Review: King Pinch by David "Zeb" Cook

 No one is beyond gold’s reach.

King Pinch a 1995 novel and is the first book in The Nobles, a series of books focusing on a noble from various locations around the Realms. It's not a true series, just like Lost Empires, and I read the fifth book first, The Simbul's Gift. This one is by David Cook, known more for his game material rather than fiction. 

Ankhapur is on the Lake of Steam and at the mouth of the Thornwash River. This is the home of Pinch, whose guardian is the late Manferic III who once ruled the city. The year is 1366 DR. 

The prologue introduces a funeral precession for a person of great import, the king has died. Pinch, whose true name is Janol Famisso is a potential heir. At the start of the story though he is a thief and crime lord working in Elturel. His partner is the halfling Sprite Heels. 

I really dig the Gord the Rogue and Lankhmar vibes. It’s also a sort of rags to riches but really dishonest to honest, or maybe not, depending on how you view kingship it could be the opposite. 

We get to see Hellriders; a temple of Lathander; military excursions, a good amount of deities mentioned like Cyric, Mask, Kelemvor, Loviator; halflings have furred feet; there is much politicking; scary dwarves; a lich, and more. 

A little darker than many of the FR novels I’ve read, not in much in tone as Erevis Cale, but the battles and aftermath are sometimes rather grim and the thief being the main character has its perks. 

The basic plot is interesting enough but some interesting fantastic (as in fantasy) twists make it more exciting. Much is not as it seems.

Cleedis and Lissa are some side characters of import. The first is an old soldier loyal to the old king. The latter is a priestess of Lathander sent from Elturel to recover the stolen items from the temple there. Of course, the most fleshed-out character is Pinch. 

Overall it is a Good read for Realms' fans. Pinch only appeared in one other fiction piece, the short story “Gallow’s Day” in the Realms of Infamy anthology. 

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Review: The Veiled Dragon by Troy Denning

 Hello, friends! Today I wanted to look at The Veiled Dragon by Troy Denning. This is a 1996 novel that is technically book twelve in The Harpers series but is really only a sequel to Denning's earlier Harper novel, The Parched Sea.

The story starts with our heroine, Ruha. She has left Anauroch and is now in the Dragonmere aboard a caravel piloted by Captain Fowler, a half-orc with the classic piggish snout. After her adventures in the first book in her homeland she is now in the employ of the Harpers herself. She is assigned by Storm Silverhand to get to Pros. She has had one previous assignment in Voonlar. We learn she botched that job and a hundred people ended up in slavery as a result.

The sea trip quickly turns deadly as a dragon is spotted. The cover will give some of this away, but it is honestly a very cool introduction. I even did my own take on it in a short story of my own.

The rest of the story involves the Shou. Like the Bedine, these are analogous to a real-world group. I don't think these would be written today but likely were written to sell Oriental Adventures but are obviously orientalist in nature. While I do not care for such an obvious real-world analog in Faerun, the Shou themselves are not deemed lesser but different. There is an odd dialect that the Shou speak that has aged poorly.

Essentially the novel starts great but quickly descends just by the nature of what is being explored. It has some exciting moments and good action, and the descriptions that Denning conjures for a desert-dweller experiencing the sea are executed well. For example, the waves are described as dunes. But after reading this Mediocre book I was looking for better Realms novels.

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2023 Review for the Forgotten Realms Lyceum

 Oloré friends of the Realms! It is a new year! It is now the Year of the Ring, 1393 DR, if you don't jump with fourth and fifth editions. First, I want to say thank you to any readers, whether active or one-time comers. This has been a passion project now for almost four years, and I'm happy to be continuing my journey through the Forgotten Realms this year. I also briefly want to look at statistics.

I posted 36 articles last year, 32 more than the previous year. This was what I was hoping for, publishing at least twice a month to make up for my unintended hiatus in 2022. I still have some reviews coming for novels I read last year, and now I can list all the Realms books I enjoyed in 2023.

Realms of Valor

Realms of the Underdark

Realms of the Deep

Baldur's Gate by Philip Athans

The Parched Sea by Troy Denning

The Veiled Dragon by Troy Denning

The Druid's Call by E. K. Johnston

The Road to Neverwinter by Jaleigh Johnson

King Pinch by David Cook

Sea of Swords by R. A. Salvatore

Sandstorm by Christopher Rowe

I had previously read three Realms anthologies and in 2023 I doubled that. I also finished Paths of Darkness and read the tie-ins to the Honor Among Thieves film. But I largely read standalones. I also only read eleven, which is considerably less than a typical year. 

So, in 2024, I am hoping to get back into some series. There are many, many trilogies I have and been wanting to read and I think I will start with the Cormyr Saga. Cormyr is one of my favorite locations and I like Greenwood and Grubb's writing. I'm also looking at the Moonshae Trilogy, Starlight and Shadows, and many, many more. 

What are your Forgotten Realms plans for 2024? Amarast!

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Review: Golden Simril Gifts by Ed Greenwood and Rhonda Parrish

 While technically prefaced that the story is fan-fiction written under the Fan Content policy of WotC, since it is (partially) from the hand of Greenwood, I decided it's essentially canon in my head and worth reviewing. It is also appropriate for Yuletide. Read it here.

art by Amantiium

Simril is a holiday celebrated on the 20th of Nightal, the equivalent to our 21st of December and the Northern Hemisphere's Winter Solstice. This is also the solstice for Faerun, and this celebration is particularly to cities on the Sword Coast like Neverwinter and Waterdeep. 

The story is told in first person present tense and starts with a celebration. The Shiallia Midwinter Festival has been attended by Volothamp Geddarm before, but this is Xen's first time. Shiallia is a minor deity tied to fertility and woodlands and is largely venerated in the High Forest.

"Shiallia, a local deity tied to Silvanus and Mielikki. (Be careful not to wantonly destroy seedlings or harm any animal babes while in Silverymoon or the High Forest lest you direly offend her.)" Volo, The Guide to the North.

While the perspective is abnormal, the story has sexual innuendo and gruesome violence and high magic that I associate with the Realms. With the whimsy comes a sense of human emotion (though most characters are elves and I'm not sure what Xen is) that I associate (well) with Greenwood. It is a good story. Happy Simril, everyone!

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Review: The Night Tymora Sneezed by Ed Greenwood

"The Night Tymora Sneezed" is the fourth Spin a Yarn written by the creator of the Forgotten Realms. While the last was longer than the previous, this one is even longer and divided into six parts. This page links to each one. As always, this is bizarre story collated by suggestions from the audience at a panel of Gen Con, this time in 2004. It was published in July 2005.

The story begins with a chatelaine schooling a young noble student of eight winters. They are in Castle Waterdeep, home of Piergeiron, the current Open Lord of the city. The stripling is obstinate, and the chatelaine patient. Two workers witness the chagrin of the governess. These two are workers going over ledgers of magical items. The elder is Oruld and the younger Reld. This is a fun listing of things you could bring into your own game and includes a cheeky game book reference to LNG. 

The next setup involves two veteran guards going over the guest list for a gnome-halfling wedding. They banter about the new officers put over them and the slaughtering they may have to inflict on the roguish outlanders that are coming to the wedding. The event is at the tavern called the Bloody Fist. It is located at the meeting of Snail and Presper Streets in Dock Ward, and is the designated place to enter into wedlock for Talaressa Wondergleam of the Dock Ward and Lucklai Minstrelwish of Secomber. Belgrim "the Bold" Huldersord is the proprietor, once a sellsword but now the stubborn eyepatch wearing owner (though blind in neither eye) that would rather have constant repairs down than replacing the building. It is also known for its serious drinking, dancing girls, and gnomish brothel down stairs. Flesh-eating fairies wait the tables. 

Something is awry and Belgrim needs to call in a favor from Mirt the Moneylender. It becomes more intriuging and absurd when the Barrera Alhound, Just Blade of Tempus, comes in with a magical sword and gigantic codpiece (though Barrera is a woman) to prevent penguins from stealing Talaressa's chastity belt.

This is essentially the setup of part one. I think I appreciate it more than the first three. While completely absurd it feels like a good controlled hodgepodge rather than complete madness. It also has new and interesting characters rather than the same old ones that I like but have read about a hundred times. Part two introduces our sneezing goddess, Tymora, Elminster, Volo, and much, much more. 

While very fun, it is longer than a short story. It may be a novella, I'm not sure on the word count. Either way, it gets even wilder and it has a satisfying conclusion that involves the bending of norms and actual genders. Ha! Greenwood juggles well many fantastic things but sometimes you wonder if he needs to get so flamboyant. If you can enjoy the longer ride, it is rather Exceptional. 

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Community Spotlight: Owen Edwards Book Reviews

 Owen Edwards is staple watching for me. While not strictly Forgotten Realms related, he has reviewed The Finder's Stone Trilogy (like me), Drizzt, and campaign diaries. He also does much on Appendix N reading. These are books listed in the original Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Masters Guide as influential to the game. I read these myself but don't talk about them here explicitly. 

Go check him out! 

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Review: The Parched Sea by Troy Denning

In 1991 Troy Denning introduced the monstrous series of The Harpers. They're largely standalone or have internal arcs, so you have no need to read 1-16 like it is The Wheel of Time. The first of these is The Parched Sea which introduces Ruha, whom Denning would use in more of his Forgotten Realms novels, including The Parched Sea's sequel, The Veiled Dragon, book five of the Avatar series, Crucible: The Trial of Cyric the Mad, as well as in The Return of the Archwizards trilogy. You can listen to my thoughts here.

Ruha is newly married and is adjusting to her life with a new tribe, the Qahtan of the Bedine in Anauroch desert. She keeps secret her portentous visions so the Qahtan will not think she is a witch. In reality she does know some magic which she learned from a witch who raised her for some of her childhood. 

Her call to adventure comes when her new husband, Ajaman, is given night guard duty. Disaster strikes the Qahtan, and Ruha finds her life upheaved. 

Lander, a Harper from Sembia, is in Anauroch to follow the moves of the Zhentarim. He will become important to this stage of Ruha's life. The year is 1360 DR, a couple years after the Time of Troubles. Cyric is presently God of three domains, and his Bedine aspect is Naser. 

The novel itself is pretty predictable. The Bedines are obviously inspired by the Bedouins. They don’t like magic since greedy magic users are what made the desert in the first place, at least in part (see the history of Netheril). The big theme is prejudice and finding belonging while fighting foreign interlopers. 

The desert setting is cool, I don’t read too many in such a biome. I wish Ruha was more of the main character over Lander, she was much more interesting, and Lander takes some of the attention away from her.

There is some romance here and is not the worst thing I have read by Denning. If I were you, I might skip this novel since there are better ones worth reading unless something here makes you think you would enjoy it or you are a completionist like I am. Regardless, my next review will be for the sequel, The Veiled Dragon.

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