Rating: 
Summary: Not terrible, but not great
Review: This was a bit of a let down. I expected a much clearer story line and telling. This is a book all Forgotten Realms fans should read, but probably just the once. Its hard to follow at times and kinda leaves you wanting to know a bit more at the end. Not what I've come to expect from Ed Greenwood. His other books were wonderful; this one, could of used some work.
Rating: 
Summary: Inconsistent characterization
Review: This was the first Elminster novel I picked up, and although I didn't read it out of order, I read the first three with lackluster interest, if only to ensure that I didn't miss a beat. This fourth edition, while compelling, left me scratching my head.Although El was weakened and injured during his battle in the rift, it strikes me odd that the Chosen of Mystra, one of the most powerful beings in all of Faerun could be so easily cowed and subdued by a mere devil. I would have thought that El's centuries of life exposed him to many creatures on many planes and how best to defeat them, but it just seemed highly unlikely that he would be so weakened as to be unable to fight back except with his mind. Even with the addition of several other Chosen coming to his aid (and failing), the sheer power of the devils in Hell against these powerful mages made me second-guess the whole purpose of the book. Ed Greenwood created an amazing role-playing world for D&D gamers, but his writing structure is hitchy at best, and he has a difficult time getting his point across. Even though I would say this is the best of the Elminster series, it still lacks the impact I would have liked.
Rating:
Summary: Inconsistent characterization
Review: This was the first Elminster novel I picked up, and although I didn't read it out of order, I read the first three with lackluster interest, if only to ensure that I didn't miss a beat. This fourth edition, while compelling, left me scratching my head. Although El was weakened and injured during his battle in the rift, it strikes me odd that the Chosen of Mystra, one of the most powerful beings in all of Faerun could be so easily cowed and subdued by a mere devil. I would have thought that El's centuries of life exposed him to many creatures on many planes and how best to defeat them, but it just seemed highly unlikely that he would be so weakened as to be unable to fight back except with his mind. Even with the addition of several other Chosen coming to his aid (and failing), the sheer power of the devils in Hell against these powerful mages made me second-guess the whole purpose of the book. Ed Greenwood created an amazing role-playing world for D&D gamers, but his writing structure is hitchy at best, and he has a difficult time getting his point across. Even though I would say this is the best of the Elminster series, it still lacks the impact I would have liked.
Rating: 
Summary: A devil's plaything
Review: Weakened and trapped in hell after using his not inconsiderable power to repair a rift between the dark domain and his homeland of Toril, Elminster is captured by a powerful devil. Tortured in unimaginable ways, the demon seeks to break Elminster and thus obtain his unique knowledge both of magic and of the Goddess of Magic, Mystra. The story reads in many places like a group of mostly unrelated short stories, in the guise of Elminster's memories being viewed by the demon like some Saturday afternoon matinee. Often, though, we return to the mental battle being waged between El and the devil. It is overwhelmingly lopsided in the Hell-spawn's favor. We also flash to scenes in Toril, where El is desperately trying to contact powerful friends, in the hope they may aid him. This novel is another in the chronicle of the life of Elminster, having now moved from the distant past to more contemporary times in the current scheme of the Forgotten Realms. Frequently do we see the mighty Elminster reduced to ignominious defeat, as would be nearly all of the well-known Realms heroes were they in a similar predicament. We are given a relatively good versing in the politics of Hell, through the conversations between El and the Demon. We also deal repeatedly with a demon that is apparently too foolish to realize what El is doing the whole time. Also the demon constantly announces that he has had enough of El's distractions, only to allow himself to be distracted yet again. This is probably the weakest point of the book, but it must be considered acceptable in light of the vast brilliance and wisdom of Elminster; being able to constantly deflect the devil could certainly be no easy feat. I think that overall this is a good book, but that it is not as good as some of the earlier books in the series, where we were privy to the early years of the Realms' most reknowned wizard.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty much a bunch of extra filler
Review: While the plot of the book was good, and the way he used the memories to keep power from Nergal was an interesting idea. The story basicly could have been condensed into a single chapter, or even less. It was a nice concept just way overkilled. After the 200th flashback or so my mind started to feel like it was being eaten by the same mindworm Elminster was. I was looking for something very different than what I read in this book.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty much a bunch of extra filler
Review: While the plot of the book was good, and the way he used the memories to keep power from Nergal was an interesting idea. The story basicly could have been condensed into a single chapter, or even less. It was a nice concept just way overkilled. After the 200th flashback or so my mind started to feel like it was being eaten by the same mindworm Elminster was. I was looking for something very different than what I read in this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Greenwood possibly at his best?
Review: Yet another Elminster book by the famed Ed Greenwood, who created the Forgotten Realms a long, long time ago. Having only read a few of his previous books, I find that this one is very different from many of the other FR author's, both in style and in structure. The book is very easy to understand, once the reader has gotten about 20 pages into it, and althought sometimes it's very confusing to distinguish between the memories of Elminster, the current situation in Hell, and the situation in Faerun, they eventually sort themselves out. Greenwood's writing technique does not concentrate on the main character very often, but I find that this new stlye of writing is nonetheless ingenious. Unlike Salvatore's books, or even Cunningham's, which either concentrates on the main character throughout the book, or switches between out "heroes" and the "villains", Greenwood has demonstrated that he can tell the story of a thousand characters, each in intricate detail, and somehow wind them together, and by looking into Elminster's "Memories" (althought most of them somehow don't relate to Elminster whatsoever, I will explain it if you e-mail me.) Greenwood has perhaps achieved a new depth into his prized character and allowed the readers to share this with him. Although few may see this differently (see Subject: EWWW's comments on this book), I suppose that the book can be viewed from a number of angles. I think that perhaps action is not the base of this book (indeed, most of the book is a reaming of memories, and most readers are perhaps disappointed by this), but understanding. As said before, Greenwood's manipulation and control of the characters in this book is almost uncanny, as if several short novels have been combined into one. This is a definite read for all you Elminster fans out there. [....]
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