The Temptation of Elminster

Rating:
Summary: please shoot me
Review: ...
The first 2 books of the series had a great stories but I fail to see what is supposed to be happening in this third. Nothing is happening and Elminster is reduced to a puppet of Mystra. If he's the greatest wizard in Faerun, how come Mystra has to save his butt in every battle.
Some of my favorite series are Icewind Dale, Dark Elf trilogy, Starlights and shadows, and The war of the spider queen. As I said before the first 2 books of the Elminster series were very well written so recomend them as well. If have the same taste as me, stay away from the temptation of elminster.

Rating:
Summary: please shoot me
Review: ...
The first 2 books of the series had a great stories but I fail to see what is supposed to be happening in this third. Nothing is happening and Elminster is reduced to a puppet of Mystra. If he's the greatest wizard in Faerun, how come Mystra has to save his butt in every battle.
Some of my favorite series are Icewind Dale, Dark Elf trilogy, Starlights and shadows, and The war of the spider queen. As I said before the first 2 books of the Elminster series were very well written so recomend them as well. If have the same taste as me, stay away from the temptation of elminster.

Rating:
Summary: A Disappointing Read
Review: Afer a ho-hum start and a great sequel, I was anxious to read this novel. I was quite disappointed when I read it though. Although one reviewer did point out (truthfully enough) that it has some interesting discussion on what Elminster is like to the rest of the Realms, this is not terribly useful in a series that is supposed to be about his history, since we can glean that information from his countless other appearances.

Rather, this book was quite disappointing because it didn't seem to have any purpose. The title doesn't even matter until the last ten pages of the book or so, and even then it is sketchy as it is obvious by now what his choice will be. The villains of the piece are either repetitive or so poorly characterized that they are almost painful to read about. There is an interesting part about the Priests of Shar, but it is never really developed into something worthwhile. So, in the end, you have a poor plot, bad characterization, an incredibly weak climax, and poor resolution. Five stars? How?

I wouldn't really recommend this to anyone, unless they can read it in a day or so, so that they wouldn't waste too much time. C'mon Ed, you can do MUCH better. Try harder.
Harkius

Rating:
Summary: this book waas kick-arse!
Review: coming from the mouth of a true elminster af shadowdale fan, i believe that this was maybe a bit below the average that the other books have set, i still think it was awesome.

Rating:
Summary: Not confusing until the end... then whoa!
Review: Ed Greenwood writes good fantasy but this series but his spell battles are way to confusing. You have no idea what really is going on until someone is dead and you have to read it over three times until you get it. But at least the story line was good. Elminster lost track of this goddess of magic trying to find his way back to her did pull some interesting characters though.

Rating:
Summary: Hurry up and take notes!
Review: Fast-paced storyline that, as much as I hate to admit it, got a little scattered and confusing. Towards the end of the book I began to think that I would be enjoying it more if I had taken notes, thereby enabling me to keep up with the myriad characters, some suddenly resurgent from earlier parts of the book. It's almost as if Greenwood sacrificed depth of character in favor of quanity of characters. All in all a good read anyway, if you don't mind investing quite a bit of concentration in the plot -- not a terribly difficult task if you are a big fan of the Forgotten Realms/Elminster (can there be one without the other?). Tips for reading this book: 1)Once you start, don't put it down, and 2)Read fast.

Rating:
Summary: Never Lacking
Review: I have seen several reviews stating that this book was terrible, but I actually found it quite a liberating experience from the general ho hum fiction. This book forces the reader to not only read the words, but to understand them as well. in a likewise manner, the reader is brought to think about more that what is actually written; forced to think about what is not written. Deffinately recommneded for those who actually like to use their brains.

Rating:
Summary: Elminster.... What was Greenwood thinking?
Review: I loved the first 2 books, but this is just bad. First of all, half of the characters do absolutly nothing for the entire plot. For example there is a group of mages following Elminster around for the entire book, though they never really meet him, and when they do meet him in the end, they stand there for 3 seconds, only to be blown away by a huge spell. What's the point? About 3/4 of the book is there for absolutly no reason, and does not add to the plot in any way. As well, Mr.Greenwood seems to have problems with the english language. I can accept the use of the same phrase in one page, but when the same word is used in one sentence (obviously NOT as a literary device of any sort) it just gets annoying. Also, if the theme in Myth Drannor was obvious, then in this book, there just is no theme, other than "Be careful what spell you use, or you might blow up to be as big as a giant pumpkin." His previous work (The first 2 books, Stormlight) shows us that he is capable of better.

Rating:
Summary: By the Gods! This book is good!!
Review: I think this book was really good, but there's a lot of names to remember and some of them are really hard to pronounce. Elminster is the best character for the part of a mage. This book is worthy of being part of the series in the Forgotten Realms. I'm eagerly awaiting Greenwood's next Elminster to come out. The next book should be called "Elminster, Good Father or not?" You may disagree but that's only my opinion. That surpasses the regular Fantasy books with wizards in it because it has drama and action put in with human interaction. This is the best of the three books because it doesn't just start out with plots of the story, it starts out with action. It seems that everyone that gets a relationship with Elminster dies gruesomely or turns evil except Mystra of course.

Rating:
Summary: I'M SORRY TO SAY THIS BOOK WAS SO-SO AT BEST
Review: I'VE READ THE OTHER ELMINSTER BOOKS AND THOUGHT THEY WERE A PRETTY GOOD READ. THIS LATEST ONE HOWEVER, WAS VERY CONFUSING AT TIMES. ELMINSTER SEEMED ONLY A SHADE TO BE SPOTTED HERE AND THERE, THE VILLANS IN MY OPINION SEEMED COMPLIMENTARY. THE WHYS AND WHEREFORES OF THE STORY WERE NOT CLEARLY EXPLAINED. THE PASSAGE OF TIME OF THE STORY WAS ALSO CONFUSING. THERE WERE A LOT OF THINGS GOING ON AND IT LEAVES ONE ASKING TOO MANY QUESTIONS. THE BOTTOM LINE IS IF YA GOTTA KNOW WHAT HAPPENS TO ELMINSTER IN HIS PRE-SHADOWDALE DAYS BY ALL MEANS READ THIS BOOK,BUT..... IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR AN INTERESTING STORY THIS ONE MAY LEAVE YOU WANTING.