Rating: 
Summary: Almost perfect
Review: I've been a Realms fan for about ten years. Some books are hits, some are misses, and some have been awful. The Halls of Stormweather is great. Granted, a couple things were predictable, and there was one glaring discrepancy in character relationships (reread the Patriarch and Matriarch stories and see if you can find it). The authors did an excellent job provoking interest in the main figures of each story--I'd even get the books about the characters I didn't like just because I want to know what happens to them. Shamur, Tazi, Cale, and the maid whose name I can't recall are my favorite characters. They've got the most depth. Overall it's a fun read and great if you've only got a few minutes at a time to spend on a book.
Rating:
Summary: Almost perfect
Review: I've been a Realms fan for about ten years. Some books are hits, some are misses, and some have been awful. The Halls of Stormweather is great. Granted, a couple things were predictable, and there was one glaring discrepancy in character relationships (reread the Patriarch and Matriarch stories and see if you can find it). The authors did an excellent job provoking interest in the main figures of each story--I'd even get the books about the characters I didn't like just because I want to know what happens to them. Shamur, Tazi, Cale, and the maid whose name I can't recall are my favorite characters. They've got the most depth. Overall it's a fun read and great if you've only got a few minutes at a time to spend on a book.
Rating:
Summary: Need more like this.
Review: If your a fan of Ed Greenwood or the Realms, this is a must read for you. It's a great way to write a book. "Seven parts" means seven different authors writing seven chapters of the same story. The story is about the Uskevren's, a noble family in sembia. The authors take different members of the household, write about each, and tie them all together from one to the next. In a way, it was a refreshing change from reading the same author through a whole book. This was a great way to start a four book series on Sembia. The back-stabbing and subterfuge of the Sembian nobles is almost Drow-like. You can hate one character, only to find out that the next chapter is about him, and end up seeing there is alot more to him than you thought. WOTC should do this with more series. It gives you more than one point of view, but better than a regular anthology could.
Rating:
Summary: Want a little dark fantasy?
Review: Let me say first that I haven't bought a Forgotten Realms novel in a few years. I'm glad I bought this one though. I agree with the otehr reviewer that Erevis Cale is the coolest (congratulations Mr. Kemp), but the rest are cool too, except only the father. Ed's story didn't do anything for me. The youngest son and daughter are probably second and third best. Most of the stories are dark, even grim, with interesting stories and fast-paced plots. The city of Selgaunt really came to life for me, and I got into each of the characters when their story came along. On the strength of this book, I've decided to give FR novels another shot.
Rating:
Summary: I'm impressed
Review: Now I must say that I am quite impressed with this book. Acctually this book is one of the greatest realms books that I have read in a while and the best part is is that it is only the begining. There are going to be full length novels about each of these short stories....and not one of them was even remotely boring. I liked each of the stories so much that I don't even know which caracter is my favorite (maybe Cale). The thing I like most about the cahracters is that they are real, such as Thalamon the second is a wuss in battle but I an't help but still likeing his character. Anyways all I have to say is read this book and you will not be dissapointed...except for the fact that you will hardly be able to wait until the next book.
Rating:
Summary: Best FR short story collection yet
Review: The strength of this book is the character, one member of the Stormweather family. Surprisingly, the weakest story is the first by Ed Greenwood about the clan patriarch. It is by no means a bad story; it just lacks the strength of the others because it seems like an introduction (probably not far from the truth and it serves that role admirably). The best stories detail a part of the lives of the matriarch and the butler, and thankfully WOTC has realized this and already released the second book with the Butler as main character. If the thought of learning about Sembia doesn't appeal to you, read it for the interesting characters.
Rating:
Summary: Best FR short story collection yet
Review: The strength of this book is the character, one member of the Stormweather family. Surprisingly, the weakest story is the first by Ed Greenwood about the clan patriarch. It is by no means a bad story; it just lacks the strength of the others because it seems like an introduction (probably not far from the truth and it serves that role admirably). The best stories detail a part of the lives of the matriarch and the butler, and thankfully WOTC has realized this and already released the second book with the Butler as main character. If the thought of learning about Sembia doesn't appeal to you, read it for the interesting characters.
Rating:
Summary: A must read for fans and non-fans of fantasy books!
Review: This book is possibly the most in depth, intriguing, and well written book I have ever had the privelage to read. Having several authors write in one book does not sound like that good of an idea, but it worked for the better in this novel. The characters are so detailed I often found my self so immersed in the books that they seemed to be a person I had have known for years. I reccomend this book to anyone who enjoys a fantasy book, or a straightforward action novel. Actually, this book has the elements of all great books.
Rating: 
Summary: A book with very interesting characters
Review: This book was placed in the realm of Sembia, and the story took place in the city of Selgaunt - one of the biggest trading cities in Sembia. The book consisted of seven really good stories. Officialy it was an anthology, but I would't call it that because of the lenght of the stories and the way it was built up. The entire book told the tales of the rich merchant family - the Uskevren - and their lives and early days history. The book had seven stories, and each of the stories told the tale of one of the family members. There were the story of Thamalon the Patriarch, which I liked very much. Normally i don't like anthologies, but this book felt as if it was a whole novel. All the different characters worked very well together. It was a very dark book, after my opinion. There were lots of intrigue, and murders, and other terrible things, done for the purpose of outdoing each one's rival. As said before, the city of Selgaunt was a city of trade, so there was lots of plotting against each other. So the stories had all, a really good plot. Lots of other Forgotten Realms books is just hack-an-slash battle books, but this one had really kept me reading for a very long time, even if it was 4 past 12 in the night. Normally i only read Dragonlance books, but i have always wanted to learn about the Forgotten Realms world. So it was because of that, I bought the book. It was a book designed to introduce new fans to the Forgotten Realms, so I immediately picked it up. But still, I don't think that the book serves that really well. There was still so many confusing things, that I didn't knew a heck about, but the well built plot lines kept me reading it, so it is absolutely not a bad book - even if it didn't serve as a great introduction book. My favorite chacter in the book, must have been Thazienne. Maybe it is just because i am a boy, that i really liked her. After my opinion, Thazienne looked very much like Kitiara Uth-Matar from the Dragonlance saga. So if you have read some of the Dragonlance Legends books you will have a very good view of Thazienne.
The other characters in the book were also very good, especially Erevis Cale and the Maid. So i really hope that I, in future Sembia novels will learn a little bit more about The Realms than in this one. It was as if you only learned about the characters in this book, but it was absolutely not bad - remember that.
So i absolute recommend this book to all fantasy lovers and Forgotten Realms fans, for this is very good entertainment.
Rating: 
Summary: OVERALL SCORE: (B-/C+)
Review: This is a fair to good collections of short stories that are somewhat interesting.
Why buy this book, well if you want to read the books and series that follow the characters that are started here, that would be the reason. Ed Greenwood 'The Patriarch' -- slow and dull (C-)
Richard Lee Byers 'The Matriarch' -- strange (C-)
Clayton Emery 'The heir'-- unlikable fop (C+)
Voronica Whitney-Robinson 'The Daughter'-- spoiled, very spoiled(C)
Dave Gross 'The Youngest Son'-- interesting werewolf (B)
Paul Kemp 'The Butler' -- superb story of a likable assassin!!! (A+)
Lisa Smedman 'The Maid' -- really good story of a cleric to be? (A-) OVERALL SCORE: (B-/C+)
READABILITY: (?), PLOT: (B-), CHARATERS: (B-), DIALOGUE: (B-), SETTING: (B+), ACTION/COMBAT: (A-), MONSTERS/ANTAGONISTS: (C+), ROMANCE: (B), SEX: (n/a), AGE LEVEL: (PG)
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