Rating: 
Summary: A disgrace to the elven race.
Review: Well, I'll start with the good of this book.
It goes into a little detail of the shadow weave (though this explanation is the complete opposite of what it is. He says in the book that the fall of Netheril split the weave and made the shadow weave, while the FRCS states that Shar created the shadow weave.)
A few of the characters are done well, though they change so rapidly it's hard to get any feeling for them.
Okay, so there isn't really much good to this book. Now to the bad.
I'll start with the worst. Elves are complete and utter sluts in this book, though at first Denning shows them as being the opposite he quickly lets you know he thinks of the elven race as a race of nymphomaniacs. (I don't mean to flame but this annoyed me to no end, and was even worse in the second of the trilogy.)
Next, he portrays Elminster as a spying, idiotic, women chasing old man.
He portrays Khelben better, and the Seven Sisters, but at times you will be wondering 'who are these people'All in all this book downgrades elves and tries to bring them off as nothing more then human sex toys.
Rating: 
Summary: Looks like a great trilogy.
Review: With a great start so far, the Return of the Archwizards trilogy is looking to become a must have for Realms fans. The Summoning not only details the beginning of a very important event (right up there with the Time of Troubles) in the Realms, but also shows that the new 3e D&D rules can be translated into a very fun story. Before, authors tended to stray from the D&D game rules when writing a novel. But so far it looks like Denning is having some fun implementing 3e concepts into the story without actually harming the story. When it comes down to it, it is a fantasy novel. But for those that play the 3e game can appreciate the fact that some of the rules and details from their rule books are finding their way into the stories without sticking out like a sore thumb. It's a fun read with appearances by some popular Realms' figures and some very entertaining spell battles (Khelben gets to have some fun) and I look forward to the next volumes in the trilogy as well as the anthology, Realms of Shadow.
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