| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Alaundo |
Posted - 10 Jan 2008 : 16:49:57
Well met
This is a Book Club thread for the short story entitled "The Seige of Zerith Hold", by Jess Lebow, from the Realms of War anthology.
Please discuss herein. |
| 8 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Kyrene |
Posted - 04 Aug 2008 : 07:03:17
quote:
Originally posted by The Red Walker
Would have been better though if the "good guys" weren't rescued at the last instant by their friends with an ogre army.
I have to agree with this, but I think it is forgivable. I'm a bit rusty on my Lands of Intrigue lore, but I seem to recall a timeline/historical note somewhere about the Shieldbreaker ogres, so the rescue was because of established canonical lore.
It was a very good tale otherwise, and I definately enjoyed it a lot more than Master of Chains. |
| Victor_ograygor |
Posted - 06 Jul 2008 : 05:28:09
I really enjoyed this story, and the way it was written.
I was surprised of what happened at the top of the tower, and the fate of the elven archer.
Vic
|
| Alisttair |
Posted - 30 Jun 2008 : 21:54:52
I used to run a Persistent World campaign online in on NWN set in Erlkazar, so reading about Erlkazar was great. I'm sure the version of Erlkazar that I had in the game was paltry compared to what Jess and Steven wrote about it, but reading about familiar places was a joy. |
| Rinonalyrna Fathomlin |
Posted - 05 Feb 2008 : 00:58:35
I enjoyed seeing Lord Purdun (who was sorta-kinda the antagonist back in Master of Chains) being shown as heroic in this story. Overall, it was a pretty straightfoward tale, but I was surprised at the fate of that elven archer, as well as what happened when Purdun took that "foolish risk". |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 03 Feb 2008 : 16:04:36
One thing I really liked about this story was the avoidance of a standard cliché: the two opposing commanders didn't wind up in single combat with each other, and when someone did engage the goblin king, it was pretty one-sided. |
| RodOdom |
Posted - 03 Feb 2008 : 06:20:23
This story does just one thing and does it very, very well : violence ! I didn't really feel anything for the protagonists but I still enjoyed it |
| The Red Walker |
Posted - 22 Jan 2008 : 22:52:36
Really enjoyed this good fighting story. Would have been better though if the "good guys" weren't rescued at the last instant by their friends with an ogre army.
Kinda like Gandalf riding in with an army of Huorns |
| Steven Schend |
Posted - 12 Jan 2008 : 16:58:40
I have to admit to loving this little story for a few reasons.
A) It's a rolicking good, solid battle story.
B) It's set in Erlkazar, my baby.
C) "The Goblin Courts of Ertyk Uhl" was a module name that I'd drawn up and taunted my players with back in 1988/1989. I never actually got to develop more than the rough notes and a battle idea before I'd gotten hired by TSR and then ran out of time to run home campaigns (and also, one's day job make it less enticing to play D&D on weekends if you've already put 50 hours in with it that week). (When I was writing LANDS OF INTRIGUE, I dropped the name and a few nuggets from our game campaigns into Erlkazar, so that's where Jess got it from.)
D) In my mind, Ertyk Uhl was this runty little Kevin Spacey/"Keser Soze" type of goblin--utterly ruthless and nasty, but not the best physical specimen of a goblin (just hard enough to get and hold the throne, and keep others in fear of him). Think Yoda turned to the Dark Side and that's him. Jess made EU a hulking nasty mass of goblin flesh with presence, and that's cool. It's always interesting to see what folks do with ideas left lying about when you don't put in all the details.....
E) This story made me itch to make up more stories down Tethyr way.....
So thanks, Jess, for a fun read, a nostalgia blast, and a creative kick in the pants. It's appreciated, man.
Steven |
