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| Jorin Embersmith |
Posted - 10 Aug 2014 : 17:04:10
So, I'm reading through the collected works of the Forgotten Realms (there are 276 books, as far as I am aware), and have just finished The Haunted Lands trilogy by Richard Lee Byers.
Now, first off I should say: I am not a fan of where 4e took the Forgotten Realms, and I am stubbornly plowing through the post-Spellplague books despite my severe distaste for the setting....
However, this trilogy did a fairly fantastic job at fleshing out Szass Tam and the other Zulkirs. Byers did a damn good job (especially considering what he had to work with), of making the characters really pop, and it was a smooth, flowing read.
I do have some questions that need answering though!
1) In the 70-ish years that the Zulkirs-in-Exile were around....it is inconceivable to me that there were no changes in leadership. These are the most nefarious backbiters and seekers-after-power outside of the Church of Cyric, and not ONE of them fell to infighting in 7+ decades? WHY NOT?
2) When Mirror eventually got his Paladin powers back, he did so when he met his god...Torm most likely. Seeing as one of his Petitioners is not only undead, but had been meandering around an Evil realm for the past 2000-ish years...wouldn't Torm have found out about Tam's plan? Wouldn't Torm then have gone to the council of gods and SAID SOMETHING? Bane would have realized Tam was trying to pull a fast one, and the full thundering might of the various Pantheons squash Tam like a tiny crunchy beetle...or wouldn't they just call Ao so he could put a stop to it?
Interlude: Don't even get me started on Wiza...on Ao allowing the whole Spellplague mess to happen in the first place, but I haven't read The Sundering yet, so maybe there's a spark of hope left for this dusty withered shell of a heart. 
3)One of the great things about the Realms is the ability to get some teasers as to what happens to the valiant (or dastardly) characters after they die. **SPOILERS** In the Erevis Cale and Twilight War trilogies, Kemp illustrates this point just beautifully with some tantalizing views of Jak Fleet and Erevis Cale after their respective deaths. What happened with Tammith, what happened with Bareris? What happened with Mirror godsdammit?
Well, those are my questions. Any answers at all would be greatly appreciated!
I'll keep ya'll updated as I finish more books and need more questions answered!
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| 3 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Mirtek |
Posted - 11 Aug 2014 : 21:46:18
quote:
Originally posted by Jorin Embersmith
wouldn't Torm have found out about Tam's plan? Wouldn't Torm then have gone to the council of gods and SAID SOMETHING? Bane would have realized Tam was trying to pull a fast one, and the full thundering might of the various Pantheons squash Tam like a tiny crunchy beetle...or wouldn't they just call Ao so he could put a stop to it?
That's assuming that his crazy ritual ever had a snowballs chance in hell of doing what Tam believed it would do.
IMO it would have failed in any case, just blown up a huge chunk of land if not stopped before |
| Seravin |
Posted - 11 Aug 2014 : 18:40:41
I couldn't get through this series, I disliked it that much. The aftermath of it pretty much ruined the Forgotten Realms for me. As for the writer, having Aznar Thrull act stupid, wreckless and have no contingency magic on his person was so grievious an error I will never read any of his further novels (read The Simbul's Gift for how Aznar SHOULD be portrayed). So yeah, I guess I wasn't a fan of this series. Or, obviously, the Spellplague/4E.
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| lordduck |
Posted - 11 Aug 2014 : 17:59:47
I'm trying to get a complete list of all FR novels, I was wondering if you had one or what link you used to get that count of 276 books.
Thanks!
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