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DDH_101
Master of Realmslore
Canada
1272 Posts |
 Posted - 17 Jan 2005 : 16:10:04
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quote:
Originally posted by Thomas M. Reid
quote:
Originally posted by DDH_101
So, I really enjoyed The Sapphire Crescent and I'm going to read The Ruby Guardian now and hope it will be as good or even better than Book I...
Thanks for the praise, DDH_101. I'm glad you enjoyed the book. I actually intentionally set out to write a book that had less fighting with a protagonist who wasn't the be-all, end-all combatant. In fact, my editor told me I had to go back and put some more fight scenes in the book after my first draft or I'd lose much of the FR crowd. And much of the credit for the great descriptions goes to Ed Greenwood, who provided me with a plethora of information he had that had never seen print.
Thomas
Well, I enjoyed how Vambran used those little arcane tricks to assist in battle. However, that spell with the floating swarm of coins, is that supposed to be arcane or divine magic? |
"Trust in the shadows, for the bright way makes you an easy target." -Mask |
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Thomas M. Reid
Forgotten Realms Designer & Author
334 Posts |
Posted - 17 Jan 2005 : 17:54:55
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quote:
Originally posted by Lord Rad
Scions has given me more gasps, shocks and tension than most novels i've read. Fantastic! 
Groovy! It's great to have my own desires for the story validated like that. Authors have to tell the stories that are inside them, and any of us who believes we're going to come up with one that appeals to every single reader is sadly fooling ourselves. I have to write what I like and hope that enough others like it too. If not, well, I'm still being true to myself.
quote:
Originally posted by DDH_101
Well, I enjoyed how Vambran used those little arcane tricks to assist in battle. However, that spell with the floating swarm of coins, is that supposed to be arcane or divine magic?
That's actually my take on spiritual weapon for a Waukeenar. The P&P entry says Waukeen's favored weapon is known as "swarm of coins" but is, in reality, a nanchaku. I just liked the imagery better of a swarm of stinging, bruising coins than a floating set of nanchaku, so I wrote it that way.
Thomas |
"A knight is not truly virtuous, only truly resolved to be so."
www.thomasmreid.com |
Edited by - Thomas M. Reid on 17 Jan 2005 17:55:43 |
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DDH_101
Master of Realmslore
Canada
1272 Posts |
Posted - 17 Jan 2005 : 22:27:05
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| Ah... I see. Well, I liked how it was used, especially when Vambran casted that spell to get him out of tight spots. |
"Trust in the shadows, for the bright way makes you an easy target." -Mask |
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Winterfox
Senior Scribe
895 Posts |
Posted - 31 Jan 2005 : 05:03:22
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Just finished the book.
To begin with, in contrast to Simon Says, I liked the prologue. I dislike slow, dragging beginnings -- not for lack of patience so much as my dislike of typical fantasy that usually starts off in a quiet village or details the protagonist's childhood in loving and tedious details. So a start that immediately presents conflict is a bonus. That I don't get to know straightaway what the characters look like is yet another plus. I'm not a fan of info-dumps where authors shove a textbook-ish entry into my face, detailing a character from her hairdo down to the glitterdust on her slippers. Sprinkling this in bits and pieces around the narrative, IMO, takes more skill and makes for better reading.
Vambran is a well-written character enough, although sometimes his insistence about "Justice must be seeeerved!" does get a bit tiresome (even if his motivation is definitely solid). But otherwise, I don't mind him. Don't like him much, but hey, he doesn't make me want to throw the book across the room. The interaction between him and Emriana is cute. Emriana, though, I find rather two-dimensional and slightly irritating. She encapsulates the "rich girl wants to play thief, not wear dress, has a spunky attitude" cliche, which is more than a tad tired as character archetypes go. I'm thankful, though, that there's no obligatory "grrrl powerz!" scene, and that Emriana at least can live with wearing skirts (and not tumble into the path of "obnoxious teenage rebel without cause").
The antagonists, well, fare rather poorly. Grozier strikes me as incompetent, impatient and all around not very intelligent. The scenes dealing with the antagonists' planning make me wince, because it's all so flimsy -- and ultimately, ineffective. My kingdom for a competent villain! Denrick is even worse, and toward the end, he comes off as the ultimate spoiled brat and not at all a worthy antagonist. It does no credit to the protagonist or the "good guys" that all they're capable of is taking down an overgrown schoolyard bully. I'm a fan of "multiple viewpoint characters with no clearly designated villain or hero, where every side has an equal chance to win" more than the typical clear-cut villain-and-hero, but since I know that's not possible in every novel, at least I think the antagonists deserve a little depth. As it is, there's never a risk of any of the "good guys" being so much as badly wounded, never mind death and never mind emotional damage. Sort of lessens the suspense and the value of action sequences for me.
Ironically, the scenes I most like are the ones with the Mattrell family disputes. There's more tension in those than there is in any of the action scenes, IMO.
The plot is okayish, but leaves something to be desired. Despite all the setup hinting at intrigue and complicated politicking, I found the end result unfortunately predictable. Partly it's because of the blurb about a family turning on its own, so that isn't much of a twist. I knew straightaway that Evestor (who is, again, an incredibly flimsy character) is up to something; I guessed that the figure in red has to be Xaphira early on. There's not much of a surprise left, although I suppose it's possibly due to this being only the first book in a trilogy. Maybe the whole plot, over the course of three books, is more multi-layered.
Technically, though, the book's nice. I liked the writing style and the descriptive prose (although some of it does turn info-dumpish), which serves to paint the city of Arrabar in vivid colors. Overall, I wouldn't say it wasn't an enjoyable read. I just wish the characters could invoke my sympathy -- or at least interest -- a bit more. |
Edited by - Winterfox on 31 Jan 2005 05:07:19 |
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quajack
Seeker
86 Posts |
Posted - 07 Dec 2006 : 03:17:56
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I just finished this one and it gets my personal seal of approval. It's light on the unnecessary fight scenes (a huge plus). Here's my question: Why did Xaphira leave Arrabar after Vambran shot Roldolpho in the prologue? She donned a mask, no one knew it was her or that her family was involved. It seemed like a pretty rediculous (and highly unnecessary) sacrifice to make.
She "took the fall" because she apparently didn't believe that her family could "survive another setback." It later becomes obvious that she is never suspected of the crime, so why can't she return.
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quajack
Seeker
86 Posts |
Posted - 11 Dec 2006 : 17:14:43
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| Where's Thomas M. Reid when you need him? I really want my question answered. I do not want it dropping to page 17 in the archives where no one will ever see it again. Why did Xaphira flee? |
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
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Thomas M. Reid
Forgotten Realms Designer & Author
334 Posts |
Posted - 15 Dec 2006 : 00:10:15
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quote:
Originally posted by quajack
Why did Xaphira leave Arrabar after Vambran shot Roldolpho in the prologue? She donned a mask, no one knew it was her or that her family was involved.
This question gets posed to me from time to time, so I've come to realize that my reasoning was a bit too subtle in the prose, and that I made one mistake. So here goes (SPOILERS BELOW!):
Essentially, when Xaphira initially flees the scene to draw attention away from Vambran, she doesn't know she won't be able to come back -- if she can disappear into the night, she can slip back to the Matrell estate unseen. But once she is shot, and it turns out to be one of Vambran's own crossbow bolts, she deduces that someone else actually shot the victim and is trying to frame Vambran for it. Knowing that, she also deduces that the shooter knows who she is, too. At that point, she knows remaining in Arrabar puts the family in danger, so she has to disappear and figure out who the actual killer is without revealing herself -- thus, she vanishes. Of course, the reader doesn't learn all that until the end, but I knew it going in. I probably should have made that part of it clearer.
My error was in presenting her departure from the palace grounds as a sure, permanent thing. They should have been worried about her getting out alive, but hoping that she would see them later that night or the next morning. She didn't make the decision to vanish for several years until she had already gotten away from them all. The problem was, I was writing with the foreknowledge that she would vanish, and I slipped up and made the parting of ways more definite than it should have been. There would still have been plenty of angst -- "be careful, Xaphira. Get back to the house. Come back to us alive." -- but it came out more "final" because I got caught up in what I knew vs. what the reader knew. That is the danger of writing a mystery -- sometimes you forget what the reader knows and doesn't know.
Thomas |
"A knight is not truly virtuous, only truly resolved to be so."
www.thomasmreid.com |
Edited by - Thomas M. Reid on 15 Dec 2006 00:24:16 |
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
Posted - 15 Dec 2006 : 00:36:45
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| That having been said, it was a very interesting and engrossing mystery, at least for my money, so I think you did an excellent job. Just finished the first book a few weeks ago, and it really held my interest. Looking forward to getting a bit more reading time after the hollidays to finish up the trilogy. |
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Thomas M. Reid
Forgotten Realms Designer & Author
334 Posts |
Posted - 15 Dec 2006 : 18:20:14
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quote:
Originally posted by KnightErrantJR
That having been said, it was a very interesting and engrossing mystery, at least for my money, so I think you did an excellent job.
Thanks for the kind words, JR. I hope you like the next two just as much. 
Thomas |
"A knight is not truly virtuous, only truly resolved to be so."
www.thomasmreid.com |
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quajack
Seeker
86 Posts |
Posted - 18 Dec 2006 : 17:14:24
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| Thanks for the answer, Thomas, and thanks for being so accessible. Know that I'll be purchasing the Gossamer Plain the week it's released. |
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koz
Seeker
USA
68 Posts |
Posted - 06 Feb 2007 : 06:27:12
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| I really enjoyed this novel. The mystery and intrigue was top notch. I agree that having less combat than normal made the novel more interesting. It left more room for defining the characters and left much to the reader's imagination. The combat itself was really well written and added little details to a very well written story. It ranks up there in my top 10 realms novels ever. Thank you Mr. Reid for a great read. |
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The Sapphire Crescent
