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Lord Karsus
Great Reader
USA
3746 Posts |
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Mournblade
Master of Realmslore
USA
1288 Posts |
 Posted - 21 Jan 2009 : 16:00:12
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quote:
Originally posted by Ayunken-vanzan
Thanks for the interesting review. Nothing catches the spirit of the Eberrealms more than this sentence from Bruce Cordell:
quote:
History lessons were hard. It was all so dry and
pointless! Everything before the blue fire was irrelevant to how things were today.
So ... no need for a true Realms fan to bother with 4e realms.
Eberrealms... I am hearing lots of good descriptions of the Frankenstein monster taht has become other people's Forgotten Realms.
Great review above... I now know I can cut all new realms books from my reading list. My reading list is far to long anyway, to start reading about a bad realms.
Hopefully old realms fans will avoid this book. |
A wizard is Never late Frodo Baggins. Nor is he Early. A wizard arrives precisely when he means to... |
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Ashe Ravenheart
Great Reader
USA
3248 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jan 2009 : 16:53:38
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quote:
Originally posted by Mournblade
<snip>
I now know I can cut all new realms books from my reading list. My reading list is far to long anyway, to start reading about a bad realms.
I wouldn't cut all new Realms books. As in the other thread, the Waterdeep novels are pretty good, and Mr. Kemp is going to do another trilogy based on Erevis' child and (presumably) dealing with Shar's increasing influence. Then, of course, there's also Ed's next Elminster novel and (hopefully, I'm crossing my fingers) more Knights of Myth Drannor books.
So, there's still some good reads there. Remember, just because some of the food on the menu isn't to your liking doesn't mean the restaurant is bad.
That said, I am boycotting all of WotC's gaming supplements. |
I actually DO know everything. I just have a very poor index of my knowledge.
Ashe's Character Sheet
Alphabetized Index of Realms NPCs |
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jan 2009 : 17:26:04
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quote:
Originally posted by Dagnirion
-They always are. There's plenty of others for perusal, for those looking for novel/sourcebook reviews. Plague of Spells, the FRCG and the FRPG, but the possibility remains that I might ghostwrite, or "invite a guest" who has read other 4e-era books I am not planning on reading.
Now you're giving me ideas...
Ashe, where was it announced that Ed was writing another Elminster novel? |
"Instead of asking why we sleep, it might make sense to ask why we wake. Perchance we live to dream. From that perspective, the sea of troubles we navigate in the workaday world might be the price we pay for admission to another night in the world of dreams."
--Richard Greene (letter to Time) |
Edited by - Rinonalyrna Fathomlin on 21 Jan 2009 17:26:52 |
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Lord Karsus
Great Reader
USA
3746 Posts |
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Ashe Ravenheart
Great Reader
USA
3248 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jan 2009 : 18:38:16
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quote:
Originally posted by Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
quote:
Originally posted by Dagnirion
-They always are. There's plenty of others for perusal, for those looking for novel/sourcebook reviews. Plague of Spells, the FRCG and the FRPG, but the possibility remains that I might ghostwrite, or "invite a guest" who has read other 4e-era books I am not planning on reading.
Now you're giving me ideas...
Ashe, where was it announced that Ed was writing another Elminster novel?
Not so much announced as discussed on Ed's thread when we were hypothesizing Elminster's fate post-Spellplague
Edit: Of course, trying to find the posts is almost impossible for my skills. (Seriously? You search Ed's thread for the keywords 'Elminster' and 'Novel'.  ) |
I actually DO know everything. I just have a very poor index of my knowledge.
Ashe's Character Sheet
Alphabetized Index of Realms NPCs |
Edited by - Ashe Ravenheart on 21 Jan 2009 18:48:42 |
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Dart Ambermoon
Learned Scribe
Germany
253 Posts |
Posted - 23 Jan 2009 : 06:31:43
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Ho hum...Iīve just finished reading the book, and I have to say that it isnīt a "bad" novel in itself.
I liked "Lady of Poison" (minus the Aborigine), but didnīt care that much for either "Darkvision" or "Stardeep". Especially "Stardeep" didnīt feel like a FR novel to me at all, and that holds true all the same for "Plague of Spells".
In contrast to Dagnirion I even found the characters quite compelling, from the drug-addicted mage to the little girl, but they also didnīt feel "realmsian" to me. Every charcter is just so...I donīt know...out there? A spellscarred (urgh  ) monk, a spellscarred/plaguetouched/whatchamacalit girl, half-amphibian pirate and a "bound-into-a-pact-with-a-fey-lord mage junkie...all themselves not "bad" characters, but for my personal tastes bad FR-characters.
Same for the plot, that picked up on all the things that really left me growling at the pages of "Stardeep" already. What was that word? Eberrealms? Nails it straight on the head. I really didnīt expect anything different to be honest, but that still didnīt stop me from actually seething with rage at some of the pages.
This novel is just another confirmation of my sentiments towards the New Realms...had they simply done a new gameworld, I would have liked the novel okay. Not grand, but okay. Itīd actually be fine adapted to Eberron. But set in what once were the FR it reads like a terrible techno-remix of a song that was brilliant in its original, but has now been reduced to a mockery of itself.
Those who dug "Stardeep" should definitely give it a read IMO, because it explores the same topics after all. Those that didnīt, will probably not like it very much. |
~ In Finder I trust, for danger I lust ~ |
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Kyrene
Senior Scribe
South Africa
758 Posts |
Posted - 23 Jan 2009 : 07:23:12
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Dart,
I think you summed up my thoughts on Bruce's writing. He's become a very competent novel writeror his editors have become strictersince the early days of Lady of Poison, and I do like his writing nowadays. What he writes about just isn't/doesn't feel Realmsian as far as I'm concerned. I will therefore continue to avoid this trilogy... |
Lost for words? Find them in the Glossary of Phrases, Sayings & Words of the Realms
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Arion Elenim
Senior Scribe
933 Posts |
Posted - 23 Jan 2009 : 17:46:02
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[quote
AgReed. AnD iT loOks lIke whoEver creAted tHe woRd juSt thouGht ranDom capiTaliZion loOks cOol.
[/quote]
Whenever an article is placed in front of a name, it denotes the old world practice of naming someone after what they do or where they are from, in different languages. Prefixes like 'le', 'la', 'mac', etc, are in reference to this, to various languages, French, Gaelic, etc. The articles usually translate to mean 'the', or in the case of 'de la', 'of the' in their respective languages.
A perfect example in fantasy literature would be Morgan LeFey (or Morgana Delafey depending on your translation, which means of course, 'Morgana of the Fairies'). So I don't think that the capitalization in the middle of the name is not arbitrary as you suggest - just an old world send-up of Earthly names.
That said (*makes loud re-shifting noise toward topic*), I'm excited about the Abolethic Sovreignty, for one. I am not sick of the Shades as the primary Faerunian villains as some of my fellow scribes have bemoaned, but I do think a departure into a whole new way of being megalomaniacal would be delicious. |
My latest Realms-based short story, about a bard, a paladin of Lathander and the letter of the law, Debts Repaid. It takes place before the "shattering" and gives the bard Arion a last gasp before he plunges into the present.http://candlekeep.com/campaign/logs/log-debts.htm |
Edited by - Arion Elenim on 23 Jan 2009 17:51:33 |
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The Red Walker
Great Reader
USA
3567 Posts |
Posted - 23 Jan 2009 : 22:58:47
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Thank for all the opinions you are all sharing. I hope many enjoy this as I won't tell anyone not to read this, but the pages I turned didn't feel Realms-like to me either......
maybe one of you can drop me an email telling me I can start reading the new novels again because the villains are good old fashioned Zhents or a band of orcs than has not morphed into humans |
A little nonsense now and then, relished by the wisest men - Willy Wonka
"We need men who can dream of things that never were." -
John F. Kennedy, speech in Dublin, Ireland, June 28, 1963
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Neil Bishop
Learned Scribe
Singapore
100 Posts |
Posted - 01 Feb 2009 : 05:06:02
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| I haven't picked this one up yet because Stardeep made me feel like I was reading 2001: A Space Odyssey and I don't like "computers" in my Realms. "Raidon Kane" sounds like a name that I may have created for a character when I was 12. "Raidon" has that sci-fi feel and "Kane" must be one of the most overused names in all fiction. So, did Bruce get this one right or not? So far this thread indicates he did not.... |
Regards
NXB |
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
Posted - 01 Feb 2009 : 06:43:43
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| Bruce's novels aren't bad reads at all, but I've long felt that there is a difference between a good author and a good shared world author. |
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khorne
Master of Realmslore
Finland
1073 Posts |
Posted - 01 Feb 2009 : 09:56:50
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| Hmm. Am I the only one who read "apologetic", instead of "abolethic" when I first saw the title of the book? |
If I were a ranger, I would pick NDA for my favorite enemy |
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 02 Feb 2009 : 17:29:02
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quote:
Originally posted by Neil Bishop
I haven't picked this one up yet because Stardeep made me feel like I was reading 2001: A Space Odyssey and I don't like "computers" in my Realms.
I agree, that novel felt very sci/fi-ish (more than what I like for the Realms).
quote:
..."Kane" must be one of the most overused names in all fiction.
LOL, I agree with that too... |
"Instead of asking why we sleep, it might make sense to ask why we wake. Perchance we live to dream. From that perspective, the sea of troubles we navigate in the workaday world might be the price we pay for admission to another night in the world of dreams."
--Richard Greene (letter to Time) |
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The Red Walker
Great Reader
USA
3567 Posts |
Posted - 02 Feb 2009 : 20:12:09
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| My problem with that name was everytime i read Raidon...i saw Raiden from mortal combat doing a finishing move in my head |
A little nonsense now and then, relished by the wisest men - Willy Wonka
"We need men who can dream of things that never were." -
John F. Kennedy, speech in Dublin, Ireland, June 28, 1963
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31799 Posts |
Posted - 02 Feb 2009 : 22:42:21
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quote:
Originally posted by The Red Walker
My problem with that name was everytime i read Raidon...i saw Raiden from mortal combat doing a finishing move in my head
Toasty? |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
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The Red Walker
Great Reader
USA
3567 Posts |
Posted - 03 Feb 2009 : 00:31:12
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quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
quote:
Originally posted by The Red Walker
My problem with that name was everytime i read Raidon...i saw Raiden from mortal combat doing a finishing move in my head
Toasty?
Finish Him!
Now back to topic |
A little nonsense now and then, relished by the wisest men - Willy Wonka
"We need men who can dream of things that never were." -
John F. Kennedy, speech in Dublin, Ireland, June 28, 1963
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Plague of Spells: Abolethic Sovereignty
