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Caolin
Senior Scribe
768 Posts |
 Posted - 26 Jul 2015 : 18:58:33
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| I have to admit that I was very very disappointed in this novel. It took me almost two months to read it. The little nuggets of lore were great. But they always felt shoehorned into the story. There was also zero drama in it for me. A bunch of unknown characters were killed off and I knew that none of the regulars were going to be touched. So what was the point of this story other than to deliver those lore updates? |
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Tanthalas
Senior Scribe
Portugal
508 Posts |
Posted - 27 Jul 2015 : 19:29:47
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Spellstorm was a lot better than The Herald, probably because expectations were lower and we weren't expecting a lot of info, unlike with The Herald.
I liked the book but the mystery part was pretty lame imo, with people getting killed stupidly. I also think it was stupid that it was all set up for Archmages to establish rules of conduct, they do, but then the reader isn't informed of any of the said rules.
The best part of the book was the interactions between the characters. Not really sure what that part concerning Manshoon and Mystril meant. Does this mean that Manshoon will be even more incompetent from now on? I doubt this will ever happen, but I really hope that one day the original Manshoon shows up and he turns out to be one awesome mage that erases the stain of incompetence of all the Manshoon clones.
I really wonder if that passage where two of the characters start quizzing El about the lack of info about the Sundering was Ed's way of teasing the complaints that readers have about the Sundering. |
Sir Markham pointed out, drinking another brandy. "A chap who can point at you and say 'die' has the distinct advantage". |
Edited by - Tanthalas on 27 Jul 2015 19:30:27 |
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Jeremy Grenemyer
Great Reader
USA
2717 Posts |
Posted - 24 Aug 2015 : 05:39:33
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I finished the book today.
I am surprised nobody mentioned the mansion map and map key at the front of the book, nor how Ed basically wrote a tutorial into the novel explaining how older, upcountry Cormyrian mansions function and what's to be found inside them.
A Dungeon Master of middling talent could harness the information in Spellstorm and appear a genius in front of a group of players.
The mansion could just as easily be converted into an inn or rooming house by a DM, or a haunted ruin.
I enjoyed the story, loved Larloch's liches gone free, wanted to slap Elminster in the face for so casually wasting the life of a Harper mage, and am curious to see the next installment so as to learn what deep trouble Storm and Amarune have sunk themselves into.
When time permits I will happily mine this book for all its Realmslore. |
Look for me and my content at EN World (user name: sanishiver). |
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Veritas
Learned Scribe
209 Posts |
Posted - 07 Sep 2015 : 13:38:21
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Overall, I enjoyed Spellstorm and felt that it was Ed's strongest Realms novel in quite a while. When reading a Realms novel, I feel it is important to realize that Ed spends a fair portion of it spoon feeding Realmslore directly to the readers, such as when Mirt asks Elminster a number of questions which resulted in an undisguised update to the reader on a host of Realms notables and factions.
That aside, I far preferred the murder mystery predominating the first 80% of the novel or so to the emergence of the gaggle of liches. Although I was disappointed with the resolution of the murder mystery, and thought at least one other character would have made a far more interesting culprit, it was done fairly well.
Also Manshoon hasn't been portrayed as completely incompetent as he had previously. If anything, I enjoyed that he and Elminster have developed a reluctant and grudging relationship (not that Manshoon would ever admit it to himself). |
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Delwa
Master of Realmslore
USA
1268 Posts |
Posted - 07 Sep 2015 : 15:41:31
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Just finished the book yesterday. I enjoyed the novel overall, gave it about a 3.5 to 4 stars, but real life distractions made the last handful of chapters kinda disjointed for me, so some of the resolution went right past me. I did enjoy the descriptors of the house, how the architecture and history of the building worked, as Jeremy pointed out. Totally scanning that floor plan and chopping it up in photoshop for some tabletop inspiration.
The Liches were cool, and got me meddling with some ideas for games I'm running or plan to run.
The mystery aspect of the book, to me, honestly wasn't that captivating. Doesn't make it a bad story necessarily, I just got the strong impression from the beginning that it was mimicking Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None to an extent, which made a lot of it seem bland and very predictable. The banter and situational jokes scattered throughout made up for that, in my mind, as well as the salt and peppering of Realmslore.
I enjoyed the Manshoon's portrayal overall, and I always like reading about Mirt. Ed still needs to write a Mirt and Durnan novel series, imo.
I really enjoyed reading about the poisons. I've got an assassin PC that's just now coming into his own level wise, and stealing some of the poison ideas from the book will be useful. |
- Delwa Aunglor
I am off to slay yon refrigerator and spoil it's horde. Go for the cheese, Boo!
"The Realms change; seldom at the speed desired of those who strive, but far too quickly for those who resist." - The Simbul, taken from the Forgotten Realms Campaign Conspectus |
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MerricB
Acolyte
Australia
1 Posts |
Posted - 09 Oct 2015 : 00:35:36
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I really enjoyed Spellstorm (I've a 'review' on my blog), but I felt it wasn't all that much more than a chance to catch up with some of Ed's favourite characters. Which I was utterly fine with - I'm rather happy to have a lot of character moments rather than more save the world plots. :) Or even a murder mystery plot, which it doesn't quite have.
Quite understand the viewpoint of people who wanted more, though.
I've read a few of the recent novels, and before that it's about 20+ years since I was regularly reading them. So, it was nice to catch up with characters I knew from AD&D supplements and novels back in the really early days. :)
Cheers! |
Merric Blackman
merricb.com |
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Spellstorm - a mini review (spoilery)
