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Alaundo
Head Moderator
United Kingdom
5692 Posts |
 Posted - 30 Jul 2006 : 10:46:11
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Well met
This is a Book Club thread for Swords of Eveningstar (Book 1 of The Knights of Myth Drannor trilogy), by Ed Greenwood. Please discuss chapters 25 - 27 and the epilogue herein. Ed has collectively named this section "Endgame".
The Hooded One will be here to pass on any questions to Ed and provide responses to comments 
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Alaundo
Candlekeep Forums Head Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
An Introduction to Candlekeep - by Ed Greenwood
The Candlekeep Compendium - Tomes of Realmslore penned by Scribes of Candlekeep
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The Red Walker
Great Reader
USA
3563 Posts |
Posted - 11 Aug 2006 : 03:09:44
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| Wow, quite an ending! I didn not see that happening 'til the next book. Can't wait for more scribes to finish so as to discuss it with them. Until then I will hold any spoilers! |
A little nonsense now and then, relished by the wisest men - Willy Wonka
"We need men who can dream of things that never were." -
John F. Kennedy, speech in Dublin, Ireland, June 28, 1963
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SirUrza
Master of Realmslore
USA
1283 Posts |
Posted - 11 Aug 2006 : 07:40:24
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You read too fast. :P
I had to stop reading after 9. But then again today's my first day with the book. :) |
"Evil prevails when good men fail to act."
The original and unapologetic Arilyn, Aribeth, Seoni Fanboy. |
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The Red Walker
Great Reader
USA
3563 Posts |
Posted - 14 Aug 2006 : 02:48:07
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quote:
Originally posted by SirUrza
You read too fast. :P
I had to stop reading after 9. But then again today's my first day with the book. :)
It is a curse that makes reading an expensive hobby!
All in all I loved this book. No RSE's but, if you add up the sum of all the small things that happened , it all mad huge impact. One small mistep and no Florin or Knights of Myth Drannor at all. |
A little nonsense now and then, relished by the wisest men - Willy Wonka
"We need men who can dream of things that never were." -
John F. Kennedy, speech in Dublin, Ireland, June 28, 1963
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Edited by - The Red Walker on 14 Aug 2006 21:22:46 |
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Hoondatha
Great Reader
USA
2449 Posts |
Posted - 15 Aug 2006 : 05:53:24
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You and me both, buddy.
This was a great EG book, filled with seventeen-bazillion different people, all running in different directions, eacch with their own plots. It was great to see a number of Realms classics in their prime (Azoun, Vangey, and Filfaeril top the list) and see that nobles in Cormyr haven't changed much in a few decades.
Also, I now understand why so many people equate "fool" and "adventurer." Any adventurer surviving to even middling power levels is a minor miracle. |
Doggedly converting 3e back to what D&D should be...
Sigh... And now 4e as well. |
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Blueblade
Senior Scribe
USA
804 Posts |
Posted - 17 Aug 2006 : 02:19:50
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Gods, yes, this is a good book.
I know I'll take it out to re-read before the snow starts to fall, and probably again in the spring, and CERTAINLY just before the second one comes out.
You've done it again, Ed.
Keep 'em coming! |
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SirUrza
Master of Realmslore
USA
1283 Posts |
Posted - 19 Aug 2006 : 04:14:35
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quote:
Originally posted by Hoondatha
This was a great EG book, filled with seventeen-bazillion different people, all running in different directions, eacch with their own plots. It was great to see a number of Realms classics in their prime (Azoun, Vangey, and Filfaeril top the list) and see that nobles in Cormyr haven't changed much in a few decades.
It's Ed's style to have a bazillion different characters, all running in differenct direction, each with their own plot, all come together at the very end.
On that note, damn what an ending! I love that Dove was on the scene without being the prime romance for Florin. Hopefully we'll get to see that though before the trilogy ends! |
"Evil prevails when good men fail to act."
The original and unapologetic Arilyn, Aribeth, Seoni Fanboy. |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 19 Aug 2006 : 16:08:14
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Heh-heh. Oh, our Florin has had MANY romances. (She purred, remembering . . .) 
love,
THO |
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SirUrza
Master of Realmslore
USA
1283 Posts |
Posted - 19 Aug 2006 : 21:31:32
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| Bah, oh sure... tease. :) |
"Evil prevails when good men fail to act."
The original and unapologetic Arilyn, Aribeth, Seoni Fanboy. |
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Crust
Learned Scribe
USA
273 Posts |
Posted - 23 Aug 2006 : 04:20:08
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I adored this novel.  |
"That's right, hurl back views that force ye to think by name-calling - 'tis the grand old tradition, let it not down! Anything to keep from having to think, or - Mystra forfend - change thy own views!"
Narnra glowered at her father. "Just how am I to learn how to think? By being taught by you?"
"Some folk in the Realms would give their lives for the chance to learn at my feet," Elminster said mildly. "Several already have."
~from Elminster's Daughter, Ed Greenwood |
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SirUrza
Master of Realmslore
USA
1283 Posts |
Posted - 23 Aug 2006 : 17:00:51
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| Is it just me or did more "main characters" get killed off in this Swords then any other Realms novel? |
"Evil prevails when good men fail to act."
The original and unapologetic Arilyn, Aribeth, Seoni Fanboy. |
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The Red Walker
Great Reader
USA
3563 Posts |
Posted - 23 Aug 2006 : 20:37:56
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quote:
Originally posted by SirUrza
Is it just me or did more "main characters" get killed off in this Swords then any other Realms novel?
I couldn't keep up , there was quite a flurry of killing though. I will have to say the most gratifying was the way the mage who thought he had it all figured out , got bounced back into his lair after he thought he escaped death, only to get met by an even worse end.(sorry his name eludes me at the moment) |
A little nonsense now and then, relished by the wisest men - Willy Wonka
"We need men who can dream of things that never were." -
John F. Kennedy, speech in Dublin, Ireland, June 28, 1963
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Sage of Stars
Seeker
USA
59 Posts |
Posted - 07 Dec 2006 : 17:50:00
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| A superb novel. Not just a "good read," this one flirted with becoming literature. Head and shoulders above most fantasy fiction, let alone Realms novels. More, please! |
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A Gavel
Seeker
USA
53 Posts |
Posted - 27 Dec 2006 : 19:44:18
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I concur.
This was a solid character-driven fantasy novel, better than many a serious mainstream fantasy novel offered to the public these days - - and head and shoulders above most Realms novels (exceptions: Kemp, Schend, and I must admit I haven't yet read the books released in the Wizards series except Blackstaff, nor the newest Cordell and de Bie titles).
If this is a sample of "Ed unleashed," I'll be buying every one. This is GOOD, both as a tale and for maiing the Realms really seem to come alive.
Bring on this Swords of Dragonfire I keep hearing about.  |
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 02 Jan 2007 : 23:27:04
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Indeed, I finally finished this book today (again...why did I wait so long to read it?), and overall the book was a pleasure. I was disappointed that not much was said about the deaths of Agannor and Bey, or even Martess--wouldn't the Swords be more shocked and sad at the deaths of people they've been travelling with as companions for several months? But other than that, I have no real complaints. The book was fun, fast-paced, and had an ending that shocked me silly. I enjoyed the setting and characters (especially Pennae, although they were all great), and look forward to seeing many of these faces (both friendly and un-) again in the next book.
Highly recommended. |
"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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Charles Phipps
Master of Realmslore
1419 Posts |
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Ateth Istarlin
Seeker
United Kingdom
80 Posts |
Posted - 10 Jan 2007 : 11:46:34
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I tried to put-off reading this novel (I like to wait until I have all 3 parts of a trilogy before reading them all in one go), but I finally gave in & read it - I think this is the best Realms novel I have ever read! (& I've read most of them) I wa starting to dispare of finding any that hit me in the same way that the early D&D novels (that is the first ones ever published - starting with "Saga of Old City")did - but this one re-newed my love of both the Realms, & D&D itself.
Thanks ED! |
The more I read about 4FR, the more depressed I am.
Politician - An elected official who tries to be all things to all people, while always looking out for his/her own interests first. |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 10 Jan 2007 : 19:42:38
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Glad you liked it; I will, of course, pass this on to Ed. I'm glad you read it; although SWORDS OF DRAGONFIRE is a direct sequel, these books are more character-driven than plot-driven, and are rich enough to "stand alone." No longtime Realms fan should delay reading them, because they give us such telling glimpses of familiar Realms characters (Vangerdahast, Tanalasta, Filfaeril, Dove, and of course the Knights and Knights-to-be) when younger. DRAGONFIRE should show us a feisty thirteen-year-old Alusair.
love,
THO |
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Charles Phipps
Master of Realmslore
1419 Posts |
Posted - 10 Jan 2007 : 20:29:02
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I very much enjoyed Swords of the Eveningstar but I must confess I'm left with a very peculiar visual image in my mind. Specifically, the image in my mind reading this book is Ash from the Evil Dead movies. The poor guy looking around himself, covered in blood, and looking around the biggest slaughter of everyone he knew (some at his hands) along with god knows how many other monsters. That must be how poor Florin Falconhand must feel right about now. If I were him, I'd be cuddling my broadsword at night in the inn for the next couple of months. Sleeping in full armor. With one eye open.
Ed Greenwood certainly knows how to write a three act play. The first third of the book I absolutely gushed about. I'll go into more detail about why later or you can just read my review in the Book Club. The second segment is this vast tangle of character vignettes mixed with plot set up. The next third visually and mentally brings to mind From Dusk Til Dawn. Now, that may not be a flattering comparison to some and a better example would be Aliens when the marines enter the cave but I think FDTD contains a better "When all Hell breaks loose" equivalency.
Now, if Ed ever hosts an online game, I'll be first in line but if this is typical of his gaming sessions then I wonder if we should award him the Total Party Kill Hat. ;-) That's just a head's up for anyone who wants to read this work. The sudden shift from when everything becomes a session of Doom with no one knowing what the hell is going on, where the hell they are, and whose trying to kill them that doesn't let up until the final coda of traumatizing angst....you've got a very emotionally affecting book. It'll take a bit for me to digest this work fully I think.
Ed certainly knows how to write his action and while I wasn't always sure what was going on, that wasn't a mistake in the writing but an example of the confusion the Swords turned Knights must surely have been feeling.
Now for the REAL meat of my review....
We return to merry Old Cormyr for this land and Ed once more brings us to the land Pre-Dragon and Azoun's reign. As this book shows, Cormyr's nobility in the trilogy is not the best bunch of lords and ladies in the realm. Ed certainly knows them better than I but this book reinforces that my players should probably go to a less intrigue ridden place if they want to prosper as nobleman....say....Zhentil Keep. Never again will I look at Sembia as the heart of backstabbing. I have to wonder if Princess Allusair will have a better time of rulership after the disasters of the ghazaneths if solely for the fact that they have hopefully killed off the majority of these scheming swine.
Strange, despite their open talk of treason, I honestly felt their plotting would probably not amount to much if not for the Black Network's renegade that brought them all to bloody ruin here. If the Crownsilvers were any indication; they were grumbling, scheming, arrogant, and imperious autocrats but mostly all talk and no action. It seemed that Vangy knew that it took outside sources to make them into a genuine threat to the realms. Certainly, seeing our mind worm using villain at work made him the Iago/Richard III of the affair. Unlikeable sleaze that they are, Ed made me feel nothing but pity for Duke Crownsilver. This despite the fact the man tried to have poor Florin murdered for his daughter looking at him lustfully. At the end of the book, he has nothing left to live for and he wasn't even one of the traitors.
Ed did a fairly masterful job of arranging the complicated plots of the storyline. About the only thing that I felt was missing was addressing Azoun's one hundred bastards. It would have been helpful to see what sort of impact that it had that probably every other noble house has one of the Royal heirs running around it. They are rather conspicous by their absence despite references to Azoun's tremendous lusts.
Florin Falconhand and his merry band of shell-shocked adventurers are surprising as Ed went a different way than I expected. Repeatedly have the boards drilled into me that adventurers are not a rare occurrance in the Realms. Well, the stories here indicate that while they are not UNHEARD of, they do have a dramatic effect by their mere appearance. A relative group of nobodies may not change the course of a kingdom but they certainly send ripples through it before they even do anything. I guess a group of licensed killers given leave to use it is going to turn a few heads...especially since they seem to attract trouble by the gods curses/graces.
Florin and Narantha are the two most developed characters of the book. I'm fairly sure, Dove's not inconsiderable charms aside, the boy wishes he'd stayed in the forest at the end of this nightmare. Narantha goes through a wonderful change from spoiled tart to headstrong adventuress onto to become victim to Zhentarim magic before the end. It's a tragedy that can't really be called a romance since they don't spend that much time together and part of it is bespelled but what might have been is interesting to think on.
Jhessail stands over the Rosencratz and Guildenstern priests of the Knights even as she just appealed to me with her introductory monologue about the fate of a woman whom couldn't escape Espara, even if she knows magic. Maybe it's just because I like redheads and she appealed to me.
Pennail and Martess also appealed to me. I am saddened about Mistress Lowspells fate for reasons I can't really understand. There's just something tragic about the fact that she never actually got to be a wizard of note....especially after all that hard work on her back. Pennail just filled the "taking the pliss out of Florin" role. Her blatant come ons and attitude of unabashed sexuality was also amusing. You don't see many female characters getting to act in such a manner in fiction.
The guest stars proliferated in this book as well. All the old Cormyr favorites are here from the Lady Lord of Arabel to Azoun to Tanalasta (HUGGABLY CUTE!) to Vangy. Filfaril proves herself more than just being Azoun's arm candy even as Ed peels back the layers to the neglected Queen Mum (she's more Eleanor of Aquitane than Guinevere but I think we all suspected that). It makes me want to see a Allusair Trilogy chronicling her adventures with the Blades as younglings. Can you do it Ed!? :-)
The Stone lands and Arabel were also thoroughly explored here. The Stonelands is something that has a special place in my gaming heart since its been the subject of a ten year obsession of mine. While we infrequently game, my DM whose been since the original FR boxed set, has always let me live out my dream of trying to clear that damned place out so my character can win the Barony and get elevated to the peerage to start on courting the Princess (which? He doesn't care. He needs to work on his levels since having a wife that could kick his ass would be embarrassing though). What? It was a dream that started when I was sixteen, cut me some slack. I even made it a frequent goal of my gaming groups when I DM, mentioning the possibilities and my character's Moby Dickensan quest in passing.
After ten years of trying to iceskate uphill, it took this book and Candlekeep to make me realize I was part of a very annoying con game by Azoun. Given I've had players slay Orcus but not clean out the Stonelands, I wonder if I unconsciously picked up on it being a snipe hunt from the very beginning. Thank you Ed for spelling out what a deliberate death trap this place is, not that I suspect it'll affect anyone's choice of actions. It's the White Whale my friend.
*goes back to plans* Maybe if I recruit a clan of dwarves....
*Ahem* Arabel is also well explored and it saddens me we've not yet seen Gondegal show up in battle and his revolt mentioned. It makes me wonder really what is driving this independent streak of Arabel so much that it loathes the Obaskyrs right up until their rescue from the Dragon. Maybe it's just a self perpetuating cycle of revolt and harsh repressions leaving a bad memory of Azoun's murder of citizens.
Overall, an excellent book Ed.
9/10
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My Blog: http://unitedfederationofcharles.blogspot.com/
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 12 Jan 2007 : 16:48:28
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Hi, all. I sent your extensive comments on to Ed, Charles, and herewith is his response, moving through your reply responding to points in the rough order you made them.
Ed says:
Glad you liked SWORDS OF EVENINGSTAR, Charles. It’s my favourite among my Realms novels, thus far, because I’m a better writer than I was when I started doing them, and because I was allowed much greater freedom than hitherto, on the journey from title concept to final printed page. There are some “grrr” moments for me, such as editorial changes of “chatelaine” to “reticule,” but on the whole, I’m fairly pleased with it.
Fairly, I said, because I ran out of wordcount, as usual (something that hasn’t happened to me on SWORDS OF DRAGONFIRE, so I’m finally learning :} ), which is why the last third of the book is such a headlong rush of nonstop action. (Even then, I had to chop entire subplots, not just themes!) It was always intended to have battles and deaths, but I was intending more of a slow, inexorable “incoming doom” build between such moments.
The first part of the book, that you loved so much, is also my favourite. A “dream Ed Greenwood Realms novel” (to me, that is) would be almost all this sort of almost leisurely, editorially-chatty, close-in focus on just a few characters bouncing off each other (the same thing Elaine achieved in ELFSHADOW with Danilo and Arilyn). Doing that sort of tale is * FUN * for me; for too many years, I’d hear editorial snarls of “It’s been eight pages and you haven’t killed anyone! The Realms is guys fighting monsters, with magic whooshing around! Never forget that!” when I tried what I did with Florin and Narantha in the forest at any great length.
I, too, think my Tanalasta versus Vangerdahast is the strongest scene in the book. That and the Spurbright noble father and son scene, plus the various demonstrations of Vangey terrorizing his scribes and junior War Wizards, are the “I’ve gotta put this in” Realmslore backbone of the book. That and showing readers the REAL Filfaeril for the first time.
My Lady Hooded is quite right when she stated that Florin’s deliberate taking of the herb had made his body temporarily physically incapable of production or delivery of seed. You were correct in thinking it a contraceptive (it is), but it also prevents erections (again, something I should have been less coy about, but was trying not to run into problems with my new and very good editor over). Florin of course desires Narantha, but he really is being heroic in denying himself any possibility of “having” her, so he can get the chance to meet, really get to know, and “tame” a noble (this isn’t a misogynistic thing, it’s a “we right-headed country folk who live in the real world can PROVE we’re better than these stuck-up, ridiculously out-of-touch nobles, and mayhap fix one of them, at least, to know and understand Cormyr better so she isn’t one more part of the problem - - and I can prove to self, elders like Delbossan, and my friends that I managed that feat, and really Am Something!”). If I hadn’t been recounting “true” Realmslore (rooted in the deeds and written-up past histories of Player Characters), the genders could just as easily have been the other way around, with the female slipping the herb to a male noble to protect herself from his lust.
I’m afraid bringing all the other characters onstage of necessity pulled the spotlight away from Florin in the latter stages of the book, which is when he goes from “Hey! I can do this!” to “Wow, can it be this easy?” to “Oh, sh*t, am I in over my head! Help! No, no, I can’t let anyone know I need help! I’ve gotta be the strong silent type, or we’re all doomed! Mielikki, PLEASE HELP ME!”
Rickman as Vangey? Oh, ho! Well, he’s a little more growly [Willard Brimley? No, too nice; hmmm] where the Snape act would be sneeringly sardonic, but otherwise . . .
[blinks, throws up hands] No, no, I’m NOT going to go down the “casting the Realms” road again. No no no. :}
Back to the book. Yes, something of the vignettes-succeeding-yet-more vignettes nature of the second part of the book was forced on me by the telescoping (my trying not to go WAY over my wordcount) of the story, and part of it was my realization that I can’t tell this story with its proper grounding and impact at all if I don’t share with the reader something of the Cormyr that’s always been in my head, but hasn’t made it into print. Hence the Tana/Vangey scene, the Spurbright scene, the Crownsilver scenes, the Espar as backcountry touches, Dauntless growling his way around Arabel, and so on. You’ll see more of Dauntless in DRAGONFIRE, by the way. I also had to show a little of Jhessail mastering magic (editorial changes at that “blasting the monsters at the pit” scene, by the way, clumsily turned my “battlestrike” [what folk IN THE REALMS often call a magic missile spell, into “magic missile”).
Azoun remains of necessity a little distant in this book, and appears only briefly in DRAGONFIRE, but between the two books and the framing scenes in the Realmslore web columns, throughout most of 2006, I’m determined to bring him increasingly into focus for Realms readers, as a real and understandable guy.
And yes, the book was of course meant to shock and stun with the losses in its final third. Deaths are meaningless to modern readers (and television watchers) if they aren’t allowed to (and guided into) caring about the characters before they get taken down. Remember, my hands are SOMEWHAT tied in SWORDS OF EVENINGSTAR, in that I’m retelling “real” Realmslore (i.e. home campaign “what the PCs did” roleplaying history). Certain characters died, and I had to include those “facts,” however I might have wanted to alter things for the sake of the unfolding story.
You’re quite correct in seeing that MOST Cormyrean nobles privately grumble and gossip about unseating the Obarskyrs (or at least whichever particular one is on the throne, just now), or even leisurely plot and scheme about it (as a drinking and chuckling sport) far more than they ever actually DO anything that’ll get their heads chopped off (nobles are beheaded with swords for high treason, and exiled for low treason like trying to besmirch the reputation of a royal by spreading lies or luring a royal into imprudent behaviour). It takes an outside agent aiding, abetting, or sponsoring, or organizing, or otherwise goading them to get most REAL dangers to the throne (as opposed to just opportunistic murder attempts) into the “working” stage. Yes, you were meant to pity Lord Crownsilver - - and HIS tale isn’t over yet, either. :}
I avoided playing the “Azoun’s host of bastards” card because I only had one book to work within, not a shelf full of novels I’d be allowed to write, and it was supposed to be titled (and therefore - - truth in advertising, y’know - - had better BE the story of the) SWORDS OF EVENINGSTAR. Not all those illegitimates. Now, there IS an adventuring company running around the Realms right now that’s almost entirely made up of Azoun’s illegitimate children, but that’s another story . . .
As for their being invisible, that’s just it: darn near every large noble house, and a lot of common-born families, too, has one. So they don’t stand out as unusual - - and of course they function as full members of the families they’re formally part of (remember, some older male nobles are enraged by the King’s dalliances with their wives, but lots of Cormyreans are PROUD that he visited their beds, or a bed just down the street from them, and don’t frown on either Azoun’s behaviour or the result. So in one sense writing a book concentrating on Azoun’s bastards would be like writing a book concentrating on half the men in an average-sized town: they may share a common sire, but they’re all different from each other, doing different things, living different lives, and NOT all wanting to end up at Court with a title and royal recognition, either.
Not every adventuring band has the “ripple effect” that the Swords did, here. That’s part of why they rose to prominence; they happened to be in the right place at the right time (or, you know, the wrong place at the wrong . . .), to be the catalyst for a lot of things that had been building. So not every adventuring company has the impact they did, and in particular very few NOVICE adventuring bands stir up things anything like the Swords did.
The telescoping is why all the deaths seem to pile up thick and fast in the later chapters of the book; it isn’t typical of adventuring sessions, where PCs very rarely die, and Total Party Kills only occur if parties really do stupid things and then stubbornly don’t try to back out or flee. Good roleplayers who know the Realms rarely even think of doing those “stupid things.”
As for doing a young Alusair trilogy: I’d LOVE to. For a variety of reasons (yes, those shields suddenly looming close, all around us, are indeed NDAs, so spare your questions), I don’t think I’ll get the chance, but . . . ah, it would have been nice to write about nine or ten Cormyr trilogies that all dovetail into a tapestry of Cormyr from about the time of Azoun IV setting off as a youthful adventurer up to right now, Realms time. I’m sure everyone’s noticed by now how I keep sneaking back to the Forest Kingdom, in book after book (Elminster’s Daughter? Got to get her out of Waterdeep straight away and into Cormyr, of course).
The “guest stars,” as you term them, are to me a vital part of any Realms novel. I don’t mean that Elminster or Drizzt should wander through the pages of every book, I mean that to capture the illusion of this fantasy world as a living, breathing place, it’s very important not to have main characters wander through what seems like a passive pastoral backdrop until they show up, with all the “big guns” away on vacations, missing, bedridden, busy behind locked doors, etc. I don’t mean the guest stars should each become the handy deus ex machina of every plot, nor that every book should peer at rulers or nobles or other “peak of power” characters, but the world should feel as if everyone’s active in it doing lots of interesting things, not that Faerûn holds its breath and watches One Big Event that the novel follows.
I will answer your question about the right way to start courting Cormyrean princesses in the Ask Eddie 07 thread, when I get to it (it’s near the top of the heap of queries, but that’s a big heap), but entering the peerage is NOT the right way to go about it EXCEPT in the way you mention (when noble is an adventurer personally ennobled for deeds). In general, recent Obarskyrs have wanted to wed commoners (especially wealthy ones) or nobles from other lands far away, where such unions don’t give the other land any claims to the Dragon Throne. Filfaeril was an exception (a return to the old way of doing things, which is considered unwise because it pits established noble family against established noble family, increasing social tensions for generations).
You’ll see more of Arabel (albeit briefly) in SWORDS OF DRAGONFIRE, and yes, it is a city that, like Marsember, is inhabited by a lot of people that just want to get on with their lives, a lot more who welcome the protection against outlaws and roving monster bands and orc hordes and marauding monsters, and the law and order within the walls, that Cormyr’s rule gives them, and a small minority that fiercely hates this “oppression” and will seize any chance they get to “throw off the yoke” and rebel. Again. The timing of this trilogy isn’t quite right for Gondegal, and his rising really deserves an entire book, which (given that he escaped into the mists of Ravenloft) couldn’t have a narratively very satisfying ending. However, there is a long, long list of “stories I’d love to tell someday,” and that’s on it. I’m not expecting that particular someday to ever come, but who knows?
Thanks for the praise and the critical look, and I’m glad you enjoyed the book; I hope you’ll like SWORDS OF DRAGONFIRE, which inevitably involves a lot more character vignettes and the ever-burgeoning cast featured in them.
So saith Ed. Who for my money is a far better writer than most who’ve risen within the gaming field. I know many like to sneer at his work, but that “many” includes very few editors, because he’s one of the busiest working writers I’ve ever encountered (and I’ve been involved in various professional ways in publishing for the last thirty years or so).
love,
THO
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Charles Phipps
Master of Realmslore
1419 Posts |
Posted - 12 Jan 2007 : 19:53:30
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Thanks Ed,
This is the second pages length response you've given to one of my questions and for that I'm very grateful (the other was also dealing with Cormyr surprisingly enough). I look forward to hearing about courting the Princess Allusair.
I'm looking forward to SWORDS OF DRAGONFIRE and will be very interested in seeing how the continuing tale of Florin and Duke Crownsilver will proceed. The revelation that no one is safe because this will reflect the all too dangerous and unforgiving nature of your prior D&D games really makes me worry about the heroes that I don't know will survive to the future. I heartily agree with your decision that death should be unexpected and random in the story even if the Lady Crownsilver's death truly left me berift when I saw it.
And I'm quite upset about all these editions having so much edited out of them! I'd happily read ridiculous "Wheel of Time" length versions of these books for huge prices if I could get them! A curse and a pox darnit! I blame this for SPOILER killing Shandril! END SPOILER. Your editors certainly do interfere a lot and it leaves me with trepedation for my own writing career.
;-)
If everyone here doesn't mind me adding a few more indepth comments to this thread I'll throw in some more scen thoughts that occurred to me after mulling over the book a bit further in length.
+ I very much enjoyed the Spurbright noble father/son scene given the peculiarity of it in many respects. On one hand, the Spurbright's obvious wisdom in pointing out the fact the nobility are angry at the Obarskyr family for purely selfish reasons was a very tradition and evocative scene similiar to countless ones across many movies before. ON THE OTHER HAND, it had a delightfully subversive element to it in the fact that the father was teaching his son to be underhanded and treacherous ANYWAY.
+ While I love the Zhents, I must confess that the villain of the piece left me a little cold. His plotting, evil deeds, and so on were all beautifully realized but I kept having flashbacks to the 1980s Swords and Sorcery movies where we know the villain because he wears a skull cap, dresses in black, and 'ho ho hos' His motivation to escape the Zhents is certainly a valid one and his plot to control Cormyr seems distinctly reminesncent of Khan Noon Singh in Star Trek II but in a good way.
Nevertheless, I miss old Fzoul and Manshoon whom were evil with panache and would have loved to have seen their reaction to yet another renegade archmage of their order trying to make it on his own. I guess there's only so much you can throw in though. Plus, not everyone can be a corrupted Elminster's apprentice like in the Shandril trilogy.
+ Lady Lord Lah certainly gets propositioned a lot doesn't she? I find it amusing because this is the second time I've read about it and I know damn well how many times my players have tried it. What IS it about her that they try it with her and practically no one else they meet amongst female rulers? (Admittedly you don't have to suggest it to Allusair or Alustriel...)
I admit I was a bit disappointed, I would have liked to have seen Florin in the hands of more young ladies before his inevitable union with Dame Dove.
+ This is a compliment rather than a complaint but I recommend to Ed the series of HBO's Rome because I think that you manage to capture the role of sex in intrigues rather well even if its in the rather brutal form that the war wizards don't (usually) bat an eyelash at one of the matrons of the clan attempting to seduce them for some enjoyable gain....and that's a great way to get them prone to kill.
Strange at may seem but while I could hardly keep him straight from the other war wizards with the plots spinning around me, I felt for the poor fellow when he was comforted by one of his fellow lady wizards after the betrayal. You know how to make a seen touching even with minor characters.
+ The set up for Shadowdale as a part of Cormyr has always been there but I'm very eager for the "claiming of the lordship" of the village for the newly christened Knights of Myth Drannor. That seems like it'll be a very interesting thing for the defeat of the darkness within.
(Of course, I still want to see the Drow invasion and the effect old Elminster has but unless we fans pass around a hat to pay WOTC for a print run of your books then I doubt it'll happen)
+ Though the Lady Filfaeril rather swiftly takes comfort with one of her Lords after her husbands' death (and more power to her) I do wonder if what's good for the Gander is allowed for the Goose. The war wizard's implied suspicions of her going to tryst rather than secretly conducting meetings with Harpers makes me wonder....
Then again, they're not so uptight about sex in FR as in the real world. Except with filthy, filthy, filthy peasant young men as Lord Crownsilver shows (fathers are the same everywhere it would seem)
+ Is it just me or do portals always play a role in Ed's writing because they certainly always seem to end our heroes up in the strangest places. If I didn't know better then I'd swear that the Chosen deliberately make them to their homes just to mess with young adventurers ;-)
+ I was quite fond of Florin Falconhand's mentor. While hardly in the book, the fellow really came alive for me and I enjoyed his every utterance. |
My Blog: http://unitedfederationofcharles.blogspot.com/
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Edited by - Charles Phipps on 12 Jan 2007 22:26:00 |
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 12 Jan 2007 : 23:41:12
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| Wow, thanks for the comments, Ed. |
"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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Charles Phipps
Master of Realmslore
1419 Posts |
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Swords of Eveningstar - Chapters 25-27 & Epilogue
