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Lord Karsus
Great Reader
USA
3741 Posts |
 Posted - 05 Jun 2011 : 16:57:38
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Realms of the Dragons
Edited by Phil Athans
Like the other Realms of X anthology books, Realms of the Dragons is a collection of various short stories having to do with Dragons. It is marketed to tie into the Year of the Rogue Dragons trilogy, but, honestly, I don’t think they did a very good job with that. Not that I am complaining, as you’ll see, but only a handful of the stories in the book actually involved the Year of the Rogue Dragons, 1373 DR.
The first short story, “Soulbound”, by Paul Kemp, was excellent. It serves as a prologue, of sorts, to his Erevis Cale trilogy, giving us a back story and framing some of the events that took place in that series. This short story once again affirms the concept of Mask as a multispheric, possible foreign-to-Realmspace deity, a concept that I dig a lot. Serving as Shar’s herald, the two bounce around from Crystal Sphere to Crystal Sphere, bringing nihilism in their wake- Mask pulling off the ultimate heist, stealing life.
The second story, “First Flight”, by Edward Bolme, I enjoyed, but it seemed very out of place. The story centered on a Netherese arcanist who, while investigating the source of the life-drain spell plaguing Low Netheril, discovers some Phaerimm, meets Targus, the Netherese deity of battle, and eventually turns into a Dragon. The arcanist, Serreg, didn’t turn into a Dragon until, literally, the third-to-last page. I liked the story, as a whole, but it really didn’t involve Dragons. Honestly, at the end, Serreg could have transformed into anything, and ‘Dragon’ was simply chosen to fit the story in the book.
The third story, “Gorlist’s Dragon”, by Elaine Cunningham, was another one that I liked. With all of the stories written about Drow, Elaine managed to capture a perspective than really still hasn’t particularly been covered well- life as a non-noble male Drow. The story serves as something of an origin story for Gorlist, one of the antagonists from the Starlight and Shadows trilogy. I particularly liked the beginning, where Gorlist impressed his mother by killing a few Kobold, and she is impressed- impressed enough to make a few bucks selling him into slavery. Elaine, more so than other D&D author, has her pulse on the world of the Drow.
The fourth story, “The Keeper’s Secret”, by Ed Greenwood, I enjoyed. And, I don’t usually enjoy Ed Greenwood’s literature. I think, drawn out over the course of an entire novel, or trilogy, that’s where it gets me. Mirt conducting “business”, and accidentally getting swept into some stereotypical Waterdhavian intrigue. Well, that’s Waterdeep for you.
The fifth story, “The Topaz Dragon”, by Jess Lebow, was the first short story in the book I didn’t particularly enjoy. I liked the fact that he chose to “off-beat” races- Gem Dragons and Wild Dwarves get very little airtime in the Forgotten Realms, or in D&D in general. Other than that, though, I didn’t really like the story all that much. It was basic enough that you could have easily set it in some other fantasy world by replacing a few location names, and the characters were underwhelming. All in all, it was too generic and forgettable.
The sixth story, “Wickless in the Nether”, I am neutral towards. I didn’t particularly enjoy it, but I didn’t hate it, either. I like how Ilnezhara and Tazmikella, being Dragons, have their own agendas, and see Humans (and Drow) as similar to playthings and ends to means, whatever their goals are. Personally, I don’t like how Entreri is portrayed. Even though the time he spends with Jarlaxle certainly “loosens him up”, he seems a little too loose in this short story. The man is an assassin, after all, and if you didn’t know that previously, I don’t think you would have guessed it, based on his portrayal.
The seventh story, “Serpestrillvyth”, by Rich Baker, was another one I didn’t particularly enjoy. Like Jess Lebow’s story, “Serpestrillvyth” was just too generic. A bunch of Dragon hunters are hired to kill a Dragon. In the end, the Dragon wins. Nothing particular of note happened. Nowhere in particular was featured. Nobody of note was featured. It was an all-around forgettable story.
The eighth story, “Waylaid”, by Thomas Reid, was another story that I am neutral towards, not particularly liking it, but not hating it, either. The story was generic and a little corny, and nothing of any kind of particular note happened. For whatever reason, the story did not seem to drag, though, and that’s its saving grace. Something about it didn’t feel like a chore to finish, unlike the other stories that I didn’t like.
The ninth story, “Standard Delving Procedure”, by Lisa Smedman, was a good story. My main gripe with it is that I didn’t like the name of one of the Dwarven protagonists, ‘Frivaldi’. ‘Frivaldi’ is much too Italian sounding for a Dwarven name, in my opinion. But, other than that, I had no problems with this one. The plot worked, and I like how, in the space of only a few pages, Lisa made the Delvers feel like a real organization, with their procedures, traditions, training manuals, and, of course, acronyms.
The tenth story, “An Icy Heart”, by Voronica Whitney-Robinson, I enjoyed. It’s not very often that you get stories that feature Dragon Turtles, let alone an intimate view of how they live, what they feel, their priorities, and so on. The repercussions of the ending of the story, with the Dragon Turtle council seemingly swayed to accept the offer of Halaster and the Cult of the Dragon, for subservience in exchange for protection from the Rage, I wish they were explored in depth elsewhere. I never really realized how interesting Dragon Turtles are, or could be.
The eleventh story, “Penitential Rites”, by Keith Francis Strohm was a fun little mystery story. The Forgotten Realms is such a broad world, with scores and scores of books having been written over the years, but there aren’t enough books with a mystery theme. The story started off a little slow, I thought, but got good just before the ending, when everything began falling into place for our detective. The ending, in what happened to Drakken, was a little anticlimactic, though. I felt the author was going for something of a ‘redeeming’ concept, and I don’t really think he really got that well.
The twelfth story, “How Sharper than a Dragon’s Tooth”, by Dave Gross, I started out disliking, and it wound up one of my favorite stories within the book. The first ‘Act’, involving interplay between players of the Wide Realms playhouse made me think the story was going to be a stinker. It picked up once Talbot met Mnomene and had purpose, writing the play ‘King Krion’. I liked how Krion, a Gold Dragon, was the antagonist of the story. Even though they’re Lawful Good, they’re still Dragons, and are extra elitist, intolerant, and hubristic.
The thirteenth story, “Beer with a Fat Dragon”, by Don Bassingthwaite, was a follow-up story to The Yellow Silk, a novel that I enjoyed greatly. Just like in that novel, Tycho was an awesome character. One part Jarlaxle, one part Han Solo, and one part Tony Stark. Li was featured, but didn’t have too large of a role, which is unfortunate, since he would’ve been a good source of more Kara-Tur/Hordelands lore, a Shou traveling the Golden Way. Featuring a Chiang Lung Dragon, instead of a “normal” Dragon made me happy, and Ong was an interesting host, to say the least. It’s too bad nothing more has been written on the (mis)adventures of Tycho and Li, since this story left them in some precarious danger.
The fourteenth and final story, “The Prisoner of Hulburg”, by Richard Lee Byers, was a direct tie-in to his Year of the Rogue Dragons trilogy. Pavel Shemov (I will always imagine him in my mind’s eye as a Hasidic Jew) and Will Turnstone (who will forever be in Jakk Fleet’s shadow) served as protagonists. As with the earlier story, it was nice to see Gem Dragons being further ingrained into the setting. It was also nice to see the Zhentarim as bad guys. As compared to the 2e era, the Zhents were featured less-and-less as bad guys during the 3e days, and it was nice to see some more generic Zhentish evil.
Overall, out of a possible Five Beholders, I give Realms of the Dragons Four And A Half Beholders.
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(A Tri-Partite Arcanist Who Has Forgotten More Than Most Will Ever Know)
Elves of Faerûn
Vol I- The Elves of Faerûn
Vol. III- Spells of the Elves
Vol. VI- Mechanical Compendium |
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Daviot
Senior Scribe
USA
372 Posts |
Posted - 05 Jun 2011 : 23:11:32
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I nabbed Realms of the Dragons quite soon after it first came out. I only recently nabbed the reprint omnibus of its associate trilogy, but have yet to read it.
Without going quite into the depth of your review, I'd probably agree with your assessment. I've enjoyed most of the Realms of [x] anthologies, for the simple reason that if there's a story or two that's not to your liking, there's probably at least six to eight in the anthology that are. A bit less of a letdown than trudging through a long novel that didn't turn out quite like one had imagined. |
One usually has far more to fear from the soft-spoken wizard with a blade and well-worn boots than from the boisterous one in the ivory tower.
My Tabletop Writing CV. |
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Lord Karsus
Great Reader
USA
3741 Posts |
Posted - 06 Jun 2011 : 18:36:24
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quote:
Originally posted by Daviot
I nabbed Realms of the Dragons quite soon after it first came out. I only recently nabbed the reprint omnibus of its associate trilogy, but have yet to read it.
Without going quite into the depth of your review, I'd probably agree with your assessment. I've enjoyed most of the Realms of [x] anthologies, for the simple reason that if there's a story or two that's not to your liking, there's probably at least six to eight in the anthology that are. A bit less of a letdown than trudging through a long novel that didn't turn out quite like one had imagined.
-I bought it when it first came out, years ago, too, and it's like having a brand new book, rereading it years and years later! I remembered, with any clear detail, maybe three or four of the short stories. The rest, they're like brand new ones, even though they're not!  |
(A Tri-Partite Arcanist Who Has Forgotten More Than Most Will Ever Know)
Elves of Faerûn
Vol I- The Elves of Faerûn
Vol. III- Spells of the Elves
Vol. VI- Mechanical Compendium |
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Dennis
Great Reader
9933 Posts |
Posted - 14 Jun 2011 : 02:53:36
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The only reason I bought this book is because I read a review online saying there's a Netherese arcanist featured in it. I wouldn't mind that he became a dragon towards the end. Though I'd prefer that he fought them instead---dragons becoming the phaerimm's thralls instead. Strangely, this book's been waiting for my precious hands to pick up. But I'll get to it...soon. |
Every beginning has an end. |
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Lord Karsus
Great Reader
USA
3741 Posts |
Posted - 14 Jun 2011 : 06:02:59
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| -That second story, "First Flight”, by Edward Bolme, that involved Netheril, it was a good story, but so weirdly out of place. Like I said, it felt like it was written for something completely unrelated, and then an editor at the last second was like, "Hey, Ed, if you make your story Dragon related, we'll put it in Realms of the Dragons". |
(A Tri-Partite Arcanist Who Has Forgotten More Than Most Will Ever Know)
Elves of Faerûn
Vol I- The Elves of Faerûn
Vol. III- Spells of the Elves
Vol. VI- Mechanical Compendium |
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Dennis
Great Reader
9933 Posts |
Posted - 14 Jun 2011 : 06:21:04
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Which is just fine. I didn't buy this anthology because of "dragons." (Did I mention I don't like dragons, except when they are used as pets?) |
Every beginning has an end. |
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Lord Karsus
Great Reader
USA
3741 Posts |
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Dennis
Great Reader
9933 Posts |
Posted - 14 Jun 2011 : 06:47:10
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Usually, I think of them as bloated lizards, and sometimes as "cute" pets with sparkly, silvery scales.
It took me awhile to get used to the idea of dragons casting spells. But then, getting used to and liking are two different things. |
Every beginning has an end. |
Edited by - Dennis on 14 Jun 2011 10:52:49 |
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Kno
Senior Scribe
452 Posts |
Posted - 14 Jun 2011 : 10:34:02
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| I don't dislike dragons, but there are more of them than kobolds |
z455t |
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Dennis
Great Reader
9933 Posts |
Posted - 14 Jun 2011 : 10:56:53
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Kobolds...Now that's one icky race. I would never consider having one as pet. |
Every beginning has an end. |
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LK's Novel Reviews: Realms of the Dragons
