One collectable card game that I was always interested in, but never managed to find players to play with, was Legends of the Five Rings, a card game that concentrated heavily on storytelling through its organised play events. Now, the game has been redesigned and released in a Living Card Game format by Fantasy Flight Games. As I had a couple of people also interested … Continue reading LCG Report: Legend of the Five Rings
The fifth release in the Forgotten Realms line of novels, Azure Bonds, is the first book in the line that I consider an unqualified success and, indeed, one of the best fantasy novels that’s been written. It had been about 25 years since I last read it, and in that time I forgot how good it was. Rereading the book was an absolute pleasure. This … Continue reading Book Review: Azure Bonds
The fourth novel set in the Forgotten Realms, Spellfire, was released in July 1988. It was the first novel of the creator of the Realms, Ed Greenwood, and it would prove to be his only novel for six years, as he was kept rather busy writing gaming material for the Realms. (Since 1994, he’s published quite a few more books…) Spellfire exists in two forms: … Continue reading Book Review: Spellfire
Douglas Niles’ second book in the Moonshae Trilogy, Black Wizards, was first published in April 1988, as the third release of the Forgotten Realms novel line. It continued the story of the Prince of Corwell, Tristran Kendrick, and his friends. With the Darkwalker defeated, the relationship between Tristan and his father has returned to its natural state; that is, not a very good one. When … Continue reading Book Review: Black Wizards
In March 1988, R.A. Salvatore’s first book of his many, many books about the dark elf ranger, Drizzt Do’urden, The Crystal Shard, was released. I read it a few days ago as part of my reread of all the Forgotten Realms novels. My impression? It was better written than Darkwalker on Moonshae. The dialogue, in particular, is much better. The story is told in three … Continue reading Book Review: The Crystal Shard
Ashes of the Tyrant is the fifth book in Erin M. Evans Brimstone Angels series, which tells the tale of two twin tiefling sisters in the Forgotten Realms. Following on from Fire in the Blood, this tale sees the sisters and their friends travelling to the Dragonborn city of Djered Thymar, where they must solve a series of murders in the city. A secondary plot … Continue reading Book Review: Ashes of the Tyrant
In May 1987, the first novel set in the new Forgotten Realms world was published. Darkwalker on Moonshae by Douglas Niles was a tremendous book – at least, that’s what I thought when I read it – several times – as a teenager. Today, I finished reading it again for the first time in decades. The book does not start well, with a fair bit … Continue reading Book Review: Darkwalker on Moonshae
I first encountered the Forgotten Realms shortly after it was released as a campaign setting, then drifted away from it in the AD&D 2E days, before reconnecting with it recently. Thus, my knowledge of Realmslore is either very old, or very new. Spellstorm is Ed Greenwood’s latest book, and it combines the very old and the very new. The major characters in the book – … Continue reading Book Review: Spellstorm by Ed Greenwood
Archmage is the opening book of the Homecoming series and the 28th book overall in the Legend of Drizzt. It’s also a book I enjoyed reading; a real relief after the slog that was Vengeance of the Iron Dwarf. The basics are as follows: The dwarven kings and their allies are marching to reclaim Gauntlgrym, a dwarven stronghold lost some decades past. Drizzt accompanies the … Continue reading Book Review: Archmage by R.A. Salvatore
Vengeance of the Iron Dwarf is the third and final book of the Companions’ Codex trilogy, and the 27th part of the Legend of Drizzt, that is, the 27th novel about the extremely popular dark elf ranger by Bob Salvatore. It is also, I’m saddened to say, an awful book. I really wanted to like it, but I couldn’t. Salvatore is certainly able to write … Continue reading Book Review: Vengeance of the Iron Dwarf
