The Ruby Guardian (Forgotten Realms: The Scions of Arrabar)

Rating:
Summary: What in the world?! Not good at all.
Review: I cannot believe how dissappointed I am in this book. It is awful. The first book in the "Scions of Arrabar" was pretty good, and I thought that it left some potential for the rest of the trilogy. But, alas, this book seems to bust out the most random events, and the most random magic.... EVER.

This book is also very frustrating because everything that can go wrong, does. It's like one of those movies like "Along comes Polly," where it is just is incredibly frustrating, and gets to the point where it is not fun to watch (or read) anymore.

The magic is too ridiculous, also. Some Forgotten Realms books have some pretty convienent magic, but this one takes the cake. Seriously, you will understand when you get to a certain point in the book where one of Vambran's family members dies.

Also, who ends a book in the dead middle of a fight sequence?!! It is so frustrating because the climax of the book is the very end, where the actions doesn't even come down, it just ends.

I really don't think that it is worth waiting a year for this sub-par action adventure. If you havn't read the first book in this series, DON'T! It is definately not worth reading. This book was awful, and I have no intention of ever reading it again, or recommending it to anybody.... even hard core FR fans.... EVER!

Rating:
Summary: An improving series.
Review: This book is the second title in the "Scions of Arrabar" trilogy, and is an improvement over it's predescessor, "The Sapphire Crescent". The plot revealed in the first book is expanded upon here, and expands onto a larger world stage. As the characters struggle simply to survive, I found my interest growing as their misfortune increased. The rather sad plot device used in the first volume having been done away with, this second book succeeds where the first one failed. A truly solid offering.

Rating:
Summary: Thomas does it again
Review: Thomas does it yet again. What started in the first is continued here. A fantastic tale, great intrigue, memorable characters. Thomas' skill in writing improves with each release of a new novel. Looking forward to book 3 with extreme eagerness. Keep em coming Thomas!