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Pages of Pain (Planescape)

Pages of Pain (Planescape)

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Could have been better
Review: The ambiance in Sigil was described with great details but the story spirals toward a dead-end when the characters enter the mazes. I also didn't like the Lady of Pain character. Reading her toughts just make her loose some of her mystery. Good storyline tought.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Pain Prevails
Review: The book followed and revealed the Planescape setting perfectly with no error. Philosophy was stressed, just like the planes were meant. Incorporation of Greek Mythology was mint. I read the book in a day.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The best TSR ever.
Review: This book is the best TSR novel ever produced. It is not for the little teens that are reading Forgotten Realms... It's probably the most mature role playing ever written. If you are a fan of Planescape or you like good fantasy then go and buy it.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Not Troy Denning's Best - Maybe the worst
Review: This book is written in a completely different style than any of Troy Denning's previous works, and I found it to be un-enjoyable. The book had little 'point' - some philosophy, no plot, some action. Little is truly revealed about any of the characters, or about Sigil and the Lady of Pain. A slow read, and I would recommend getting it from a library and reading before purchasing.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great book!
Review: This has to be one of the best books I've read in recent memory. Even without a typical plot, the book continually drives the reader onward. I longed for satisfactory chapter endings where I could put the book down for awhile, but they were few and far between. Too often, I found myself unable to stop and forced onto the next chapter.

The reader goes through several levels of revelations, even as the characters themselves do. While some of the characters seem one-dimensional superficially, if that is the case, why does your heart tug so when the full trajedy of this book is visited upon them?

The treatment of the Lady of Pain herself is wonderful. She is the darkest side of the city of Sigil personified, and she forms the entire emotional tone of the novel. As the very embodiment of suffering and pain, we expect to find the evil delight that fills her, but has ever such a loathsome villain raised such empathy? Gollumn was surely deserving of pity, but not the Lady of Pain who revels in her cruelty, who believes it an actual necessity. Yet her longing, as is that of every character in this novel, is palpable and undeniably human.

This is primarily an emotional maze the characters find themselves lost in, and those seeking a hack n slash adventure should look elsewhere, but those who remember that it's role-playing and not roll-playing, should definitely check this out.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Brilliant Work of Fantasy
Review: This has to be one of the best TSR books ever released. Personally I count it as the greatest. The weird uncertainty of the Planescape setting is skillfully portrayed, and the human strivings and pains seem never-ending. Precisely so. And, like with all good fantasy, the author sneaks in some commentary on the human condition between swordfights. The book is grim, more mature, and more cerebral than most D&D novels, but Planescape is about belief, after all. To any who note that the plot of a hero with amnesia learning about his past appears similar to that of the PS:Torment game, I'll note that this book was published before the game was even begun.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Enthralling
Review: This is an amazing book by an amazing author. It is the story of a lost man who has forgotten his past, his love, his name--everything but a mission to seek the the most powerful Lady of Pain, ruler of Sigil, in hopes of regaining his loss. This book delves deep--the imagery created, metaphoric usage, and eloquent, poetic manipulation of wordage is nothing short of amzaing. This is by far the single best book I have ever read--Troy Denning is a god. I recommend it to anyone and everyone, but especially to those TSR lovers out there.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Enthralling
Review: This is an amazing book by an amazing author. It is the story of a lost man who has forgotten his past, his love, his name--everything but a mission to seek the the most powerful Lady of Pain, ruler of Sigil, in hopes of regaining his loss. This book delves deep--the imagery created, metaphoric usage, and eloquent, poetic manipulation of wordage is nothing short of amzaing. This is by far the single best book I have ever read--Troy Denning is a god. I recommend it to anyone and everyone, but especially to those TSR lovers out there.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: PLANESCAPE'S WORSE AND MOST DEPRESSING NOVEL!
Review: This one of TSR worst publications to date. The only good I find in this books is information on Planescape's most populare character-- the Lady of Pain. It also has a good philosophical bent on the star: The Amnesian Hero.

The story begins with the paladin (who acts like a proud buffoon) on a mission for Posideon. The Mission: Deliver a holy package addressed to the Lady of Pain who lives in Sigil. Problem: The Lady has NO temple, NO palace, NO shrine, and absolutely can't be found any place in Sigil. And the Lady isn't a god or queen of any sort so she has no representatives (Is this starting to sound like a comedy?--I wish it were!) Now The Hero (under direction of a sidekick) prays to the Lady (a big taboo in Sigil) only to get wisked off to an horrible ash-filled place called The Maze. The rest of the story deals with the knight and his buddies trying to escaped the Maze (and avoid the Monster).

Thanx to this story, Planescape is one of the most sterotyped RPGs of all times. This story makes the game look like Hack-N-Slash games meets Vampire: the Masquerade. You're better off reading Fire and Dust, a rejected Planescape manuscript.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Difficult allegory
Review: TSR's "Planescape" setting is about philosophies and ideologies of living. At the center of all the universes floats the weird city of Sigil, presided over by the mysterious Lady of Pain. Troy Denning develops the idea that she and the city are the source of all the explanations that people have tried to give for the central fact of suffering. Yet the Lady herself does not know her own origin. The hero is a famous figure from Western mythology, who finally asks the question, "Is it better to know who you are, or to forget?" Planescape seems to derive from dark, philosophical "adult" comics books. Despite Denning's substantial achievement, the generally negative reviews confirm that even D&D players think that Love, rather than Pain, is the central mystery of the universe. "Pages of Pain" will appeal especially to people who like books about serious subjects that demand a lot from their thinking readers.


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