The Sundering (Dread Empires Fall #2) ★★★☆☆

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Title: The Sundering

Series: Dread Empires Fall #2

Author: Walter Jon Williams

Rating: 3 of 5 Stars

Genre: SF

Pages: 454

Format: Digital edition

Synopsis:

Plucky young hero, Gareth Martinez, wins battles against the horrible Naxids using unthought of tactics using “mathz”.His terrible older brother schemes to make lots of money and gain power.

Plucky young heroine, Caroline Sula, who is really a street rat, wants to marry Gareth. Gareth wants to marry her. But the damnable Gene Checking Office kills her dreams like a fly. In fear and distress, Sula spurns Gareth only to have Gareth's older brother (the power hungry one, in case you missed it) arrange a marriage for Gareth with a beautiful woman from a powerful, but poor, Clan house. Sula, with broken heart, joins the French Foriegn Legion, to forget her troubles. Well, she actually joins the newly birthed anti-Naxid force, to oppose them when they take over the capital world.

The Drama. The Pathos. Find out what happens to them both in our next episode of General Dread Empire Hospital!

My Thoughts:

Pure Space (Soap) Opera.

I've read enough Jack Campbell Lost Fleet books to know that new tactics against stodgy old tactics almost always means insta-victory. There is nothing wrong with that as long as that is all you want. Because that is all you're going to get with this book. Gareth is not a genius, he's just trying out new things against people who aren't used to new things. In 5 to 10 years everybody will be trying out new things and seeing what works and writing new military engagement doctrines.

Sula brought this book down for me. Her knee-jerk reaction to Gareth's proposal and revelation that they'd have to have a gene check wasn't enjoyable to read about. The parts of the story where she's fighting the Naxid as they take control of the capital planet was much better and I wish there had been a lot more focus on that.

Overall, this was pretty decent. Nothing great, nothing inspired but also nothing terrible. If you're craving Space Opera, I'd recommend this to scratch that itch.

★★★☆☆ 

• The Praxis (Book 1)

Light (Kefahuchi Tract #1) ★☆☆☆☆

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Title: Light

Series: Kefahuchi Tract #1

Author: M. John Harrison

Rating: 1 of 5 Stars

Genre: SF

Pages: 432

Format: Digital edition

Synopsis:

So much purposeful distortion that I'm not even going to bother to try to put up a synopsis. Trash like this isn't worth it.

My Thoughts:

I wasted my time reading this bloody piece of bolluxy crap.

The author is a clever fellow. You can tell because he's always having his characters do drugs, have sex and vomit. Nothing speaks more cleverly than multiple times of vomiting. Even as I'm typing I'm vomiting, on the floor, so that this review will be so much more cleverer.

I was expecting a real SF story. What I got was some pretentious wanker's drug induced hallucinogenic anal excretions.

This is the kind of writing that I would expect a brainless Oscar/Emmy/Whatever Winner to nod sagely about and say something along the lines of * insert typical hollywood soundbyte blather * or some Literati to talk about its 77 different layered meanings to each of us. In other words, total bs.

To close, this book brought me close to Patrick Rothfuss levels of rage.

★☆☆☆☆ 

Orb Sceptre Throne (Malazan Empire #4) ★★★★½

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Title: Orb Sceptre Throne

Series: Malazan Empire #4

Author: Ian Esslemont

Rating: 4.5 of 5 Stars

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 850

Format: Digital edition

Synopsis:

A golden mask is uncovered in the plains outside of Darujhistan. It belongs to the spirit that raises Tyrants up again and again. This time it calls the Segulah into its service. They and the Moranth, ancient enemies, duke it out until the Segulah are freed from the Golden Mask's domination, then they go back to their little Island Nation.

Kiska and Leoman of the Flails are in limbo, looking for Tayschrenn. They find him, restore his memories to him and they all return to do whatever hidden thingamajig Tayschrenn wants to do.

Also deals with various characters attempting to loot the fallen Moonspawn, all hoping to find the Throne of Night.

Plus about 6 other smaller threads dealing with such characters as Coll, Kalam, Baruk, Kruppe and others that we were introduced to way back in Gardens of the Moon.

My Thoughts:

When I initially read this back in 2012, I was not impressed at all. I still hadn't gotten that Erikson and Esslemont created bigger than life mythos for their characters, whether individuals or as a people, just so they could tear them down. So my thoughts regarding the Segulah were that they were the Pristine Warrior Culture; those thoughts were not only dashed, they were trampled into the dust on my first read and my rating and review reflected that.

This time around, what a difference. I didn't have those misconceptions about the Segulah and so their story didn't bother me. The only thing that really bothered me was the fact that there were just so many story threads going on. Some of those threads had nothing whatsoever to do with this book, ie, Kiska, Leoman and Tayschrenn but simply pushed an overarching story forward. I don't care for that. Other than that, I was pleased as punch.

It was sad to see characters from Gardens of the Moon becoming old or giving up in spirit. Coll turning into an old, wine addicted, fat counselor was especially sad. Baruk's subsumption by a demon seemed very cruel, considering how much he'd sacrificed for his city. And yet that is what happens to old heroes. They fail and a new generation must step up.

While I complained about the multiplicity of threads, they were tightly woven together and even the thread about Tayschrenn didn't detract from overall affect. It really was one story being told even if it took awhile for them all to get tied together.

This book is why I like to re-read things. My mind was completely changed from last time and I went from almost hating this book to really loving it. Most of that change was on my end and my perspective and expectations. 17 years of reviewing and I still marvel at how our expectations can shape how we react to a book. I was semi-dreading this re-read but it turned into a jewel instead.

Pretty satisfied this time around.

★★★★½

• Orb Sceptre Throne (2012 Review)
• Stonewielder (Book 3)
• Return of the Crimson Guard (Book 2)
• Night of Knives (Book 1)

Prodigal Son (Frankenstein #1) ★★★☆½

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Title: Prodigal Son

Series: Frankenstein #1

Author: Dean Koontz

Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Pages: 498

Format: Digital edition

Synopsis:

Deucalion, otherwise known as Frankenstein's Monster, has been hanging out at some Zen Buddhist Monk Temple Mountain Retreat kind of place. But when Victor Frankenstein, now known as Victor Helios, appears on the scene, Deucalion knows that Victor is continuing his attempts to create a new breed of humanity and replace the old with the new.

At the same time, a mass murderer has appeared and this gets the New Orleans PD involved. Carson O'Connor, the sole caretaker of her younger autistic brother, is partnered up with Michael Maddison. They are the chief detectives and their goal is to bring this scumbag to justice.

Both of these events overlap. Can Deucalion put a stop to Victor's plan to exterminate humanity and can Carson find a killer who kills for the perfect body part? One of these gets answered and the other will take the rest of the series to answer.

My Thoughts:

I would classify this as an urban fantasy police procedural.

Deucalion's part is much smaller than I had hoped. He starts the ball rolling but then just kind of disappears. Koontz writes at the beginning that he started this whole project for a tv show and it really shows. When things moved over to Carson and the serial murderer side of things, I felt like I was reading a detective murder tv show.

In many ways I felt like this had the supernatural side of things that was missing from Koontz's Odd Thomas series. Victor Helios is truly one scary guy and while he's supposedly dabbling in super science, it really comes across as “magic”. Victor is cruel, intelligent, ruthless and so dedicated to his view of Materialism that it blinds him to anything else. This introduces certain flaws into his character and weakness that can be exploited.

There is a much longer story arc going on. I liked that the serial murder case was solved. It gave a good ending so I felt like I had actually finished a book. Yet the arc dealing with Victor and his plans to overthrow humanity seems big enough to fill the rest of the series with no problem.

I enjoyed my time reading this and look forward to the rest of the series. This is my second foray into Koontz territory and so far I'm pretty pleased. I always thought of him as second rate Stephen King horror wannabe but these books are showing me just how wrong I was. He's writing some good thrillers.

★★★☆½

• Odd Thomas Novels

Moon over Soho (Peter Grant #2) ★★★☆☆

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Title: Moon over Soho

Series: Peter Grant #2

Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Rating: 3 of 5 Stars

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Pages: 306

Format: Digital edition

Synopsis:

Peter Grant must figure out why jazz musicians are falling over dead for no apparent reason [they're jazz musicians, so the Universe itself kills them, duh!] and why there appears to be a rogue magician on the loose, when there aren't supposed to be ANY magicians on the loose, rogue or otherwise.

My Thoughts:

First. Jazz. I hate the stuff. I'd stick one those super long q-tips from Nightmare on Elm Street into my brain before voluntarily listening to the stuff. I find it disgusting. So to have the whole book be about jazz musicians did me no favors whatsoever.

Second, and more important, was the gratuitous lust scenes between Grant and one of the side characters in this book. It bordered on the pornographic and was not something I want in my entertainment. Making the connection between Grant and the character, Simone could have been handled so much less sleasily and still gotten the same affect at the end of the book.

My respect for Aaronovitch took a nosedive and I don't plan on reading any more of the Peter Grant/Rivers of London books.

★★★☆☆ 

• Rivers of London (Book 1)

Midnight Tides (Malazan Book of the Fallen #5) ★★★☆☆

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Title: Midnight Tides

Series: Malazan Book of the Fallen #5

Author: Steven Erikson

Rating: 3 of 5 Stars

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 684

Format: Digital edition

Synopsis:

We follow the Tisti Edur [grayskinned Tisti] as they come into the world of Malaz. Fast forward several thousand years later and they have dwindled. They attempt to gain back their pre-eminence by declaring Empire and going against the only other Empire in the region. The main Edur stories center around the Sengar family. One of whom becomes the Emperor and the pawn of the Broken god.

We follow the human Letheri Empire as they attempt to subjugate the last remaining pocket of resistance to their Empire and way of life, the Tisti Edur. The main Letheri storylines follow the Beddict brothers. One is the King's Champion, one is a dissolute genius who can manipulate money with barely thinking about it and the final Beddict was a former envoy whose knowledge was used for conquest and not peace.

Lots of little stories interweave between them all and a little more is revealed about the Broken god.

The conflict between Edur and Lether is the framework of the whole story.

My Thoughts:

This was a 4star story that was dragged down with the chains of Erikson's pointless soapbox philosophizing hijacking his characters and turning them all into despair filled, spineless, wusses.

Why can't the man just shut the phrack up and tell the story?!?!?

Gardens of the Moon was a fantastic story and there was very little pontificating. Maybe a small dab in the corner. This book, Erikson took a 5foot roller and bloody whitewashed the story with the crap. Every time you turned around another character was whining about their forsaken feelings and how they weren't even worthy of having such degrading feelings because they were such infinitely unworthy motes in an infinite universe. It was pathetic and ruined the book for me.

The story, the clash between Edur and Letheri was great. A couple of magic battles, some mundane battles and then a showdown in the palace itself. All the while the Broken god is laughing to himself and furthering his own plans.

★★★☆☆ 

• Midnight Tides (2010 Review)
• House of Chains (Book 4)
• Memories of Ice (Book 3)
• Deadhouse Gates (Book 2)
• Gardens of the Moon (Book 1)

Crossover (Cassandra Kresnov #1) ☆☆☆☆½ DNF @45%

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Title: Crossover

Series: Cassandra Kresnov #1

Author: Joel Shepherd

Rating: 1/2 of 5 Stars

Genre: SF

Pages: 467/Abandoned

Format: Digital edition

Synopsis:

DNF @45%

My Thoughts:

Due to some of the moral subject matter, I abandoned this book and will not be reading any more in the series.

☆☆☆☆½

The Dragon Never Sleeps ★★★☆ ½

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Title: The Dragon Never Sleeps

Series: ----------

Author: Glen Cook

Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars

Genre: SF

Pages: 449

Format: Digital edition

Synopsis:

Humanity rules their part of space, The Canon. With the unstoppable force of the Guardships behind them, Canon forces enforce peace, their peace, whereever they go.

One House wants to stop that. One alien wants to stop that. One other branch of Humanity wants to stop that. But that House is ruled by a megolomaniac who wants to live forever through his forbidden clones. But that alien lives by a code of honor that is unbreakable. But that branch of humanity is enslaved to psychic mind leeches.

On the Guardship side of things, you have insane Guardships. You have nascent sentient Guardships. You have humans who live their lives over and over through cloning without ever remembering their past. You have a Humanity that is stagnating and possibling beginning the long road to its twilight.

And the stories take place with all of those characters and characteristics. Greed, War, Peace and Survival.

My Thoughts:

I had no idea of the background for 99/100ths of the time. I really enjoyed my time, but if you try to figure out the backstory or the history, you're sunk. It doesn't exist except in Cook's mind and he doesn't let slip hardly anything. This is a very “here and now” kind of story, even while taking years in story time.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself while reading this. I didn't feel like I had to understand anything. I just sat back, let the story unfold and let it roll over me. It was extremely complicated but since I wasn't trying to disentangle anything, it was actually rather simple. I was along for the ride. If I had been in an investigative mood I'm sure this would have driven me bonkers. But I wasn't, so it didn't.

I don't know that I could have told you that this was the same Glen Cooke who wrote the Black Company novels. It was a standalone book and even its style seemed standalone. I will say that it was dense and while it claims to be only 449 pages, it felt like the longest 449 pages I've ever read. Not a bad thing, but it was a long read.

★★★☆½

Deadhouse Landing (Malaz: Path to Ascendancy #2) ★★★★ ½

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Title: Deadhouse Landing

Series: Malaz: Path to Ascendancy #2

Author: Ian Esslemont

Rating: 4.5 of 5 Stars

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 400

Format: Hardcover edition

Synopsis:

This time Wu, who takes on the moniker Kellenved part way through the story, and Dancer, set their sights on the Island of Malaz. Their eventual goal is to take over the island proper, but for now they're settling for taking over and running the black market. They buy a rundown inn as their headquarters and keep the staff on, a group of Napan renegades headed by one woman named Surly. Kellenved is continually exploring shadow and drags Dancer along with him. They tame the Hounds of Shadow, look for the Throne of Shadow and generally cause trouble and action wherever they go.

In the tradition of previous Malazan books, we also follow quite a few other characters and storylines.

Tayschrenn. He is an outstanding priest of D'rek but when his mentor dies, Tay's lack of political and human interaction dooms him when a corrupt Invigilator takes over. Ends with him fighting ALL the priests of D'rek and taking refuge in the Deadhouse on Malaz Isle under Kellenved's protection.

Tattersail is the lover of Mock, self-proclaimed Duke of Malaz. But while Mock is quite content with doing a little raiding here and there, or none at all if he can get away with it, Tattersail wants more. So when an alliance with the new King of Napan, Surly's brother, is proposed and a joint attack against a mainland town is the clincher, it comes as a surprise to all when Mock is gung-ho and Tattersail has deep reservations. And Tattersail is right, of course. It's a trap. She also finds out that Mock has been sleeping with the help over the years and so she leaves him to go to a battlemage school somewhere.

Surly and Company. They are tied tightly to Kell and Dancer's storyline but also have their own, as Surly still isn't convinced that she can't take the fight for the Kingdom to her brother and prevail. Mainly about them realizing they need to throw in fully with Kellenved and let their own imperial dreams either die or hybernate.

In a surprise to me, we also get a short little arc dealing with the rise of Kallor. That guy is one evil son of a gun!

My Thoughts:

Two or three issues I had with this book.

One, I tried to start this just reading it at my lunchbreaks at work. I was hoping to draw out how long I could read it so as to lengthen my enjoyment of it. That just wasn't working as winter is here and I'm not always at the van for lunch.

Two, I ended up binging on this yesterday on Thanksgiving, but even then it was interrupted by cooking and eating and walks and whatnot. So my brain felt as full as my stomach, which let me tell you, was VERY full.

Third, I had read some reviews at various places and they were nothing but fanboys squealing like little girls about how wonderful this book was. My instinctive reaction to that is to hate the item in review even while knowing nothing about it. It's the “It is popular so I hate it” reaction. Said instinct usually serves me well but sometimes it does lead me astray.

Other than that? SQUEEEAAAAAAALLLL!

Yeah, I'm fanboying with those other losers. Well, except for Powder&Page. She's not a loser :-)

This was just awesome. Tons of action, lots of characters who we know from later books are introduced. Almost too many for my taste, but since this is just a trilogy and Esslemont had 10+ books worth of characters to shove in, I'm surprised there weren't more.

Dancer and Kell weren't nearly so big a part of this story like they were in Dancer's Lament. But when we did spend time with them, it was almost ALL shadow related or dealing with the hounds. I am not a dog person, at all. But I've always liked the Hounds of Shadow and seeing more of them here was great. We're also introduced to ototoral and moranth munitions.

In some ways I felt like I was drowning in the non-stop action and go,go,go'ness of it all. Which was a good problem to have. I said it in my review of Dancer's Lament but I feel that Esslemont has really come into his own with this trilogy. These are different even from his Novels of the Malazan Empire in tone and style and it's for the better. Erikson might excel at writing lush, super-cryptic and despair filled books, but Esslemont is writing some fantastic action here.

I bought this on release day and have no regrets whatsoever about it. It was that good! Also another contender for Best Book of the Year.

★★★★ ½

• Dancer's Lament (Book 1)

Flight of Fancy (Spiderman 2099 #8) ★★★☆☆

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Title: Flight of Fancy

Series: Spiderman 2099 #8

Author: Peter David

Rating: 3 of 5 Stars

Genre: Comics

Pages: 23

Format: Digital Edition

Synopsis:

The conclusion to Spidey's fight with Vulture 2099. What more can you ask of 23 pages?

My Thoughts:

So, I wish I had read this with the previous 2 volumes that dealt with Vulture. This concluded Spidey's fight with Vulture and honestly, not much happens. They fly/web around and punch each other and Miguel reveals that he's a lapsed Catholic when the fight goes into a church, but other than, nothing really.

Mig's brother Gabe and his girlfriend Kasey hook up with some people [a comic book style group of tough mofos] who want to help Spiderman. Only Gabe knows who Spidey is, so his actions are a bit stilted and you know at some point in the future he'll reveal to someone that Miguel is Spidey.

I am reading these on my 15in laptop and I have to admit, it is a struggle to read some of the text. In some cases I just looked at the pictures of Spidey and Vulture fighting and ignored the teensy-tinsy bit of dialogue. Whenever I finish/give up this series, I plan on re-reading my Silver Sable collection that was the pride and joy of my collection back in the 90's. She had a 3 year run before being folded back into the general Spiderman universe. Then I shall see if the dialogue is still tiny. Basically, am I getting old eyes or is the digital a crap scan? * grin *

★★★☆☆ 

• Spiderman 2099 Vol. 6&7
• Spiderman 2099 Vol. 4&5
• Spiderman 2099 Vol 1,2&3

The Voice of Mars (Starship's Mage #3) ☆☆☆☆ ½ DNF@13%

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Title: The Voice of Mars

Series: Starship's Mage #3

Author: Glynn Stewart

Rating: 1/2 of 5 Stars

Genre: SF

Pages: 310/Abandoned

Format: Digital Edition

Synopsis:

DNF'd at 13%.

My Thoughts:

Due to some of the moral subject matter, I abandoned this book and will not be reading any more in the series.

☆☆☆☆½

• Hand of Mars (Book 2)
• Starship's Mage (Book 1)

Leader of the Pack (Oh My Goddess! #2) ★★★★☆ (Manga Monday)

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Title: Leader of the Pack

Series: Oh My Goddess! #2

Author: Kosuke Fujishima

Rating: 4 of 5 Stars

Genre: Manga

Pages: 152

Format: Paper Copy

Synopsis:

Now life as a couple for Kei and Belldandy begins. They have to find a house/apartment for Megumi, stop Sayoko from trying to steal Kei to drive Bell away from Nekomi Tech, win a bet against another racing club with Bell as the the prize, deal with the System Force not working and no longer trying to keep Kei and Bell together and if ALL those things weren't enough, Family Problems.

Yep, Belldandy's older sister Urd is tired of watching Kei fumble around, so she comes to Earth to seduce him to give him the confidence to go all the way with Bell. She breaks a few rules and hence gets her goddess license curtailed and ends up having to live with Bell and Kei.

It doesn't appear that Kei will EVER get to be alone with Belldandy.

My Thoughts:

Cute. That's probably the best word to describe this volume. I did notice the chapter breaks in this volume, as each chapter was titled. Definitely showing its magazine roots. No over arching plot really, just adventures of the week type things. It works for now.

Sayoko is really setting herself up to be a rival to Bell and yet we as the readers know that she simply can't BE a rival since she's only human. She does show a few flashes of humanity so we do know she's not just a complete witch.

Kei is pretty spineless. His senpais make up a rule book for the beach and one of the rules is that he can't go into where the girls are staying, so he can't visit Belldandy. IT'S A MADE UP RULE!!!! Sigh, but he doesn't break it, nor does he show enough intelligence to work around it, until the very end of the stay. Eh, it just shows why he didn't have a girlfriend in the beginning and gives LOTS of room for character growth.

Bell is pretty and shows touches of jealousy, love and anger whenever the situation needs it, IF Kei is involved. In some ways she's just as oblivious and naive as Kei, even while being a goddess.

What ever guy wants, a beautiful woman to be concerned about him

We find out that Bell has family and Urd comes to visit. Without being salacious, Urd is just plain wicked hot. But she's a liar and doesn't think about the consequences of her actions, so you know she'll be providing some good comic relief. Also, her interest in Kei is really non-existent, so no family love triangle drama. Thank goodness for that!!!

★★★★☆ 

• OMG! Intro Post
• Wrong Number (Book 1)

The Rage (Forgotten Realms: The Year of Rogue Dragons #1) ★★★☆ ½

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Title: The Rage

Series: Forgotten Realms: The Year of Rogue Dragons #1

Author: Richard Lee Byers

Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 356

Format: Digital Edition

Synopsis:

The Cult of Dragons is alive and well. They are trying to bring about a prophecy, interpretated by their found, Sammaster, that states the undead lichdragons will one day rule the world. Dragons go through a periodic phase of “Rage” where they lose all reason and kill and destroy mindlessly. That time is happening now across all of Faerun and the Dragon Cult plans to make the most of it.

Opposing them is a small group of adventurers who are sucked in against their will. Becoming allied with a shapeshifting dragon AND an undead vampirric dragon, this group starts out simply trying to save one town. This leads to the discovery that Sammaster is somehow controlling, and increasing The Rage, for his own purposes.

Now it is up to this ragtag group of human priest, halfling, arctic dwarf, human/golem hybrid and various dragons, to save humanity from an all encompassing slavery at the hands of eternal lichdragons.

My Thoughts:

Finally! Another enjoyable Forgotten Realms book. I was starting to think that I'd have to give up on FR altogether after my last couple of forays which encompassed The Night Parade, Blood Walk and Red Magic. Those were just plain bad. Thankfully, Byers has a pretty good track record with me and FR. I've never given his stuff below a 3star and his Haunted Lands Trilogy was a solid 3.5 across the board.

This lived up to past reads and my expectations for the future. It was a solid read. Given it is Forgotten Realms and some things are just part of that, Byers is still a good author and it shows in his storytelling here. I think that is one thing I've really enjoyed about Byers. Beyond his qualified writing, he can tell a good story. Too many FR books are just “conflict in a fantasy setting”. Byers tells stories that I want to read about.

I've ALWAYS wondered why the world wasn't overrun or ruled by dragons. It had to be something more than that they were rare. I believe this trilogy will clue us in as to why they are so rare and why they're not bigger players in the FR realm.

A disparate group that hates and loves itself and bickers constantly while they try to singlehandedly save the world? It works this time. I do have to wonder though, since Sammaster is a former Chosen of Mystra, will other “big name” Forgotten Realms characters become involved? Say Elminster or Blackstaff or Alustriel? Not really keeping track of the timeline,so those characters might have been gone for 100's of years for all I know.

Ok, going to add a Forgotten Realms date to these FR reviews from now. Man, as if real history isn't bad enough!

Date: 1373 DR (Dale Reckoning)

★★★☆½