wood, and places outside of Sembia like the Dalelands, Cormanthyr, and even far off Calimshan, and other planes.

Now, let's start at the top.

The Halls of Stormweather  is an anthology, one of eighteen in the Forgotten Realms, and the first I have read. I have only ever read one other anthology before, and I'm still a fan of more fleshed-out novels. There are eight stories in the particular anthology, so lets go over them in order.

The Patriarch: The Burning Chalice by Ed Greenwood 

This story is about Thamalon Uskevren, the Lord of Stormweather Towers. It Goes back in time to explain how Thamalon inherited his families leadership, seeing as he is not the oldest son of his father. The story starts in a scene where a pretender is trying to say he is Perivel, Thamalon’s older brother. The story jumps around quite a bit from the present situation to flashbacks of Thamalon's youth. The story ended differently than I expected, but nonetheless satisfying and the story makes a lot more sense after a few of the books are under your belt. 

The Matriarch: Song of Chaos by Richard Lee Byers.

The second story in the anthology is about Shamur Uskevren, the Lady of Stormweather Towers. This story also jumps around a lot but for different reasons. With her daughter, Tazi, Shamur is trapped in a theater hall with a foul opera causing all sorts of chaos to erupt around the place. Part of this magic initially causes Shamur to be spat back in time a few minutes. Odd, disturbingly freakish events happen as the magic of the Hellish opera progresses. For the sake of the potential reader, I will say I didn't immediately remember a gorgon is a bull in D&D and not the traditional mythic creature, though it can still petrify(but not with its sight). The jumping also has Shamur reliving pivotal moments of his past (and the future?), which are fun to read and digest.

The Heir: Night School by Clayton Emery

About Tamlin Uskevren and a secret business deal his father has sent him on. Tamlin is incompetent and it is quite amusing as he blunders along, though the story is not that interesting besides.

The Daughter: The Price by Voronica Whitney-Robinson 

About Thazienne “Tazi” Uskevren. She lives a double life as a pampered noble with suitors at her heel, and a more hushed and cloaked life at night. Tazi reveals herself to be quite young and naïve. I felt this was not the last we’d see of these characters at the end.

The Second Son: Thirty Days by Dave Gross about Talbot Uskevren. An awry hunting trip sets young Tal on a ride he hardly expected to experience. That's about it, don't want to spoil it. I will say that Mistress Quickly (noted on of page 226) is oddly similar to the Wife of  Bathgap by having a gap in her teeth and five husbands. To this point in the anthology I found Talbot the most likable from such a short story.

The Butler: Resurrection by Paul S. Kemp

Introduction to the much loved Erevis Cale, Butler to the Uskevrens and trained killer and rogue. He finds himself in a pickle of loyalty; protecting the Uskevren’s and keeping the ruse of spying on them is about to get a lot tougher, and bloodier. Great intro to a favorite Realms character.

The Maid: Skin Deep by Lisa Smedman

About Larajin. The story is about discovery as Larajin finds out more about herself. Lots of revelations here, and they were satisfactorily foreshadowed. Though not my favorite character form the Anthology she really grew on me during the novels focused on her.

Shadow's Witness is the second book in the Sembia series and is actually the first book I read. It takes place during the month of Hammer, The Year of the Unstrung Harp (1371 DR) for any interested in the timeline.

At times it was quite Disturbing, dark and awesome. Quick faith seemed a little quick but not too unrealistic, though we were only told he was godless not shown it. Jak makes a great companion. The demons make really disturbing foes. Cale’s thirst for vengeance and justice is what propels the fast flowing progression of Shadow’s Witness. Kemp does a fantastic job of showing a man not particularly proud of his younger self and his dark past, which reminds me a bit of Dalinar Kholin from the Stormlight Archive.

The Shattered Mask Takes place in late Hammer, The Year of Wild Magic (1372DR), a whole year after the previous book. This book focuses on Shamur Uskevren. Byers utilizes lots and lots of uncommon vocabulary in place of standard words, every couple of pages even. Words like palfrey and destrier, passé, tercet, mufti, ambuscade, egress, timorous, fracas, attenuate, taverner, scrofulous, venery, lickerish, somnolent, clangor, staid and so on. It’s a little excessive, I had to stop often and my vocabulary is rather decent to begin with. 

It feels very much like a Realms novels, overflowing with characters, are often scene to character death; swifly and mercilessly so. The main characters seem a little overpowered and lucky. While focus is on Shamur, a multitude of POV are present.

Exciting, with a pleasant conclusion.

Black Wolf by Dave Gross focuses on Talbot Uskevren. It starts in Hammer 1371, ends Mirtul 1371. Very dark and nocturnally focused; I would have loved it as a teenager. Werewolves and aquatic vampires (apparently a thing) abound. An important notes is that there are two main characters, Darrow and Tal. Darrow is the sad and pitiful counterpart to Tal's relatively good fortune. I really enjoyed Darrow as a character, and I found Gross to be a good worldbuilder and storyteller.

Heirs of Prophecy by Lisa Smedman is set in1372 DR.

As Larajin strives to understand the elven part of her, we gain a plethora of insights on elven culture, especially that of the Forest Elves of the Tangled Trees. At this point this book was Easily the biggest tale and the one that spends the most time outside of Selgaunt, and the only one going outside of Sembia. I’m a little partial to the story because it prominently involves twins. To creatures I appreciate appear too, a tressym which is a winged cat, and an avariel which is a rare, winged elf 

It’s main hindrances are length, I felt it could have been considerably longer. The second is how everything goes almost always perfectly for Larajin’s. She tries and succeeds even though she’s never done the things before, it turns in her favor.

The villain of Drakkar is well done though I think he could get more spotlight, though he is present in the last book of the series, he is not present enough.

I would love to see a sequel of this, I think Larajin and her brothers would make a great adventuring party

Sands of the Soul by Voronica Whitney-Robinson takes place in Marpenoth 1372 DR

Thazienne goes on a quest, and how the previous entry travelled out of Sembia to the lands just north, here the adventures goes far to the south and west to the desert kingdom of Calimshan. In Calimpprt about 15 years after the Companions of the Hall. Most of this time is spent underground in the Muzad, which is kind of one of the upper layers of the Underdark ,sort of like Downshadow for Waterdeep.

The first chapter is homage to Jak’s escapade at the start of Shadow’s Witness and I appreciated it. I will complain about the strong crude innuendo present near the start. I found it more unsettling than funny. Also the characters' incompetence for the obvious and competence for unobvious is laughable. Not what I was expecting from Tazi, who otherwise seems extremely capable. This book actually slowed by reading so exponetially, it was not all that fun like I hoped it would be.

Lord of Stormweather by Dave Gross (and for some reason not Clayton Emery, who wrote Tamlin’s story •The Heir” in THoS). It takes place in Alturiak 1373 DR which is the Year of Rogue Dragons. I laughed out loud at Tamlin’s beginning parts a handful of times. The story grows more serious and we have POV's from Erevis, Thamalon, Tamlin, and Chaney Foxmantle. The story is super fun and a great conclusion and sequel to the dull sixth book. The characters showcased are phenemonal and Gross really shows how good an author he is. Radu Malveen, from Black Wolf,  is a more interesting and compelling assassin than Artemis Entreri. Feel free to debate that though, I am only on Siege of Darkness.

Overall, I really enjoyed Sembia: Gateway to the Realms, and I'm glad an acquaintance recommended it to me. Though there are many authors involved in the series, the batch really is a cohesive whole and I would recommend reading all of the books and in order, though it is not necessary. I hope some other novels take place in the nation of Sembia, for I certainly am not done exploring it. Sembia: Gateway to the Realms is Good. The books ebb and flow in quality, but overall keep a positive position in my mind.

“Long live the Lord of Stormweather!”

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Completed Series: The Icewind Dale Trilogy by R.A. Salvatore

Reading about the Companions of the Hall in the Icewind Dale Trilogy makes it obvious why Drizzt is so loved among so many fans. There are great developments of story and character. Epic fights, and big results. Oh, and dragons.

The Crystal Shard (1988) - Acceptable

Streams of Silver (1989) - Good

The Halfling’s Gem  (1990) - Good

The worse of the books is in-fact the first one. This is not because of plot or setting or characters, but the writing. This is Mr. Salvatore’s first novel and it is very obvious. This hinders the read, especially since the lack of strong voices for each character and the choice of third person omniscient for the POV. Don't get me wrong, it is still good.

There are many classic D&D things that appear, dark armies, an ancient evil (in the form of the Crystal Shard), demons, and two dragons: Icingdeath and Shimmergloom. The first book mainly focuses on Kessell and his evil attempts to conquer Ten-towns and all of Icewind Dale. The Second book is a journey to reclaim Drizzt’s dwarf companion homeland of Mithral Hall. The Halfling’s Gem involves a debt the halfling Regis has with a thieves guild in the far south of Calimport. 

I read the first book in September of 2018 but only got a little into Streams of Silver before life got busy and I picked it back up to finish it and the third book in December of the same year. The first part of Streams of Silver is a little slow but gets very good later on. The Halfling’s Gem I found enjoyable the whole time. I do think that the non-stop, with heavy fighting, is a bit overdone and unsatisfying at the conclusion. Overall though, the series is entertaining and a classic. The camaraderie between Wulfgar, Bruenor, Drizzt, Cattie-Brie, and Regis is admirable, if not a little reminiscent of Conan (and less so Tolkien); being more straight forward than in-depth.

The Icewind Dale Trilogy is Good.
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