Bookstooge's Reviews On the Road: forgotten realms

Showing posts with label forgotten realms. Show all posts

Saturday, February 04, 2017

The Sea Devil's Eye DNF@18% (Threat from the Sea #3) (Forgotten Realms)

^{This review is written
with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede
all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing
without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress,
Blogspot, Booklikes & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted
Permission.}
Title: The Sea Devil's Eye
Series: Threat from the Sea #3
Author: Mel Odom
Rating: 1 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 356
Format: Kindle Digital edition

Synopsis:

Abandoned, Did Not Finish.

My Thoughts: Maudlin Memories Abound

Part of why I abandoned this was because I had just finished Gardens of the Moon and I was still reveling in my first 5star read of 2017. ANY book was going to have a hard time following that. However, all the glaring faults of this Forgotten Realms trilogy were really brought into the light after staring into the previous book.

I was at a part where the main boy character [he's 20'ish, but 'boy' is the best description] is being talked to by the main love interest and she's pouring her heart out and simply asking him if he loves her. This boy has a very big "I'm not worthy" complex and he's an introspective melancholic. In fact, he acts EXACTLY like me when I was 18-22. So my problem isn't that he's unbelievable, it is that he's just plain selfish and WON'T look at anything other than how he wants to. My real life problem was solved when a professor at bibleschool answered one of my self-absorbed questions by laying into me and simply telling me the truth, in front of the whole class. I didn't change overnight but I did begin to think about other people. In this trilogy, the boy has his professor moments but he stays self-absorbed. Maybe later in the book that changes, but after 2+ books, I was done.

A young hero needs to mature. However, if you're only writing a trilogy, don't drag that "grow up" point to the last chapter. It's unpleasant for me as a reader because I have to put up with the character until then.

Nothing of the quality of this book was any less than the previous two. I'd simply had enough of the characters and the authors wanking around.

Saturday, January 21, 2017

The Sorcerer (The Return of the Archwizards #3) (Forgotten Realms)

^{This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights
contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in
regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and
permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot, Booklikes &
Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission.}
Title: The Sorcerer
Series: The Return of the Archwizards #3
Author: Troy Denning
Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 320
Format: Kindle Digital edition

Synopsis:

Galaeron fights against the Netherese, along with some of Mystra’s Chosen, while the elves and their allies continue the battle against the Phaerim. The good guys mainly win and the Netherese mainly lose, but not completely.

And Galaeron ends up with both his human lover and his elf spirit mate. And he’s more powerful than ever since he’s gotten control of his shadow.

My Thoughts:

Lots of things happened and then bam, the end. Just like with the previous books, I had a very hard time figuring out what the author was doing or saying. It was as if my mind was dulled or clouded. Most of it was just Denning’s writing style though. I think I’ll pass on any future books by him if I can avoid it.

The biggest thing for me, as an Erevis Cale fan, is that we see in this book how the Dracolich [undead Dragon wizard, ie, a dragon that is just bones] came to be under the spell of guarding the shadowrealm where Erevis encounters him. This series also explains a bit some of the power in dealing with the Weave and the Darkweave.

Other than that, this was blase and confusing and a poor example of the Forgotten Realms. Of course, some people would say that about ANY of the FR books, so take my saying it with a grain of salt.

My Review of Book 1, The Summoning
My Review of Book 2, The Siege

^{Thanks to Mogsy at Bibliosanctum for putting me onto the idea of putting links to previous books in a series at the end of a review.}

Saturday, December 03, 2016

Under Fallen Stars (Threat from the Sea #2) (Forgotten Realms)

Synopsis:

Jherek continues to mope and feel bad, just about things. He does travel all over and have adventures, so at least he's preparing to fight against the Taker. The Taker continues his rise to power and using of the Sahugin. The priestess buries her doubts about the Taker doing Sekola's will. The old song guy gets more of the song in his head and hooks up with a peg leg dwarf [no, I am NOT kidding] and some old mystical elf. The various strands are starting to come together as each part moves closer to its final end.

My Thoughts:

This wasn't a bad read but my goodness, Jherek and his whiny'ness got to be a bit much. It was just too true to life. Man, I'm glad I'm not a teenage boy anymore. Makes me wonder how my parents stood it.

Adventure-wise, this was a cracking good one. Sahugin and pirates invade a city, a ship battle between pirates, an attempt to capture someone in a crowded tavern. Brawls, fights and maneuvers abounded!

There were a couple of references to the downfall of the Elven empire millennia ago and it made me want to search out to see if any books dealt with that. I do know that some of the Elminster books take place during that time, but I can't stand Ed Greenwood so I won't be reading any by him and I don't know if anything else was ever written. Forgotten Realms books are written about the era currently happening.

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

The Siege (The Return of the Archwizards #2) (Forgotten Realms)

Synopsis:

The Netherese are playing hardball with all the kingdoms, trying to dominate them under the guise of helping to stop the phaerim incursion.
Melegaunt died in the previous book but somehow his knowledge of the phaerim lives on in Galaeron and the Netherese are willing to do just about anything to get that knowledge, including abandoning Evereska and allowing Galaeron's dark shadow to control him more and more.
Battles and mayhem ensue and while the phaerim are weakened, so are the Netherese and the surrounding countries, as they all fight each other and betrayals abound.

My Thoughts:

i enjoyed this quite a bit more than the previous book but there were still points in the story that just left me scratching my head trying to figure out WHAT Denning meant or how he got from Point A to Point B. It is like what he thinks is obvious is completely opaque to me.

The big battle at the end was pretty cool and pretty much made up for none of the characters really being likable. I'd like to place an order for One Hero in the final book but I think that the menu is already prepared and that that option wasn't included.

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Rising Tide (Threat from the Sea #1) (Forgotten Realms)

Synopsis:

A young woman, a Sahugin throwback [which means she looks like a human instead of a pure Sahugin], frees an old sorcerer from his imprisonment, thinking it means he will side with her, extend her power and punish the surface dwellers for their encroachments on the sea. Little does she know that the sorcerer has his own plans and while conquest is on the menu, he plans on conquest of all.

At the same time, a young man, who is the son of an infamous pirate and with some other hidden life secret, is trying to find a life on the sea. Things just don't ever seem to work out and he's been hearing voices, which seem to be leading him towards a collision with the aforementioned sorcerer.

My Thoughts:

For a Mel Odom book, this was pretty good. Unfortunately, the young man is a guilt ridden, rule obsessive, completely self-centered brat. Everything, and I mean everything, must center around him. And he always puts the worst light possible on it.
The young woman really isn't much better as she is consumed with self-doubt and inadequacies because of her throwback status.

The idea of a world class sorcerer that used to hang out with gods awakening and starting a campaign of world domination never gets old. But it takes a good author to make it work. I'm not convinced that Odom can handle this.
`

Thursday, September 15, 2016

The Summoning (The Return of the Archwizards #1) (Forgotten Realms)

Synopsis:

Galaeron, an elf, is on patrol guarding the crypts from tomb robbers. He and his band come across a group of humans who are invading, but not stealing anything. Galaeron casts a spell that somehow interacts with another spell and it opens a hole in a magic barrier, that a wizard was on the other side of. On the other side were also magical creatures who use magic and live on it.
Now Galaeron and others must trust Melegaunt the Netherese wizard that he can return the floating city of Shade and destroy the Phaerimm before they destroy the last stronghold of the elves.
Only nothing is ever simple. Galaeron has been infected with dark magic and must fight every negative thought as it twists him closer and closer to becoming his own evil shadow. Elminster the Mage is convinced that Melegaunt has much deeper plans than saving Evereska. The Elf Lords are being bull headed and listening to no one, thus allowing Evereska to be besieged and over run.

My Thoughts:

Netherese are just bad news. I learned this from my jaunt with Erevis Cale and I'm pretty sure that pretty boy/drow Drizz't and Company had some bad times with them as well. So to read about them as potential saviors just smacks of backstabbing and double dealing waiting to happen. That is one of the problems with reading Forgotten Realms books rather randomly like I do. I know things that the characters don't, I have seen the future written in stone and sometimes, just like Paul Maud'dib, I get lost in the Timestream.

However, this book was a hot mess. At first I thought it was because I started this when pretty tired and hence my faculties weren't all on campus. But since this took several days I realized it was the author and not me. It was rushed. Tons of action but certain events were given one sentence to happen then referred to for paragraphs and paragraphs. One example: in a battle scene Galaeron, Melegaunt and the others are on a mountain side and before I know it, they're at the top of the mountain fighting. I go back to see what happened and somewhere there was a landslide that allowed them easy access to the top but I couldn't see how this happened or why or when. Lots of instances of the characters making connections and me being "huh? where did that come from?" from it.

The changing viewpoints didn't work for me either. Usually it isn't a problem but this time around it was. It was random, just to show what was going on. We didn't necessarily stick with specific characters beyond Galaeron and Company and made for plot whiplash, especially when someone is referred to once and then 3 chapters later we get a whole chapter about what they're doing.

While I'm not a huge of Drizz't the Drow, I'm even less of a fan of Elminster so his inclusion didn't do it for me either.

I hate to say this, but it wasn't organically put together. I don't expect a lot, or very much at all to be honest, from Forgotten Realms books but I do expect to be able to follow along. I am not in my dotage yet. I'll be reading the rest of the trilogy just to see how the plot resolves, but my goodness, I sure hope the cohesiveness of the writing gets better.
`

Monday, July 11, 2016

Unholy (The Haunted Lands #3) (Forgotten Realms)

Synopsis:

100 years have passed since the last book. Szass Tam has completed his domination of Thay with the building of multiple fortresses, which turn out to be the keystone for a massive magical spell. A spell that will unmake the Universe and potentially remake it, with Tsazz Tam as the new head honcho god. Theoretically.
So the gryphon rider and undead bard from the previous books set out to stop him, with the help of the former Zulkirs of Thay.
Throw in Tam's insane but powerful top lieutenant who wants only the first part of the spell to succeed and you wind up with a pretty fantastic story.

My Thoughts:

Sometimes Forgotten Realms books really stink. The plot is as pulpy and the characters as wooden as the paper they are printed on. But sometimes you run across some that are really a good story that keep you coming back for more. This book, and trilogy, have been one of the good ones.

The plan behind the plan, that was hinted at in the previous book, comes to full light here. Tam's deal with Bane makes sense. Why worry about your soul in 1000 years if you're going to remake the universe with you at the head? You can just unmake the god that you made the deal with and negate it's consequences.

Just like in the previous 2 books, the "heroes" are the underdogs and Tam is a pretty sympathetic antagonist. The bard and mercenary [and for the life of me, I can't remember WHY the mercenary is so long-lived] and their little ghost friend all finish their fight, but it ends up being against their former ally turned Szass Tam lieutenant instead of Tam himself. All part of making Tam the "not really the bad guy" bad guy.

Because I've enjoyed the majority of Byer's work in the Forgotten Realms universe, I'm thinking I'll go track down the rest of his stuff and put it into my tbr pile instead of just some random FF trilogy/series like I have been doing. We'll see if he can continue to entertain.

Thursday, May 12, 2016

Undead (The Haunted Lands #2) (Forgotten Realms)

Synopsis:

The battle for Thay continues. Tsazz Tam obviously has some ulterior motive in taking over Thay, but we the readers aren't privy to it.
With cunning and treachery, Tsazz Tam takes out the other rulers even as they flee.
The story is told from the losing side though, so it is quite interesting.

My Thoughts:

In many ways, Tam is a sympathetic character even while being the antagonist. It makes reading this trilogy just a tiny bit different and I like that.

The 2 other main characters are now entwined and so they're not nearly so different as in the previous book. The vampire girlfriend is much more interesting than she was just as a maiden in distress. The revenge ridden mercenary just exudes mindless hatred and the griphon rider has definitely developed as a leader.

The battles were awesome with huge amounts of magic getting thrown around. Tsazz makes a deal with a god and pledges his soul in the bargain. Once again, he knows something we don't and he hints that he's got the better of the deal. At the same time that all of this is going on Mystra is killed by Shar and the other god previously mentioned [I forget his name to be honest] and the plague of blue fire starts running across Faerun. Magic is wonky, in a land filled with undead. It was more than zombies and vampires and Byers does a great job of coming up with imaginative ideas.

Good times!

Wednesday, May 04, 2016

The City of Splendors (The Cities #4) (Forgotten Realms)

The City of Splendors - Ed Greenwood, Elaine Cunningham

Saturday, March 26, 2016

Unclean (The Haunted Lands #1) (Forgotten Realms)

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot. wordpress.leafmarks.com & Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road Facebook Group by Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: Unclean
Series: The Haunted Lands
Author: Richard Lee Byers
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 352
Format: Kindle digital edition

Synopsis:
Following a griffin rider/mage, a mercenary and the machinations of several Red Wizards of Thay, including Szass Tam.
Some power is raising hordes of undead, some not seen for centuries and invading the Kingdom of Thay. The griffin rider is the survivor of 2 attacks and becomes a de facto general in the new army raised to fight the hordes. The mercenary is trailing a band of rogue Red wizards who have taken his betrothed, along with hundreds of others, for experimentation. And the Wizards council is playing games as Szass Tam, the lich wizard, attempts the long game of taking over Thay.

My Thoughts:
This was pretty standard fare. There seemed to be a couple more POV's than I was used to in a Forgotten Realms book but since they all advanced the story, it made for the scope of the story to be told in a wider sense. It worked even while annoying me for not staying strictly with 2-3 characters like I am used to in a FR book.

My issue [and I always seem to have at least one with any of these churned out stories] was the plot line dealing with the mercenary and his kidnapped love interest, who ends up being turned into a super vampire. His pov and adventures added nearly 1/4 of what we see and while it was necessary, the whole "love interest" part just didn't ring true. It would have worked better if the love interest was a family member instead of a love interest.

And at the 90% mark, I realized I had already read the end of the story arc in the book The Crimson Gold, a stand alone book in the Rogue series. Which was kind of a downer, as the suspense is gone, but at the same time was neat as I now had a destination already in mind and I just needed to see how the author would get to there.

Sunday, March 13, 2016

The Jewel of Turmish (The Cities #3) (Forgotten Realms)

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot. wordpress.leafmarks.com & Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road Facebook Group by Bookstooge's Exalted Permission.
Title: The Jewel of Turmish
Series: The Cities
Author: Mel Odom
Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 320
Format: Kindle

Synopsis:
A half elf teams up with a human mercenary to hunt down a wolf that has taken to killing humans. Said elf is part of an enclave of Sages dedicated to keeping the undead from their part of the Sea of Fallen Stars.
At the same time, a long dead zombie lord arises and begins anew his assault on the area.
The conclave must defeat the zombie lord, who is being backed by a group of mysterious black magic sorcerers.

My Thoughts:
The only other book I've read by Odom is The Rover and I remember not really liking it.
This was just a mish mash of tropes all pushed together.

The mysterious group of magicians for instance. They are mentioned and used as motivation and then just abandoned like they never existed. It was annoying.
The half elf and the mercenary lady were as stiff as a whittled pine board and their supposed romantic feelings were as believable as me expressing my feelings for a mountain.

Overall, this was just bleh. Odom did nothing to make me want to read more of his stuff. I've got one other Forgotten Realms trilogy by him that I'll eventually get to and then it'll be quits between us.

Sunday, January 24, 2016

Temple Hill (The Cities #2) (Forgotten Realms)

Temple Hill: Forgotten Realms: The Cities - Drew Karpyshyn

of 5 Battle Axes
Genre: SFF
Pages: 324
Format: Kindle

Synopsis:
Corin was a mercenary that lost his hand, his band and his client. Now he's just a drunk.
Lhasha, a half elf, is a freelance thief in a city that has a Thieves Guild. They want her dead.
Together, they must protect each other, stop the Dragon Cult from taking over the city and figure out if their temporary partnership can really work.

My Thoughts:
This worked pretty good. It was an enjoyable read, Karpashyn is a competent author and it had all the elements of a mindless, but not stupid, Forgotten Realms book.