Rating: 
Summary: Kemps Second Success
Review: "Shadows Witness" (The first full book featuring Erevis Cale) was surprisingly good. Surprising, because Forgotten Realms novels have been with few exceptions pretty weak in my opinion.Kemp provides another excellent novel about Erevis and does so by providing extremely interesting characters. Both Cale and the fantastic secondary character Riven are extremely well written and make you want to invest your time in reading about their adventure together. That's what good writing is all about. You can experience it with this novel.
Rating:
Summary: Kemps Second Success
Review: "Shadows Witness" (The first full book featuring Erevis Cale) was surprisingly good. Surprising, because Forgotten Realms novels have been with few exceptions pretty weak in my opinion. Kemp provides another excellent novel about Erevis and does so by providing extremely interesting characters. Both Cale and the fantastic secondary character Riven are extremely well written and make you want to invest your time in reading about their adventure together. That's what good writing is all about. You can experience it with this novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Realms novel
Review: Alright, this is the first time I was planning on writing a review for a book, the other times I decided to do it because I was so over (or under) whelmed. It definitely changes the thought process while reading. Twilight Falling (good title) is the first book in the Erevis Cale trilogy, the fourth book Erevis Cale is a main character in, and the sixth story of his. The fifth one written by Paul Kemp. There is so much I want to talk about, especially the last 30 or so pages. But, for obvious reasons I'm not going to go THAT far. Any further than the first couple of chapters will be entirely vague, and any talk of what is beyond the middle of the book will have the vagueness be replaced with invisibility. Unlike many fantasy characters, Erevis does a lot of sitting around and thinking. While this can sometimes be a little distracting (especially when the events he is reflecting over cause him to fall into a more angsty mood) it does let the reader get into the head of the character and that is always a good. Now don't get me wrong, there is a ton of action in this first book. But it never feels tacked on, it all feels important to the story. Paul deserves great kudos just for that, so if I ever see him at a convention I'm definitely going to give him a box or two filled with that candy bar. He is one of those writers who fit in naturally with the realms. He seems to know what's going on, he can drop small references to distant lands as quickly and easily as a gamer drops money at a convention. He creates little bits of culture that enhance the realms, and makes the reader feel more immersed into the book. An author who can write believable action sequences, make it so a reader can get into the head of the main character, and make the reader feel immersed in the setting of the novel is a godsend. I don't know how much of this is his ability to pick up things that are previously published, and how much is just his mind at work. But I do know I will once again echo my earlier call and say I cannot wait to see what he does in a world of his own making. The storyline is as follows: Shortly before his death, Thamalon Uskevren bought a curious little sphere imbedded with many gems. A shadow adept of Cyric knows that sphere for what it is, and is searching for it. Traveling with the adept is a Half Drow, an Easterner, and a Cormyrian. Erevis Cale (Former letters man for the Night Masks, former Lieutenant for the Righteous Man of the Night Knives, former Butler for the Uskevren Family and current Priest of Mask) is caught up in these events, along with Drasek Riven (Former Zhent Assassin, now in the service of Mask) and Jak Fleet (Former Harper, still a priest of Brandobaris). Lord of Stormweather (Last book of Sembia Series, written by Dave Gross) ended with Erevis Cale leaving the Uskevren employ, though it happening offscreen. Twilight Falling begins before that, and the leavetaking is written out here and written well. It didn't feel forced, how it flowed felt natural due to the ending of LoS, and how Erevis has been changing since the Sembia Series began. And his frame of mind easily launched him into this, the next chapter of his life. The Characterization of the three guys on the side of good (I had to phrase it that way, Drasek can't be called good, and sometimes Erevis doesn't feel that way) is still on target with how they were initially presented, but also shows more depth and more evolution of character. Erevis especially has undergone much, and his thinking, words, and actions all show that. The characterizations of Vraggen and Azriim, the shadow adept and half-drow respectively, are very well done, and Azriim's humour occasionally made me chuckle. The bits (before the end) that really stand out is some of the choices that Paul Kemp made. The Twisted Elm scene had Jak Fleet as the primary character, and let us get into his head. This was brilliant because almost everything that we would have read from Erevis' line of thinking would have just been rehashes of what he's thought in the chapters previous to the scene. By having Jak be the main character, it made the entire chapter new, instead of just the events of the chapter. I also loved how he chose to present Sephris, the insane priest of Oghma. It had me scratching my head and then, a few chapters later, going 'Oh yeah, now that makes sense.' It is also about time that a Realms author included a character like Magadon. I'd say more, but that's near the end of the book. Let's just say, a character like that is a long time in coming. The end had me waiting painfully in anticipation for the next novel. Though, as a nice twist, this story can almost completely stand alone by itself. Just the last 7 pages or so (And some of the foreshadowing earlier in the book) point that this is only Part one. Well those and the fact it says Part 1 on the cover. I highly recommend this to all Realms readers. It is a very delightful and satisfying read. Definitely the best Realms novel I ever read.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best of the Realms!
Review: As a LOOOONG time D&D gamer and fantasy lover I thoroughly enjoy the Realms books. This is one of the best. Kemp goes beyond the one dimensional slash/cast spell/get treasure characters seen in many of these books. His characters think and grow before our eyes. Riven is one of the most interesting and well developed characters to come along in a dragon's age. I look forward to seeing more of him in the future. Maybe in his own series (hint, hint!) I have only one quarrel with this book, and it really is with the entire Forgotten Realms series. New series are constantly branching off willy-nilly like this one and references are made to former books. Yes, the books are "stand alone" but it is distracting and a bit discouraging to keep reading about what happened to the characters in other books. A list or chart somewhere might be a good idea for those who want to know where to start reading the books they have missed and how they relate to this one.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best of the Realms!
Review: As a LOOOONG time D&D gamer and fantasy lover I thoroughly enjoy the Realms books. This is one of the best. Kemp goes beyond the one dimensional slash/cast spell/get treasure characters seen in many of these books. His characters think and grow before our eyes. Riven is one of the most interesting and well developed characters to come along in a dragon's age. I look forward to seeing more of him in the future. Maybe in his own series (hint, hint!) I have only one quarrel with this book, and it really is with the entire Forgotten Realms series. New series are constantly branching off willy-nilly like this one and references are made to former books. Yes, the books are "stand alone" but it is distracting and a bit discouraging to keep reading about what happened to the characters in other books. A list or chart somewhere might be a good idea for those who want to know where to start reading the books they have missed and how they relate to this one.
Rating:
Summary: A new Justicar!!
Review: Dark!!!! That's a good book!!!! I almost quit reading forgotten realms. Thank you Mr.Kemp. Cale is one mysterious,complicated,
and"dark" assassin who teams up with his little friend and fellow hitman to save the world and exact a little revenge too!
All in all great plot deep characters and a cliffhanger ending, keeps you wanting more from this author!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Erevis Cale just gets better and better !!!!!
Review: Everything you have liked about Cale you'll love in this first book of his own trilogy. I suspected that this would be good considering his adventures in Shadow's Witness and was not disappointed. It's an excellent start for a trilogy. Thanks to Mr. Kemp for a great set of believable characters and villans that'll keep you awake at night. But shame on you for keeping us on the edge of our seats at the end. Now get crackin' on Book II!!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book
Review: I actually bought this book cause it had a cool cover, and I haven't read a Forgotten Realms book in a while. Man, I was blown away. Kemp is an outstanding author, with great characters, great action, and a great story. I can't wait to pick up the next book. I'll definatly pick up anything else he writes from now on.
Rating:
Summary: The Butler and the Assassin
Review: The book Twilight Falling was a spectacular triumph for Paul S. Kemp. The reason it was so stimulating was because of the normal single track story line this had a branch story line. There is no true plot becuase there are two plots one is the one we all know with the shadow maginc and the globe the other is about Erevis and his inner struggle. It is not a classic good and bad struggle it is more bad and bad with good intentions. Not since Steel Brightblade from Dragonlance have I heard a better contrast in a person. It is a constant battle in Cale's head and to find out if the butler or the assassin will win you will have to read the next extravagent novel by Paul S. Kemp.
Rating:
Summary: Cale and Company
Review: The pace of the this book is very good with no dull moments at all. The characterization of the main 3 (Cale,Jak, and Riven) was nicely done as well. Excellent book and great foundation for the rest of the trilogy to build upon. Can't wait for the next book to come out.
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