Rating: 
Summary: A good read
Review: A long time fan of the Forgotten Realms, I've read all the novels to date. Some have been excellent, some average, some bad and some terrible. But this is quite a way above average.Many of the books in this series have suffered, in my opinion, from irrelevance. Others have been plagued by the reader *knowing* that the author won't kill off the main characters. But "beyond the high road" exhibits neither of these problems. The characters and events are important to the future of the realms, especially the favourite little kingdom of Cormyr. And there is no reason to believe that all the characters, even the royalty, will be alive at the end of the book. I will admit that for much of the book I thought it was fairly standard. But at the end was a twist that I was not expecting, and upon reflection that changed my whole outlook of the novel. If you are a fan of the Forgotten Realms, even if you haven't read any other FR novels, I highly recommend this one.
Rating:
Summary: A Realms-Rocking Read
Review: A long time fan of the Forgotten Realms, I've read all the novels to date. Some have been excellent, some average, some bad and some terrible. But this is quite a way above average. Many of the books in this series have suffered, in my opinion, from irrelevance. Others have been plagued by the reader *knowing* that the author won't kill off the main characters. But "beyond the high road" exhibits neither of these problems. The characters and events are important to the future of the realms, especially the favourite little kingdom of Cormyr. And there is no reason to believe that all the characters, even the royalty, will be alive at the end of the book. I will admit that for much of the book I thought it was fairly standard. But at the end was a twist that I was not expecting, and upon reflection that changed my whole outlook of the novel. If you are a fan of the Forgotten Realms, even if you haven't read any other FR novels, I highly recommend this one.
Rating: 
Summary: History can hurt you
Review: Cormyr, Faerûns forest kingdom, steeped in lore and pride. Long has it stood against the shadows of evil, a bastion of hope against the evils of the world. But, how is one to battle a shroud of evil from within, forged by the nation itself over its long and storied history? A year has passed since King Azoun IV lay awaiting death, incapacitated by an assassin's plot. Cormyr has survived the near loss of her king, but untold evils lie awaiting their opportunity to devour the lands unaware of the danger. "Beyond the High Road" is the second in the, thus far, marvelous Cormyr Saga. The first title, "Cormyr: a Novel" by Greenwood and Grubb, functioned as a stand-alone title, this title does not. In no way does that diminish its value, or its success as a novel. That is not to say it requires you to read the precursor, but doing so will only serve to enhance the plot and the depth to the characters, whereas it will become vitally important to obtain and read the following title. In regards to the author, oft times Mr. Denning has been accused of "not doing his homework" when it came to realms consistency-the prime example being a Shou Embassy in Elversult-nevertheless, he's done his research for this title. His handling of the characters, and their personal voice and ambiance are seamless with previous works. His handling of such renowned characters as: King Azoun IV, both of his daughters, and especially Vangerdahast, is wonderful. This is without a doubt his finest realms work to date, and not to be missed. Further, Tanalasta the much-maligned crown princess is handled extremely well. I cannot in good truth say I like her in the slightest, or that I wish her upon the Cormyte people; but she is handled with a consistency befitting her personality, and past representations. It is true, as another reviewer stated, I wouldn't mind her death, but she is the least of my worries as I look forward to the third act in this saga, this August's "Death of the Dragon" by Ed Greenwood and Troy Denning. The last chapters of this book leave me with many questions unanswered, but I do not feel jaded, as though the answers are not forthcoming. Moreover, if you have waited until now to read this book I envy you even more. If you are an avid reader of all things Faerûnian, or merely a fan of fantasy fiction, you will enjoy this title (along with the predecessor), I urge you to order them now, you will not regret it.
Rating:
Summary: History can hurt you
Review: Cormyr, Faerûns forest kingdom, steeped in lore and pride. Long has it stood against the shadows of evil, a bastion of hope against the evils of the world. But, how is one to battle a shroud of evil from within, forged by the nation itself over its long and storied history? A year has passed since King Azoun IV lay awaiting death, incapacitated by an assassin's plot. Cormyr has survived the near loss of her king, but untold evils lie awaiting their opportunity to devour the lands unaware of the danger. "Beyond the High Road" is the second in the, thus far, marvelous Cormyr Saga. The first title, "Cormyr: a Novel" by Greenwood and Grubb, functioned as a stand-alone title, this title does not. In no way does that diminish its value, or its success as a novel. That is not to say it requires you to read the precursor, but doing so will only serve to enhance the plot and the depth to the characters, whereas it will become vitally important to obtain and read the following title. In regards to the author, oft times Mr. Denning has been accused of "not doing his homework" when it came to realms consistency-the prime example being a Shou Embassy in Elversult-nevertheless, he's done his research for this title. His handling of the characters, and their personal voice and ambiance are seamless with previous works. His handling of such renowned characters as: King Azoun IV, both of his daughters, and especially Vangerdahast, is wonderful. This is without a doubt his finest realms work to date, and not to be missed. Further, Tanalasta the much-maligned crown princess is handled extremely well. I cannot in good truth say I like her in the slightest, or that I wish her upon the Cormyte people; but she is handled with a consistency befitting her personality, and past representations. It is true, as another reviewer stated, I wouldn't mind her death, but she is the least of my worries as I look forward to the third act in this saga, this August's "Death of the Dragon" by Ed Greenwood and Troy Denning. The last chapters of this book leave me with many questions unanswered, but I do not feel jaded, as though the answers are not forthcoming. Moreover, if you have waited until now to read this book I envy you even more. If you are an avid reader of all things Faerûnian, or merely a fan of fantasy fiction, you will enjoy this title (along with the predecessor), I urge you to order them now, you will not regret it.
Rating:
Summary: History can hurt you
Review: Cormyr, Faerûns forest kingdom, steeped in lore and pride. Long has it stood against the shadows of evil, a bastion of hope against the evils of the world. But, how is one to battle a shroud of evil from within, forged by the nation itself over its long and storied history? A year has passed since King Azoun IV lay awaiting death, incapacitated by an assassin's plot. Cormyr has survived the near loss of her king, but untold evils lie awaiting their opportunity to devour the lands unaware of the danger. "Beyond the High Road" is the second in the, thus far, marvelous Cormyr Saga. The first title, "Cormyr: a Novel" by Greenwood and Grubb, functioned as a stand-alone title, this title does not. In no way does that diminish its value, or its success as a novel. That is not to say it requires you to read the precursor, but doing so will only serve to enhance the plot and the depth to the characters, whereas it will become vitally important to obtain and read the following title. In regards to the author, oft times Mr. Denning has been accused of "not doing his homework" when it came to realms consistency-the prime example being a Shou Embassy in Elversult-nevertheless, he's done his research for this title. His handling of the characters, and their personal voice and ambiance are seamless with previous works. His handling of such renowned characters as: King Azoun IV, both of his daughters, and especially Vangerdahast, is wonderful. This is without a doubt his finest realms work to date, and not to be missed. Further, Tanalasta the much-maligned crown princess is handled extremely well. I cannot in good truth say I like her in the slightest, or that I wish her upon the Cormyte people; but she is handled with a consistency befitting her personality, and past representations. It is true, as another reviewer stated, I wouldn't mind her death, but she is the least of my worries as I look forward to the third act in this saga, this August's "Death of the Dragon" by Ed Greenwood and Troy Denning. The last chapters of this book leave me with many questions unanswered, but I do not feel jaded, as though the answers are not forthcoming. Moreover, if you have waited until now to read this book I envy you even more. If you are an avid reader of all things Faerûnian, or merely a fan of fantasy fiction, you will enjoy this title (along with the predecessor), I urge you to order them now, you will not regret it.
Rating: 
Summary: forgotten realms: beyond the high road
Review: Great book the first 200 houndred pages but quickly got bogged down and way to predictabe just wish tanalasta character would eighter grow up and stop getting so many other people killed around her or she woould die (horrieable perfered)yea kill her off and her sister and you just might have something here hope to it happen in the nest book
Rating:
Summary: Good, but has some problems.
Review: Having read many of Troy Denning's other books, I was expecting this book to be far more self contained than it was. In his previous books, even novels that were part of a trilogy stood alone fairly well. Unfortunately, this is not the case with this book. Virtually the whole book is a set-up for the next book in the series. (Which to make matters worse, is a hardcover, forcing the reader to pay quite a bit more money to find out what happens next, or wait another year for the paperback.) I applaud TSR for actually putting out a FR novel where something happens, but I would rather have had a least a partial resolution by the book's end. This book does have good qualities: Denning's plotting and writing style do a good job of keeping the reader's interest. On the other hand, I found that the story seemed to jump around and skip parts too often. Also, many of the characters act rather foolish at times. For example, even after they find that the Ghazneths (the main foes of the book) are largely immune to magic, they keep blasting away at them with spells. All in all I'd recommend waiting for the next book to come out before reading this one.
Rating:
Summary: A good read
Review: I have found Mr. Denning to be one of TSR's better authors, particularly when he is given a plot to work with, and he delivers once again with "Beyond the High Road." His protagonists are developed nicely, and the plot moves along at a satisfactory pace. On the other hand, we're given little in the way of background or character development of the mysterious ghazneths, who otherwise make intriguing villains. I can only assume that all will become clear in the next book; as a previous reviewer pointed out, this book is clearly a setup for the hardcover "Death of the Dragon," due out later this year. If you're bothered by a book that leaves you hanging, wait until summer 2000 or so to read this one.
Rating:
Summary: Beyond the next page
Review: If you need closure to a book, you might want to wait for the sequel and buy both at the same time. This is just an appetizer, the main course is to come. Tanalasta has improved since Cormyr the novel. She is driven and focused now. The creatures were vivid and chilling. I didn't put it down till the end and can't wait for the sequel!
Rating:
Summary: FR fiction for smart people and grown ups
Review: Though it seems like tsr is trying to say that this is a sequel to Cormyr: A Novel -- it's really not. This book is not only more interesting, but much more focussed and just more intelligent in every way. Something big is obviously being set up in this book and you shoiuld miss it at your own risk. Troy Denning gets better and better with age and experience and though I've heard that some FR fans don't like him for some reason. This book is exciting, thought-provoking and flat out excellent. Denning is shaping up to be the best (maybe not the most popular) writer in the FR series. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for people with a brain and those over the age of 12.
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