Review: The Godborn by Paul S. Kemp

The Godborn is the second book of The Sundering, the cosmological, world shaking series that brought Realms lore from fourth edition to fifth edition. It is also the final iteration of The Legend of Erevis Cale (I may have made that up), being a sequel to the Twilight War Trilogy. This is my fourth review for The Sundering, and you can read my thoughts for the others at these links: The Adversary, The Sentinel, The Herald.

The only two I have yet to read now are the first and fourth in the series. The Companions is also the 30th novel in the Legend of Drizzt; I have only read the first ten so far. The Reaver I will read soon.

Naturally, being a sequel to the previous Erevis Cales series, do expect spoilers if you have not read them. This book does work as a stand-alone, but I highly recommend reading the previous books beforehand.

“When the shadows descend,

In Hell-sworn covenant unswerving

The blighted brothers hunt,

And the godborn appears,

In rose-blessed abbey reared,

Arising to loose the godly spark.”

- Excerpt of a prophecy by Elliandreth of Orishaar

The prologue takes us to 1450 DR, Varra has been transported through time seventy years. She finds that her previously flat belly is now bulging with a presently due baby. She is found by warriors of Amaunator/Lathander who take her to the local abbey where her son, Vasen is born, destined to be a shadow in the light. I really enjoyed this prologue, and while not his best, Kemp is a master of drawing the reader in a dark and awesome world. 

Sembia is a protectorate of Netheril, and dark clouds cover the land, twisting and fouling it. Aberrations wander the shadowed land, tainted rain kills and twist crops and vegetation. People hold onto hope that one day the Sun will shine on the land again. Though not all hope is good, some of it is evil, and other nihilistic.

“A light in the darkness”

Zeeahd and Sayeed are an interesting duo introduced early on. They are brothers afflicted by the Spellplague and they search for the abbey where Vasen makes his home so they can be healed of their afflictions. Though of course there are other things about the two. There is a deva character, a kind of aasimar (like the one in Circle of Skulls, book six of Ed Greenwood Presents Waterdeep).

We also have Riven who was great to see again. It's been a hundred years, and he has lived with divinity all that time. He meets up with Mags early on, the tiefling mind mage who set up shop as a tavern owner in Derlun after the Spellplague. 

Brennus and Rivalen Tanthul also have an interesting dynamic, brothers; one semi-divine, the other full of hate for the murderer of his mother. I really enjoyed how this played out.

“He existed in the nexus of light and shadow, a creature of both, but a servant of only one.”

This has easily been the most disturbing D&D book I’ve read. Some parts were horrifying and disgusting, though thankfully this is only for a small section in the middle of the book. I'm also sort of a wimp, but it did affect my overall thoughts.

The Godborn is Exceptional, though this helped a lot by the last 50 pages.

I feel this could have been helped by being a trilogy instead of a single book slightly longer than average. There was in-fact supposed to be a trilogy, The Cycle of Night, but Wizards of the Coast axed it and we got The Godborn instead. From Cale’s first appearance in 2000 in The Halls if Stormweather to 2014 with The Godborn, this is finally the end of the dark tale. It’s sad, I can’t believe it’s over. This series alone has made reading Forgotten Realms novels worth it, we will see what other great novels are in store on this quest.

"Ages turn, the work changes, but there is always horror"

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You can track my current progress here.

Summer Haul: Forgotten Realms and Other Settings

A sweet evening breeze cools the Flamerule heat lingering from the day's shining. Eldath blessed serenity fills a grove home to an ancient storyteller, wrinkled with age and wisdom. She shares tales of times long past, of worlds now forgotten. She invites you to sit with her and get lost in the timeless fables.

Oloré! Since I have not done a haul since February I thought I would share some of my recent acquisitions pertaining to Dungeons & Dragons fiction.

Pertatining to my recent review of Elminseter: The Making of a Mage, I was able to get my hand on The Annotated Elminster which is an omnibus of the first three novels in the series with added with sections about the writing of the story and specific Realms Lore pertinent to each story after the respective section. I believe the paperback Elminster Ascending has the same content, but I am not 100% sure as I don't yet have a copy.

After finishing the first book in the Elminster series I got my hands on The Best of the Realms II, an anthology of stories by Ed Greenwood. One story in particular is from the point of view of a young Elminster before the events of the first book. I'm hoping to get to this one soonish.

 

Untold Adventures is an anthology I originally thought was available digitally only. I have reviewed all stories found in it from the Forgotten Realms, but there more stories from other D&D settings. This copy is in pristine shape.

This next book is not completely a Forgotten Realms novel, but it is close. Into the Void, while a Spelljammer novel, takes place on the mysterious island of Nimbral. Because of this, it even has the Forgotten Realms logo on the back.

As you may have noticed, I recently read the first of the Dragonlance Chronicles, Dragons of Autumn Twilight (thoughts here). I found the sequel, Dragons of Winter Night, at my local bookstore and grabbed it for a measly $2.

My first Eberron novels are Storm Dragon and Dragon Forge, respectively the first and second books in the Draconic Prophecies trilogy. I grabbed both in a bundle for $4 on eBay. I heard these are good, and I'm interested to explore the world of Eberron for the first time.

Similarly, the Penhaligon Trilogy is the first series to be released for the campaign setting of Mystara, which was the default setting for Basic D&D back in the 80s and 90s. These mass market paperbacks are surprisingly really nice, with colored illustrations and maps in all three.

Dark Sun has been a setting I have been fascinated with for a couple years, in fact a good portion of my homebrew world is heavily inspired by it. That being said, while I have some official game supplements, I have never played in it or read anything in it. I will change that with the first book in the Prism Pentad, The Verdant Passage. I found it at my local Goodwill.

As published a few days ago, I recently read the first book in the Gord the Rogue series. Along with the first book, I also purchased the six sequels. You may notice that only two have the Greyhawk Adventures logo, this is because Gary Gygax left TSR in 1986 and was able to retain the rights to Gord while losing the rights to the World of Greyhawk. The later stories are essentially in the same world, just proper nouns are changed for legal reasons.

To accompany the above series, Gord appears in two short stories in Dragon Magazine issues 100 and 344, the former being the first ever piece of fiction featuring the thief from Greyhawk, while the latter being the last new piece of fiction before Gygax's passing in 2008.

Have you received anything of interest late, be it game supplements, magazines, novels, or other ttrpg material? Thanks for reading, amarast, and until next time!

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You can track my current progress here.

What was the first Dungeons & Dragons novel?

For over four decades fantastic Dungeon & Dragons novels have been published for the publics reading pleasure. For over thirty years, we’ve had novels set in the Forgotten Realms, but before the Realms became the flagship setting, there were novels for other settings, such as Dragonlance and Greyhawk.

To explore the origins of the D&D novel line, we should first touch on the campaign settings that constitute the published fantasy worlds of D&D today. The first official setting was Blackmoor in 1971, three years before OD&D was released. This was David Arneson’s world for his wargames and early D&D games. One year later, in 1972, Greyhawk started taking shape. Beyond creating these original settings, Arneson and Gygax are the co-creators of D&D as a whole. 

So back in 1978, D&D was rather young, and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons --the more direct ancestor to the current fifth edition-- was not quite a thing. While some fiction, particularly a novella published in pieces in the first editions of Dragon Magazine, had already been released, 1978 was the chosen year for the first full length novel. The author would be none other than Andre Norton, winner of a Gandalf Grand Master award, SFWA Grand Master award, and an inductee of Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. Norton was also featured in Gygax’s famous Appendix N found in the original Dungeon Masters Gyide, which lists the speculative fiction that influenced his D&D works.This novel would be Quag Keep. It came about after Norton played a single session of D&D with Gary Gygax. The novel takes place in Greyhawk, but seeing as The World of Greyhawk wasn’t released until 1980, this is really proto-Greyhawk. 

Before its official setting release in 1980, Greyhawk had been featured in a number of adventures, such as S1 Tomb Of Horrors, S2 White Plume Mountain, and T1 The Village of Hommlet. In 1975 there was also an additional rule set released for Original Dungeons & Dragons by Gygax and Rob Kuntz titled Supplement I: Greyhawk, though it only actually makes two references to Greyhawk.

So Quag Keep, apart from being set in the still forming world of Oerth (the planet of Greyhawk, as Toril is for the Forgotten Realms), was also quite different from subsequent D&D novels. It’s an odd sort of portal fantasy, a type of fantasy with the most popular example being CS Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia. People from our world are somehow, in a magical way, transported to fantasy-land. The plot here is really interesting, as in Quag Keep, instead of coming to Greyhawk just as normal mundane persons from Earth, in this case they take the place of the fictional D&D characters, specifically ones designed by a new miniature company. Somehow this company transports the players into this fictional world for real. The novel actually features dice, attached to an un-removable brace on each of the seven characters. These dice roll during key moments of fate. The players/characters are bound by geas to complete their quest, this geas bringing the unlikely companions together. There is also an interesting take on alignment, which involves certain smells that go with people of chaos or law.

It's an odd mix of science and fantasy, and the blurb on the back even describes it as so; along with calling D&D a wargame, which may seem odd to those who know it as "the world's greatest role-playing game" (See Jon Peterson's The Elusive Shift: How Role-Playing Games Forged Their Identity for more on this). At the end of the novel, many questions are left unanswered, though there is a sequel where some could be answered: Return to Quag Keep was released in 2006 by Andre Norton posthumously and Jean Rabe.

Being the fist novel for D&D marks Quag Keep as a special book. Its success for the medium paved ways for Weis and Hickman's premier Dragonlance novel Dragons of Autumn Twilight, in 1984 and the first Forgotten Realms novel by Douglas Niles in 1987: Darkwalker on Moonshae.

I read Quag Keep in my off time from posting in the last few months after finding it for $2 at a used bookstore. I have yet to read the sequel, but I would like to eventually, and I'm interested to see if it continues along in the proto-Greyhawk world, or in the later more fleshed out and final version.

What was your first D&D novel? Have you read Quag Keep? Let me know! My next article I hope to explore some of the lore and other things that can be had in the upcoming release of the video game Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance. I would also like to take a moment to notify any readers that I will now be posting on the first and third Mondays of every month to put less of a burden on my already busy schedule. I may also throw in bonus posts every now and then, so keep an eye out.

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You can track my current progress here.

Forgotten Realms Book Buying Guide

When it comes to collecting scores of Forgotten Realms novels, or simply acquiring a few in physical form, they are often hard to find. My first suggestion is always check your local used bookstore as any in stock are likely affordable. If you are like me, and your local used stores have one or two Forgotten Realms novels--you don't already have--every Shieldmeet or so, you will likely want to look further afield, into the world wide web. Today I'll briefly explain and link the plethora of websites I use to scavenge for Forgotten Realms novels.

This is not recommended starting places for those interested, though that is an article I will be posting soon

Abe Books is a great website for finding books at decent prices. Somewhat like eBay, Abe Books is limited, unsurprisingly, to book sales. They have quite a collection worldwide, with shipping and quality being front-and-center, though generally stock photos are used in place of pictures of the actual items. This is where I often search for rarer Realms novels, as they tend to not be hundreds of dollars like they are on Amazon, for example.

Alibris is pretty similar to Abe Books in setup, allowing you to search all over the world for cheaper to more expensive books.

Amazon is also similar, though I find searching for used books, especially ones with multiple variations, I am more likely to get a different version from what I ordered on Amazon. As far as rarer Realms novels go, they are insanely overpriced on Amazon typically, so for older books with more in circulation, this is not a bad option. Also if you are looking for books still in print, which these days is really only Drizzt and The Sundering, this is one of the best options for new books.

Barnes & Noble is only good for looking for new Realms novels, and their prices are often on par with Amazon, so if you have B&N membership, the free shipping (which is pretty swift) may on some cases beat out Amazon's Prime shipping.

Better World Books is a great used-book seller, with many deals running often. It really depends on the series to know if there are going to be any available at any given time, but I always make sure to check here when buying books. They also seem to have a decent selection of Realms books in languages besides English.

Biblio is a comprehensive online bookseller, often having some rarer finds, at similar prices to Abe Books, though the selection seems to be more sparse. 

Book Depository is better for new books, similar to B&N and Amazon. Based out of the UK, shipping is free worldwide but a little slow if you are outside of the UK. Since their market is worldwide, you can find books in languages besides English. Also often the go-to place if you want a book in English but with a different cover from the US version; since Forgotten Realms books always tend to have the same cover regardless of country, there is little reason to use the site in this case, but it never hurts to check.

Book Outlet is similar to the other used book stores, and I find it most comparable to Thrift Books or Better World Books. It is often sparse on the selection, but if it has the book, it's almost always a steal.

eBay is my go-to place for Forgotten Realms finds. You often get a picture of the actual item for sale, and often the prices are quite low. You also have auctions in some cases, and for buying books in bulk with random lots of FR novels, this is a great place to get a collection started, or to even buy a whole series with one purchase.

Goodwill has a bidding system online. There are very rarely any Forgotten Realms novels at any given time, but if there are, they are often at the prices you would expect to find in-store, that is: insanely cheap.

Half Price Books run great physical locations, but sadly I am not near one anymore. They do sell a lot of their stock online though, and often at a good price.

IndieBound lists products for many smaller bookstores, and often links the websites to the locations closest to you, many of which offer shipping. I have not actually used this to order any Forgotten Realms novels, but I have been able to find a few at good prices, even some hard to find books.

Indigo is a Canadian bookseller. While the cursory searches I have done for Forgotten Realms books shows very little online beyond Drizzt (some of which were quite pricey while others were really good deals). If you have one near you, FR books don't seem too uncommon at the actual locations. 

ThriftBooks: many of the FR novels I've bought on eBay, were sold by Thrift Books. You can also use their website for other finds, and often they have the best deals on books, be they rare or common.

I hope this list helps some of you. Which is your favorite site to use? Do you use any I have not listed? Amarast!

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You can track my current progress here.

Comic Review: Dungeons & Dragons: Forgotten Realms by Ed Greenwood

 Dungeons & Dragons: Forgotten Realms is a series of comics with five issues written by Ed Greenwood. The story is described as political intrigue in the city of Waterdeep. The series was released from May to November 2012 by IDW Publishing, with the interior art being done by Lee Ferguson, while there are two cover options: A done by Tyler Walpole, or B done by Steve Ellis. 

Just like my previous comic-book review, I bought all of these issues from https://www.mycomicshop.com/ There is also a trade paperback omnibus, as well as a hardcover version.

B covers

Also like my previous comic review, this will contain spoilers so I will not be extremely limited on my thoughts, and I will also not be leaving a rating since I am mostly unfamiliar with comics.

Issue #1 starts with two roguish fellows, Torn Telmantle and Randral Daunter, in the Dock Ward of the City of Splendors. They are racing to meet with Skorlus, who they discover has been brutally murdered. They learn of a scheme to kidnap Talandra Roaringhorn, so when we switch to the Lord and lady Roaringhorn we discover that she has gone missing, presumably at the hand of the next people were are introduced to; Blaeyz Glasgerd and Imbrar Salkyn.

House Roaringhorn is a noble family with branches in both Waterdeep and Cormyr, some of the Cormyrean branch appear in the Cormyr Saga. These are likely distantly related, as these comics were released during the Fourth Edition era, and though it is not stated, the story is likely set in 1479 DR like most other 4e things (though nothing tips us off on a specific year beyond this).

A prank by the lady Talandra takes a dire turn, and the rogues Torn and Randral are implored to help when they are cursed by a dying cleric of Tempus, the war god. They then, somewhat aimlessly, attempt to find Talandra as they are pursued by the watch.

At the end of this issue, I was interested in how it would turn out. I was not a huge fan of the style, but Greenwood's stories are all over the place, and I felt this kind of worked here. The cover was a bit misleading, as Torn and Randral are the characters with the most attention at this point while Talandra is indisposed, but will likely get a larger role as a character once rescued.

Trade Paperback omnibus cover

Issue #2 starts off the chase once more, but our anti-heroes quickly unite with Talandra who joins in the escapade of running around the rooftops and streets of Waterdeep. The chance takes them into the sewers of the city, where eventually they find a secret escape, leading into unknown territory. 

Issue #3 the party is in some sort of ruin, as other groups attempt to rescue them, and others attempt to murder. There are a plethora of words (mostly curses) from the Common tongue used, which most authors in the Realms do not utilize, but Greenwood of course does since he invented most of them. There are trolls, a displacer beast, a rage drake, and some tentacled foe in this issue, plus more!

Having read Greenwood's work, he likes to jump to a different set of characters often. Since we have pictures, almost all the prose here is dialogue. This does not flow very well as it jumps scene very often, and seems sporadic.

Right near the end we discover the portal has brought everyone halfway across Faerûn to Battledale. With some of the twist, this issue increased my interest in the story.

Onto Issue #4 we have drow! Not too surprising, since there is one on the cover. This puts our trio in dire straits until a dwarf named Markell comes to the rescue (he can be seen on the A cover for this issue). They are then corralled by a direhelm to confront the King of Ghosts who wants to make a deal with them. We end with a confrontation with a yuan-ti mercenary.

Issue #5 continues and concludes the chase as our anti-heroes and the Lady Talandra arrive in the Border Kingdoms, which was not what I was expecting. 

Overall, I feel this would work better for me as a short story, or even expanded as a novella or full novel. I was not much of a fan of the art style, and the jumping around was too much. I also don't really like comics much, but I am glad I read this as I now know about the Ghost Holds, as well as have three NPCs to utilize if I ever run a session in the Border Kingdoms. These may be the comic books for you, and I will surely be reading more adventures, in comic format, in the Realms.

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You can track my current progress here.

Comic Review: The Hand of Vaprak! - Issues #1-4 of the Forgotten Realms Comic

 While I am on a quest to read all novels, anthologies, and separate short stories set in the Forgotten Realms, I am not much of a comic book person. The last time I read one I was in elementary school. I was interested in a few of the series set in the Forgotten Realms however, and I will review some of the story arcs here to go with my normal reviews. I will not be giving a rating for the whole arc, since I'm too unused to comics. This will be full of spoilers as I feel the continuity between each issue makes sense with more detail.

Issues one though four of the Forgotten Realms Comic were published by DC Comics from August to November 1989. These first four issues are the first story arc for the series: The Hand of Vaprak! The story is by Jeff Grubb and the illustrations by Rags Morales. I was mostly interested because Grubb was in charge of the Forgotten Realms at TSR at the time, and wrote (along with his wife) the books in The Finder's Stone trilogy, and some of those characters from the books actually appear in the comics.

The Ogre's Paw is the fist volume for the comic series, and the first issue for The Hand of Vaprak! We meet Priam Agrivar a paladin and recovering drunk on the Sword Coast. In an odd turn of a swimming session he finds a satchel with some money from Lantan and a giant hand with evil, magical properties.

Then to the Halruaan ship, the Realms Master, captained by Dwalimar Omen. On board is the golem Minder, the halfling Foxilon Cardluck, and Ishi Barasume of Kozakura.

There was a dialogue of Espruar (elvish), though looking at it was just a transliteration of an English phrase that was given as the translation. Though a few pages later we have a couple words for a magical incantation that do not have translations. If you put it into our alphabet you get "spiritual" and "hammer" which makes sense with the spell that is cast.

Vartan Hai Sylivar, gold elf cleric of Labelas Enoreth from Evereska is recused from some gnolls who were going to sacrifice him to Yeenoghu, the demon lord worshiped by gnolls. Aside, this "hai" seems to be followed by a racial designation; Sylvar almost certainly refers to his elven blood, just as Mistinarperadnacles Hai Draco is a dragon.

At the end we are introduced to a villain and his minion doppelgänger seeking the hand of the troll and ogre god, Vaprak.

Converging Lines is the second part of the arc. The story starts with Elminster's assitant getting a notification that the Hand of Vaprak is loose and we quickly cut to Priam and Vartan in Baldur's Gate where they meet the crew of the Realms Master. A game of keep-away, of sorts, takes place, with the hand eventually falling into enemy hands by trickery.

Meanwhile, Alias of Westgate and Dragonbait are summoned to Elminster in Shadowdale since other parties were otherwise preoccupied. If you recognize those two chracters, this is between Azure Bonds and Song of the Saurials. We end with these two as we learn an interesting bit of lore that contradicts the folkloric origin of the Hand of Vaprak explained earlier in the issue.

The Great Game is issue 3 and continues with the party in Baldur's Gate. They go to confront the enemy who is disguised as Gondal of Baldur's Gate. The dungeon/mansion is fun full of magic, undead, and magical creatures. I don't want to get into too much detail, but this is the low point before the baddies are defeated in the final issue for the arc. The setup for part 4 is done well.

Fools Rush In starts off beautifully, giving us the sad reality of the ensuing battle that started in part 3. In this explosive conclusion against the evil oni, we learn more about the origins of the Hand of Vaprak. This was a fun tale, and I'm interested in what direction the next arc, The Dragonreach Saga, will go for our heros.

At the end of The Hand of Vaprak! I still prefer novelizations, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the way comics tell stories. I don't feel very qualified to judge, but I did enjoy the art, though it does seem like it's from the 80s. Just as I enjoy movies, books, ttrpg's, I think each form gives us something different that we can all enjoy. I do not plan on reading any comic books outside of the Realms, but I do plan on reading more inside. 

February Haul: Magazines and More

Oloré readers and adventurers! This month's book haul is a little different than the last one, in fact it hardly contains books. I recently acquired some more Forgotten Realms related magazines. Also, my first piece of fan mail, as it were, came from Niko over at Niko's Book Reviews!

So as you could probably tell from many recent reviews, I enjoy Dragon Magazine, mostly for the Forgotten Realms short stories found therein. I recently acquired issues 283, 299, and 304. These all have fiction pieces relating to the Sembia book series, such as the recently reviewed Another Name For Dawn, Shamur's Wager, plus And All the Sinners, Saints.

I also got issues 74 and 94 of Polyhedron, another old TSR magazine. While these do not have fiction they do have Realms related content. I mostly acquired them for the column The Everwinking Eye, which is about Elminster's various tours of the Vast, the Border Kingdoms, etc.

Last, but not least, I received The Spine of the World (book 2 of Paths of Darkness, sequel series to Legacy of the Drow) and Servant of the Shard (book 3, and also the first book of The Sellwswords) by R.A. Salvatore. Niko knew about my quest to read all Forgotten Realms novels and decided to help me out. I actually currently had book one of the series, The Silent Blade, so this worked out perfectly! 

Have you gotten any Realms material of late? Thanks for reading!

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You can track my current progress here.

November Book Haul: Another Round of Books, Please

    Some adventurers often find themselves in a taproom, ordering zzar or evermead and enjoying the burn as the warming beverage washes down their gullet as they listen to the hustle and cacophony of wassailing and resounding clatter of drinks hitting wood, and patrons calling out to peers. Drink, after drink, chatting and celebrating with their crew. Maybe they've just raided a Netherese ruin, or cleaned out the local goblin den. Maybe they're looking for glory and a quest to call their own, or are otherwise lost in numb thought. 

You call for another round of drinks, and spend the night in bleary torpor.

    Others, those who seek after knowledge of Mystra and Azuth, Oghma and Deneir, may not frequent the tavern though. They sit in a quiet, quaint hall or library; scholars may shuffle nearby; a candle may provide wan light. The occasional sneeze shouts out as centuries of dust and silence is disturbed by the study of curious minds. The questions of what can be discovered next, what understanding can be gleaned from the parchment, sits on their minds.

You find yourself searching for another set of tomes to satisfy your hungry mind, spending the night in cognitive vigor.

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Alae! It's been awhile since I called for another round of Forgotten Realms novels. This month I gathered 24 more books to my collection. I am about half way to having each Forgotten Realms novel as I approach the 15% mark on reading them all.

This time around I got a good variety. I will just briefly go over them.

The Nobles, a series of 6 loosly connected stores. I picked up 4 in a bundle and the last two separate on eBay.  I am presently waiting for book 6 to arrive, which is The Simbul's Gift.

The Twilight War Trilogy + the Realms of War anthology. This is the sequel series to Erevis Cale, which I finished at the 1st of this month.

The Druidhome Trilogy, sequel to the Moonshae Trilogy. I got them bundled at a cheap price on eBay.

The Threat from the Sea trilogy, also has Realms of the Deep anthology that I have yet to get.

Twilight Giants is a trilogy by Troy Denning, I got a deal on the reprints.

The Last Mythal is a trilogy accompanied by the Realms of the Elves anthology that I have not yet gotten.

The Empyrean Odyssey, a trilogy of novels following a character from the War of the Spider Queen series. 

Along with this batch I also received an extra book from one of the vendors. I am not sure if I will give it away to a personal friend or run another giveaway like I did earlier this year. Regardless, whenever I do another one of these hauls it will likely be for Dragon magazines that have Forgotten Realms short stories in them.

Have you read any of these books? Did you read the physical thing or an ebook? What are your thoughts? Amarast!

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You can track my current progress here.

Review: Moonrise Over Myth Drannor by Ed Greenwood.

There is a long history of Forgotten Realms short stories being in Dragon Magazine ever since The First Notch was featured in issue 152 way back in 1989. Most short stories from Faerûn are from the multiplicity of anthologies with the titles being “Realms of ___” such as Magic, Valor, the Elves, etc. The first short story to not be in either is one only available in the manual of the AD&D game Eye of the Beholder 3: Assault on Myth Drannor. While other stories have appeared in similar manner, all of them have been printed in later anthologies, with the exception of the story found in the Eye of the Beholder 3 manual: Moonrise Over Myth Drannor by Ed Greenwood.

If you find a copy of the game manual you will find that the introduction section of he manual is on page 27; which means the first 26 pages are our short story which I had the great pleasure of reading. Before buying the game though I had asked around if anyone else had read it, and only one person responded, Ed Greenwood himself:

Heh. I'm not American, but strangely enough, I have read that tale. ;}
Hint for folks at home: DON'T try the teacup-and-saucer transfer trick with fine china you care about. ;}

— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) November 7, 2020

    No surprise then when teacups are quickly introduced.

The story is divided into two sections or chapters; I The Day of the Drawn Sword; and II Night On The Cold Hillside. The story starts with Delmair Rallyhorn journeying to Shadowdale to speak with the sage Elminster. He encounters a band of knights, to his astonishment, are all holding teacups. He then has an odd experience leaving him dumbfounded.

We then get a good glimpse of Mourgrym Amcathra, Lord of Shadowdale as he prepares for the festivities of The Day of the Drawn Sword; the holiday is one where new men-at-arms are recruited to join the Shadowdale guard. I was somewhat familiar with Mourngrym because of his appearance in the Finder’s Stone Trilogy, but it was pleasant to get more of his personality.

Alyth is a younger girl about 10 or 11 years old that plays an interesting role --quite literally-- during the festivities. She also seems to have found the hilt of Aumry Obarskyr’s sword, and is thanked by Elminster for doing so.

Eye of the Beholder 3 game manual
where Moonrise Over Myth Drannor is found

The most time spent is still with Delmair. Eventually the magic sword Dhauzimmer is gotten and the lich Malithra Undra faced during moonrise in Myth Drannor.

The story feels random, but this is not surprising or that odd considering this is Greenwood’s Elminster playing a large role. I actually really enjoyed the ending, the story was silly but heartfelt. It was overall a Good story and it'd be nice to have more.

 As to the year of the events, my guess is 1358 DR as the most likely year it occurs. Though this seems less likely with the way Mourngrym talks about being Lord of Shadowdale; he makes it sound like he’s been in the position for at least a few years; 1358 DR is his first year in this position though.  However, the game does take place in 1358 DR, and so I'm sticking with that. Another note is that the game seems to contradict the story a little. Delmair does not have his father’s sword in the game, and also in the game he killed  the bandits who slew his father, rather than Shalrin who did in the story.

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You can track my current progress here.

Review: The Great Hunt by Elaine Cunningham

While I am currently reading trying to finish the last books in the series' I had already started when I made a commitment to read every Forgotten Realms novel I thought I would give you this short review of a short story from Elaine Cunningham. At the time of this writing I have only read her novel EverQuest: The Blood Red Harp. Since the tale is so short my summary will have spoilers.

Cover art by Michael Sutfin

The Great Hunt is located from pages 62-68 in the April 1998 issue. It follows primarily a half-orc youth named Drom somewhere in The North. He and his two companions are Talons of Malar. These servants of the Beastlord had massacred the citizens of an elven village and are now hunting the two survivors.

We learn that these elves are actually the half-elf Arilyn Moonblade and the Moon elf Elaith Craulnober. These are both characters from Cunningham's Song & Swords series which I have not yet gotten too. Arilyn who is injured can not outrun the hunting party, and so they devise a plan to best their adversaries. The build a cairn and make it seem that Arilyn has bled out and was buried and that Elaith continued on alone.

A mysterious wolf seems to confirm this for Talons of Malar by digging into the cairn and eating something so its face comes away bloody. They are then surprised when they meat Arilyn alone in a field later on. Arilyn fights briefly with Drom's companions, Badger and Grimlish, dispatching both, with the aid of a thrown knife from Elaith who was the mysterious snowy wolf. They had buried a doe in the cairn, successfully tricking the hunters. Outsmarted, Drom is at their mercy and Elaith maims him, though Arilyn leaves a suture kit so Drom can sew himself up.

Story art by Stephen Schwartz

The story ends with Drom deciding to change, as he howls to the Snow Wolf, seemingly turning his back on Malar and returning to the spirit he worshipped since his childhood.

Since it is such a short story I am not leaving a rating, but I will say that I find fiction like this very much to my liking. I only have a few copies of Dragon magazine issues but I love finding stories from fiction and adventures in them, especially about the Forgotten Realms. For those that don't know, Ed Greenwood (the creator of the Forgotten Realms) started putting tidbits about the Forgotten Realms in Dragon back in 1979. In 1986 when TSR was looking for any setting to expand into beyond Greyhawk with Gary Gygax's departure in '85, everything about The Realms in Dragon were retroactively made canon before the release of the first official supplement, the Grey Box, in 1987. An example would be the reference to deities from the Forgotten Realms in June of '86's issue #110 adventure "The House in the Frozen Lands" by James Adams.

Have you read any good fiction or ran any adventures from the old magazines? If so let me know, I'd love to experience them for myself.

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You can track my current progress here.

Review: Ravenloft - Vampire of the Mists

Vampire of the Mists is the first Ravenloft novel, but one with connections to the Forgotten Realms, hence why it is here. It was released in 1991 and is written by Christie Golden. The story is of a Gold Elf turned vampire, Jander Sunstar. Some of you may recognize this name if you have played a certain recent adventure for Fifth Edition. I decided to do this bonus review since I was itching for some gothic horror, and Vampire of the Mists did not disappoint. It took me only a few days to finish. This review will be rather spoiler heavy.

The prologue takes place either before the von Zarovich’s rule, or right at its start. Noticeably this Most High Priest of Barovia does not worship the Morninglord Lathander.

1072 DR Jander meets Anna at an insane asylum in Waterdeep. He continues to visit her every night for several decades until her death.

The Village of Barovia, overseen by Burgomaster Boris Federovich Kartov, is the scene Jander enters seeking his revenge. Strahd’s wolves terrorize the villagers. Though this is combated by Janders own power over wolves, he can even take the form of one, apparently a vampiric trait.

We encounter Maruschka, who has the sight, and is basically younger Madame Eva, though she is present as well. Her brother is Petya, who Jander saves early on from the Burgomasters intended hanging though he’s innocent. He was messing around with his daughter, Anastasia.

At this point Jander has been undead for 5 centuries while apparently Strahd is “barely past [his] first”. 

Melancholy is always present for the once happy creature turned into an evil and tormented vampire. Jander is extremely easy to pity, especially near the end when you know more of his background.

Jander is in Barovia for about 25 years. It’s during this time that the only survivor of a group of travelers from Toril, a boy named Martyn Pelkar, starts a church of Lathander in the Village of Barovia. He thinks Jander is the Morninglord because of his gold skin and because he stopped Strahd and his servants from killing him. I would not be surprised if this is where the worship of Lathander gets introduced into Barovia.

The original Ravenloft module.

Throughout the story we learn a little of Janders past. That he was slave to the vampire that turned him, that he was part of adventuring group called the Silver Six apparently slayed a dragon in Merrydale(the old name of Daggerdale). A vampire started making spawn of the towns people and his party, during which scores of people are lost and they even ironically split the party. Before forming the Silver Six, Gideon and Jander were even Hellriders, which is something that may sound familiar if you've played Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus.

“Cults come and go. Lathander will die with his cleric. You, Count Strahd, are certain to outlast any daylight deity.”

This book's main enemy is Strahd, and Golden displays his madness beautifully. He is truly a maniac, and some of the later chapters are from his point of view. His tragic love and torture of Tatyana, and his plotting to always have her. Honestly there was one thing with Katrina, one of Strahd's pets, that actually fooled me, and I was shocked I did not see it coming beforehand.

The 5e retelling of the original adventure of Ravenloft.

This is a must read novel in my opinion for fans of Curse of Strahd, I6 Ravenloft, or even 3e's Expedition to Castle Ravenloft.

Heavy spoilers: we learn that Jander’s love, Anna, was a fragmented piece of Tatyana’s soul. That piece lived on while Tatyana died, and her reincarnated being Marina was missing that piece, as well as Olya who died simultaneously with Anna. Tatyana died in 351 (Barovia calendar), while Ireena Kolyana is Tatyana reincarnated during Curse of Strahd/i6 Ravenloft in 735. Apparently another reincarnation of her is Queen Kristiana von Zarovich in the Prime Material version of Barovia (from Roots of Evil adventure which takes place in 740 BC).

This is a little confusing, because if everything matches up then when Curse of Strahd takes place it would be 1354 DR, which would probably fit for I6 Ravenloft but is hard to place for 5e, unless things repeated more precisely than normal in the 1480s/1490s DR.

Another oddity is Madame Eva is dead by the end of the book. Supposedly she is the half-sister of Strahd so she is probably reincarnated also because of his curse.

The beautiful, assumed death of Jander at the end is sadly not so. I cannot believe for a second that Golden had Jander doing anything else but dying, for he was denying Strahd and the Dark Powers; but he was in Barovia where the powers (Wizards of the Coast) have ultimate power, sadly. Jander apparently later rejoined the Hellriders and invaded Avernus with Zariel. He's a tortured soul you can encounter in Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus, and this makes him easily the most pitiable character I have encounted from Dungeons & Dragons. I beg any of you, please do what you can to free his soul if you play DIA.

End Spoilers

The main character Jander Sunstar is a tragic and ironic character. By being a vampire he is denied his name, the Sun, and the joy of basking in it as a gold elf. He keeps some of his old alignment, and refrains from his chaotic, vampiric nature for the most part. He is a character unlike most in all the novels I have read for Dungeons & Dragons, and his story is heartbreaking, redemptive, horrific, and triumphant. Vampire of the Mists is easily Amazing.

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You can track my current progress here.

Non-Physical Forgotten Realms Books: Ebooks and Audiobooks Only

For a little over a decade Wizards of the Coast has heavily pushed the fact that Dungeons & Dragons novels are available in ebook form. When they started pushing the paperless option though, they also released a few novels, novellas, etc completely as digital products; meaning there are no physical copies of these books.
If you're a collector like me this is unfortunate. The trend may have even led to the shortage of novels written for the Realms in recent years (something I hope WotC rectifies soon).

This post is to point out and list all the Forgotten Realms books that are not available physically. These were all published from late 2011 through 2012.

• Spinner of Lies by Bruce R. Cordell, also known as Sword of the Gods: Spinner of Lies, is the sequel to Sword of the Gods. Both books are part of the overarching Abyssal Plague series. While the first book is available physically, sadly the sequel is not. It only comes in ebook and audiobook formats.
• Cold Steel and Secrets by Rosemary Jones. A novella divided into four parts, it is only available in ebook format.
• Shadowbane by Erik Scott de Bie is the sequel to Downshadow (from Ed Greenwood Presents Waterdeep), another book that was physical with an earlier book that sadly went completely digital. In ebook and audiobooks formats.
• Eye of Justice by Erik Scott de Bie, sometimes called Shadowbane: Eye of Justice is the sequel to Shadowbane. Again it is in ebook and audiobook formats.
• Prince of Ravens by Richard Baker is available only in ebook and audiobook formats.
• If Ever They Happened Upon My Lair by R.A. Salvatore is a novella only available in audiobook format, and is specifically advertised as narrated by Wil Wheaton.
• Spider and Stone by Jaleigh Johnson is available in ebook and audiobook formats.

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You can track my current progress here.

March Book Haul: The Harpers

This post is specifically for those interested in the physical aspect involved with reading every book in the Forgotten Realms. I may do these every so often as I gain a decent amount of books.

I recently received a package with 16 books: the entirety of The Harpers series.
I bought the series in one purchase on eBay. I have found that eBay generally has the best deals for online shopping when it comes to Forgotten Realms novels.
Breaking it down I paid about $4.38 for each book, almost $2 cheaper per book than every other option.

Sadly, most eBay sellers use USPS Media Mail, which is not the best, but if well-packaged it's perfectly fine. Make sure you look at the quality, and if they have a picture of the actual item, look closely. You can also ask questions of the seller, and this can be really useful. I once had someone tell me a book was in very good condition just because every word was readable, though it had looked like a rather mistreated copy, something I would consider acceptable. So the ratings aren't always consistent; if there isn't a picture offered you run the risks of getting a book of lower quality than you desire.

Thankfully these were well packaged.

In this case most books were also in really good condition, with a couple being okay or acceptable.

While it will probably be a good while before I get through all of them, I am really excited to dive into the series about one of my favorite organizations in The Realms.

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You can track my current progress here.