Clayton Emery Books

This was an amazing book like the rest of Clayton Emerys books. This is a realy good book but you should read the other two befor this.

This was a great book like the rest of Clayton Emery's books. It was fast, fun, and exciting. I recomend that you read the first two before you read this one.

Mortal Consequences, the third book in the Netheril trilogy, is the best of the trilogy. This book begins with the heroes from the first book in peril and the pace continues throughout the book. Unlike the first two, there are no lull periods.

While the first two were mainly action-oriented, there was little heart-to-heart involvement between the characters. In this one, the main hero, Sunbright, searches for his lost tribe. Even though he was forced from his tribe in the past, he feels it's his destiny to find his tribe and return them to their prior glory. Not only does he find resistance within the tribe, but he and his companion encounter a number of obstacles outside the tribe.

A character from the first book returns, but in a new, more powerful form. After resolving the issues with his tribe, Sunbright has the ultimate showdown with the enemy. While the ending is rather abrupt, it is satisfying. The revelation about his companion is a little "out there", but most readers will probably see it coming. Overall the trilogy is better than average with an excellent conclusion.

IMHO Clayton Emery is one of the best of the Forgotten Realms authors. I always find myself becoming involved with his characters and I cannot wait to read what happens next. While many elements of this book were somewhat predictable, it didn't bother me because I enjoyed the journey so much. The ending of the book is very uplifting and leaves the reader with a good feeling. Of particular interest is how the characters Sunbright and Candlemas evolved and grew over the course of the series. I hope is is working on the follow-up to this series that he aluded to in the epilogue. I also highly recommend Emery's Star of Cursrah.

The kids go to camp. At campfire, they talk about vampires then Vampires started to appear in the camp.

To me, i find it scary because of the vampires. i only had THE TALE OF THE SOUVENEIR SHOP. In this story, the kids talk about a legend of vampires.

I loved this book and thought the use of the dialect gave a real feel for the time and place that the book was written about. For a few days I was Minner and living in the Smoky Mountains. It is great look into a life different from today. I sure hope there are more stories to come from Mrs. McCracken.

I bought this collection of short novels having read many good reviews but I was disappointed. I think that the thing that I liked less is the Sembia location and the characters that here take life. I think this setting is not fantasy after all, it is more a kind of 18th century Europe mixed with fantasy elements that don't fit well together at all. Ed greenwood confirms himself a great inventor of poeples and settings and a bad writer, but also most of the other authors couldn't really suspend my disbelief. I didn't enjoy at all this collection of stories and will not buy other books located in Sembia.

This was an excellent book and provides a very intriguing opening to this series of books. The book is divided up into 7 chapters, each chapter focusing on a member of the Uskerven household.

I found most, if not all, of the characters to be enthralling with all of the stories well written. There is the proud patriarch of the family, Thamalon Uskevren, the disappointed heir to the family forturn Tamlin, the free-spirited daughter Tazi, the very independent second son Talbot, the proper yet mysterious matriarch Shamur, the distinguished butler Erevis Cale, and the young, innocent servant Larajin. The chapters set up stories for each family member. These stories will unfold through the rest of the series, with one book focusing on one family member. It definelty is an original way to do a series. Hopefully the full-length stories will be as good as these chapter length ones were.

Erevis Cale is by far the most popular of the characters and with good reason. He is much like Drizzt in that he has a very honorable streak in him and love for the people around him, but his past is very dark and shady. I know he has gotten one trilogy dedicated to him, and I believe there is a second one planned. I was also drawn to Talbot. His story one of being cursed and having to be responsible for things he wasn't responsible for. Something we can all relate to at certain points in our lives.

These were just my two favorites. I am looking foward to reading all the stories about the family, and I'm hoping that they develop more series for the individual characters and not just Erevis Cale.

I read this book very, very fast because of the fact that is is seven separate stories, there was something bran new every fifty or so pages, so you go through the book very fast. The stories are fast paced and exciting and good for anyone that likes a good fantasy or medieval based book, regardless of if you've read any other Forgotten Realms books. It can easily be a stand alone novel.

This is an excellent novel, with only a few faults. The main gripe I have with the book is that it is truly a series of short stories, but is treated like a novel. What I mean to say is that there is no table of content that allows you to easily jump one from story of interest without having to scan through the entire book. The tales need not be read in order at all, and yet you are expected to do so.

Each story centers on one member of the Uskevren house, starting with the Patriarch all the way down to the maid. Each of these people seem to have some special quality about them, and their secrets are kept close to their breasts. Sometimes, it seems that there is a reason that each person is so special or has so deep and dark a secret. Clearly, there is more to this family than is initially let on, and only further tales will reveal what is so special about them.

In case you did not know, the shorts in this book are but preludes to the other novels in the series, they are basically the set up tales that get you interested, but really give you no completion. Many things are left unsettled by the end of this book.

The only downfall I can really see, and it has nothing to do with this novel in and of itself, is that the final book that was to be penned by Greenwood has been canceled. I would love to see another anthology of tales to close out the series.

Of them all, the Best tales deal with the matriarch, the butler, the maid, the daughter, and the second son. The Patriarch's tale is informitive, but dry and the heir's story has plenty of drama, but no depth. Two out of seven aint bad! Besides, they are still decent tales.

Warning: If you buy this book you will have to pick up the rest of the series!

This is a fair to good collections of short stories that are somewhat interesting.
Why buy this book, well if you want to read the books and series that follow the characters that are started here, that would be the reason.

Ed Greenwood `The Patriarch' -- slow and dull (C-)
Richard Lee Byers `The Matriarch' -- strange (C-)
Clayton Emery `The heir'-- unlikable fop (C+)
Voronica Whitney-Robinson `The Daughter'-- spoiled, very spoiled(C)
Dave Gross `The Youngest Son'-- interesting werewolf (B)
Paul Kemp `The Butler' -- superb story of a likable assassin!!! (A+)
Lisa Smedman `The Maid' -- really good story of a cleric to be? (A-)

OVERALL SCORE: (B-/C+)
READABILITY: (?), PLOT: (B-), CHARATERS: (B-), DIALOGUE: (B-), SETTING: (B+), ACTION/COMBAT: (A-), MONSTERS/ANTAGONISTS: (C+), ROMANCE: (B), SEX: (n/a), AGE LEVEL: (PG)

This was an entertaining book that I would read again. I felt that the only real draw backs came in the lack of information about the land and people that the story takes place in. A little more background information would have been nice. Also, what kind of a name is "Sunbright Steelshanks" for a barbarian? Shouldn't the name be more gutteral? Sunbright sounds like the name of a preistess of sune or some such thing. If you can get passed the name of the hero, and the general feeling of not really being familiar with the land it takes place in, then you will enjoy this book.

It was better than the novels of poor authors like Greenwood. In other words, every single female in the book didn't end up naked and the heros weren't invicible.

It was worse than the novels of great authors like Salvatore and Niles. That doesn't mean it was a bad novel. There were some enjoyable parts but overall Sword Play was mediocre.

Sword Play starts good and ends better. The action, monsters, and close calls were so well described I'd brake out in sweat and start to shake as I read. If you read this book plan on reading it strait through, you WONT put it down.

Clayton Emery is an author I had never heard of before reading this tale. The book is so enthralling and breathtaking I have read it more than five times now. Every single paragraph is well detailed and carefully worded. The characters seem to come to life as you read more and more. Reading about Sunbright as he adventures through the Nine Hells is more fun than one could imagine.

Sword Play, the first volume in the Netheril Trilogy, is a fast-packed, hack and slash, sword and sorcery tale. The book immediately jumps into the action and continues almost non-stop throughout the book. There is an extended lull about a third of the way through the book which lasted a bit too long -- hence my rating of four stars instead of five.

After the lull ends, the action starts again with the meeting with the One King and his task to Sunbright, the barbarian main character. The basis for the story is two wizards placing a bet on the barbarian's survival. Eventually, the bet comes back to haunt them and they, in addition to Sunbright and his newfound companion Greenwillow, must try to right the wrongs caused by the bet.

Creatures abound in this one -- dragons, pit fiends, hordes of Nine Hells creatures, etc. It's a fun read, but don't look for much character development. Although the trilogy is now out-of-print, copies can still be found ...

Star of Cursrah is without a doubt Clayton Emery's best work to date. A truly original idea from an up-and-coming author. The adventures of Amenstar and her companions are not easily forgotten. A very haunting tale. 5 stars!!!

This is one of the better FR books that I've read. I enjoyed the characters and was able to empathize with them (important point). Although I figured out how the story would end (for the most part), I found it to be no less tragic and moving. Although I don't think a sequel is viable, this is one of those books where you're left wondering what happened next to the characters. This is a TSR book that I expect to read again!

Clayton Emery has writen another fabulous book. Clayton describes every detail of the battle scenes.

This is a very good read if you are not looking for a hack and slash adventure. The characters are all well defined, the book reads easily, and is well structured. The characters are not superhuman, which is a nice change of pace and adds a pleasant flavor to the story. The ending becomes apparent in mid-story but this does not detract from the quality of the tale. I would say that anyone that enjoyed the Cleric Quintet, by R.A. Salvatore, would also enjoy this book.

That is, this book uses about every fantasy novel cliche that existed at the time of its publishing. And what does it have to show for it? A book that's incredible easy to read, and remarkably absorbing. In fact, more than once did I find myself really getting into it, and being a little embarrased. It's a guilty pleasure, but I liked it a lot.

It was actually just a fluke that I came across this book in a book pawn shop. I was pleasantly suprized by how much I how much I enjoyed reading it. It goes fast because it isn't very wordy, but contains the classic elements of fantasy that can be found in books by Tolkein. Ever since I have been searching for the rest of the series. Unfortunately, they are out of print, but are well worth the effort of searching for them. When you work for something it is more highly valued anyway. To all those who are also looking for this series, "Good Luck and Happy Hunting"=)

I must say that I've enjoyed the first four MTG books. Clayton Emery has done an admirable job of bringing the magic of Dominia to the pages of novels, as well as creating a nice story with engaging characters and a pretty exciting plot. However, I am glad that this story has come to an end and more of the world of MTG can now be explored.

In Final Sacrifice, Gull and Greensleeves continue to barely survive fight after fight against a team of wizards that they have thwarted in the past until Greensleeves eventually just snaps and nearly destroys everything around her. The ending of the book comes as somewhat of a surprise, with characters from the past reappearing and the "final sacrifice" not being what you'd expect.

Another quick, easy, and enjoyable read, I'd reccomend it for someone looking for a short and relaxing read.

The book brought to conclusion the stories found in the two previous books. I have to admit, it was tough to read it. Boring at times, character flaws. I gave 3 stars becuase the last chapters made up for it. I must confess that I really felt bad for Greensleves. This proves that after three books, those characters, mostly Greenselves and Gull, really grew on me.

I have not used this one with my students.

it is an awesome book i loved the part where greenseleves cast the gaint storm on the blue barbarians whil protecting her own troops

Greensleeves grows in power and battles the evil wizards who cast gloom upon the land. I loved this book! More wonderful descriptions.

I was looking a long time for some great fantasy book whith the good, beautiful yet extremely powerful sorceress in the main role. This trilogy and especially 'The Final Sacrifice' fulfilled all my demands at 100%. I can only mourn there isn't more books like this.

While I really enjoyed the first MTG book, Arena, I thought it lacked a decent explanation of how the magic actually works. I mean, where do the summoned creatures come from and where do they go when a battle is finished. In this book, an attempt was made to do some explaining about this and really helped the reader get a better grasp on just what is happening during wizardly battles. In this book, summoned creatures are real beings simply being teleported into the sight of a duel and remain behind aftwards until sent somewhere else by a wizard. This system makes more sense to me than the one in which monsters are just created from nothing or summoned from some kind of void in a wizards pouch.

The story in this book is also fun and fast-paced. Greensleeves and her brother Gull are introduced and begin their adventures under the employ of a wizard after their home is destroyed by a wizard duel. While the book may seem a little kiddish (especially the characters names), the story is actually detailed, violent and gory, with all the good elements of a good pulp fantasy. A fast and enjoyable read.

I tried to read the MTG books in the order they were published, and after reading Arena, I was very surprised by the difference. Also, you can't expect all the books to be the same. I think the book was good -- the plot was almost too predictable and the main characters are developped nicely. The name of the characters is another matter: they are way too "green" related. I used it with my students, and they seemed to have liked it more than I did.

Clayton Emery writes the most exciting fantacy books I have ever read. He describes every detail of the battle scenes.

This was a really good story of Gull, the woodcutter and his sister, Greensleeves, a mage who doesn't know she is. The descriptions are so good, I could read them over and over.

I have been an avid magic player for seven years now and this book captures the essence of the game more than any of the other books do. In Magic players summon creatures without thinking twice about them, but this book explains, for the first time, where they come from. Every creature has a story. The newer Magic books do an excellent job of keeping the storyline for the game together, but this original story (along with it's two sequels "Shattered Chains" and "Final Sacrafice") are the best of the lot. They tell the story of Gull, a simple woodcutter and his sister Greensleves and how wizards change their lives forever.

While not very historical, this story has a lot of verve. Lots of gore and grue - and some very realistic children. Good plotting, and a very nice interplay between magic and ordinary life.

Come to Sherwood. But beware! Not only may your purse be lightened by outlaws, but the animals too may threaten your life. This is an absolutely wonderful tale of Robin Hood, a book for the general reader as well as the serious Robin Hood scholar. In Emery's novel we are privy to the thoughts of the animals of Sherwood as well as the Merry Men (and Women). The battle scenes are particularly violent (after all, it is set in the Middle Ages) and there is a dose of fairy magic for the fantastically inclined reader. But most of all, this Robin Hood has all the swashbuckling zest of an Errol Flynn movie. The "swinging from the trees" episode is particularly funny. This is the best new Robin Hood tale to be published in quite some time.

_Robin Hood and the Beasts of Sherwood_ is a delightful romp and adventure in still-ancient Sherwood Forest. Emery has woven together many elements, not just from the early Robin Hood tales and their later variants, but also elements of magic and a wonderful rendering of the forest creatures' worlds from their perspectives. There are also stories within stories of Robin Hood in the Holy Land during a Crusade.

Robin Hood's world is created here through the lens of modern attitudes and for the most part, the combination succeeds. There is a sense of '60's communal family life with several of the band married and with children, living in cottages but holding the group's goods in common. Tasks are also less rigidly separated by sex. Men do a fair amount of parenting and women are not averse to being crack archers in both contests of skill and actual fighting.

Greater issues than simply a plot line are suggested. Robin Hood may often be reminiscent of Peter Pan in Nevernever Land but he is troubled by the extensive authority over this group that its members have accorded him. The only jarring element is the outlaw group's encounter with the king. The action felt too extreme--not in keeping with Robin's equivocal attitude regarding authority. The sheriff of Nottingham also seemed less the traditional enemy and Sir Guy more a blackguard than might be necessary but the overall high quality of the other elements more than outweighs these minor complaints. This is Robin Hood for grownups who have never quite relinquished their childhood.

_Robin Hood and the Beasts of Sherwood_ is an exciting revisioning of the legend of the greenwood outlaw and his band. Clayton Emery displays a sound knowledge of the original medieval ballads and the subsequent alterations that the legend has undergone over the past 6 centuries, yet this novel is no simple retelling of the old stories. Emery deftly weaves together core elements of the tradition with novel characters and plotlines.

The story is steeped in the earthy and sometimes brutal realities of medieval life. Sherwood, moreover, teems with wildlife, which Emery describes with a naturalist's attention to detail. Counterpoised to this realism are magical elements that reflect the sort of mythic approach to the legend that first became popular among 19th century folklorists, and later characterized the British cult TV series _Robin of Sherwood_ in the 1980s.

Most notable among the new characters in the novel are the women of Sherwood, who include a former prioress, an elderly midwife, a witch, a bold fighting "yeoman", and several mothers with young children. These women are not passive maidens in distress, waiting to be rescued; they use their own physical strength, courage, and intelligence to protect themselves, their forest home, and their community from danger.

The villains of the piece are also noteworthy. Robin and his valiant band must contend not only with their traditional enemies, the Sheriff's men and Guy of Gisborne, but with eerie forces beyond their understanding, which threaten the outlaws' very existence in Sherwood.

As the story unfolds, Robin himself must face his own spiritual doubts about his way of life, while assessing the political and personal consequences of his equivocal relationship with King Richard. How far dare Robin go, without endangering those he leads?

With its compelling blend of realism, mysticism, and adventure, _The Beasts of Sherwood_ is a welcome addition to the contemporary canon of Robin Hood fiction.