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Lord Karsus
Great Reader
USA
3736 Posts |
 Posted - 29 Apr 2011 : 22:10:37
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Mistress of the Night
By Don Bassingthwaite and Dave Gross
The Priests
-I read fast. Being as that I was re-reading this novel, having previously read it years and years ago, when it first came out, I wasn’t surprised that I was flipping through it relatively quickly- I knew and remembered a lot of the main plot points and details of the story. When, at the end of the day, after commuting to-and-from work, and reading on my lunch break, I was 2/3 through the book, I surprised myself. But, that’s the hallmark of a good book- you pick it up, and don’t even realize how engrossed you become in it. Mistress of the Night was a good book.
-Don Bassingthwaite and Dave Gross show a keen attention to detail. Little things, like the priest Milfano being the bearer of the ‘Waxing Crescent Sword’ and the priestess Velsinore being the bearer of the ‘Waning Crescent Sword’ are details that aren’t too relevant to the reader (they have some importance to the book, and the world itself, but that importance is never particularly harped on in the book). As such, they could have been completely left out, and we’d be none the wiser. But, they were included, and the book is enriched as a result. During the Sharran initiation scene involving Keph, he drinks the “elixir of the void” from the “cup of night”. Details that, if they weren’t included, wouldn’t impact the book whatsoever. That they were included, however, enriches the book a great deal. Certain gates named after phases of the moon in Moonshadow Hall are only used during their corresponding lunar phases? Details that wouldn’t impact the book whatsoever, but enriched it, since they were. Personally, I think that these are the things that separate decent Forgotten Realms novels from the pantheon of ‘the great ones’. Certain authors, without naming names, have interesting characters, or good stories, but their novels just don’t quite make it into the pantheon of ‘great ones’. These little things, these are probably what separates them. All of the ‘great ones’ that I can think of, they’re chock full of the little details.
-Feena, the werewolf priestess of Selûne was an interesting character. Though her being a werewolf was important to the story towards the end, I don’t know. I’m not too big of a fan of characters being exotic for the sake of it, and for most of the novel, that’s the vibe I got from Feena. Keph, the “Sharran”, I liked the character a lot more, though he was maybe a little more moody than what was believable. Growing up thinking you’re not good enough, being taunted about it, being angry and vengeful about it, they’re all powerful motivators, as is love, but at times, Keph was going from hateful to remorseful and back again, all over the place. I guess that highlights the difference between Sharrans, the “true” Sharrans and the “emo” (as I like to call them) Sharrans- the “emo” ones are in the moment and (as the name says) emotional. When they’re angry, they’re all vengeful. When they’re sad, they’re all sorrowful. A “true” Sharran, while espousing Shar’s dogma, they’re emotionally flat. They manipulate and play the “emo” Sharrans. And, speaking of just that, the Sharrans priestess Variance and cultist Bolan highlighted the difference between the “proper” clergy of Shar, and ordinary cults of Shar, which I liked a great deal. To frame it in Star Wars terms, the Sharran clergy are akin to the Jedi (or the Sith, more aptly), trained and honed, while cults dedicated to Shar are akin to individual force users, raw with talent, and a willingness to harness it.
-The ending was a little anticlimactic. The endgame was proceeding, and then it just kinda stopped. It was designed like that, of course, since everything ending was simply dependent on Keph bringing the Leaves of One Night to Variance, which he did. Ah, the Leaves of One Night, planting the seeds in Mistress of the Night for later Forgotten Realms novelists to pick up on and weave an amazing tapestry of a story, in the Erevis Cale and Twilight War trilogies. That aside, though, I enjoy reading in-game about the various holy texts of different faiths and philosophies they encompass. The one thing that I wish there was more on, regarding the various faiths of Abeir-Toril, are their holy texts. Sure, some might not have any specific ones, while others might have numerous, but I wish there was a central list somewhere, and that previous books, like Faiths and Avatars, Powers and Pantheons, Demihuman Deities, and Faiths and Avatars did more, in this regard.
-My one complaint, and it’s not much of a complaint, is that Sharran priests and/or priestesses are not the main characters in the book. Feena, the Selûnite priestess is. That is not to say that Shar, or her clergy, aren’t featured prominently in Mistress of the Night, however. Given the title of the book, when I first bought it, I was expecting a Sharran to be the protagonist, with (presumably) a Mystraran or a Selûnite as the antagonist- making the “bad guy” the “good guy”, a point of view not commonly used in the Forgotten Realms novels thus far. That’s not to say that Shar wasn’t featured adequately, or that the Sharrans in the book weren’t interesting characters. I just thought, maybe, we’d get something relatively new.
-Out of a possible Five Beholders, I give Mistress of the Night Five Beholders.
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(A Tri-Partite Arcanist Who Has Forgotten More Than Most Will Ever Know)
Elves of Faerûn
Vol I- The Elves of Faerûn
Vol. III- Spells of the Elves
Vol. VI- Mechanical Compendium |
Edited by - Lord Karsus on 29 Apr 2011 22:11:47
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Erik Scott de Bie
Forgotten Realms Author
USA
4598 Posts |
Posted - 30 Apr 2011 : 03:46:35
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Not to address the review itself, but Dags, I'm glad you're back and posting these. 
Cheers |
Erik Scott de Bie
'Tis easier to destroy than to create.
Author of a number of Realms novels (GHOSTWALKER, DEPTHS OF MADNESS, and the SHADOWBANE series), contributor to the NEVERWINTER CAMPAIGN GUIDE and SHADOWFELL: GLOOMWROUGHT AND BEYOND, Twitch DM of the Dungeon Scrawlers, currently playing "The Westgate Irregulars" |
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Lord Karsus
Great Reader
USA
3736 Posts |
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Dennis
Great Reader
9933 Posts |
Posted - 30 Apr 2011 : 05:17:38
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I'm not much of a priest fan. But I enjoyed Don Bassingthwaite's Ebberon novels. So I think I'll give this a try.
I think it would have been refreshing indeed if a Sharran is the protagonist. |
Every beginning has an end. |
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Lord Karsus
Great Reader
USA
3736 Posts |
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LK's Novel Reviews: Mistress of the Night
