| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 06 Oct 2005 : 02:01:41
So I finally finished this classic trilogy of Realmslore, and I have to say that some of my thoughts on this topic relate to the trilogy as a whole as well as this particular book by itself.
The Good Stuff
It was great to see some of the other things that happened, near to the events of the Avatar trilogy, but just offstage. In fact, while the whole trilogy seems to do that, this is the book that really delivers on this.
I really like the Maulgrym as villains now. I always kind of skipped over them before, but I can see a lot of potential in them in this book. I also liked (again) a Thayan being portrayed as pragmatic enough to help against the Malaugrym.
Mistledale always has a special place in my heart, and I do enjoy the interaction between the Knights of Myth Drannor. And the Khelbun/Laeral scenes, however short, were priceless. "Get off of me!" "That's nice" "Get off of me!"
Thats my Khelbun. 
The Not As Good Stuff
The first one is a minor quibble. Both instances of character's getting raised from the dead involve Arcane magic and practitioners. While I understand that the Realms are a complex place, and it is clearly shown that an Arcane caster raising someone takes a lot more than a Divine one would, someone fairly new to the Realms and not steeped in D&D lore will be confused about the "division of labor" as far as Divine and Arcane magic goes.
I am also having a difficult time wondering why Sylune doesn't come back to life, the number of times she has gotten "artificial" bodies. Heck, what is the difference between her getting a "replacement" body and getting ressurected? I know, she needs to have her stone on the replacement body, but I always pictured her more as she was shown WAY back in the first book, only able to manifest once in a while, mainly near her old home, mainly to her sisters.
After Belkram, Itharr, and Sharantyr take center stage and actually get some prime character development in the last book, they seem to get shoved aside in this one, at least until Sharantyr makes her pronouncement. There does tend to be a bit of a loss of focus as we zoom back out away from them to the bigger picture again.
As far as the whole trilogy goes, the only complaint I have as far as structure is that the first book feels very much like a prologue rather than an actual part of the trilogy.
Final Assesement
In my opinion (for what its worth  ), this particular book is better than the first book, not as good as the second book. The trilogy as a whole is better than some of the Elminster series, but not as good as say, Elminster's Daughter. It has some of Ed's signature quirks, but overall its a pretty smooth, forward progressing book, and also introduces a ton of Realmlore, so thats really the most Realms fans can ask for. |
| 4 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 06 Oct 2005 : 10:51:32
Oh I know. At the begining of the book when Elminster puts the Rangers Three back together, its obvious that the spells he uses to "rebuild" them are difficult and take a lot more effort than clerical magic would. I also realize that in this particular series no one is going to be using high level clerical magic due to the fact that no one access to it unless they are physically near their deity. Its just that if this is one of your first encounters with the Realms, and you are more of a fiction buff than someone that games, its likely to be confusing, especially when you pick up another author's work and you start wondering why these cleric guys can do all this stuff so much more easily. |
| Hoondatha |
Posted - 06 Oct 2005 : 04:12:00
Plus it's also been fairly obviously hinted/stated over the years that there are a whole bunch more spells in the Realms than are shown in the core books. Those are "adventurer's spells," but there are many more softer, kinder, gentler sorts of magic, including mage spells that can heal. I see no problem with mage spells that can raise the dead, especially since it took more effort for the wizards than it would for a priest. |
| The Sage |
Posted - 06 Oct 2005 : 02:17:13
It's among the '04 replies -- specifically the May 4th reply to Abizoath  .
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| Kuje |
Posted - 06 Oct 2005 : 02:05:32
Ed has discussed why Sylune hasn't been resurrected but I can't recall if it was last year or this year. Do a find/search for Sylune. :) |
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