Rating: 
Summary: Ewwwwwwwww!
Review: Ok. I have read all previous Elminster books. They were good.
AYE CARUMBA!! THIS BOOK IS BLOODY AWFUL!! Elminster, in order to
close a rift between the world and the Nine Hells, he uses all his magic to close it. So then he gets captured by a wannabe arch-devil. The rest of the book is fragments of Elminsters memories being reviewed and destroyed by the Arch-Devil. The memories have nothing to do with one another!! IN FACT, MOST ARE
NOT EVEN ELMINSTER'S!! Besides, most of the memories are syrupy romantic things. BORING. The ending is so implausible its funny. The Simbul kills THREE arch devils without a freakin scratch! And then Mystra comes in and kills thousands of devils WHO BEAT HER!!
A FREAKIN GOD!! This book is boring and I would check it out at the library before you spend 30$ on it. The book should have a warning sign.However, all the previous Elminster books are very good and I would recommend them
Rating: 
Summary: Pathetic
Review: Sadly, I've watched this author's work get worse and worse with time. This book should have been great. It's a great idea with a great story leading up to it from the work of other authors (ie Return of the Archwizards 1 and 2)....but it was horrible. Nothing but a bunch of unrelated plot snippets from myriad other books thinly strung together in a most contrived and poorly written manner. I forced myself through this book thinking it must get better....but it didn't. It makes me wonder if some 2-bit college hack threw something together at the last minute and they slapped Greenwood's name on it. This author needs to get it together and show proper respect for this venerable character.
Rating:
Summary: Almost not worth your time
Review: The idea is straightforward. Dump Elminster in Hell. Have a demon torture him, again and again and again. In between episodes of torment, give us a couple of pages of 'memories', all unconnected and too short for reader identification; then back to the lash. It's terribly tedious.
I actually stopped reading part way through. I did make it to the end, in the end, but it was a struggle. This book should never have made it to market. Much, much worse than the other Elminster books.
It isn't a relaxing read -- it's either irritating or boring. Who wants to identify with someone being tormented all the time? People go to the office to experience that. This sort of fiction is read as a respite.
Not recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Almost not worth your time
Review: The idea is straightforward. Dump Elminster in Hell. Have a demon torture him, again and again and again. In between episodes of torment, give us a couple of pages of 'memories', all unconnected and too short for reader identification; then back to the lash. It's terribly tedious.
I actually stopped reading part way through. I did make it to the end, in the end, but it was a struggle. This book should never have made it to market. Much, much worse than the other Elminster books.
It isn't a relaxing read -- it's either irritating or boring. Who wants to identify with someone being tormented all the time? People go to the office to experience that. This sort of fiction is read as a respite.
Not recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Actually One of Greenwood's Better Books
Review: The last written book in the Elminster series turned out to be the least confusing book for me. His battles where still very confusing but the storyline was actually pretty good especially at the end. Stuck in Hell to save his friends Elminster is tortured and maimed by an Arch devil and his only way of being saved is to recall memories in which he sends out messages for help. A decent book.
Rating:
Summary: Recycled Material
Review: The other customer reviews are right, read the other books involving Elminster first. When you do, there's no need to read this one. The author is lazy, and decided he didn't need to write new material for his fans.
Poorly written and hard to read. I wish I could get my money back. I'd sell this book used, but I'm not that cruel.
Rating:
Summary: Worst Elminster book yet
Review: This book is just a bunch of short stories tied together that were used to extend the main story from 50 pages to 400 pages. Horrible. I usually knock off a Forgotten Realms novel in a day or two. It's been two months and I still haven't finished this one. I keep finding it hard to go back to it to read it and when I do, I don't end up reading much.
Rating:
Summary: Great read after a bit
Review: This is the best elminster book! However all of those prerequisties are not required. I do suggest the 3 elminster books but this novel is thoroughly enjoyable without any further knowledge. Those other books tell the stories and then you are simply reminded of them, without knowing it is like a series of miniadventures.
At first I was unsuer of the novels format, jumping from memory to very brief discussion with outcast devils and then to a whole new mwemory but I still couldn't put it down.
This book is well worth the read and all El fans can rejoice in his bravery.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderfully written, but a terrible execution
Review: This novel could easily have been a short story, because the main storyline content was very sparse. The ENTIRE novel is spent between memories and Nergal's repetitive lashings. I can understand 50 pages worth, but not 400. The memories themselves and the main story were wonderful, but as a 400 novel, it was terrible. This should have been a short story collection at best.
