Lady of Poison

Rating:
Summary: New concept, average execution
Review: "Lady of Poison" begins well, and my hat is off to the author for a truly original idea. The Forgotten Realms seems a bit stale, but "Lady" *mostly* avoided the standard drow/dwarf/elf characters and associated plot progression.

About a third of the way through the book, I found myself struggling to continue. The main character is two-dimensional at best, with an unexpected-but-unexciting origin. The supporting characters were similarly undeveloped, and seemed to discover or reveal necessary skills at a remarkable rate - Deus Ex at it's best.

Villians were over-hyped compared to the ease with which they were dispatched, although the brief underground sojourn and introduction of the Demon Queen was interesting. Unfortunately, this character, too, degenerated into a convenient mechanism for the author to extricate the adventurers from mortal peril.

I originally bought this book because I hoped that it would be told from evil's perspective. The concept of the Rotting Man and power granted by Talona is refreshing enough to get me to browse the next book on the shelf - not sure if it will be worth buying.

Rating:
Summary: What a fine start to the Priests!
Review: I loved this book. The main character, Marrec, has a unique past that is revealed throughout the first half of this fast-moving book. He has a few companions, the warrior Gungarri, the ranger Elowen, and the wizard Ususi, who are all interesting and characterized well. I liked the chemistry of the group and they used interesting magic items.

The quest they take on is enjoyable and fast moving with excellent villians. The monsters they fight are out of the ordinary and the action scenes brilliant. I loved the descriptions of everything rotting... this is an awesome book and the author did a great job writing it. I hope the rest of the Priests are this good!

Rating:
Summary: Suprising and enjoyable
Review: I thought I knew where things were going. But I was wrong. The characters kept finding themselves in new places. I especially enjoyed it when they traveled through the ancient Imaskaran plane of mistakes on their way to Dun Tharos. Also, I really liked the story behind Marrec's parentage--I don't want to give it away here. I bet wou will like it, too!

Rating:
Summary: Decay, Plague, rot and a very unlikely party
Review: I thought this book was great. I liked the fact that the main party was composed of various clerics and men/women of various faiths. The party is composed at different times of elves, humans, mages, and a mudusa... oh, and a demon from time to time. Everybody in the party is from far away places and exotic lifestyles that are very interesting and facinating in their each exotic way. It shows how strong a party can be if there are many different skills, even though this party struggles often enough.

Also, the realm of enviornment that the characters are exploring and adventuring in is plagued, rotting, and decayed forest area because of the nemesis - the Rotting Man. He has overtaken the power of one of the cleric's God and there the adventure begins. The creatures and enemies are unlike anything I've read in a Forgotten Realms book. They are creatures that have also been overtaken by the decay and rot of the Rotting Man. There are also great battles that include magic weapons, potions of destruction, musical instraments, and demonic forces.

It is hard to actually review this book because it is so different than the typical fantasy adventures that I've read, especially from the Forgotten Realms. I'm excited to see what the rest of the books in "the Priests" series has in store for us.

I also liked Bruce R. Cordell's writing style. It was fresh and well written. I hope he continues to write because he's good - real good.

Read this book, it is a good one. Well worth the time.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining story and good use of game rules
Review: The characters in this story are well developed and non-standard. I really enjoyed the back story of the main character, and his battle with his ideas about himself. As I read this book, I noticed some of the 3rd ed. rules being woven in, quite well I think. I never asked the question "how the heck are these people still alive?" as I often do with Ed Greenwood or R. Salvatore books.

The concept of exploring priests is fairly unique; I think this series will prove they are trove of ideas and concepts that are entertaining as well as readable. I am very much looking forward to the next segment of "the priests" and I hope it is well done.

Rating:
Summary: Boring and unengaging
Review: This didn't feel like a Forgotten Realms adventure. It was hard to care about the characters, and the plot meandered. Not bad, as such, but just not very interesting.

Rating:
Summary: Good concept - really BAD writing!
Review: While I know that the FR novels are meant to entertain and not endure as legendary works of literature, I thought the writing in this book was very poor. Lines like "Marrec felt he could feel the cold ..." were very annoying and found throughout the book. The bad writing caused me to put this one aside. I often wondered if an editor spent any time at all on this novel.

The concept overall was interesting and I will pick up future installments in the Priests series (the Rogues series was quite enjoyable). WotC seems to be looking for new authors for the FR line, but Bruce Cordell should stick to game design. If you must read this novel (I try to read every novel in the FR and DL lines), borrow a copy from a friend or the library.