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Zaknafein
Seeker

USA
77 Posts

Posted - 11 Feb 2004 :  04:03:27  Show Profile  Visit Zaknafein's Homepage Send Zaknafein a Private Message  Reply with Quote  Delete Topic
Ok, to those out there who have read this book, what did you think? I thought it started out great but was rushed at the end. You barely read anything about Alaghon itself. Haarn finally confronts Borran Klosk and that only lasts about 50 pages. This could have possibly been a great read if it was spread out over two books maybe, but i just thought the end was really rushed.


Zaknafein Do'Urden: mentor, teacher, friend....To Zak, the one who inspired my courage. -Drizzt Do'Urden

Full plate and packing steel.

SiriusBlack
Great Reader

USA
5517 Posts

Posted - 11 Feb 2004 :  06:04:31  Show Profile  Visit SiriusBlack's Homepage Send SiriusBlack a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Zaknafein

Ok, to those out there who have read this book, what did you think? I thought it started out great but was rushed at the end. You barely read anything about Alaghon itself. Haarn finally confronts Borran Klosk and that only lasts about 50 pages. This could have possibly been a great read if it was spread out over two books maybe, but i just thought the end was really rushed.



It's been awhile since I've read this work, but if I recall, I had alike feelings when it came to this novel. I'm still glad I read the book. I'm curious if that feeling you descibed about the ending being rushed might be a sign that there was some significant editing done that might have left out a longer version.
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Lord Rad
Great Reader

United Kingdom
2080 Posts

Posted - 15 Apr 2004 :  13:44:19  Show Profile  Visit Lord Rad's Homepage Send Lord Rad a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Im currently reading this novel, having thoroughly enjoyed the first 2 in the series and was just about to write a partial review when I remembered to search for an existing topic, and found this one

I quite agree with what has been written here already. In my opinion, this novel does not belong in the Cities series. Im on page 225 of 306 and the main character is still not in the city (Alaghon) Very little has been written about the city as well and there is no flavor whatsoever. The first two books in the series featured many different aspects and really fleshed the locations out.

Up to now in the book, not much has happened at all and the wolf fight was drawn out over numerous chapters for no apparent reason.

The characters are unlikable and I have no attachment to any of them (apart from Broadfoot, the brown bear ). Granted, the protagonist is a druid of the Emerald Enclave and has a very arrogant attitude (as to be expected maybe?!).

Overall Im finding this story very bland and a let down to the series. I HIGHLY recommend City of Ravens and Temple Hill, but sadly advise against this one.

Maybe itll pick up, but as the posts above state - it all seems rushed at the end, which I can imagine, being as SOMETHING has to happen in the next 80 pages or so

Lord Rad

"What? No, I wasn't reading your module. I was just looking at the pictures"

Edited by - Lord Rad on 15 Apr 2004 13:46:48
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Lawfire
Acolyte

USA
38 Posts

Posted - 03 Nov 2006 :  08:57:21  Show Profile  Visit Lawfire's Homepage Send Lawfire a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I just finished this book, and agree with everything said so far.

The ending was rushed and not very intense.

It had little to do with the City of Alaghon.

Maybe it was just me, but for amount of time Druz traveled with Haarn, you really don't get to "know" her very well. The pasts of both characters seems a bit weak also. A blacksmiths daughter turned sellsword, and a half-elf druid raised by his elf father...

On a positive note, I was nice to learn a little about the Emerald Enclave.

Faerun Roleplaying
http://www.faerunrp.com/forum/index.php
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MerrikCale
Senior Scribe

USA
947 Posts

Posted - 03 Nov 2006 :  17:33:58  Show Profile  Visit MerrikCale's Homepage Send MerrikCale a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I generally agree, but would give it a thumbs up.



When hinges creak in doorless chambers and strange and frightening sounds echo through the halls, whenever candlelights flicker where the air is deathly still, that is the time when ghosts are present, practicing their terror with ghoulish delight.
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khorne
Master of Realmslore

Finland
1073 Posts

Posted - 06 Nov 2006 :  19:11:12  Show Profile  Visit khorne's Homepage Send khorne a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Definitely not one of the better Realms novels. After reading it all I felt was disappointment.

If I were a ranger, I would pick NDA for my favorite enemy
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RodOdom
Senior Scribe

USA
509 Posts

Posted - 06 Nov 2006 :  20:59:04  Show Profile  Visit RodOdom's Homepage Send RodOdom a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I read this a few years ago, and I remember it was excellent from start to finish.

(I'm no relation to the writer, Mel Odom.)
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader

USA
7106 Posts

Posted - 02 Mar 2007 :  01:51:04  Show Profile  Visit Rinonalyrna Fathomlin's Homepage Send Rinonalyrna Fathomlin a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I have twenty pages left to go with this book, and my overall feeling has to be...indifference.

The book is solid but ho-hum and forgettable in just about all respects--characters, plot, the villain and his werespider cohort, and setting. The book isn't bad, just lackluster. And as many, many people have already said, for a book in The Cities series, very little of it even takes place in Alaghon, or any city for that matter.

I thought the part with the wolf cubs was rather sweet though...and a "breather" after the excessively long wolf battle. As for a longer book...forget it. I'm glad I'm almost ready to start a new book.

"Instead of asking why we sleep, it might make sense to ask why we wake. Perchance we live to dream. From that perspective, the sea of troubles we navigate in the workaday world might be the price we pay for admission to another night in the world of dreams."
--Richard Greene (letter to Time)

Edited by - Rinonalyrna Fathomlin on 02 Mar 2007 02:00:52
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader

USA
7106 Posts

Posted - 02 Mar 2007 :  16:14:58  Show Profile  Visit Rinonalyrna Fathomlin's Homepage Send Rinonalyrna Fathomlin a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Just finished, and god, did this novel turn out to be silly. How did the bear suddenly come back to life? No explanation was given. And at the end of the book, Druz's face is clean, yet later she blushes through a face full of soot.

Lame. On to the next book.

"Instead of asking why we sleep, it might make sense to ask why we wake. Perchance we live to dream. From that perspective, the sea of troubles we navigate in the workaday world might be the price we pay for admission to another night in the world of dreams."
--Richard Greene (letter to Time)
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Jorkens
Great Reader

Norway
2950 Posts

Posted - 02 Mar 2007 :  16:36:43  Show Profile Send Jorkens a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I think I came about fifty pages into this book before I started a different book instead. I usually finish books, but this one just did not interest me at all. A bit disappointing as I had been wanting to see more of Turmish.
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader

USA
7106 Posts

Posted - 02 Mar 2007 :  17:04:35  Show Profile  Visit Rinonalyrna Fathomlin's Homepage Send Rinonalyrna Fathomlin a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Jorkens

I think I came about fifty pages into this book before I started a different book instead. I usually finish books, but this one just did not interest me at all. A bit disappointing as I had been wanting to see more of Turmish.



I wouldn't feel like you missed anything, because the book doesn't show you much of Turmish. Most of it takes place out in the wilderness, and feels like it could be anywhere. Even the scenes inside the city lack flavor, with the only truly "urban" scenes being the ones involving the street urchin gang (and even those scenes felt like they could have taken place in any city).

"Instead of asking why we sleep, it might make sense to ask why we wake. Perchance we live to dream. From that perspective, the sea of troubles we navigate in the workaday world might be the price we pay for admission to another night in the world of dreams."
--Richard Greene (letter to Time)
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