Completed Series: The Twilight War Trilogy by Paul S. Kemp

The Twilight War trilogy is a series of novels written by Paul S. Kemp as a sequel series to The Erevis Cale trilogy (my review of that here), as well as a transition in story to fourth edition lore, the third book being released after the core rule books for fourth edition were. The City of Shade is come and Netheril has returned, as so detailed in the Return of the Archwizards series by Troy Dennning. The Twilight War also has an accompanying anthology, Realms of War, that I will be reading and reviewing separately later. (Update: Review here!)

I read first two books in March and the third in June, they are my 51st, 53rd, and 54th Realms novels completed.

Cover art by Raymond Swanland

Shhadowbred (2006) - Amazing

Shadowstorm (2007) - Exceptional

Shadowrealm (2008) - Amazing

“The air itself is an enemy.”

Shadowbred 

The highly anticipated sequel to the Erevis Cale Trilogy. It’s 1374 DR and a new shadow is over Anauroch, Netheril has returned, and what better setting than the proximal Sembia, home of the Realms best Shade and Chosen of Mask to fall under its shadowy gaze.

If you would like to read specifically about how Thultanthar returned, I suggest The Return of the Archwizards series by Troy Denning. If you want to know how the Leaves of One Night was retrieved, read Mistress of Night by Dave Gross and Don Bassingthwaite. None of these are necessary reading, they’re just tendrils that touch Twilight War in the intricate web of novels set in the Realms.

At the start of Shadowbred, we get a prologue from a young halfling boy named Aril. This is one of the best introductions I’ve read in ages, I had chills reading it. We then follow events started in Sakkors during The Erevis Cale trilogy when the Source cried out when the Sojourner’s servants encountered Ssessimyth. Our first main character is actually Rivalen Tanthul, a Prince of Shade set on conquering Sembia. Then we meet Elyril, a woman, a somewhat mad worshipper of Shar, goddess of darkness, living in Ordulin, capital of Sembia.

Finally we meet someone from the previous Erevis Cale books, the tiefling psionicist Magadon Kest on the Dragon Coast. And on page 82 we finally get a point of view chapter from Cale.

The political maneuvering in this book is great fun, and I’m reminded of the vast depth of history that is present for the Forgotten Realms. This helps with immersion, but is nigh impossible to keep a firm grasp on because of how expansive it is.

We also revisit Selgaunt and Stormweather Towers of the Sembia series, which didn’t feature much in the Erevis Cale Trilogy, so it was almost like coming home, though almost like a home with a stranger in it: the city has changed quite a bit and has a very different feel than before.

This books ends the tale on a cliffhanger, but not a bad one. This tale is clearly the first part, but it does it’s job well. Lots of things happen in this book, and though a large chunk of it is setup, it pays off and we get good action, character development, politics, magic, and more. I was extremely happy with this novel, and ate it up.

“‘Where are you going?’. . . ‘To kill a god.’”

Shadowstorm 
War looms in Sembia, back-dropping a dark fantasy tale of Faerûn.
I first noticed the excellent map at the front of the book. This story doesn’t start off as well as the first book, but nonetheless we find a trio of poor friends in a freezing hellscape. 
An encounter with Mephistopheles, Lord of Cania, saves their skins when a bargain is struck, a surprising one with shocking addendums.

Elyril is still a fun antagonist to read about, made more interesting as she descends into madness. Kefil is a unique companion for her, and I'm not entirely sure he is anything more than just a normal dog.

Chapter two returns us to Sembia politics with Abelar at a monastery dedicated to Lathander, and Mirabeta in Ordulin. Enticing details, juicy and intriguing, a nice contrast to the tough deadliness of Cale. 

The whole plot-line with Phraig was played out very well, and it was something that I was not expecting at all.

At times the books plot seems to be at the pace of an infant’s crawling, other times things flow rapidly. We also get to see some higher ups on a cosmological scale, mostly of nefarious alignment and reputation. The worshippers of Lathander in this series shine a good light on the faith, almost making up for their gods brash arrogance.

Lots of intense events happen closer to the end. We see a third Prince of Shade during the climax of the story, Yder, the same from The Sentinel. This climax was extraordinary, and bumps a novel that was somewhat suffering from sequel syndrome, but was still good, into higher territory. In fact the ending was even more epic than that of Shadowbred.

The juxtaposition of the fates and gods working in Saerb and Selgaunt makes an interesting contrast for peoples on the supposed same side of civil war.

“How can you not feel awe as you watch a sun die?”

Shadowrealm 
Cynical characters abound in this dark tale. We brought back to a shadowy tale, as the events of the last book settle over the land. Having taken a few months of a break, it was soothing to be back into the story. It starts at the beginning of the month of Nightal, basically our December.

As far as evil goddesses go, I much enjoy the philosophy of Shar and her followers over that of Lolth. Cynicism over unavoidable entropy seems more natural and believable to me. Every page of this book is a joy, even if it is dark. Seeing all the surviving pieces come together in such a beautiful show, an epic battle I don’t think I’ve seen rivaled in any other D&D novel so far. Cosmology shifts, divinity traded and lost. It's hard to write much since I do not want to spoil the story.

The epilogue takes place in 1479 DR, over a hundred years later, and likely was to setup the trilogy that later got condensed and made part of The Sundering: The Godborn.
Overall this trilogy is much darker than the first. There isn’t brightness from Jak in this one, and with Magadon’s deteriorating status, all seems to be descending into shadow. It’s nothing short of  Amazing honestly; The Twilight War trilogy now stands as my favorite Realms series to date.

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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.

Review: Revenge Among Thieves by Ed Greenwood

 The last of the three part tale of Elminster's time as the thief Eladar the Dark on the streets of Hastarl. While not necessarily canonical, this does seem to have been the vision Mr. Greenwood had for young Elminster, but was unable to make it so in the final novel because of TSR's Code of Ethics at the time. Make sure to read my thoughts on Far Too Many Thieves(here), and Dark Times in Hastarl(here) before this post. Like the previous part, this was published online in August of 2005, and can be read in the archive here.

Dark times came about in the last iteration of this story, and Elminster is likewise in a dark place. There is a small section about the Magister we met in Elminster: The Making of a Mage, that was unexpected but brightened the dreary tone a bit. We see the conclusion to Elminster's tussle with the magelord Orluth and the petty gang of thieves, the Moonclaws. 

In some sense, the way Elminster is able to defeat enemies more numerous than he is reminiscent of just about every Salvatore Realms novel I have read. That being said, Elminster always has more close calls (friends dying, and staying dead for example), and he is more clever and tactful. The ending was interesting, fun, and unexpected in typical Greenwood style. I wish it had continued for a just a couple more paragrpahs, but alas, it is what we have. Maybe, Tyche willing, we will get more shorts of Elminster's early life later on. This story is Good, and one you should read if a fan of the Old Mage.

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You can track my current progress here.

Where to Start? Reading Forgotten Realms' Novels

 I often have people ask me about my goal of reading all Forgotten Realms novels, and when they discover that it’s 294 books (292 + 1 Ravenloft and 1 Spelljammer book) I want to read, they ask me where they should start if they wanted to read some. Here are some suggestions to the unsullied of Faerûn. If you would like some ideas on where to acquire any of these novels, you can read my recently posted buying guide here. As of writing this, I have read over fifty novels set in the Forgotten Realms, and I will likely update this as I read more.

a portion of my Forgotten Realms novels

Ed Greenwood Presents Waterdeep is a great series of standalone novels set in the City of Splendors along the Sword Coast: Waterdeep. While these are Fourth Edition novels (known for large changes in lore), the enjoyment of this series has aged well compared to some other lore from the time. Each story tells a different tale generally focused around a certain section of the city: Blackstaff Tower being largely about the tower of the famed archmages, the Blackstaff of Waterdeep; City of the Dead being about the city's cemetery and its hauntings; and so forth. There are no recurring characters or plot-lines, making each story standalone if you decide not to read all six. You can read my full thoughts on the series here.

Sembia: Gateway to the Realms was marketed as an entry point to the Forgotten Realms novel line that has espoused hundreds of novels. It succeeds in being accessible while giving a large array of stories set mostly in and around Selgaunt, Sembia. The first book is an anthology of short stories introducing each character the books are about, which may help you decide which characters you are interested in. This has been one of my favorite series, and you can read my full thoughts here.

The Finder’s Stone trilogy is a classic adventure featuring a dinosaur-like bipedal paladin and an artificial human fighter crafted by an evil cult, a dark god, and a nameless bard. The second novel in the series is more of a murder mystery than the high adventures of the first and third novels, but they are all great fun. Read my complete thoughts here.

The Erevis Cale trilogy is great for fans of dark fantasy. Erevis Cale is a butler for a noble house in the merchant nation of Sembia. He is also a rogue who is a priest of the God of Thieves, Mask. While his origins as a priest are explored in the second book the the Sembia series, Shadow's Witness, you can easily start with the first book of the trilogy, Twilight Falling. If you enjoy it, there is even a sequel trilogy that I'm currently reading, and enjoying more than the first. Read my thoughts here.

Elminster: The Making of a Mage has an easy learning curve to follow, since you can basically ignore the vast majority of proper nouns thrown out as it takes place over a thousand years before almost every other novel. There are sequel novels I have yet to read, but this is a nice origin story to Merlin/Gandalf of the Realms, and classic by the creator of the setting himself. Read my full thoughts here.

Venom in Her Veins is easy because it is a standalone, and is kind of leaning towards being a young adult novel, as a sword & sorcery coming of age. It's a quick tarry into the Underdark, and deals with denizens of the Far Realm, a merchant house of Delzimmer, and has some good yuan-ti and dragonborn characters. Read my full thoughts here.

Where are you going to start? What novels do you recommend to beginners? What have you read that you've enjoyed?

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You can track my current progress here.

Review: Dark Times in Hastarl by Ed Greenwood

 Dark Times in Hastarl is a direct followup to Far Too Many Thieves (my review here), so like the previous story, it is a cut piece from part two of the first Elminster book, The Making of a Mage, which you should read first. If you have read the prerequisites, you can find the story for free on the web archive here. It was published in August 2005.

This is "just before the Velvet Hands assault Trumpettower House on a certain notorious wedding night", which you can read about in chapter 6 of the novel. A band of five or so Velvet Hands go to Athalgard, the castle at the center of Hastarl, to thwart the Moonclaws they suspect to make a move on the magical Ioun stones held in the keep.

The encounter leaves them the target of a certain winged and clawed stone beast. The fight of which ends in a very much Greenwood fashion, that is funny but believable. At the end of the story, there are some definitely some things that lend the story its title of "Dark Times". I was shocked, but Farl and Tass have very different fates here than in the published novel. I couldn't say which I prefer, though one is sadder than the other. I'm interested to see how this plot-line will be finished up in Revenge Among Thieves, and how young Elminster fares.

As for Dark Times in Hastarl, the story is Exceptional.

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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.

Review: A Ghost of a Chance by Ed Greenwood

 Like Far Too Many Thieves, A Ghost of a Chance is a cut piece from Elminster: The Making of a Mage. This one is specifically for part one of the story, "near the bottom of page 51 of the paperback edition" is where this piece fits in. It was released in July 2005 on the old Wizards website, and can now be read on the web archive for free here. This is not a direct sequel to Far Too Many Thieves, but the next two cut tales are, I will get to those shortly.

Elminster the Brigand

Elminster is a brigand, following the exiled Knight Helm Stoneblade in the kingdom of Athalantar. The year is 224 DR, and magelords rule from Athalgard in the capital of Hastarl. Elminster is on his way to the Woodsedge Inn ran by Broam north of Jander (a town no longer in existence, but one Ed says was north-northeast of present day Secomber, and long reclaimed by the trees of the High Forest); it is the middle of winter.

We see the expletive "naed" also sometimes seen as "naeth", this means "dung" for those curious. What was a quick and uneventful trip in the final book, turns out to be quite harrowing to young Elminster. An encounter with a magelord that involved cold nighttime running as fireballs rain down, and a haunted cairn make for Elminster's survival ghostly slim.

A Ghost of a Chance is a fun, mythical tale about the rightful Prince of Athalantar. I really enjoyed it overall, and it was a Good read for anyone who enjoyed the final book.

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You can track my current progress here.