Rating: 
Summary: Horribly disappointing...
Review: An awful end to a story about heroism and strength in the face of adversity. While Shandril has increased in power, Narm has not (why?) and is more useless than ever. He reminds me of the typical 'helpless female' character so prevalent in books and movies. This book seems like an exercise in writing combat scenes, as Shandril kills all those who oppose her, over and over and over again. In addition, it makes little sense that various allies of Shandril and Narm have the ability to magically travel but never share that with them, forcing them to walk and ride while coming under almost constant attack. It's almost like Ed hate's Shandril's character, and is torturing her.
Rating:
Summary: Horribly disappointing...
Review: An awful end to a story about heroism and strength in the face of adversity. While Shandril has increased in power, Narm has not (why?) and is more useless than ever. He reminds me of the typical 'helpless female' character so prevalent in books and movies. This book seems like an exercise in writing combat scenes, as Shandril kills all those who oppose her, over and over and over again. In addition, it makes little sense that various allies of Shandril and Narm have the ability to magically travel but never share that with them, forcing them to walk and ride while coming under almost constant attack. It's almost like Ed hate's Shandril's character, and is torturing her.
Rating:
Summary: Oh please
Review: As a fan of Ed Greenwood and his Forgotten Realms books I was looking forward to the release of this book. It was largely a disappointment though. Not only was the style below par but the plot seemed too haphazard, almost as if it was written by someone on too much caffeine. It may not be Ed's fault since editors will demand entire section of a book to be removed to get the page count within "acceptable" limits. But I will fault him on the way the book ended and the characters' mindsets to justify those actions.
I won't spoil the ending for anyone who may want to read this book, but don't buy it. Borrow it from someone else or get it from the local library and save yourself the money.
Rating:
Summary: What was he thinking!?!?!?!?!
Review: As a fan of Ed Greenwood and his Forgotten Realms books I was looking forward to the release of this book. It was largely a disappointment though. Not only was the style below par but the plot seemed too haphazard, almost as if it was written by someone on too much caffeine. It may not be Ed's fault since editors will demand entire section of a book to be removed to get the page count within "acceptable" limits. But I will fault him on the way the book ended and the characters' mindsets to justify those actions.
I won't spoil the ending for anyone who may want to read this book, but don't buy it. Borrow it from someone else or get it from the local library and save yourself the money.
Rating:
Summary: If I could give it a zero I would
Review: Having read both Spellfire and Crown of Fire, Hand of Fire is pure tripe. I loved Spellfire but I believe Greenwood should have stopped there since the 2 sequels are nothing more than 300+ page chase scenes. You really have no time to learn more about the characters besides Narm being totally useless and Shandril constantly blasting anything and everything in their path. Crown of Fire and Hand of Fire have almost identical plots w/ Shan and Narm trying to get somewhere safe, everyone and their uncle try to get control of Shan and/or her powers and there's someone in the background trying to secretly subvert Shan's powers completely under everyone else's radar. In Crown of Fire, you at least find out more about her powers but there's no such revelation in Hand of Fire, just 20-30 pages of build-up, introduction to characters from other Greenwood FR novels and a 300 page chase scene that I pretty much skimmed and skipped large chunks of since it was SOOOO repetitive. The finale is kinda anti-climactic in relation to all of the buildup (3 books) and the constant referals to Alanandro's prophesy. In the end, Spellfire was good, Crown of Fire was so-so but Hand of Fire was a complete waste of paper, ink and binding.
Rating:
Summary: What was the author thinking?
Review: I loved the first two books in this series. Spellfire and Crown of Fire managed to capture a sense of both humor and desperation.
Not only does Hand of Fire lack the humor of the first two books, it's the single most depressing novel I have ever read. Now, I don't mind a tragic ending, I'm very fond of dark stories, but this ending was far too dark even for me. Narm and Shandril don't managed to accomplish anything, and then Shandril dies uselessly at the end.
Do not waste money buying this book. You will only end up angry about buying it.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing end to a promising trilogy
Review: If you enjoyed the first two books in the trilogy, stop there. Unfortunately, Hand of Fire is a great disappointment. This book will leave you with the feeling of being cheated. The first two installments made this conculsion look very promising. Ed Greenwood had the chance to get Shandril and Narm to their goal and accomplish something. By the end of this book I felt like I just ran around in circles, winding up where I started and feeling dizzy. It would have been better if he just stopped with Crown of Fire and left the story open-ended instead of way he chose to end it.
Rating:
Summary: Oh please
Review: Look, I have tripped and stumbled painfully through three of Greenwood's books and I honestly can't see why people purchase them. To be candid they are bad plain and simple. He is an enigma in that he is a terrible writer and doesn't sell very well versus his peers and yet still he is hyped and touted. It is ONLY because he created the original d&d universe that he is given the courtesy of publishing garbage. If you don't believe me and think he is a good writer try a superior Forgotten Realms author, like Troy Denning. DON'T BE FOOLED.
Rating: 
Summary: A very good novel...
Review: The Shandril Shessair Spellfire novels were hopefully going to be a wonderful story of triumph over the face of overwhelming adversity but instead this book essentially writes the idea that perhaps no matter how much one struggles, there are some battles that cannot be one. I felt Ed Greenwood improved tremendously with this book from the previous ones....truly an excellent work.
Rating:
Summary: Awful! Don't waste your time or your money.
Review: This book doesn't even deserve one star. It is the worst Forgotten Realms book I have ever read. Some of their recent offerings have been weak, but this one was pathetic. I looked forward to this book for months. I should have saved my money. The book is the same scene over and over and over thirty seven times. The Knights of Myth Drannor are nowhere to be found. Every bad guy who said "Hey, pursuing spellfire is lousy idea" changed his mind. Some new ones showed up as well. Shan's kid disappears without explanation. There's no plot. There's no point. The ending is over the top and the montage is enough to make you gag. If you want good FR fantasy, pick up anything in the Sembia series, City of the Ravens, anything by R.A. Salvatore, or most stuff in the Harpers' series, if you can find it.
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