Review: The Reaver by Richard Lee Byers

The Reaver is a standalone book by Richard Lee Byers set in the Forgotten Realms during the events of The Sundering, when the cosmology got smacked around and gods were reborn and many changes brought by the Spellplague were brought back.

The Reaver is technically book four of The Sundering book series, but they’re all effectively standalone, though one character from The Reaver makes a cameo in the fifth book, The Sentinel by Troy Denning. And technically Stedd first appeared in book 3, The Adversary, but that was just a small introduction to him. The whole Sundering series is one of the few Forgotten Realms books you’ll find at Barnes and Noble these days.

The Reaver introduces us to some pirates of the Sea of Fallen Stars somewhere near the city of Teziir on the Dragon Coast. The Inner Sea has been wracked with endless storms in this time of upheaval. Our main characters are Anton Marivaldi who is a “renowned reaver with a insatiable thirst for bounty who, when it comes to a choice between two evils, always chooses the one he’s never tried” as the back of the book tells us. He is originally from Turmish

“When the tempest is born,

As Storm-tossed waters rise uncaring,

The promised hope still shines.

And the Reaver beholds 

The Dawn-born chosen’s gaze,

Transforming the darkness into light”

So prophesied Elliandreth of Orishaar in the days of the First Sundering aeons before.

Evendur Highcastle, is an undead pirate captain, and chosen of Umberlee, who is the Queen of the Depths, evil sea goddess often fittingly called The Bitch Queen, funnily enough, who is after a perpetual tempest to cover the seas. 

“[V]ying with high castle for the hearts and minds of the people is Stedd Whitehorn, a little boy and the chosen of a god thought lost to time: Lathander, the Morninglord”, the god of the Dawn.

Umara Ankhlab is a red wizard of Thay, in service to a vampire and sent as sent by the undead ruler of Thay, the lich Szass Tam. 

The year is 1486 DR, so just a few years before most fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons adventures. Byers really makes the setting come to life, and it was interesting following someone of a more wicked bend. When finally getting a grasp of the situation in chapter one, Byers throws a wrench in.

We have pirates, vampires, chosen of the gods (alive and dead), sea monsters, gangs, and celestials, 

Byers writing is nice though often over my head, he utilizes many words I’ve never heard before, in all his works. These words aren’t literary or archaic generally either, just very particular. 

An interesting relationship develops in the book, one I wasn’t expecting. I always appreciate an unlikely friendship. While the story itself is good I was largely not drawn in and left disappointed by that. I found it Acceptable. I leave it up to you to decide if you may like it.

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You can track my current progress here.

Review: Realms of War

 Realms of War is an anthology edited by Philip Athans and released in early 2008. It accompanied the Twilight War trilogy by Paul S. Kemp that I recently finished (review here), and fell in-between the releases of the second and third books. This is only my second anthology set in the Forgotten Realms that I have read, the first being The Halls of Stormweather that introduced the Sembia series (review here). Like many "Realms of ..." anthologies, this one focuses on wars of Faerûn, spanning millennia of conflict.

"Continuum" by Paul S. Kemp

Our first story is about Rivalen Tanthul, Prince of Shade Enclave. It starts off in -365 DR, in the beautiful woods of Arnothoi, the lands that will one day become Sembia. He is in a meadow with his mother, whom he plans to murder to complete his devotion to the Goddess of Darkness, Shar. The story jumps to 1374 DR, during the events of the trilogy. We see more of Rivalen, as well as his brother Brennus. We also see some of Varra, Erevis Cale’s lover. This was a nice story that showed some things not explained beyond a sentence or two in the novels. We also get Rivalen’s thoughts on Elyril. Like most things from Kemp in the Realms, this story is Exceptional. You could read this in between Shadowstorm and Shadowrealm.

“Weasel’s Run” by Lisa Smedman

We meet Weasel, a spriggan trapped by a Ghostwise halfling cleric of Malar the Beastlord for the High Hunt. We discover he is a scout for the armies of Luiren, and we get to see some of his early days in this position in a flashback to -68 DR, while the rest of the story takes place in -65 DR. This is during the Hin Ghostwars in Lluirwood. It’s interesting as these Ghostwise halflings still speak, and it’s only after the war is over and they’ve moved to Chondalwood that they take their silent ways we know of in the modern Realms. We see some creatures I honestly haven’t ever experienced playing at the table or in my reading. This story is Exceptional.

“The Last Paladin of Ilmater” by Susan J. Morris

We find ourselves in 902 DR at the Chondalwood. Jaeriko, a druid, is our POV as she follows Maze, an assassin in service of the city-state of Reth during the Rotting War. This civil war split Chondath into loosely allied city-states and allowed their Sembian colonies, Chondathan and Chauncelgaunt, to gain independence. The duo face undead raised by the necromantic general of Arrabar, a fallen adherent of Ilmater, god of suffering. This is an interesting tale, somewhat disturbing, with an intriguing ending: overall it is Good.

“Black Arrow” by Bruce R. Cordell

Spring of 1095 DR in Sarshel, a port city of Impiltur, a kingdom of the Easting Reach. The story begins with a letter of condolences to a Madame Feor about the death of her son Jotharam. This letter is from Imphras Heltharn, who in a few short years will become the first king Impiltur has had in 100 years. We then start our story following a young Jotharam. This sense of doom hangs over you as you read of the naive young man and his dreams of grandeur as a warrior defending the walls of Sarshel. A surprise attack from a goblinoid army sends people scrambling. This was super fun for me, I’m a big fan of Triad worshipping Impiltur but had actually yet to read any fiction set there before this. I had chills and tears come to my eyes, I was honestly really surprised. This reminded me of some of the memorable prologues from Jordan’s Wheel of Time. This short tale is nothing short of Amazing. 

“Too Many Princes” by Ed Greenwood 

A tale of Mirt the Moneylender, during his time as mercenary when he had the moniker “the Merciless”. The year is 1333 DR, and Amn is in a war of succession. Mirt is in Ombreir, a citadel of the Araunvols. A wicked vizier means to trap Mirt and others: it was fun to read how he saves their skins, though one of the Seven Sisters does most of the work. A Good story from Mr. Greenwood, unsurprisingly.

“The Siege of Zerith Hold”  by Jess Lebow

Goblins from the High Peaks and Kuldin Peaks threaten Erlkazar. Zerith Hold in Duhlnarim (the home of Atreus from Faces of Deception) holds fast against the onslaught as the crusaders wait for help from Korox. The year is 1358 DR, the Goblin Wars rage in the newly Independent country. Our characters are Jivam Tammsel, a half-elf, half-steel dragon ranger, and Lord Pudrun who leads the efforts at Zerith. This is the same country the Cleric Quintet takes place in for the most part (though Salvatore seems to have forgotten that), if you want more stories in this country, Lebow also wrote the novel Obsidian Ridge, which takes place in Erlkazar less than a decade after these events. Valon is incorrectly refferred to as a Baron rather than Duke before coming King. Beyond this, this short tale was a nice opening course and I want more. It is Good.

“Mercy’s Reward” by Mark Sehestedt

Gethred is someone in or near Rashemen, though he is not a rashemi, he seems to be running from Tuigan. The year is 1359 DR, an these events can be further explored in the Empires Trilogy. Persistent pursuing enemies abound, shape changers face off, this is one wild ride. It’s a decent, Good tale.

“Redemption” by Elaine Cunningham 

Ferret, an elf of the Wealdath in Tethyr during the Reclamation War, puts her people first in 1368 DR. The transition from one character to the next at the beginning of this tale was so expertly done I was hooked. We see Cunningham‘a famous characters Danilo, Elaith, and Arilyn. Oddly enough there is also a lythari in this tale, just as there were in the last. We learn some of Myth Rhynn and Mallin, a lich. This is a Good story, though I still need to read the novels involving these characters.

“Changing Tides “ by Mel Odom

Rytagir Volak was an explorer on the Sea of Fallen Stars in the year 1369 DR. A lover of the sea, he is in search of the shipwreck for Peilam’s Nose. A bargain with sea elves is made, something I wasn’t quite expecting but was realistic and fun to read. A fun introduction to the Threat From the Sea series by Odom, and the Twelfth Serôs War. A Good tale in Odom fashion.

“Chase the Dark” by Jaleigh Johnson 

The year is 1370 DR and Devlin Torthil is a trickster magician in Amn during the Sythillisian Uprising. Ogres have been attacking the western cities. Dev is an interesting character, and learning his background like the character design. Overall he was a little too blustery and slightly annoying more than charming. Still a decent story, this one was Acceptable.

“Bones and Stones” by R.A. Salvatore

This tale is also set in 1370 DR, the aftermath of a battle outside Mithral Hall has left both the dwarf Thibbledorf Pwent and the orc G’nurk with the pain of loss. We also get Drizzt’s journal entries throughout, they’re not annoying this time around . This was actually really nice, I was admittedly a little scared since the last handful of books I’ve read by Salvatore haven’t been the best. This, this was nice. Though the fight did last a tad too long, it was well written as always. It’s a Good tale. I’m not actually this far in the Legend if Drizzt yet: this is somewhere around The Thousand Orcs or The Two Swords. This story was later republished in The Collected Stories: The Legend of Drizzt Anthology.

“Second Chance” by Richard Lee Byers 

The year is 1375 DR, and Kemas is in Thay. This likely corresponds with Byer’s The Haunted Lands Trilogy set in the same year in Thay. Kemas is a member of the Order of the Fire Drake in the church of Kossuth. He teams up. involuntarily, with Bareris against Szass Tam’s coup. This is a tale of a young man finding courage in the face of truly terrifying odds. It is Good.

Overall I’m happy with this anthology. I hope that future compilations of this sort as as rewarding. It was a little bit of a trudge getting through with all the notes I had to take since the characters and setting changed so often. Overall, this was a refreshing, Good exploration of many of the Forgotten Realms.

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You can track my current progress here.

Completed Series: The Cleric Quintet by R.A. Salvatore

An aptly named quintet, five books about a cleric of Deneir, the god of knowledge. The Cleric Quintet has some characters that can be found in book ten of The Legend of Drizzt, Passage to Dawn. For that reason you may want to read these if you want to know these characters, and if you particularly enjoy Salvatore's writing. The entire series takes place in and on both sides of the Snowflake Mountains, on the border of Tethyr and Erlkazar.

I read these five books from the beginning of December to the end of February. I still am not a huge fan of Salvatore's writing, and so I needed space between the books. I hope my dislike of the author doesn't show too much, but I promise these views are straight from my heart.

the original covers

Canticle (1991) - Good

In Sylvan Shadows (1992) - Acceptable

Night Masks (1992) - Mediocre

The Fallen Fortress (1993) - Mediocre

The Chaos Curse (1994) - Ugly

Canticle

We are first introduced to an evil mage who is a worshipper of Talona. He is getting the last ingredient for a potent elixir. The story takes place 1361 DR, a few years after the Time of Troubles. 

After a short prologue we meet our protagonist, Cadderly. The cover shows Cadderly, priest of Deneir, as blonde though on page 7, our first description of him says he has “curly brown locks” but only a few paragraphs later we read that he is “blonde-haired”; this is confusing.

Cadderly seems to have a perfect memory of sorts, reminds me of Icelin Tearn from Mistshore, though as the series goes on we see this is not really the case, he is just exceptionally bright, though this is told more than shown.

Also as an acolyte of Deneir, he shows tendencies more behavioral of a that of Gondish priest.

At this point, Cadderly has never had any adventures; he is young and carefree. We soon find that the monk Danica and him are about to embark on life changing events. In this book Danica and Cadderly have a juvenile relationship, you could call it silly.

The main villain of this book is seen quite often, which is nice, though he is not very bright. For example, I don’t see why the dweomer for innocence was attached to the chaos curse, and is Cadderly truly innocent? This is also completely absent in book five.

Takes a little while for the ball to get rolling but it’s engrossing when it does. I actually stayed up to finish this one. For the most part we get steortypical characters that are borderline absurd. My favorite character by far was the druid Newander, sadly this is the only book the druids are so important.

In Sylvan Shadows

Five weeks after the first book, Cadderly must Journey to Shilmista, an elven Forest on the north face of the Snowflake Mountains.

Chapter 1 we are introduced to multiple elves with silly names, most of Salvatore’s names are juvenile. I was reminded that Salvatore has as odd view of females that comes out when he writes of them, it reminds me of Dracula and how each guy fawns over the amazing, beautiful, maiden. It’s sort of gross.

We get some phrases in this book that break the immersion of a fantasy world. We also get some elvish words, though Salvatore is no linguist, it was fun to break apart for meanings. I like the ancient forest filled with Sylvan elves theme, this made up for the slow story.

Leave it to Salvatore, where elvish has cryshal for crystal and trea for trees, how elementary. 

One great plus is just how human Cadderly is in this book, as he struggles with the reality of the wider world beyond the walls of the Edificant Library.

Night Masks

Yet again introduced to another villain just like the previous prologues. Sadly, Ghost comes off as comical though his power is supposed to be feared, but I can’t take his amazing power seriously when I know clueless Cadderly will defeat him in the end.

Cadderly begins thinking about how he doesn’t have a home, though how the Edificant Library isn’t his home doesn’t quite sit well with me, I think Salvatore is pushing for emotional sympathy to our protagonist but he’s just not a good enough writer to actually make me care about Cadderly‘a inner turmoil.

At this point I was no longer confusing Aballister with alabaster.

In reality the story is going a nicer direction, but its bogged down by juvenility, such as the Salvatore’s inability to write good romance that is only bad because he incessantly tries to shoehorn it in. Anyway, we are shortly introduced to the Night Masks out of Westgate, sent for by Bogo Rath, the youngest and least powerful wizard in service to Talona. Somehow he avoided death when he left, something which is mentioned. This is two years after Erevis Cale’s escape from the group that is told in Another Name for Dawn, so likely these characters were contemporary, but of course Cale’s character wasn’t created by Kemp until later in the decade.

It’s interesting to see a firbolg so different from its fifth edition incarnation. We also finally get a good glimpse of the Tome of Universal Harmony, the sacred text of Deneir. 

In a story and world where gods very obviously and evidently exist it’s silly to have to read about a characters inner turmoil involving atheism or agnosticism. I feel this is Salvatore’s personal thoughts bleeding into his work, but our world is not The Realms and it detracts from the story. I found similar thoughts occur in Drizzt books.

Salvatore never learned what a synonym is since Rufo is called the “angular man” probably hundreds of times, it’s inane. The timeline of this book is a little confusing, but just don't think about it.

Another plus, it is refreshing to see the struggle and turmoil that can come about from taking another human life, something that is too often brushed over by fantasy authors.

Another minus, after using the most basic clerical spell during In Sylvan Shadows (admittedly to profound effect), the rapid pace at which very high level spells are gained in Night Masks is laughable. Unlike the first two books, I slowly started to care less and less, and found it hard to pick this book back up when I put it down.

The conclusion was quite good, and at this point I think Rufo is a very interesting character, he is so torn because of his weak resolve in a dangerous world. Sadly his arc goes downhill, even though the fall is a bit delayed.

The Fallen Fortress

I decided I would change things up and do this one in audiobook format. Though I get through books a lot slower this way, I thought it might help my enjoyment go up since I was having a problem with Salvatore’s writing. This helped me to take a sort of backseat, and while I was less engrossed I did enjoy my time a little more. I also learned how to say some of the names properly doing this. 

Omnibus of the series

At this point Cadderly is a caster with no limits on spells he can cast in both number and power. He had a whole book of spells that became usable almost all at once. 

Overly competent heroes, but woefully under competent villains that are suppose to be powerful and intelligent makes this a circus of a read.

Knowing my opinions of the last few books, at this point it was hard to care for the characters and their story. I feel my opinion and rating is marked by this bias, but I still want to accomplish my goal of reading all the novels in the Realms. I feel like this is unfair and I want to make that clear. Plenty of people will enjoy this series. Remember that my ratings are to have some sense of my thoughts condensed into a single word, and it’s all my opinion.

There is a dragon in this book, as the omnibus shows. Fyren’s relationship with the party is somewhat akin to Mist in Azure Bonds, though Fyren seems inordinately of low intelligence. Do not expect a Smaug/Bilbo dynamic, though the the conclusion is a lot more unique than any other confrontation with dragons I’ve ever experienced. 

Tons of fighting near the end, in Salvatore fashion Where you don’t fear for the characters and know the hordes they go against will perish almost with no sweat.

I liked the clever healing at the end, and it seemed most arcs could have been tied up, but alas, maybe five sounds better than four and so there is a fifth book...

The Chaos Curse
To tie into the events of the first book. The large arc has been accomplished, but it seems Salvatore wants to tie up all the threads. This probably should have been a standalone novel. Cadderly is not a wimp anymore and now has full faith with his god.

Since the series could have ended I hoped for some twist to be revealed at the start, and we got it. I was both intrigued that we actually got something, and disappointed. Rufo was the most dynamic character, though Salvatore loves his absolutes. Evil is evil and for some reason, Rufo, who simply had personality unlike the robotlike other characters, and a fine arc up to this point was ruined because Salvatore wanted him to be worse than he had been written to be. He constantly betrays, but never to his betterment. He has no spine but that doesn't make you evil.

When we finally get to Cadderly in chapter two we have more silly interaction. Why is his return to the Edificant Library described as his “toughest challenge yet”? Considering the arc of the series was resolved in book four, and all that is expected is Cadderly to face the consequences of how poorly he treated his superiors, this doesn't make any sense.

If you want your clerics devout, Cadderly finally is here in book five. If you liked Newander in book one, we get a little more druidic attention in this last book. If you like undead enemies, particularly vampires, this has them. But absolutely, this book should not have been part of the series, and Salvatore shows once again that he may occasionally write a good book, but that most of his works are not worth it. I could probably recommend this to 10-13 year olds, but there are better things to recommend to that age group.

With hundreds of Forgotten Realms novels not all of them will be good. Some will be mediocre, some amazing, and others terrible. I hope I shared enough objective things so you can know if you will like these books, but for me personally this series is Poor. You will probably like them if you think the Drizzt books are great, and if that’s the case; read these. I do not plan on torturing myself with another Salvatore book for half a year.

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You can track my current progress here.

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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You can track my current progress here.

Completed Series: Cold Steel and Secrets by Rosemary Jones

Cold Steel and Secrets is a novella by Rosemary Jones set in Neverwinter and divided into four parts. It follows Rucas Sarfael as he infiltrates a rebel group that are against Lord Protector Dagult Neveremeber's rule in Neverwinter. I’ll keep this short because I don’t remember much besides really enjoying it. The story itself involves undead from a Red Wizard of Thay and the mystery of the necromancers identity. 

I read this in March 2018 over a couple days, the same week I first played Dungeons & Dragons . I wish it was available in a format that had all four together (and a physical version at that). Anyways, this novella led me to read City of the Dead by the same author. If you don’t mind the couple dollars for each part, it’s a swift and exciting read.

For a novella, Cold Steel & Secrets is Exceptional.

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You can track my current progress here.