Baldur's Gate: A Novelization

Rating:
Summary: As bad as it gets
Review: I am a dedicated fantasy reader, and I've devoured tons of good quality, medium quality and poor quality fantasy literature. However, I can say with clear conscience that this is by far the WORST fantasy book I have ever read.

I never played Baldur's Gate (I played the sequel only), so I didn't know the game's plotline. And I've had the feeling that, while the game probably had some plotline (it was acclaimed as one of the best CRPG of the time, so it had to), the book had none. It was a mix of chaotic scenes, with virtually no connection to each other.

As if that wasn't bad enough (after all, I know a couple of books that are a good read even though they come a bit short on coherency), the background level is... nonexistant. Athans does nothing more than describe what's happening, together with the absolutely minimal set of descriptions needed to tell you where's the action happening right now. The characters are totally flat, their motives are virtually nonexistant since you can't tell anything about their motivations from the vague descriptions that are included in the book. There's even not enough room for responsible guesswork.

Well, if the entire story is that bad, maybe the culmination at least offsets the bad impression? Not at all. The ending is probably the worst ending I've encountered not only in fantasy literature, but of all the books I have read. It's as the term "epilogue" didn't even exist in Athans' dictionary.

The Forgotten Realms books are commonly regarded as "mediocre fantasy". Since I started with the top-tier FR authors (Cunningham, Salvatore) I wouldn't understand what this opinion was based on. Now, after reading this book, I start to understand...

Rating:
Summary: Hardly true (or even close) to the game...
Review: Except for the title and a few of the character's names, Baldur's Gate by Philip Athans is barely recognizable as being a novel based on the best selling game.

I began reading this book with a very open mind, knowing that the story would in no way be the same as my own adventure through the game Baldur's Gate. What was so disappointing to me was that the author basically used a very rough outline of the story presented in the game, and then seemingly threw out everything worthwhile (like the characters, and plot for example), as so much excess loot.

The main character Abdel Adrian, is a true stereotype of your run-of-the-mill mercenary. He's almost 7ft. tall and is an expert swordsman who is experienced and well-travelled. Not to mention he manages to take on the enemy hordes of the Sword Coast practically single-handedly. But we'll get to that later.

Out of the 23 or 24 NPCs Philip Athans could have included in his tale, he has chosen to highlight only 5, and those rather breifly before they are gruesomely killed by some form or other. In my opinion, he also leaves out one of the most important characters of the story, Imoen. Of the NPCs left, Khalid, Jaheria and Xan do not even resemble the original characters from the game, except in name, gender and race.

Khalid has become a simpering fool and adulterous womanizer all at once. Strong, opinionated, often motherly, Jaheria has been reduced to a damsel-in-distress stereotype. Abdel spends as much time saving her from spiders and undead creatures as he does averting war. There was a war to be averted, you know? Well, maybe you didn't, since that part of the plot was stuffed behind the endless bloody battles. Xan is in the story for so short a period of time before meeting his demise that he's hardly worth mentioning, and as for Xzar and Montaron well you can imagine their fates as well. The characters were so lacking in development that I couldn't have cared one way or another if any of them survived anyway. Not that I expected them to.

What was done well in this book were the battle scenes. Battle, after battle, after battle. This book is pure hack and slash, and the action is definitely fast-paced and in-your-face. The reason I gave it a two-star rating is that this is the area in which the book semi-redeems itself (if you like that genre that is). The violence is very graphic, if at times gratuitous, but suprisingly well-written for what it is. And that is a book about killing things, lots of things, not a story with a real plot, developed characters or an epic feel. If you love action and hack and slash and don't mind the great liberties taken with the story from a game standpoint, you may very well like this book. Honestly, I enjoyed it for what it was, but I would hardly label it the Novelization of Baldur's Gate.

If you, like myself, are a die-hard BG I & II fan I would suggest skimming through the book before you spend your hard-earned cash on it. You'll either love it or hate it.

Rating:
Summary: Wrost book I have ever read :( so disapointing...
Review: When I first saw this book sitting on the self next to all the other Forgotten Realms books I thought, 'Wow a book based on my favorite game ever, this is great!' how very, very wrong I was... This book sucked! It was poorly written even if you ignore how badly the game portrayed everything from the game. Being a writer myself I know I could've done a better job (in fact there is a wonderful book written based on the game [done as fanfiction] by Laufey on the web).

So overall, don't buy this book! I am warning you now, before it is too late.

-Em

Rating:
Summary: Please, Save Your Money!
Review: I somehow doubt that the author of this book even bothered to play the game before he started writing. The storyline of the book is radically different than that of the game. Even calling it a storyline is kind of a stretch. The whole thing is just a long string of gory battle scenes that have been clumsily linked together. There's no flow--the author just jumps from event to event. It's like listening to a preschooler talking about his day ("Oh, and then this happened. Oh, and then after that, this happened, and then this and this happened.") There really is no ending; the book just cuts you off in the middle of a scene. A lot of important events from the game have been cut out, and many unimportant, dull new bits have been added in (i.e., ghouls eating Gorion's corpse).

The main character doesn't help matters any. In the game, the main character starts out as a sheltered kid who has spent his/her entire life in a library, and grows into a big hero (or villain, if you prefer). Not in the book. The novel's main character Abdel is an empty-headed, one-dimensional barbarian who has been living on his own for years and is an experienced adventurer by the beginning of the book. He's seven feet tall, and his hobbies include stabbing things and smashing things. I just couldn't make myself care what happened to the guy.

The NPC's are completely out of character, recognizable only by their names. Xan The romance with Jaheira is especially poorly done. The main character murders Khalid, who has been written as a complete creep in order to make Abdel look better. Then Jaheira, notably less bossy and sarcastic in this book than she was in the game, proceeds to ignore the whole episode and fall into the arms of her husband's killer. The author left out most of the best characters; the amusingly stupid Minsc and his hamster companion Boo don't show up anywhere here, and even Imoen, who is so important to the storyline that the game and its sequel almost force her on you, was also absent. Sarevok, who has the potential to be a complex and intriguing villain, is just a cardboard bad-guy who goes around roaring and looking evil.

There are far better ways to spend your hard-earned cash than this. If you want the story of Baldur's Gate, playing the game would be your best shot. If you want to read a good fantasy novel, R.A. Salvatore's Forgotten Realms novels are ten times better than this one.

Rating:
Summary: So so Forgotten Realm book
Review: "Baldur's Gate" is based on the popular computor game set in the Forgotten Realms. In it Abdel, a young but experienced sellsword, is charged by his dead adopted father to solve the mystery of why the iron supply in the land is being ruined. He is escorted/guided by a half elf Harper, a flesh eating ghoul, and assorted other charactors as he solves both the political mystery and the secret of his heritiage. I really wish that Amazon.com had a two and a half rating, because that is what this book deserves. Where it is good, like some of the descripition of the mystical realm of The Sword Coast and some of the action, it is excellent. But where it is bad, like with the cardboard charactors and their relationships, it is equally as extreamly a failure. The action and fight scenes that is in the book are exciting and graphic. The book is fairly short, so you can get through it some what quickly. But it also has a tendency to start a chapter after a fight is finished, and some of the description of the places Abdel and company goes is not described very well. The love story between Abdel and Jaheria, the half elf (who is married, by the way) seems like something out of "Melrose Place"; escpecially when Abdel kills the husband. And Abdel seems just a little too psycotic; he loves killing too much. Although this is explained at the end, the blood lust still seems too fake to be a real. Some of the scenes are obviously borrowed. Doppelgangers are murdering important politicians and assuming their identities to further their master's cause. This reminded me a lot of Robert E. Howard's King Kull story "The Shadow Kingdom". To me, though, it's biggest mistake was the end; or the lack there of. The book dose not so much end as it just stops very abruptly. In the end, "Baldur's gate" isn't bad, considering it had to stay within the confines of the game it is based on, but it could have been much better.

Rating:
Summary: Bites
Review: When I first saw that there was a book based off of Baldur's Gate (my favorite game) I immediately bought it. Let me tell you something. This book is not bad. But this book is nothing real special either.
There are many things that I did like about this book. 1) I love the phrase "sellsword" I thought is was an awsome way to describe a mercenary. I also like how he describes his "strong sword arm". That added a nice touch to it. 2) I enjoy how he described some of Abdel's pain after losing Gorion and I enjoy the fact that he gave him a burial. 3) There are many other parts of this book that I do enjoy. The biggest is his choice to use Montaron and Xzar as party members, that tied in well with the story.
I have many things that I greatly dislike about this book though. 1) They don't start off with candlekeep. That would have been the ideal place to begin the story with. It would have shown where the main charactor (Abdel) grew up. 2) They don't describe the relationship between Gorion and Abdel well enough for the reader to truly get a sence over what his loss means. We know that he's devistated but we don't get a sense over HOW devistated he is. 3) The main charactor has never been outside of Candlekeep before. In the stroy Abdel is a mercenary who has already been as far as Amn! The main charactor doesn't reach amn untill the second game! That's why it's called "SHADOWS OF AMN" And what's this about Abdel leaving Candlekeep to make it on his own? 4) In the story Abdel is an experienced killer. In the game the main charactor has never killed before the assasination atempts. I highly enjoy how Mr. Athans portrays his draw to killing and how easy it is for him. But he had never done it before he left The Keep when he accompanies Gorion. 5) Where's Imoen? She follows the main charactor and Gorion! In the game you automatically get her no matter what you say. She is obviously meant to be in the storyline, just look at the second game!
Overall this is a book that could have been done much better but is itself worth reading. I don't know if I would recomend this book to others. This author is good enough for me to read "SHADOWS OF AMN" but overall I think the overall linguistics, narrorations, dialog, and stroytelling could have been better written. There is a distinct lack of Charactor developement, a distinct lack of emotion, and a distinct lack of overall quality. The only real saving grace of the story is it's topic and genre.