Movie Review: Honor Among Thieves

 Earlier this month I read two prequel novels for Honor Among Thieves, The Druid’s Call and The Road to Neverwinter. On the 29th I was able to attend an early screening of the movie’s release on the 31st. Overall, I was happy with the film. Here are my thoughts.

The movie starts far north of Ten Towns at a prison called Revel's End. Edgin and Holga were previously caught in a heist and so are prisoners. Their companions, Forge and Simon safely escaped, but the duo has not seen them for a couple years. Edgin's biggest regret is his absence from his daughter, Kira. We learn of Edgin's background and introduction to Holga as told in The Road to Neverwinter. It starts rather comic but epic and doesn't let up. It had me chuckling throughout the formation of the team for a new heist. 

The baddies are a certain betrayer and the Red Wizards of Thay, which seek to take over Neverwinter. This is an adventure fraught with peril for Simon the fledgling sorcerer, Doric the young tiefling druid, Holga an exile of the Uthgardt, and Edgin formally of the Harpers. There is much magic, great battles, dragons, a displacer beast, mimic, gelatinous cube, intellect devourers, undead and more! 

Seeing the world of Faerun brought to life, seeing Selune in the sky, the beautiful cityscape of Neverwinter, the Underdark, and hearing of places like Baldur's Gate and Waterdeep, is truly magical as a longtime fan. My wife, who is not familiar with D&D or the Realms, also really enjoyed it.

My few gripes lie in how Elminster is handled, which I am largely confused about so maybe I can suspend my dislike of what they did. I am glad he is somewhat present though. Also, the paladin's deity is never mentioned, which is a shame. There were a few things that did not work too well for me, such as Doric's character development and a scene resembling too much one from a Marvel movie. But overall it is exciting, funny, and in the end, there is honor among thieves.

My very initial thoughts right out of the theater are on YouTube. Check out all the details of Realms Lore and Easter eggs here: https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Forum:Honor_Among_Thieves_-_Easter_Egg_Hunt

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Review: D&D Honor Among Thieves: The Road to Neverwinter

The Road to Neverwinter by Jaleigh Johnson is the adult prequel novel to the upcoming Honor Among Thieves movie. It was released at the end of February ahead of the movie's release at the end of March. It is a story of the origins of the party that are the protagonists in the movie. I’ve already reviewed The Druid’s Call, The YA prequel telling us of the tiefling druid, Doric. 

As opposed to Johnston, Johnson is a Forgotten Realms veteran, for example her Mistshore is a lovely tale of memory and revenge set in Waterdeep.

At the start of the story, Edgin is playing with his daughter, Kira, who shortly settles into bed and Edgin begins telling her a story of their past. It starts on the Sword Coast when he was recently a Harper agent. This framing narrative is cool and a great setup, we know Edgin will survive but we really knew that anyways, since he is the main protagonist. We also get some interludes back to the bedtime story.

Kira is a newborn babe, Edgin's wife is recently diseased and he left the Harpers as a result of her death. He lives in an unnamed village (at the start, that is) on the Sword Coast. Being part of the Harpers, he was once an entertainer, a bard, but now he’s just a single father, though part of the prologue seems to imply he has found a new partner and leaves some promise either for some potential romance in the novel or movie. Don't get your hopes up there.

He passes out at a tavern, and shortly meets the Uthgardt barbarian woman named Holga, of the Elk Tribe. She is similarly feeling lonesome. This is quite a unique start to a D&D adventure. A widower father and some barbarian meeting in tumultuous inner times but peaceful on the outside, in some sleepy village. These first couple chapters are also nine years before the rest of the story. 

Shortly in we get a story about the Zhentarim, which is more Realms stuff than The Druid’s Call had. Pendra is a pawn broker and has connections to the Black Network, which makes him a target for our protagonists. In the interveening nine years Edgin and Holga had made a living as thieves, a sort of odd Fafhrd and Gray Mouser, but Kira, as she gets older, joins the party. 

The party technically lives in Targos, one of the Ten Towns in Icewind Dale. It is not spoken of as being particularly cold early, nor is it named for the first few times, on so you could mistake it for a village nearer to Neverwinter. But the Trip and Shuffle tavern is mentioned and seen, which is cool.

Since Edgin is a bard and plays the lute, it would have been cool if it was a more Realms specific Yarting was used, but that is just me being picky. He does us his bardic talents some in this book, though it is not a great amount.

Eventually the party of the movie takes form; the trickster Forge Fitzwilliam plays cards, 3 Dragon Ante, with Edgin. With a name like Forge I’d think he would be a dwarf but he’s a human. In reality everyone is human with one exception

Simon Aumar, who has an inferiority complex is a fledgeling sorcerer that is related to Elminster. He comes in later and is a half-elf, making him the only non-human of the party.

The jokes are very recent movie faire, something like Marvel movies, I’d think they make you smile when seen on the big screen, I was waiting to laugh out loud. I'm not sure how affective they will be on a second watch. Potatoes are mentioned several times. 

The themes are largely about what makes someone a hero. This is connected to the father daughter relationship that I feel is very rare in fantasy. It's rather touching at times.

So as far as Realms lore goes, Johnson satisfies. We get things from 5e, like Icewind Dale, but also Neverwinter which has been ignored in 5e up until now but is probably my favorite place along the Sword Coast. 

This is the late 1490s. The novel ends a year before the movie, and we know Forge Fitzwilliam is the Lord of Neverwinter in that movie. I’m not sure what happened to Dagult Nevermeber. There are comics and maybe even the junior novelization answers some of the questions that arise between the end of this novel and the start of the movie. I am not sure I will read those, since I am largely concerned with the normal novels. Overall, The Road to Neverwinter satisfyingly sets up the characters of the movie in Good fashion. Paired with The Druid's Call, I don't think you could go wrong.

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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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Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance - How good is it?

In my post two weeks ago I mentioned I was going to give some thoughts on the new Dungeons & Dragons video game: Dark Alliance. While I’ve yet to complete the game I have played several hours and have a level eight character. I would still like to play more. 

Dark Alliance is a sort of reboot or spiritual successor to Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance, a spin-off of the Baldur’s Gate video game series. It’s an action RPG, meaning strong focus is on fast-paced “kill everything in sight” combat. It’s decent fun with friends, but a little on the challenging side when playing solo.  

The game is nice to look at, even on my original Xbox One from 2013. Though I still find more appeal in the style of a game like Neverwinter (2013 MMO) more. For example Kelvin’s Cairn is huge. The home of Clan Battlehammer is large and epically extravagant, unlike its book counterpart. The game definitely has a multiplicity of bugs and glitches currently as well.

a tablet of Ostoria

Lore wise, it’s 1356 DR, just after The Crystal Shard. Obviously the books don’t acknowledge these events. The game gets its name from the loose alliance the leaders of many evil factions set against the Companions of the Hall. Regis is not a playable character, so be aware. There also is no caster to play as, since no one at this stage is in the books. 

You face factions of ice giants, goblins, duergar, and undead under the leadership of a returned Akar Kessell (I’m not sure if this would mess with any lore of Legacy of the Crystal Shard adventure). We also have Icewind, the mate of Icingdeath, which they retconned to say she is the namesake behind the Dale. The tone is very much not serious, and if you’re a big fan of lore there honestly isn’t much here. There are tomes and tablets that are interesting to look at however, but most lore is rather basic. Many of these tablets are from ancient giant society, specifically from Ostoria Oddly they don’t use dethek, but the logographic runes for divination purposes shown in Storm King’s Thunder. 

Unsurprisingly to anyone who reads this blog regularly, I’m not happy that they chose these characters. They stuck themselves over 100 years before the current D&D plot line, give us silly enemies, and make it known that they didn’t really have much of a Realms expert on hand that could have really made the game awesome for a lore junky like me. I think so lesser known characters, or even some new ones set during current events would have been better, but Drizzt makes up some sales when the game isn't outstanding.

Overall, as mindless fun, it works. If you want good lore, I’d bet on the upcoming Baldur’s Gate 3 for more goodies. If you happen to be a huge fan of the Legend of Drizzt, this could also be your thing. I will play a little more but I think after that I will likely put the game down and I don't know if I'll ever come back. 

Have you played? What are your thoughts?

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Review: The Winter King by Chris Avellone

In similar fashion as my last review, The Winter King is a short story from Chris Avellone found in Dragon+ issue 2, published in June 2015. This one also takes place in Icewind Dale, so for all of the northern tundra lovers, this is another story you may want to check out; it is available for free on the Dragon+ app. Chris Avellone apparently wrote this story as he was working on the Icewind Dale games about two decades ago.

The Winter King is about an older dwarf of the Sunset Mountains named Tiernon. He is on a quest to forge his greatest work, that all dwarven smiths get later in life. The most familiar would likely be Bruenor Battlehammer's forging of Aegis-fang in The Crystal Shard. For some reason Tiernon feels drawn to the Gloomfrost Glacier of Icewind Dale. He journeys out alone with a chest of his belongings strapped to his back. He also has a handy pair of pickaxes that can freeze or melt ice on command; I may steal this idea for my own Dungeons & Dragons games.

The story itself is simple. Tiernon faces a creature, and he has to psych himself up to do so alone. That is really all the story; one of loneliness. For those who enjoy solo adventures, maybe you will enjoy this. It is eerily quiet, the only dialogue is the once or twice Tiernon speaks to himself, and the one flashback when he was camping with some Reghedmen barbarians.

There is also a scene when feats are listed in association with a previous items old Tiernon crafted. These scenes mention things otherwise unmentioned in Realms Lore. We have Aengys Soothhammer and his fortress; the Many-toothed Maul; the Nine Beards of Clan Hearthstone; Singing Blade of Aihonen; Ored's Wood; and of course the eponymous Winter King. These are cool names and all, but I doubt we will ever get more details beyond this short story.

This is for lovers of Icewind Dale. Beyond learning a small tale of the relentless place, there is not much here. We don't learn overmuch about Tiernon, before or after his exploits. Surely this is in large part because it is a short story, but while not a lot of bad, there isn’t much good. The Winter King is Acceptable.

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Review: Ice Out by Greg Tito

 For those of you who are unaware, Dragon+ is a bimonthly e-magazine started in 2015 that replaced Dragon and Dungeon magazines after they went out of print in 2013. In the recently released issue 34 there are a host of Icewind Dale related goodies --even a solo adventure-- but of course my favorite is the Forgotten Realms fiction morsel of Ice Out by Greg Tito. Remember that Dragon+ is free, so go ahead and give this a read if you wish. 

The "cover" art for Ice Out

The story follows gnome Darma Fizzlebottom. The first thing I noted is that the story is written in first person. A couple sentences near the start are in third person, which was a tad confusing, but since most tales in the Realms are told in third person, first felt a little odd but after a couple paragraphs it was fine. It could easily work as a journal entry, memoir, or report.

Our adventurous, waterdhavian gnome naively braves the tundra from Bryn Shander. On here escapade we are introduced to nine cast members to set up a classic whodunit mystery (the worthy priest of Lady Luck was my favorite). Darma is an investigator by trade and seems to have an uncanny knack for reading people.

The story relies on the swift thinking Darma and is peppered with gnomish humor. multiple "swear[s] to Garl” are mentioned. This works as a euphemism but fits the lore of the Realms; Garl Glittergold is a gnome deity with the domains of luck, trickery, and protection. Also Elminster's Razor was an ingenious homage to Occam's Razor.

Overall it is a short read, and I rate it as Good. It ends well and I think we could get another tale about Darma. I loved the surprise of Fluffy and Orilothal at the end, as well.I believe fans mysteries in the Realms would enjoy this little hearthfire tale; check out my review of Spellstorm for another mystery. I also think this shows a good median for given fans fiction, since it has been rather short for years. Maybe with more stories like this, we can slowly expand the library of Realm's works, and mayhap get some more novels beyond Drizzt sooner rather than later.

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Completed Series: The Legacy of the Drow by R.A. Salvatore

 The Legacy of the Drow is a four book series by author RA Salvatore. It is the third series comprising the Legend of Drizzt, and as such follows the adventures of The Companions of the Hall: Drizzt, Bruenor, Wulfgar, Cattie-Brie, Regis, and Guenhwyvar. Focusing in large part on Drizzt Do'Urden and his origins in the dark elf city of Menzoberranzan fans of the Dark Elf Trilogy would enjoy the mechanizations of the chaotic and evil drow society.

This is the last of the series that I had already started before starting on my quest to read every novel in the Forgotten Realms. I read the first book in March of 2019, and the follow up with the second a few months later. In April of this year I read the third book (review here), and I finished the fourth and last book in August.

the modern covers

The Legacy (1992) - Acceptable

Starless Night (1993) - Acceptable

Siege of Darkness (1994) - Good

Passage to Dawn (1996) - Mediocre

The Legacy of the Drow (TLD) is a conundrum for me. If you have read my previous reviews of Salvatore's Drizzt books you will know I generally find them overrated and often a little infuriating. Salvatore writes fight-scenes well, but his characters and plots are nothing praiseworthy. Overall TLD is a decent foray into the fun ride that can be the Forgotten Realms, it is not where I would start though, nor where I would end.

I readily admit it has been some time since I read the first two books in this series so I ask you take my opinions with a grain of salt for those two. I will try to keep the them as simple as possible.

The Legacy is okay. It is a story of Drizzt's past coming back to haunt him, for the evil worshippers of Lolth are not yet down with him. He is taken to Menzoberranzan. Wulfgar acts unlike himself in this book, his character arc being a little odd. Entreri is one of the most dull villains ever and I'm waiting for the day that Salvatore actually kills him, because it should have happened back in The Hafling's Gem.

Starless Night is basically the same as The Legacy. The Companions go back to Menzoberranzan. Entreri still is not dead.

Siege of Darkness was ironically the highlight of TLD. It focuses on greater cosmology of the Forgotten Realms with the Time of Troubles. The fated assault on Mithral Hall finally comes to pass and it has plenty of interesting combat. Interesting events happen in this book that I enjoyed reading. Overall it is a good book. Again, here is a more complete review.

Passage to Dawn is an odd book. I have a large amount to say since I just finished it at the time of this writing. The book starts off tremendously entertaining. Cattie-Brie and Drizzt are really the main focuses to begin with. This book does not involve the Drow at all, for which I am grateful. It is more of a proper sequel to Errtu's hatred of Drizzt and a proper sequel to The Crystal Shard. It is the first book to take place partially in Icewind Dale since The Crystal Shard (ironically the only book in The Icewind Dale Trilogy to take place in the Dale) and so deals with Crenshinibon, the Crystal Shard.

The beginning of the story is of adventures with Captain Deudermont of Waterdeep on his ship, the Sea Sprite. It is fun and exciting. The general endless fighting of Drizzt books is noticeably and pleasantly absent from the first half. 

Moving on the book changes and I will now get into more spoilers.

The companions eventually reunite in Icewind Dale. A seer on the mystical island of Caerwich tells a riddle of one held captive, someone important to both Drizzt and Cattie-Brie. The prologue of the book shows that Errtu has someone, but it does not reveal who. It was insanely obvious to me that this was Wulfgar. It makes sense, that is someone who was killed by a demon and is important to both Cattie-Brie and Drizzt. But no, Salvatore is so bad at subtlety and he makes the characters think it is Zaknafein; which does not make much sense if this prisoner is suppose to be relatable to Cattie-Brie. The entire book Wulfgar is hardly mentioned, and never as a potential prisoner of Errtu when it is obvious from page 1. 

At about the half-way point, I was thinking Salvatore was trying to come full circle with The Crystal Shard and the Companions of the Hall; his original story. Wulfgar is returned (though with the most lackluster reunion I have ever read, he doesn't even say anything for pages and when he does speak it is a smattering of a couple lines), and Crenshinibon is well in hand. I was hoping this would be end of the story for the Crystal Shard so I could study up on The D&D Next adventure The Legacy of the Crystal Shard before the release of Rime of the Frostmaiden in September. Sadly it is not so.

Salvatore shows great immaturities as a writer, the first half is littered with sentences ending in exclamation marks that sound like the author himself and not the characters. These could and should have been caught by an editor. Cryshal-Tirith, present in previous books, is supposedly the elvish word for "Crystal Tower". Considering the t in crystal was just changed to an h and Tirith was pulled from Tolkien's Minas Tirith, it seems rather juvenile. Also Khazid'hea's sentience seems mostly forgotten, with a few lines thrown in near the end. And apparently Salvatore forgot that Drizzt's scimitar is called Icingdeath (the companion to Twinkle). Salvatore also insists on repeating silly statements like "Creatures venturing out onto the open plain of Icewind Dale who were not careful did not survive for long." with little change.

Overall Passage to Dawn is a long road of going down and maybe should be called Passage Down instead. Thank Tymora Entreri does not appear in the book.

The Legacy of the Drow has it's ups and it's downs. The series does finish on a solid endnote, and I feel anyone could be satisfied finishing Drizzt's story here. Salvatore shows that he can consistently write Dungeons & Dragons novels but the quality is questionable. Sadly the series has more low points than high ones, and though I am surely biased and mayhap even ranting I would say that the series is Acceptable.

From here on out the reviews should be more balanced with each book getting equal representation. 

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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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Completed Series: The Dark Elf Trilogy by R.A. Salvatore

The Dark Elf Trilogy by R.A. Salvatore is highly acclaimed and I was not oblivious to this when I started reading Homeland in April 2018. I finished the entire trilogy in about two weeks. Sometime prior I had actually gotten about 40 pages into Gauntlgrym, number 23 of extensive Legend of Drizzt (a book I had bought because of its Neverwinter label), before giving up. Throughout the trilogy you learn about Drizzt’s origins from his birth from his arrival to Icewind Dale. One of the strongest appeals is Drow society; which is toxic, brutal and unforgiven.

Drow are worshipers of the the Queen of the Demonweb Pits, Lolth (Lloth) and are generally inherently evil. Enter Drizzt Do'Urden who is anything but. Though I found drow society interesting it was a bit tiring after awhile. Drizzt doesn’t become that likable until he becomes easier to connect what emotionally which happens more in the second book. While the third book is interesting it’s really just running from his past over and over and is largely boring though the events do build Drizzt as a character. I couldn’t help but feel his character was overrated (as well as the writing of Salvatore), though the fight scenes are indeed done really well; good fights do not make a book or a whole series. Overall I found the support characters interesting but shallow. Guenhwyvar is an astral panther and can only be so deep, while Zaknafein was an interesting ally (and foe) to Drizzt’s moral dilemma. Though poor Clacker and svirfneblin Belwar Dissengulp make fun and unique adventuring party companions.

The trilogies three books are:
Homeland (1990) - Acceptable
Exile (1990) - Acceptable
Sojourn (1991) - Acceptable

Interesting to note the Dark Elf Trilogy was written as a prequel after Drizzt’s rise to fame with The Icewind Dale Trilogy. Because of this some would suggest starting with The Crystal Shard rather than Homeland. I am glad I started with Homeland because I’m not sure how I would have felt going back after reading The Crystal Shard, a novel that is very obviously Salvatore’s first with it’s rough writing. It is really up to the individual reader what they would find better to their own needs, tastes, and desires.

Overall, the consistent development of Drizzt is satisfying, but not that much. The Dark Elf Trilogy is Acceptable.
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