Rating: 
Summary: A good start to a trilogy
Review: "The Magehound" is the first book in the Counselors and Kings trilogy by Elaine Cunningham, the popular author of many books in the Forgotten Realms series. As evidenced by this book and her others in the Forgetten Realms world, Ms. Cunningham is definitely a fan of elves as a few to several of her characters are of elvish descent.The story revolves around a young jordaini that has his best friend taken from him. The primary villain, Kiva, the Magehound, is the one responsible and Matteo, the jordaini, seeks justice. While Matteo himself does not have magical abilities (it is forbidden for jordaini to have them), he does meet others with magical abilities to help him on his quest. The Magehound convinces those who follow her that her plans for conquering a swamp filled with undead are honorable. However, they soon learn that she is simply one who intends to better herself. The storyline drags a bit in places, but that is to set up events later in the book. The ending is satisfying, but abrupt. The buildup is too long for the quick resolution. There are a number of subplots left hanging which will be resolved in the next two books. The fight scenes are also not discussed in detail like they are in Salvatore's books (his strongpoint). Cunningham seems to spend more time describing the characters and their world. This is not necessarily bad, but when a book is this short (312 pages) and too much time is spent in this manner, the overall flow of the book is affected -- hence my rating of three stars. It's still an enjoyable read, but be prepared to read the other two books in the trilogy soon afterward to have all questions answered.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent
Review: "Magehound" and "Floodgate" are imho among the best books of the Forgotten Reamls.
I can only recommend them! (Can't wait for the third...) Oh, and it seems that Wizards is finally starting to put decent covers on their books - another positive thing to mark :-)
Rating:
Summary: A good start to a trilogy
Review: "The Magehound" is the first book in the Counselors and Kings trilogy by Elaine Cunningham, the popular author of many books in the Forgotten Realms series. As evidenced by this book and her others in the Forgetten Realms world, Ms. Cunningham is definitely a fan of elves as a few to several of her characters are of elvish descent. The story revolves around a young jordaini that has his best friend taken from him. The primary villain, Kiva, the Magehound, is the one responsible and Matteo, the jordaini, seeks justice. While Matteo himself does not have magical abilities (it is forbidden for jordaini to have them), he does meet others with magical abilities to help him on his quest. The Magehound convinces those who follow her that her plans for conquering a swamp filled with undead are honorable. However, they soon learn that she is simply one who intends to better herself. The storyline drags a bit in places, but that is to set up events later in the book. The ending is satisfying, but abrupt. The buildup is too long for the quick resolution. There are a number of subplots left hanging which will be resolved in the next two books. The fight scenes are also not discussed in detail like they are in Salvatore's books (his strongpoint). Cunningham seems to spend more time describing the characters and their world. This is not necessarily bad, but when a book is this short (312 pages) and too much time is spent in this manner, the overall flow of the book is affected -- hence my rating of three stars. It's still an enjoyable read, but be prepared to read the other two books in the trilogy soon afterward to have all questions answered.
Rating:
Summary: A good start to a trilogy
Review: "The Magehound" is the first book in the Counselors and Kings trilogy by Elaine Cunningham, the popular author of many books in the Forgotten Realms series. As evidenced by this book and her others in the Forgetten Realms world, Ms. Cunningham is definitely a fan of elves as a few to several of her characters are of elvish descent. The story revolves around a young jordaini that has his best friend taken from him. The primary villain, Kiva, the Magehound, is the one responsible and Matteo, the jordaini, seeks justice. While Matteo himself does not have magical abilities (it is forbidden for jordaini to have them), he does meet others with magical abilities to help him on his quest. The Magehound convinces those who follow her that her plans for conquering a swamp filled with undead are honorable. However, they soon learn that she is simply one who intends to better herself. The storyline drags a bit in places, but that is to set up events later in the book. The ending is satisfying, but abrupt. The buildup is too long for the quick resolution. There are a number of subplots left hanging which will be resolved in the next two books. The fight scenes are also not discussed in detail like they are in Salvatore's books (his strongpoint). Cunningham seems to spend more time describing the characters and their world. This is not necessarily bad, but when a book is this short (312 pages) and too much time is spent in this manner, the overall flow of the book is affected -- hence my rating of three stars. It's still an enjoyable read, but be prepared to read the other two books in the trilogy soon afterward to have all questions answered.
Rating:
Summary: Spellbinding!
Review: A marvelous, magical journey through the mysterious land of Halruaa. Cunningham deftly captures the essence of this place with her wonderful characters and lyric writing. Every word is to be savored! I can't wait for the next novel!
Rating:
Summary: Very Good
Review: After the first page alone I couldn't put it down. The main character was very real as well, I liked how he learned more about the real world as he leaves school and the book progresses. Action packed and Suspensful all the way through. I would give it a six if I could. Congratulations, Elaine.
Rating: 
Summary: A strong start to a new series.
Review: Although I didn't enjoy this book as much as "Elfshadow" or "Elfsong", I found it a much stronger book than Cunninghams's last novel "The Dreamspheres". The only other Forgotten Realms novel to take place in this area of the realms, "Murder In Halruaa", largely ignored the implications of a society ruled by powerful wizards. Cunningham does an excellent job of fleshing out the setting of Halruaa, and she also introduces several interesting new characters and concepts. Since, this is only the first book in the series, I can't say if the story will have a stronger ending than "The Dreamspheres", but I'm definitely looking forward to the next book.
Rating:
Summary: Come visit mighty Halruaa!
Review: As with most tales begun in a new and enchanting land, The Magehound begins with a hefty dose of introductions. Here you'll meet Matteo: Jordaini counselor, his counterpart Andris, a strange girl named Tzigone, and Kiva: an elven inquisitor that isn't what she seems. Then the plot kicks in, and it would do you well to keep up. Author Elaine Cunningham demonstrates remarkable creativity and subtlety with her stories, and The Magehound doesn't disappoint. Behind all the magic and swordplay, something else is going on. But what? Keep reading, and you'll see. While this novel is an excellent start to a great trilogy, I must say I wouldn't recommend it so highly if taken alone. To truly appreciate the Counselors and Kings saga, you must get to the conclusion! In a manner of speaking, the trilogy is just one long three-book story, and this is just the beginning. There's more- much more- to come.
Rating:
Summary: Very Good...but it has its faults
Review: First of all let me say this: This is a excellent book overall and I reccomend it to all Forgotten Realms enthusiasts. There were things though that I found not so great about this book. The biggest thing was that you don't relate to the charaters to well, as in, you are never sure what is going on in there heads and that gets fairly annoying when someone say they have been struggling with something for a long time and you don't remember the point being brought up before. The other thing is the lack of suspense, there was a chase seen through the roof tops and I had trouble rembering they were being chased, there was no danger felt throughout the whole sceen. It seemed like the characters were just frolicing around without a whim. These problems almost caused me to give this book a three but after consideration, it is well written (especially the discriptions of the city and the laws that hinder the charaters) and a page turner. So overall this is a very good read and I recommend it to anyone who has or would read fantasy.
Rating:
Summary: Trademark Cunningham
Review: Given the task of writing about a relatively unexplored region of the popular Forgotten Realms setting and letting go of the characters which made her such a popular author, Elaine Cunningham has gone back to what made her original books such critical successes--an intriguing plot, interesting characters, and a knack for revealing just enough to keep her readers hungering for more. This novel takes place in magic-rich Halruaa, where wizards rule as kings and their counselors, the jordaini, are their sworn servants, valuable for their peerless training and resistance to magic. This is a great start to her new trilogy, Kings and Counselors (borrowing a line from the Bible, Job 3:14) and promises to be as defining of Halruaa as her prior work was on elves and as her colleague, Salvatore's, work was on the drow. The development of the Halruaan society meshed flawlessly with the plot, with few passages of sheer (and oftentimes boring) description. Rather, instead of telling her readers, Cunningham shows her readers what she needs them to know about the setting. Magic is plentiful, and almost mundane to the characters, but never to the readers, a trap that many Realms authors seem to fall into when describing the fantastic. The ending seemed a little rushed, perhaps due to space constraints, but that is more a fault, I think, of the limited number of pages that TSR dedicates to every novel, and not a fault of Cunningham's otherwise superb storytelling.
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