Rating: 
Summary: Very Dissapointing
Review: Baldur's Gate was a great dissapointment. Athan's writing was stale and flat. Main character Abdel was a sociopath whose love of killing and general self-centered and selfish personality overshadowed any positive traits he might have. Gorion (Abdel's guardian) is barely dead in the grave, before Abdel kills a drunk in a bar in an excessive use of dimwitted machismo. More dissapointing than the treatment of the hero was the treatment of the subplot characters. Romantic couple Khalid and Jahiera were reduced to a mockery of themselves. Khalid, instead of being loyal and diffident was portrayed as a womanizing rake (!) and sarcastic and agressive Jaheira was reduced to a simpering ninny slinking around in a nightgown after Abdel. Battlescenes were gorry and choppy, with Abdel delighting in killing and mayhem, doing credit to his evil father. I find it hard to imagine Abdel survives with such an inhumane attitude... Wait....Who was the bad guy again? Spare yourself the pain and skip this book. It couldn't be worse.
Rating:
Summary: As bad as any novelization of a computer game can be
Review: I have to question the intelligence of anybody who could give this book a rave review. Comments like "Couldn't put it down", and "work of art; a perfectly crafted peice of science-fiction & fantasy literature that will revolutionize the world". What kind of simple-minded bone-heads are you people. And don't even think of comparing this trash to R.A. Salvatore's work. Athans has no story-telling ability what-so-ever. The characters are as poorly developed as their computer counterparts. No effort has been made to give them any depth or background. I mean look at the Jaheira chick. She watches Abdel disembowel her husband, knees him in the crotch, and books. She happens to get captured by a monster, so who does she call to for help. ABDEL?!. "Oh thanks for rescuing me, Abdel, and lets put that nastiness that happened five minutes ago behind us and continue our mission. You know, the part where you introduced my husband to his spleen." And then we find out this girl has the hots for Abdel. I know she has marital problems with her husband, but he's not even cold in his grave before she's cozying up to Abdel. The whole dynamic happening there seems like it was written by some horny adolescent who's never kissed a girl. Hey, Athans, do you know anything about human social behavior. Athans also has an annoying style of skipping scenes. Like the encounter with those gelatin zombie things that Abdel thought were pilgrims. How do you mistake dead jelly guys for pilgrims? And then how do they sneak up on you and drag you to the ground when your riding horse-back? Is Abdel an idiot? I guess I'll never know because Athans skipped over that and went directly to the fight scene ( which by the way, isn't choreographed or described anywhere near as good as a Salvatore fight scene). Maybe Athans skipped it because he just wanted to stick a fight in his story and lacked the story-telling skill to do it well. I'm gonna wrap this up by saying Athans should get out of the business of writing. I mean, if you think about it not only is he a poor writer, but he couldn't even come up with a plot for a novel. The people who wrote the computer game did that.
Rating: 
Summary: You can't put it down!!!
Review: Baldur's gate is a work of art; a perfectly crafted peice of science-fiction & fantasy literature that will revolutionize the world!!! Philip Athans' masterpiece will be his weapon as he takes over the world with fascination!!!
Rating:
Summary: don't MISS this one!!!
Review: I'm not a big reader, but my friends recommended Baldur's Gate to me. So I read it and I could NOT put it down!!! It is the best book!!! Phillip Athans is an excellent writer & I am positive he is the next J.R. Tolkien!
Rating:
Summary: It is the greatest fantasy book since the bible!
Review: It is the greatest fantasy book since the bible
Rating:
Summary: The Worst Book I have EVER read
Review: This book, mainly written for fans of the video game, will not only ruin the game for future play but is, in itself, offensive and poorly written. Athans' main character, Abdel, is a convenient way for the author to enact a love affair with one of the characters from the game. The book is gory, pointless, and rather juvenille.
Rating:
Summary: Better than the game!!!
Review: I like the non-stop action. I never found myself skimming to get to the good part. Every part of this book is good. Everyone who likes action and adventure in the Forgotten Realms should buy this book! The character Abdel could be the next Drizzt. Fans of R.A. Salvatore should definately check this out.
Rating:
Summary: Very entertaining!
Review: I was pleasantly surprised the novelization of a computer game could be so engaging. The book nicely fleshed out the characters and provided great game background. Not at all the boring rehash of a computer game I was anticipating. I really enjoyed it.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding! A must read for Baldur's video fans.
Review: No way can you put this one down once you get started. It adds a a new dimension to the video game. My compliments to Mr. Athans and his crafty writing. When can we expect the next book?
Rating:
Summary: Bhaal Humbug!
Review: This fast-paced exciting book really captured the feel of the game. I liked learning more about the world and the characters without having to worry about winning! The dialog was tight, the action was hot, and there wasn't a bunch of added "filler" distracting from the story. I can't wait to read his next game novel!
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