Rating: 
Summary: Good God, this book is BAD
Review: Once again, Cunningham demonstrates her ability to take a perfectly good premise and mess it up with terrible characterizations and laughable plot devices. And frankly, this one is the worst of the bunch.At a macro level, the plot is fantastic. Great hooks, good setting, etc. However, the dialogue between supposedly in love Danilo and Arilyn is more painful (and with less chemistry) than Anakin and Amidala is Star Wars:AOTC. In short, I never believe for a second that there is any affection at all between any of the characters. It really is a module with dialogue. The chapter names might as well have been named Room A5: Kobold's Lair. She creates terribly artificial plot holes, I suppose to create tension, yet they are very inconsistent. For example (minor spolier): the heroes find a foot (yes, a singular foot), and Danilo suggests that the family might want to take it to a cleric and have the victim resurrected. Yet, later in the book, someone who Danilo has an emotional tie to dies (and leaves behind more than a foot), and they never even suggest resurrection as an option. Instead, this gives Danilo an chance to promise vengeance. Huh? You can resurrect a person from a foot, but you can't raise someone you care about??? Just plain silly. Her books really feel like she is trying to take her friends' roleplaying sessions and write them into a story. And frankly, it fails because there are no characters that you really care about. I could go on for hours. If you are under 13 and like D&D, read this book. If you want great fantasy, read Tad Williams, David Gemmell or George R.R. Martin.
Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyable but not perfect
Review: Overall I liked the book if only to satisfy, if only for the moment, my cravings to see Danilo and Arylin. It was like seeing old friends again, laughing at Danilo's antics with the humor heightened by Arylin's long suffering reaction to it. I found the wordsmithing not quite to to the standards of Evermeet though I feel that says more about the tremendous quality of Evermeet than a disservice to Elaine Cunningham's current book. As always, the world is populated with wonders both mundane and magical and people truly come alive. Dan steals the show (of course!) but Arylin holds her own. Elaith is a strong suppporting character though I have difficulty resolving my feelings for him. He is still a villain but there seems hope. Just as well since, as in real life, things are seldom cut and dry. Bad points: does every single member of the nobility except Danilo have to be silly, shallow, or manipulative? It was rather jarring. A quibble: You can tell than Dan and Arilyn are in love but I wish she'd mellow a bit more around Dan and be more affectionate. She can't be tough ALL the time. Another quibble: granted it was the material but the tone was tremendously grim. Perhaps something a bit more light hearted next time? Overall though a strong work as one has come to expect from Ms. Cunningham. I look forward to her next work
Rating: 
Summary: A fall from previous form
Review: Same characters, less flavor, less humor, less tension, less substance to the plot. Is EC tired of Waterdeep's limitations? Waterdeep's setting has its own flaws, but it cannot be blamed for the lack of a dominant theme in this story. It seemed at first that EC was addressing the contemporary problem of psychoactive drugs, but that got lost about halfway through the book, as did most plot threads. Since when did Evermeet gryphon riders hire out as caravan guards? A more plausible explanation for their presence would have been nice. Cassandra Thann? Is EC trying to say that we never really know our own parents? Perhaps true, but clumsily handled. Her stories are usually more tightly written, and I missed Danilo's normally droll wit. They can't all be gems. This exception may prove the rule, as EC usually spins a well woven yarn.
Rating:
Summary: A fall from previous form
Review: Same characters, less flavor, less humor, less tension, less substance to the plot. Is EC tired of Waterdeep's limitations? Waterdeep's setting has its own flaws, but it cannot be blamed for the lack of a dominant theme in this story. It seemed at first that EC was addressing the contemporary problem of psychoactive drugs, but that got lost about halfway through the book, as did most plot threads. Since when did Evermeet gryphon riders hire out as caravan guards? A more plausible explanation for their presence would have been nice. Cassandra Thann? Is EC trying to say that we never really know our own parents? Perhaps true, but clumsily handled. Her stories are usually more tightly written, and I missed Danilo's normally droll wit. They can't all be gems. This exception may prove the rule, as EC usually spins a well woven yarn.
Rating: 
Summary: Elaine does it again!!
Review: What a wonderful book! Three cheers for Elaine for delivering yet another excellent story about Arilyn, Danilo, and Elaith, her three best characters, a most welcome return to Waterdeep. This has everything that readers have come to love and expect from Elaine: wonderful and witty dialogue, great characters, a complex and well-crafted story (a kind of murder mystery this time), great action sequences, and vivid descriptions of places and events. I especially like the touches of humor, always evident in Dan's dialogue. I found myself laughing out loud more than once! This is also a crucial story in the development of Arilyn and Danilo's relationship with each other, which we've all been waiting for! The ending leaves a lot of scope for further adventures, and some interesting plot threads are left unresolved, apparently "to be continued". My only complaint is that it now looks as if we shall have to wait awhile for the next installment, as Elaine has another FR project lined up. Please don't keep us waiting too long, Elaine! Also, my copy has a different front cover than is advertised on Amazon and in other publications. I'm curious about the last-minute switch, though if the male figure in the original painting is supposed to be Dan, then it is wrong, because Dan has blond hair and no moustache. Perhaps that was the reason for the switch? What's with some of these cover atrists anyway? Apparently they have no contact with the authors of the books they illustrate. I still haven't forgiven TSR for the ridiculous picture of Drizzt on the cover of "Starless Night", which made him look like John Quincy Adams! Oh well, the replacement "Dream Spheres" cover is quite good. Thanks again, Elaine! More please!
Rating:
Summary: Time to stop
Review: When reading Elaine Cunningham's books, I'm always troubled by the nagging feeling that her plots make no sense. With The Dream Spheres, I had no doubt: this book makes no sense at all.
The plot is constantly turned in new directions by the introduction of yet another new character or element, and Cunningham so overloads the plot this time that it becomes nothing but an illogical mess. What was this book supposed to be about? The dream spheres? Lily? The absurdly powerful Isabeau Thione? Danilo's family difficulties? Elaith Craulnober? The secrets of Waterdeep's noble families? Bronwyn and Ebenezer? Danilo and Arilyn's romance?
Cunningham really needs to learn that less is more. Throwing in everything you possibly can for the sake of trying to appeal to everyone and playing with your pet characters one more time does not make a strong or well-written story. The continual references in The Dream Spheres to other events that the reader was apparently supposed to know about were highly irritating, and another symptom of bad story-telling. I've read everything by Cunningham on this thread except for Thornhold and the odd short story, and I still found myself lost.
Cunningham clearly shows in The Dream Spheres that she has nothing new to say about her favourite characters. Danilo has his good points, but Arilyn is as dour, bigoted, and boringly invincible as ever. Their story has essentially gone nowhere in all the time that Cunningham has been writing about them. And as for the way she wrecked Elaith in this book (a tortured soul tormented by doubts about his moral character, who puts Arilyn, of all people, on a pedestal), the less said, the better.
Cunningham needs discipline, a stricter editor, and some new ideas. The Magehound shows that she is only partway there.
Rating:
Summary: This book cannot have been written by Elaine Cunningham!
Review: Wow, was I excited when Elaine Cunningham announced the publication of a new book uniting some of my favourite FR Characters... As a big EC fan, I must have been the first person to order it. Upon arrival, I started reading it immediately, but soon my excitment gave way to horror! One of my darkest nightmares had come true...it was awful! I did not like it at all! Actually, I think the best part of the book was the end, mainly because it was the end! Why did I not like it? . The Characters: Over the last few novels, I have come to really like Danilo, Arylin, and Elaith...so what has happened to them in this novel maximizes the crime. There is almost no depth to them, Elaith's motives for aquiring the cursed stone are plain dumb and the carefully crafted relationship between Arilyn and Danilo is reduced to a total hoax! It seemed to change more often than in a bad midnight soap opera. Danilo's humor is no compensation for the grim and whining undertone of this novel. As for the rest... I wouldn't have cared less if a Sahuagin horde had come from Waterdeep harbor and swalled them all whole! The petty nobles' superficial actions (chief among them: Cassandra Thann) were outclassed only by their children's (I still can't get over that incindent with Myrna and Regnet in his room). Lilly, an interesting side character is eliminated without remorse before her part grows too interesting. The only characters I did like were the Tren, because the were at least honestly portraied...as useless pawns in the awful game of chess that is this novel! . The plot: Okay, sometimes bad characters do well in a good plot. But if at all possible, the plot is even worse than the protagonists! One gets the general impression that the author tries so hard to keep everyone on the dark side of things, that she herself lost the overview! The scenes change without warning, there are disgusting time gaps, and huge plot holes that the reader has to fill him/herself! On the surface, the story may seem suspenseful, but the evolving subplots seem pressed into the main plot like so many wads of gum on a chair...they simply do not belong there. The entire book contains enough ideas for a trilogy, but sqeezing them all into one book really diminished the overall quality! Plainly speaking...it annoyed me so much I got a headache and had me yearning for the end. . The style: It is a good thing an author's style does not change. The descriptions are excellent, the fight scenes well portraied. But the whole book was too serious, too stuck on honor, superficial mystery and petty intrigue. In the midst of this, even Danilo loses his humor, for which I cannot blame him! In the end, this book reminded me painfully of Greenwood's works (if you like them, you will like this book as well). But at least he has some awesomely powerful character, who at some point goes out there and kicks some butt! Here, we don't even have that! All in all, I must say I am completely stunend! In "Elfsong", all bards have fallen under a curse, perhaps EC has been affected as well? In my heart I hope she gets over it before her next novel is released. I strongly suggest that you do not read this book, unless you are addicted to superficial, confusing plots. Instead read ANY other Elaine Cunningham book (e.g. Elfshadow or Evermeet). Although my guess is quite a number of people will read this book, I think the one or other real Cunningham fan, who marvel at her wit to create deep plots and amazing chsaracters, will be as disappointed by this vile tome as I am. Andreas "Elaine, how could this happen??" Meyer
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