Review: Baldur's Gate by Philip Athans

 Not the only novel to align with a video game, this one has a rather poor reception compared to the likes of Azure Bonds. Released half a year after the game of the same name, Baldur's Gate by Philip Athans follows the adventures of Abdel Adrian.

Released in 1999 the story echoes the game, set in 1368 DR. Abdel is a sellsword as the story starts, he is with his father as they are ambushed by other sellswords, ones he recognizes. Gorion receives a fatal wound but Abdel continues to the Friendly Arm Inn on the road between Beregost and Baldur's Gate. They came from the direction of Candlekeep and were set to meet Jaheira and Khalid at the inn.

In the game, Sarevok Anchev slays Gorion personally, so that is the first change. Sarevok is a Bhaalspawn from Ordulin, Sembia. He is with his lover, Tamoko when we meet him. He is trying to kill his brother and to cause war between Baldur's Gate and Amn. Abdel opposes this.

Abdel himself was raised by a monk, a former Harper, after his mother died in a raid executed by the Harpers. He has venerated Torm over the other gods but has certain murderous tendencies. After finding a note from his father referring to the Avatar Crisis, he gains the companions of the halfling Montaron and the human Xzar. They seem tied up with Nashkel, Sarevok, and the Zhentarim.

Overall, the book incorporates Forgotten Realms lore well, we even get Iron Throne and Pacys the Bard mentioned (from the Threat from the Sea Trilogy). There are ghouls and doppelgängers, kobolds and spiders. There is a plethora of action, and it is a bit tedious (akin to a Drizzt novel). Bhaal is also a god that gets much attention, his emblem graces the cover after all. Another character I liked was Yeslick of clan Orothiar, dwarves from Cloak Wood in Sembia. Elfsong Tavern also makes an appearance. 

One of the silliest scenes I've ever read in a Realms novel is present as well. This is around the time the novels seem to be a bit more openly sexual and featuring nudity. A certain scene with Jaheira and a spider made me laugh it was so absurd. Also, the story has a terminal climax, simply reaching its peak and finishing without a denouement. Overall, it is an Acceptable novel. It is very short.

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Review: Shadowdale by Scott Ciencin

Shadowdale is the first of the Avatar Series, what was originally a trilogy but later expanded to five books. It was written by Scott Ciencin though originally published under the pen name Richard Awlinson. There is an Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Module of the same name that corresponds with the events of the book. 

This review has  corresponding video which you can watch here.

Original cover

The story starts with the gods and goddesses of the Forgotten Realms gathered together by Lord Ao. They are the target of his wrath for some of them have stolen the tablets of Fate. As a result, the Avatar crisis ensues as the gods are cut off from their realms and godhood, so prayers and magic go unanswered and become unreliable, while the gods are made to walk the planet Toril in mortal avatar form. The only one not cast down is Helm, God of Guardians. 

The year is 1358 DR and so begins the Time of Troubles, also called the Arrival, the Godswar, and the Avatar Crisis. This is also the beginning of the Era of Upheavel which will end over 100 years later with the Second Sundering. 

With the deities casting out, we first see Mystra, goddess of magic, try to access the Weave, yet deification form at which all magic of the Art comes, and she fails. Then Bane, god of hate, terror, and tyrannical oppression, lands in Zhentil Keep and takes and avatar as he sets about his malevolent plan to acquire the Tablets of Fate. 

Near the city of Arabel in Cormyr, the mage Midnight awakens to find things not as she left them, most notably she has a strange amulet around her neck. Her and 3 other heroes find themselves im the midst of the power struggle of the deities and their minions. 

One of the others is Kelemvor a sellsword warrior also in Arabel during the events of the Arrival. He is a little moody and not much of a people person, but still honorable and pretty average in his temperament besides his glaring misogyny, which is kinda out of place in the Forgotten Realms. He is acquainted with Cyric as they recently went after the artifact The Ring of Winter. He is approached by a starving waif on the streets who seems to have a quest in a mind for him. 

Reprint cover

 Cyric is a thief turned mercenary. Honestly my favorite character, which is funny if you know what becomes of him.

Then we have Adon, à Cleric of Sune Firehair, goddess of Beauty. He is familiar with Cyric and Kelemvor as he was also used by Lady Lord Myrmeen Lhal, ruler of Arabel to bring down a conspiracy. Adon is certainly vain and a little arrogant and foolish. 

I found Ciencin’s descriptions of simple character actions to be written perfectly, where I was getting imagery for mundane things I often don’t get while reading. The characters all decently explored too, for example finding out more about Kelemvor’s past, and how his curse really harms his temperament.

The pacing is a little slow, for example chapter 6 is somewhat dreamlike and dragging. Chapter 7 fixes this.

There are a decent amount of deities talked about with only the most basic of descriptions, so those unfamiliar with the pantheon  be lost with the mention of gods and goddesses. 

Divine magic only works for clerics within a mile of their deities avatars, while arcane magic that normally comes from Mystra, Goddess of Magic and her weave is terrible inconsistent and dangerous to use. 

The gods most at play here are Mystra, Bane, Helm, and Myrkul Lord of the Dead. This conflict really gets heated about the halfway point and that made the book finally hold more of my attention. 

As the back of the book states, the party wants to eventually get to Elminster in Shadowdale, hence the title of the book. Those two things had me thinking a majority of the book in Shadowdale, but only the last bit actually is. The party goes from Arabel to Castle Kilgrave, to Tilverton, to Shadow Gap, to Spiderhaunt Woods before reaching the titular place.

There is a romantic relationship I didn’t really care for as one of the people in the relationship wasn’t really a good prospect. 

The story does end with a cliffhanger that left me saying what the heck. Overall it’s Good, though maybe barely so. I have not been itching too bad to get to the next book, but I am looking forward to how the story develops.

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You can track my current progress here.

Review: Lord of the Darkways by Ed Greenwood

 Lord of the Darkways is a short story from the digital Dragon Magazine issue 390 from August 2010; it can be found on pages 55-77. It can also be found in the anthology Untold Adventures from 2011, but for your pleasure you can read it from the Internet Archive here.

the cover for issue 390

The tale is about Manshoon, vampire of Greenwood fame. He often appears in Elminster novels, and this is  a sequel of sorts to the story "So High A Price" from 1994's Realms of Infamy but also a prequel to Elminster Must Die. It takes place in 1334 DR, the Year of the Blazing Brand. Manshoon moves to block control of the Darkways, portals in Zhentil Keep in the hands of wealthy merchants that allow quick movement of people and goods to mansions in Sembia.

After the prelude of Manshoon's master plan is enacted we are then brought to Elminster who is in Innarlith on the Lake of Steam. He is in a funny situation that actually had me chuckling. 

story art by Kekai Kotaki

This short story is not all of over the place and hard to follow like some of Greenwood's writing. The Yavarla thread was a nice addition, and from it we get to see Storm Silverhand for a moment. The story is about double the length of most short stories I've read so far, and that gives it a good sense of round completeness.

Not surprsingly, Greenwood's story is full of tiny bits of Realms Lore you won't really find any information on; are Darklash and Painclaw official positions in the Church of Loviatar? Who is Tanthar of Selgaunt? Does this painting of the Spaerenza and Lord Wizard Uldimar Bronneth still exist? What happened to the Sembian cabal, the Vigilant Ravens, who opposed Manshoon's rise to power?

Overall this is a fine tale with good meat and lore. It is Good.

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Completed Series: Lost Empires

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


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

Forgotten Realms: Lost Empires series

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

Faces of Deception by Troy Denning (1998) - Bad

Star of Cursrah by Clayton Emery (1999) - Good

The Nether Scroll by Lynn Abbey (2000) - Mediocre

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Completed Series: Brimstone Angels by Erin M. Evans

This is the first in a series of post that cover the Forgotten Realms series that I have read all of the novels in.

I will give the books and whole series a grade but it is not empirical, but is based off feelings at the time I read the books and how I feel now. The ratings do not have specific qualities that mark them, they are just descriptive words. Here they are for your reference from worse to best.

Ugly

Bad

Poor

Mediocre 

Acceptable

Good

Exceptional

Amazing

Brimstone Angels by Erin M. Evans is the first series of Dungeons & Dragons novels I ever read. This was from the end of August to the middle of September 2017 when I read all six in that two week period. At the time I had never played D&D, though I had played other TTRPG's, Brimstone Angels was a strong factor for my later start of playing of the game.

The books are such:

Brimstone Angels (2011) - Acceptable

Brimstone Angels: Lesser Evils (2012) - Good

The Adversary (2013) - Good

Fire In the Blood (2014) - Good

Ashes of the Tyrant (2015) - Good

The Devil You Know (2016) - Good

My first impression was that it was fun but a little slow. It slogged a bit because of strong usage of lore.  This changed drastically during Lesser Evils as the story got more exciting when the Harpers went to search for the library of the netherese Tarchamus the Untielding. From there  I flew through most of the books. There is a decent focus on relationships, which range from okay to a little annoying, but that takes a backseat from the great action and the unfolding storyline involving devils, gods, warlocks, and politics.

Farideh and Havilar are easy to relate too, and a fun set of twins. This is probably is heightened because I myself am a twin and am relatively their age. There story takes them from Neverwinter to Waterdeep, to Suzail, to Djerad Thymer and to lost libraries and secreted Netherese fortresses. The cast of characters, from the Zhentarim, Harpers, nobility of Cormyr, devils of Malbolge to the devoted of deities is very rounded and likable, even when they aren’t necessarily of good alignment.

Farideh is the main character and at the start of the story she makes a pact with a cambion which results in exile for her glaive wielding twin sister, Havilar, and her adoptive dragonborn father, Mehen. Ilstan, Dahl, Tam, and Lorcan are among the most memorable support characters.

Book 3 is also book 3 for The Sundering, and I feel it fits in pretty well. It did not seem forced to me, while some things in books five and six maybe could have been condensed.

Lore wise, I gained quite a bit of knowledge about Cormyrean politics, the denizens and hierarchy of the Nine Hells, a plethora of draconic curses, tiefling types, and a nice guide to deities statuses during the Second Sundering.

A note for those who wish to own books physically (like myself), the first and second books are generally quite expensive though 3-6 can be found easily at reasonable prices.

Overall the consistent quality of the books makes me say that Brimstone Angels is: Exceptional.
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