dark_reader's review
3.0
Clearly, Douglas Niles' writing has improved, since he wrote his two earlier Forgotten Realms trilogies (the Moonshae trilogy which included the first-ever published Forgotten Realms novel, and the Maztica trilogy). He was not at all bad to start off with, but his descriptive prose, character dialogue, and scene-building seems to have taken off in this new trilogy, which is a direct sequel to the Moonshae trilogy (Darkwalker on Moonshae, Black Wizards, and Darkwell).
This book starts off twenty years after the conclusion of Darkwell, during which time King Tristan and his wife, the former Druid-prodigy-now-Queen Robyn, have maintained peace within the region. But for the past five years, the Moonshae Isles have been beset by eternally chaotic weather and is struggling to maintain its ability to support its people. The adventure focuses on the king and queen's daughters, who have to step up while the parents are out of the picture. The supporting cast includes familiar faces/beings from the prior trilogy, including a Firbolg named Yak who I had forgotten about entirely, for good reason (he does not have much character to recommend him). Tristan's dog from the first books is gone, because dead of old age I assume, but that's okay, some new dogs show up. Oh, and that old goddess that died in the conflict twenty years ago, is she coming back too?
Although his prose has developed, the author continues to have some weakness with plotting. There is a very similar pattern here to his prior books; party of heroes slowly gathers on multiple fronts, encountering separate but connected enemies while traversing around a limited geography, finally converging for a final divinely-powered confrontation. Though each piece is carried out well and can be perfectly thrilling, the overall effect leads to dull anticipation. You know what is coming and find yourself waiting out the various mini-scenes just to get to the conclusion. Also, the whole affair is a little repetitive (see the preceding paragraph), but I will allow it as a set up for the next two books in this series.
For context: I am reading the Forgotten Realms novels in publication order, so my only intra-series points of comparison are from books initially published only up to 1992.
This book starts off twenty years after the conclusion of Darkwell, during which time King Tristan and his wife, the former Druid-prodigy-now-Queen Robyn, have maintained peace within the region. But for the past five years, the Moonshae Isles have been beset by eternally chaotic weather and is struggling to maintain its ability to support its people. The adventure focuses on the king and queen's daughters, who have to step up while the parents are out of the picture. The supporting cast includes familiar faces/beings from the prior trilogy, including a Firbolg named Yak who I had forgotten about entirely, for good reason (he does not have much character to recommend him). Tristan's dog from the first books is gone, because dead of old age I assume, but that's okay, some new dogs show up. Oh, and that old goddess that died in the conflict twenty years ago, is she coming back too?
Although his prose has developed, the author continues to have some weakness with plotting. There is a very similar pattern here to his prior books; party of heroes slowly gathers on multiple fronts, encountering separate but connected enemies while traversing around a limited geography, finally converging for a final divinely-powered confrontation. Though each piece is carried out well and can be perfectly thrilling, the overall effect leads to dull anticipation. You know what is coming and find yourself waiting out the various mini-scenes just to get to the conclusion. Also, the whole affair is a little repetitive (see the preceding paragraph), but I will allow it as a set up for the next two books in this series.
For context: I am reading the Forgotten Realms novels in publication order, so my only intra-series points of comparison are from books initially published only up to 1992.
earowdy's review
adventurous
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
mw2k's review
4.0
Entertaining, which is 90% of my rating, but like all of these Forgotten Realms novels, they tend to the popcorn side of things, especially the characterisations. But a good story is a good story, and that's what this is, all else considered.
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