Wizard Books

Prior to this book, read the first book in the series, "Melusine", and just ignore the embarrassing artwork that looks like Fabio's red haired cousin. That book, with it's dual first person narration creates unique and distinct character voices and a refreshingly original take on the fantasy wizards n theives genre, will suck you in. The fact that one of the voices is of a character who has been deliberately driven stark raving bonkers just adds to the fascination.

The author never stoops to explain the convoluted magic/nonmagic world of the novels, it is inferred through the character's accounts, and gradually unfolds to gain a separate reality of its own, in the tradition of the excellent fantasy works by McMasters Bujold, Le Guin, McKillip, Kage Baker, Jordan, Herbert, even early McCaffrey (yes I said it).

I did have a little personal difficulty with the fact that one of the main characters is gay, and this is an important part of his character and situation. I got over it however, because this is just one aspect of the story that revolves around two unlikely brothers drawn together in the most difficult of circumstances. It is just one of the things that shows how different the brothers are.

How would you like to finally meet your high-falutin wizard half-brother just when he's been driven out of his mind by a dangerous magical assault and kicked out of the prestigious ruling party as the worst kind of traitor? If you are thief and murderer Mildmay, you will yearn for family you never had, and respond with single minded loyalty, in the face of every kind of dissuasion, difficulty, and disaster--not the least of which is the lack of gratitude from the brother in question. Will they find a cure? Can Mildmay outrun his own past? Will they elude capture? Will Felix even remember Mildmay and his sacrifices if they do?

In "The Virtu", the two brothers are still together far from home, Felix is (mostly) no longer crazy, and thief/murderer Mildmay is unwelcome damaged goods in the eyes of the sycophants and wizards who surround Felix. In a successful continuation of the two voices/first person narration, these two completely disparate personalities tolerate and sometimes care for each other in their own unique ways. Felix's struggles to repair the damage he has caused to his home city and to his brother are paralleled by Mildmay's struggles with a wizard's curse, his dubious past, and his inescapably prophesied future. Wizardly and non-wizardly adventures and rescues abound, but it's the two strong personalities that make these books un-put-downable. By tying himself to Felix, Mildmay has let himself in for more trouble than anyone can imagine, and in the end, it is Felix's fault. Will Felix stop hurting and using people? Will Mildmay quit his stubborness and learn to ask for help, or will he tell Felix where to put it? read for yourself!

'The Virtu' is the continuing story of half-brothers Felix Harrowgate and Mildmay the Fox. Felix is no longer insane, Mildmay is now crippled, and the brothers begin their journey home to Melusine. Felix is convinced that he can repair the Virtu, and regain his place in court as a wizard at the Mirador.
Mildmay, on the other hand, is not too sure about going home. He is also told that there is a prophecy concerning him, and its not a good one. He asks Felix to cast an 'Obligation d'ame', which binds Mildmay to Felix by magic, and it cannot be undone. Due to this binding, many unseen issues arise throughout the book, that is just one of the many twists and turns in the plot.
Also joining the story are Mehitabel Parr and Gideon. Malkar also comes back, and you have a very exciting and involving story.
I liked this book just as much as the first book in the series, 'Melusine'. I found that Sarah Monette has kept a steady pace throughout this story, and I love the fact that no one is really what they seem. The characters are multi-layered, and as a reader you are constantly surprised by the things that develop throughout this story. This book is written with the same verve and force as the first book, and I didn't find that there were any slow spots.
The descriptions of Melusine, court life, and the struggle between Mildmay and Felix are well written. Yes, there are still times that you may find that you don't like Felix, or the downtrodden attitude of Mildmay, but this is always balanced by what events shaped them as a person. For example, you find out that Felix was forced into prostitution as a boy, and forced to be a lover of Malkar, It explains a lot about why Felix acts the way that he does. Mildmay, on the other hand, was not educated, and he was trained to be an assassin and cat burgler. Because of his rough ways, he is not welcome at the court of Mirador, and Mildmay is very isolated and lonely.
I would recommend that you read the first book in the series called 'Melusine'. The plot continues from 'Melusine', and it would be hard to figure out what is happening in this book if you haven't read 'Melusine'. This book does not have a glossary or a map, but I didn't need either to understand the plot.
This story often shows the ugly side of the human character, and I was hard put to find anyone essentially 'good'. But I appreciate this from the author. Its gets boring to always read about 'outwardly' good people!

THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS I HAVE EVER READ, I WAS JUST FINISHING THE MOONS TREATOR, AND I WAS SCARE THAT I WILL NEVER FIND A BOOK AS GOOD AS THAT ONE, BUT I WAS WONDERFOUL MISTAKE, SARAH MONETTE IS NOW ONE OF MY FAVORITE WRITERS I READ THE BOOK IN 2 DAYS, FELIX SUPERV, SORRY IF MY REVIEW IS NOT VERY GOOD BUT IM FROM MEXICO AND MY NATURAL LENGUAGE IS THE SPANISH.IS WAS A LITTLE SLOWER THAT MELUSINE, AND I REALLY THINK THAT THE PERSON OF THE GIRLFRIEND OF FOX IS REALLY ABSURD, I WISH FELIX HAD FOUND HAPINESS WITH HIS GORGEOS BUT MUTE BOYFRIEND, BUT HEY, I WILL WAIT FOR THE NEXT BOOK.

This book is the sequel to Melusine, and that's by way of saying they're more like two volumes of a single tale than two standalone books. Melusine gets Felix and Mildmay to where they were going, but once they're there they have to patch themselves up and then get home...and that's only the beginning.

The first book introduced the characters as individuals, and used various adventures during their journey to let you get to know them better. This book is all about the characters interacting--specifically Felix and Mildmay, who remain the two POV characters in this continuing first person narrative.

Felix was psychologically damaged in the first book, requiring Mildmay to protect him. In this book, it's turnabout as Felix recovers and Mildmay quickly finds himself out of his depth. A common thief without any magic, he's looked down upon by the wizards who Felix seems constantly surrounded with, and in some cases he finds himself helpless at their hands. What's more, too much has happened for him to return to his old life, and he's cast adrift to find a new niche for himself. He's in over his head with Felix himself, too: the hapless madman from the first book is gone, replaced by a powerful, confident and charismatic man who's used to getting his way through any means necessary.

But Mildmay is no pushover, and Felix isn't all-powerful, and the two of them quickly discover how much they need each other--a prospect that doesn't comfort either of these men who're used to living their lives in emotional isolation. But it makes for great reading, let me tell you. This book is saturated with the developing relationship between the two brothers, touching scenes and false starts and sometimes lashing out as they increasingly realize they're in this together.

The plot here is more integrated and consistent than in the first book, where it mostly consisted of spurts of activity among a lot of boring travel. This time, Felix has a goal that drives the action: he wants to get home to fix his screw-up, redeem himself, and take vengeance on the man who hurt him. Mildmay mainly follows along and bails the reckless wizard out of trouble. They pick up some new companions and some old ones, including perhaps the only two sane and stable characters in the series. The labyrinth motif deepens in this book into a true theme that echoes on every level from the literal to symbolic, as the characters find themselves lost in actual labyrinths and emotional ones, and even the maze-like turns of prophecy and fate.

But don't expect a happy ending. Just when everything seems to be working out alright and the end is in sight, Felix manages to screw it all up royally. He gets what he wanted, but all is definitely not well, to the tune of another two books following to clean up the mess he makes. And poor Mildmay...if you like writers who are cruel to their characters, this is definitely a book for you. Mildmay claims he can find his way through any maze, and he and Felix had both better hope that's true.

"The Virtu" picks up almost precisely where "Melusine" leaves off, and is as strongly and cleverly written. The world building is excellent, the characters are complex and interesting. Monette is an amazing author and I look forward to reading more books by her. However, Mildmay's character seemed somehow off in "The Virtu." He's not as confident as he was in "Melusine," not as snarky and capable and witty. He went from being strong and active to being passive and almost cringing. And that bothered me. It seemed that the stronger Felix got the weaker Mildmay got, and while that's an interesting technique in general it didn't seem to gibe with Mildmay's established character. In addition, Felix has the hots for his half brother, which on one level makes sense... they didn't meet until adults, they are essentially strangers, and Mildmay has a lot of traits that Felix, in general, finds appealing and hot. Yet once again, it felt tacked on.

Several bits of "Melusine" and "The Virtu" seemed very Yaoi to me (personalities and physical traits, rape-as-badguy-indicator, glowy incestuous feelings, the faaaabulous femmy gay guy), so if you like Yaoi you'll probably get a kick out of this. To me, however, a lot of it felt like... I don't know... fanservice?

HOWEVER, quibbles like that aside, I greatly love both books in this series and the way Monette deals with a princess-in-disguise in "The Virtue" is enough for me to fall madly in love with her writing. Monette's an incredibly strong writer, snarky and sarcastic, poetic, and one of those rare artists who can craft an incredibly unlikeable character and still make him interesting and almost loveable.

Obviously I loved this series, and have recently rediscovered it. The premise is that a super intelligent machine/being lives in the orbit of Saturn, this is the second book in series, start with titan, wizard, then demon, and you get the entire series. Picking up here first will just confuse the reader. You need to read the series in order to get the full scope of the story.

This book starts off with the Wizard of Gaea, or Cirroco Jones who has made allies with the titanides, and as now deeply rooted in their birthing cycle, only Jones saliva has an enzyme that will quicken the titanides eggs. From that premise, the exploration of Gaea, and what ends up happening with the very insane entity running the bigger ship around Saturn, you get some great story telling.

This is one of those stay up all night reading books, and given five of five stars for the book. Enjoyed rediscovering the series again.

This series is perhaps easiest described as "Wizard of Oz - but with aliens". Sucked into an alien environment the crew of a spaceship struggles to survive and find a way to escape and return home. Varley does a great job painting pictures with his words, and the characters are all fascinatingly flawed.

I really recommend all three books (Titan, Wizard, Demon) in this series. I discovered this series, and this author, while buying and reading cheap used paperbacks while in college in the 1990s. He has been one of my favorite authors every since. I think I've now read everything he's written.

I really believe the plots Mr. Varley weaves are as good as any author in Science Fiction history, and his characters and character development are much better in my opinion than some of the big name pillars of scifi such as Asimov and Heinlein (i like both of those authors, dont get me wrong - especially Heinlein - but I prefer Varley's characters and story telling style). This is an early series of his, so it doesn't have all of the depth and amazing vision of the future that his later novels and characters can provide, but that doesn't detract much from the wonderful story and plot twists in this series.

I really recommend his "Steel Beach" and especially "The Golden Globe", both excellent novels as well. The "Ophiuchi Hotline" and "Blue Champagne" are also especially good stories. I am not such a great fan of his softer scifi stories like Red Thunder and Mammoth, but thats just my preference in general with scifi subjects.

Highly recommended author.

The printing quality of the book is atrocious. It's as if it had been scanned in at low-resolution from a bad copy. The text is blurry and noticeably bitmapped, making it less-than-enjoyable to read. The first and third reprints of the series -- Titan and Demon -- don't seem to share this problem.

The Gaean trilogy is one of the classics of space operatic adventure. Wizard tries to be more than that. It tries to be a novel of difficult moral questions, of individuals who are at odds with the standards of their society, of individuals that must make decisions that affect everyone in their society for better or for worse. It doesn't do a very good job of that, though. It is a wonderful space opera, but weak as a psychological novel.

Varley isn't afraid to sketch complex characters. Every one of the main characters of Wizard is to some extent or another mad. Since the events of Titan, Cirocco Jones has cracked under the weight of serving as Gaea's Wizard and become a depressive alcoholic. Gaby's century of unrequited love for Cirocco has filled her with bitter resignation. And over the course of the novel, Gaea herself no longer looks like the mostly benign, albeit callous deity she was in Titan, but instead is revealed as contemptous of mortal life and absolutely nuts. Of the new protagonists, Chris suffers from bouts of possession by other personalities, while Robin has a genetic epilepsy that has led her to cut herself off from the rest of her culture, a space colony of lesbian witches.

But having assembled this motley crew, Varley just writes an imaginitive, but fairly typical, adventure fantasy that revolves around the protagonists repeatedly being almost killed by alien monsters. Their respective psychoses manifest themselves when dramatically convenient and may as well be absent the rest of the time. Most of the inter-character development comes through the characters either jumping in bed with each other or talking about how they would want to jump in bed with each other if only it weren't such a bad idea. Doing these characters proper justice requires more subtlety than Wizard offers.

Wizard is good space fantasy adventure, but nothing more.

I'd give it 4.5 stars if I was able.

Whereas Titan was a very good explore the big space object novel as good as or better than Ringworld or Rendezvous with Rama, Wizard improves with some new characters and fleshes out Cirroco and Gaby from Titan.

Gaea, the living entity/world has now established an embassy on Earth and allows immigration/visitors a few generations after Titan. Supplicants in need of something from Gaea such as a disease cured are allowed to come to Gaea and she amuses herself by making them perform "heroic" feats to get the boon they wish.

We are introduced to two characters from Earth, a youngish girl from a space colony of lesbians suffering from a type of epilipsy, and a fellow with what seems to be multiple personality disorder. After reaching Gaea they join up with Cirroco and Gaby and the story really takes off.

All of the sense of wonder of exploration from Titan is still evidenced here, and is even more imaginative. However the characters struggling with their issues as well as the environment is what drives the story and makes you care what happens. Cirroco has become a functional alchoholic, Gaby remains the most normal but bears the scars of loving Cirroco.

Visiting the regional brains of Gaea allows the two visitors from Earth to develop their character while showing us more of the wonders of Gaea. Eventually we learn the visit is to sound out the possibility of a rebellion and the dramatic tension heightens.

Though the book provides full closure to the story, there is a definite hook to Demon which will make you want to move right on.

This is a fast-paced, fun read that is more than worth your while. I cannot believe I have waited this long to experience this bravura performance.

Fan of this old series and was tired of the old d20 rules. These rules seem more "realistic".

So why only three stars, well first let me say that the rules and mechanics of the Alternity system are second to none and are straight forward enough to allow the GM to do what he is supposed to and tell a good story. Where this book falls down though are the specifics sections.

Alternity is a generic Sci-fi rules system which you can use to run games in the far-future (featuring spaceships, aliens, and whatnot) through to cyber-punk (near future with large corporations running the show and bionic implants enabling charcters to perform the impossible) right down to modern day (conspiracies, alien abductions, ghost, vampires etc...). So whilst the rules work for all these settings some of the specifics dont, for example the spaceship section is a waste of time if you are running a near future setting. Now this information isnt badly presented and I found it very interesting even if it wasnt going to play a part in my campaign. IMO it would have been better to leave these specifics to seperate volumes where they can be dealt with in detail.

So in conclusion, the Alternity system is good and you should play it, its a shame that this book doesnt live up to the systems potential.

As a veteran gamer who probably has more gaming material than should be healthy, I'm pleased to see TSR introduce the very promising Alternity game. This book is for gamemasters who wish to run an Alternity game and is the companion volume to the Alternity Players Handbook.

The rules are explained simply and concisely with all the tables and charts well organized and easy to find. More importantly, unlike much of the game products out there, this book is vividly written with inspiration and flair, bringing alive the technology, citizens, and cultures of the setting. All this is finished off by quality art as well. This terrific book prompted me to add the Alternity game to my gaming cabinet. If I can find any fault at all, it is that some sections like equipment and starships are a little brief - I suppose the publishers wanted to leave room for future supplements (what else is new?). A fine effort, nonetheless.

The Alternity Gamemaster Guide is one of the more solide products TSR's published recently. The Player's Handbook, however, set a high standard for Alternity - and the Gamemaster Guide falls a bit short.

That's not to say that it's bad. (Actually, it's almost as good as the Player's Handbook.) With a random star system generator, starship and vehicle components, artifact rules better than AD&D's, templates for NPCs and aliens, and the FX system, what more could you ask for? The answer is "a lot."

The FX rules are a good example of this. The system is way out of whack; for a chapter predestined to attract attention, the rules on Faith, Arcane Magic and Super Powers need serious revision. The same goes for starships; if you don't like stardrives, you're outta luck. And these are only the start of the list of bugs. The alien creation rules seem designed to spawn supermonsters (check out the Elves in the Appendix), and need a point-based system. The system generation rules also need to be defaulted off of. (According to the list, A5 and R5 environments don't exist in the universe!) No equipment creation rules? No random encounter system? In a game touted for its all-encompassing flexibility, the Alternity Gamemaster Guide is almost a fluke. Don't get me wrong; this is still a crucial book to buy. If you get it, though, get Starships (and maybe the Arms & Equipment Guide, even if you don't use Star*Drive). You'll be glad you did.

A core rulebook for TSR's new science fiction roleplaying game, the Alternity Gamemaster Guide provides ideas and essential rules for running an Alternity campaign. Alternity brings flexibility to the sci-fi gaming universe, allowing the gamemaster to create any sort of campaign, from friendly exploration and alien contacts to gritty, grim wars of vast planetary destruction.

Use of this book assumes ownership and working knowledge of the Alternity Player's Handbook. It covers the basics of running a roleplaying game for novices, Alternity's special quirks for the experienced gamemaster, adventure and campaign design, and fast-play rules for the impatient. Sections deal with details of handling character creation, personal statistics and their effects, hero careers, and non-player characters. Tips are given for designing new hero careers, alien races beyond the five provided in the Player's Handbook, and a variety of vehicles, star systems, individual planets, spacecraft, and alien artifacts. The Guide contains many short tables for effects and characteristics, and for determining species lifespans (as determined by technology level). Brief optional rules are also presented for mutants, psionics, cyborgs, artificial intelligence, and "special effects" (any magic, miracle, or superpower beyond the other rules provided).

For players' displeasure there are statistics for 15 dangerous animals from good old Terra and 20 generic alien creature types to modify for every alien need. TSR fantasy fans will find an appendix of conversion rules for bringing AD&D characters, races, equipment, and spells into an Alternity game.

For ease in using published adventures and accessories, a sample nonplayer character statistics form with explanatory notes is provided. Also included are forms for ship design, ship status, and solar system design/record. There is an index of both this book and the Player's Handbook.

Alternity Gamemaster's Guide is an essential element in what promises to be an exciting new game in the science fiction game genre.

--Sharon Daugherty for Skirmisher Online Gaming Magazine

I have the first 3 books and thoroughly enjoyed reading them.
I am looking forward to other books by this author in this series.

I LOVED this book. I'm a big fan of the Scarlet Pimpernel and Zorro and now Danilo Thane. I love the way he plays the fop, but really gets down to business when he needs too. His relationshiip with his uncle Khelben Blackstaff is too funny. I also recomend Elfsong where you meet Danilo for the first time. He is absolutly hillarious.

Definitely two of my all time favorites, Elfshadow and Elfsong, bring to life the story of Arilyn Moonblade, a half-elf Harper, and her adventures in the World of Faerun, as she tries to cope with her dual heritage and seeks to unlock the mysteries of her magical moonblade sword.
The books are so incredibly well written that the reader feels that they have been transported to the Forgotten Realms universe and are actually present among the characters, seeing what they see, feeling what they feel, sensing what they sense. Elaine Cunnigham has truly outdone herself and has presented us with a masterpiece of literature the likes of which we have seen only in JRR Tolkien's work, RA Salvatore's The Dark Elf and Icewind Dale trilogies and in authors Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman's Dragonlance Chronicles and Legends trilogies.
She has done a FANTASTIC job of both acquiring vast knowledge relevant to Faerun as well as presenting this material relating to the customs, the religion and the history of Toril, efficiently and successfully! Her solid grasp of factual detail makes her very capable of providing the necessary background needed to carry out the difficult task of writing Forgotten Realms novels, which is something often missing from the work of many Fantasy authors. Consequently, from the moment you pick up the books you have trouble putting them down and if that is not a clear sign of a fantastic writer/author who can come up with a great plot, I don't know what is!
Elves, spies, assassins, honor, bravery, magic, and swordfights are all about. Elfshadow and Elfsong make up for a great trilogy along with Silver Shadows and are a "must read" together with Evermeet, especially for all those who have a soft spot for everything Elven! In short, it's what Fantasy reading SHOULD be! One should seriously start thinking about turning these books into movies...

Again, Cunningham shows that she has an amazing talent for setting up a premise, and an equally distressing talent for ruining it with trite conventions, poor character development, and laughable dialogue.

This is giving nothing away, but this is an example of what I am talking about: In the first ten pages of the book, you have a great premise defined; the villian needs a magical artifact to wreak revenge. She makes a deal with a dragon for the artifact. In return, she gives the dragon a scroll with a riddle on it that outlines her entire plan, and how to defeat her.

Huh?!?

Is she a James Bond villian?

That has to be one of the stupidest things I have ever seen. Of course the heroes get the scroll, and spend the entire second half of the book solving it and ruining her plans.

And it really is a shame, because Cunningham does a great job of defining the world, showing politics in the Forgotten Realms, and creating motivations for the villians.

It could have been so much more. If you are under 13, and a D&D fan, pick this book up. If you want great fantasy, go read David Gemmell or George R.R. Martin.

This is the best of Cunningham's books. It has a fast-paced plot with a number of interesting elements, but escapes being too complicated, Cunningham's usual flaw. Danilo and Elaith Craulnober come to the fore with no Arilyn around to darken the tone. The ambiguous relationship between the noble Human and the self-centered, evil, yet oddly likeable elf helps drive the action forward, and the bickering between them provides some good comedy moments. The supporting characters are likewise fun, and are well-written to provide assistance or insight to the main characters at the appropriate moments. The villains of the piece are not unsympathetic either, as they have good reasons for their actions, and all of them find themselves caught up in circumstances beyond their control.
I'm still not certain why Garnet, the rebel bard and Harper, should have left the means of undoing her plan with the dragon - a misplaced sense of fair play, perhaps? It would have been nice to have more of an explanation into how the status of bards had declined and how their role in the Harpers changed, and why Garnet was so bitter about it. And the unravelling of her plot and the arrival of the dragon in Waterdeep seemed a little too melodramatic to me.
Yet those should not be taken as seriously detracting from this book. It's a fun read, well written and with some surprisingly poignant moments. A good example of what Cunningham is capable of at her best.

This book is all about Devils and the Plane where they reside. I mean all about them. In my mind there are three really fantastic masterminds in Dungeons and Dragons: Dragons, Mindflayers and Devils.

If you're looking for content you can use all the time, then this isn't the best book for you. Go look at the compendiums or the Complete books. If you want villains and powers to tie together an entire campaign from level 1 into epic, than this is for you.

Included inside is a very nice tale of the creation of hell and the devils that can be easily adapted for your home brew world. Then theres feats, spells, prestige classes, descriptions of the layers and lots of new devils.

Again I must stress that the prestige classes, feats and spells are really geared towards either serving devils or fighting them. This book is a commitment to a devil themed campaign. It does so beautifully.

With the help of this book, my main villain just became a pawn in planar politics. My PCs have lots of options, on how to progress forward. I've got lots of ideas and environments for epic feeling quests before we get to the main devils. I highly reccomend it.

Well, I have to congratulate Wizards for adding another great book to the list of accessories. Our group runs several high level to epic level campaigns and this is a must for anyone who wants to involve the Blood War and the politics and intrigue of hell to your campaign. The new stats for the all the major players are here along with prominent followers and factions for each lord. There are many new feats and skills specific to just these planes as well as a few new presige classes that you can use for PC's and NPC's. The other great things is the plethora of roleplaying ideas for each of the nine hells, including cities, landmarks and many maps to really help you flush out your campaign. Things like this and other information make it a must for your collection so that when your party meets Mephistopheles, its an experience that they will never forget!

This book is a very good addition to any D&D campaign that plans on traveling to the Outer Planes, or fights extraplanar threats on a regular basis. The maps of the nine layers, and the detailed write-ups of the unique leaders of each of the layers add to it's usefulness. The extra devils are also useful to allow for rotating of devilish threats.

If you are a cruel DM (at times) then this is the book for you. Nothing like a trap door to Hell to get your adventuring party set-up for a TPK. In all seriousness, this is a great source for Devils in any DM's line-up, I am glad I picked it up.

This book gave great inside views into hell. It gave the facts on how hell lives, sleeps and breaths, along with the ArchDevils to go with it. If your planning on running a adventure in hell for a duration of time i suggest this book.

Twenty years old this year, the Forgotten Realms Gray Box is still impressive today.

On the heels of their success with Dragonlance, TSR cast about, looking for a more open-ended, less-scripted, and traditional AD&D-style campaign setting. For years, Ed Greenwood and friends had been playing his campaign world, and early Dragon magazine readers were frequently tantalized with articles such as Pages from the Mages, calendar-building, and magical treasures, all hinting at Greenwood's setting, the Forgotten Realms.

TSR released this set (and also began the excellent FR-series modules) in 1987, the last years of AD&D 1st edition. Packed with 2 books, 4 poster maps, and 2 clear hex overlays, the Gray Box is chock-full of information and adventure hooks. Of course, you'll be wanting more, but there's plenty here to get started.

CAUTION: It's been a long time since this set was in production, and the boxes were often the first to be lost. Read seller descriptions with care, as the first dozen listings for sale are typically missing books, maps and/or box. Do yourself a favor and get a complete set.


Wayne Gralian
Wayne's World of Books

A quick commentary: in my humble and deluded opinion I think the introduction of numerous supplements and add-ons dilutes the power of the imagination...

Having said that, this boxed set hit the mark with a vengeance. Not only does it leave a ton of stuff to the imagination by providing a basic fantasy framework; but the framework it does provide is just the type needed that can explode in the imagination to thousands of possibilities. Extra books and more detailed boxed sets simply draw more boundaries - even if it seems there's more material in the box it's just more boundaries and more guidelines...

This set is highly recommended and high quality!

This is it! The first Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, by Ed Greenwood and Jeff Grubb, whom I, like so many other fans out there, owe our thanks to for creating this wonderful, fantastic world. This first Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting is the one that began the tradition of providing vital information concerning the magical world of Toril. Ranging from background history, to city and social descriptions, to important people and characters, to the respective gods and pantheons, to adventure hooks and actual adventures-like the great adventure in the ruins of Myth Drannor-included in the set, to magical items and artifacts, to new spells and monsters, to fantastic maps and transparent hex overlays, this accessory has it all and more!
For the FR enthusiast, like myself, I also strongly recommend the next, second FR Campaign Setting (Second Edition AD&D), which by the way is also in boxed set form (it will take a bit of searching, but it's well worth it), as well as the latest (so far) Third Edition D&D Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, which even though is quite expensive, is still very useful to all FR fans, in providing an update of events. In short, if you don't have it, GET IT! It is highly addictive and so worth it!

Ed Greenwood and Jeff Grubb-Need I say more?
This is the second Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting following in the tradition of providing vital information concerning the magical world of Toril. Ranging from background history, to city and social descriptions, to important people and characters, to the respective gods and pantheons, to adventure hooks and encounter tables, to magical items and artifacts, to new spells and monsters, to maps and specialty classes, this accessory has it all and more!
For the FR enthusiast, like myself, I also strongly recommend the previous edition, which by the way is also in boxed set form (it will take a bit of searching, but it's well worth it), as well as the Third Edition Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, which even though is quite expensive, is still very useful to all FR fans, in providing an update of events. In short, if you don't have it, GET IT! It is so worth it!

I've like some of the FR stuff in the past, but this is the best it's ever been.

A TRUE powergamer at heart, this book blew me away because I read it past the character changes and new game material.

This book has all the characters you've read about, and they're no longer munchkins. A fairly complete history (finally!). It has all the geography instead of little bits and pieces. Complete maps. An explanation for most obscure things. Adventure hooks for almost every geographical area. God descriptions, organizations, etc... Some spells, character classes, prestidge classes (the new kits).

It truly feels alive! It's like having all the old boxed sets, the F&A series, and the FR Adventures book all rolled into one!

The best D&D product that I have bought in a loooooong time (12+ years) -- ranks up there with the 3e PHB, but without the typos (and ranger!).

I only wish they would have detailed Karatur, Maztica, and Al-Qadim in enough detail to adventure there once in a while (if they only gave as much as they did to each of the Dalelands to each of those I'd be happy: an NPC or two, a couple cities, and a couple adventure hooks as to why the PCs would go there...)

(Spoiler Free Review)

This is Book 3 of the Erevis Cale Trilogy. If you haven't read the first two books, Twilight Falling (Forgotten Realms: The Erevis Cale Trilogy) or Dawn of Night (Forgotten Realms: The Erevis Cale Trilogy) just know that this is an excellent Trilogy and you should read those books.

If you read the first two books, know that you won't be dissapointed with the conclusion.

In this book, the Sojourner's plans are finally revealed. The characters get deeper, the battles become more intense, and the plot thickens.

Unlike most Forgotten Realms books, this trilogy really gets into the minds of the main characters. Both the heroes and villains are flawed, and have their own motives behind their actions. Nobody does 'good' things for the sake of being good and nobody does 'evil' things for the sake of being evil. These are all complex characters driven by their own beliefs and motives. This trilogy is also the 'darkest' of the Forgotten Realms trilogies that I've read. Mostly because the characters are deep and emotional scars don't go away with a healing spell.

If you're a fan of dark fantasy, you need to read these books. You don't need to be a fan of Mask, or Shades, or even Dungeons and Dragons to enjoy this trilogy.

Short but sweet. It was a great read.Any sci-fi reader will like this book and trilogy

I did not like this book. It was too much like "Resurrection". At the end the bad guy's motive to destroy the world is "just because". The only worse ending to a series was "Resurrection". Yet if you like dark books without any humor, very serious, and a good guy who is bad then this is the book for you.

Midnight's Mask (Forgotten Realms: The Erevis Cale Trilogy, Book 3)

SERIES: A
BOOK OVER ALL: B
Story: B, Prose: A-, Dialogue: B+, Romance: C, Action: A-, Plot: C+.

This is a very good series, yet this is my lest favorite of the three books, but still worth reading. Paul S. Kemp, is one of the best fantasy writers today, certainly one of the few really good ones writing Forgotten Realms books.

PROS:

Great Characters, well developed, with interesting interplay, and good dialogue.

Vivid prose, vivid portrait of the world, vivid action!


CONS:

The evil protagonist Vhostym, is too weird and way too powerful / God like, makes the story difficult to `get in to' for me, and very unbalanced!

The setting is just to dark and dull.

Why is Erevis Cale a Cleric of Mask, he hates Mask, they don't share a philosophy, this makes little sense to me. Why dose Mask give Cale magic and promote him in his church?

Paul S. Kemp has, once again, delivered the goods with Midnight's Mask, the third book of the Erevis Cale trilogy, following Twilight Falling and Dawn of Night.

The story felt epic in nature as the events chronicled in this book took our intrepid heroes from the ratty streets of Selgaunt to the deepest depths of the Inner Sea. However, when it comes down to what Midnight's Mask really is and, indeed, what this entire series will best be remembered for, the answer is simply, the characters.

Erevis Cale leads a battered and beaten troupe of friends, the psionic teafling, Magadon, the stalwart Halfling priest Jak Fleet and the mysterious Drasek Riven, an assassin and fellow follower of Mask whose loyalties seem to constantly shift. These four companions are opposed by a being of immense power, The Sojourner, and two of his "sons," powerful creatures known as Slaads. From the first page to the very last of this novel, Erevis and company must fight overwhelming odds to stop The Sojourner from completing his task. They battle to stalemates, flee for their lives and fight to the death. This is a dark story that, at its heart, is a simple allegory concerning man's selfishness versus his need to belong to something greater than himself. It is about sacrifice and friendship. It is about human beings, creatures who are always more than what they appear.

It is no fluke that Mr. Kemp's heroes are flawed, real characters, while the villains are a mirror to those heroes, a device to show them...and us, the readers...what is truly important in a world that seems to have gone haywire...where nothing makes sense and where the darkness seems to have taken a foothold over the land...and over the heart. Mr. Kemp has shown a magical ability to create and bring to life characters of deep meaning and ones which we care for, even though we question in the back of our minds why we should. They are complex characters. They are as real as fiction can make them.

The Erevis Cale trilogy, and Midnight's Mask in particular, is a gory, dark and deeply disturbing look into the shadows of the heart and soul. It is also an incredibly emotional and uplifting tale of men who struggle daily with that darkness...and choose instead to follow the path of light and goodness. Midnight's Mask is about wanting to make a difference...wanting to be a hero in the truest sense of the word. It is also about not enslaving oneself to a perceived course of action, a destiny, if you will. This is a story about following your own heart...your own course...for your own reasons.

This novel brought me to tears. It did so because of its honest portrayal of what is important to the human heart. Mr. Kemp shined a mirror into the hearts and souls of his readers...and his entire trilogy showed us that even those who live in darkness never have to let that darkness consume them. Midnight's Mask not only gets my highest recommendation, but a promise to this author that my loyalty to his work has been more than earned for, hopefully, decades to come. Thank you, Paul! And well done!

This is by far the best book I've ever read.It is VERY well written, and it just pulls you in.I couldn't just read a few pages at a time.I had to read CHAPTERS at a time!!If you like Forgotten Realms, then you will love "Shadow's Witness".Go out and get it!!!!

The premise of the story involving Erevis Cale is a good one. However, after reading the scenes involving some the creatures and their "deeds" made me feel sick to my stomach as well as depressed. I hope Erevis is sucessful in his fight to right the wrongs, I just don't have to stomach to see this one through.

Paul S. Kemp is awesome, and its about time the Forgotten Realms series got dark and deep. I am tired of hearing about elves who ride around on white unicorns, only to save their halfling friends. Where is the bloodshed? Hell, and to that one reviewer who said he felt weak at his stomach for reading the book. PISS OFF, you bloody wanker!!!

A piece of art, truly magnificent and impossible to put down. Shadow's Witness combines the treachery and intrigue of the guilds and the supernatural of the Aybess into one, thus Shadow's Witness. As a fan of fantasy books I think this might be the best fantasy book I have ever read! It only compares to Halls of Stormweather another great fantasy book. I am planning on reading it at least 25 more times in my lifetime. The only slightly bad thing about this book is that it is a bit too discriptive at some parts. But my overall feeling great story.

In Shadow's Witness, Paul S. Kemp is introduced to the Forgotten Realms as a voice that will be here for a long time. Kemp exploded onto te Forgotten Realms scene with a dark and gripping story of a butler with a terrible secret that he is keeping from the family he serves.

This is unlike most Forgotten Realms novels in that it is much darker thant he usual nevels that are being released.

Kemp has a knack for creating three dimensional characters and fleshing them out and every opportunity he can. The story line is simply fantastic. I can't say enough about that.

I would be remise if I didn't say that if you enjoy this book and the story of Cale you would be well served to look for Kemp's Everis Cale trilogy, the third book is coming out in November of 2005 and should prove to be a great conclusion to the trilogy.

If you are a fan of the Realms or someone who is considering the realms this is a must read.

Seymour Cray was a genius who devoted his life to high performance computing. This book does a great job of conveying the intensity it takes to be great in your field of choice. Even an exceptional man like Cray encounters major problems which cannot always be overcome.

It was also enjoyable to gain a historical perspective on the culture and work patterns we see in the computing industry today. Cray has to go to such political extremes as moving his entire team to a different town, just to protect the creative process from the day to day demands of business. Not much has changed over the years.

I found the book to be a quick, enjoyable, non-challenging read. It makes an ideal "summer book" for engineers -- a rare thing for technical folks.

Read this book if you live near the Twin Cities. I live in Minneapolis, earned my degree at the U of MN, drive by the old ERA site in St. Paul frequently, live very close to the original CDC HQ on Park avenue, and work with former Cray engineers (who gave the book a strong thumbs up as well). You'll have a strong identification with the characters. The story was a great trip through local history.

This is a highly recommended book to understand the development of supercomputers, the virtues and failures of Seymour Cray, the composition of highly creative teams that created the supercomputers, the rise and fall of several computer companies. But the author's biggest success is in the depicting of the person Seymour Cray and his inner struggles in creating these machines.

This book should be read together with "Skunk Works" by Ben Rich and "Apprentice to Genius" by Robert Kanigel for anyone who is interested in the creative teams that can produce big innovations.

You can of course read this book as a biography of Seymour Cray. But while it describes his genius, it also shows the severely constricted niche in which his company operated. The sheer cost of each supercomputer meant that the client base was restricted to the largest companies and governments. A large part of that cost was due to the custom chips and systems of chips. There never was an economy of scale with Cray's machines.

Meanwhile, other companies like Intel and AMD made CPUs for the mass market. It was these that took full advantage of Moore's Law, and ultimately drove Cray's computers into economic irrelevance. Murray does not present it this way in his book. But while there are somethings you can only do with a vector supercomputer like a Cray machine, for most things, it is far cheaper to have arrays of general purpose CPUs.

This was an excellent bnook for any one interested in the evolution of super computers. Perhaps even for those with no background in the industry. This is not only a story of techological change, but of a maverick as well. Small versus conglomerate. From the beginning, one reads how a small group of engineers can make somethjing extraoridinary. The book does not diminish the importance of money in the ultimate outcome.
What I liked was the specifics. The details of how a Cray machine accomplished the tasks required for the niche it was intended for. The "why" of engineering decisions and the "how" problems were resolved.
This is certainly a good read for any one interested in not only the history of the computer industry (told in the manner of a novel), but of how dedicated people can innovate, even with the ordinary.

Before I start my review, I want to say that I have very little experience with the Magic the Gathering card game. Over the years I have collected the cards on and off, but have since quit the game due to lack of friends who play. With that said, I am reviewing this book not from the perspective of a player, but a reader. I am also reading this book before I have started to read the Invasion Cycle. And now, onto the review.

The Thran is the prequel to the three book Invasion Cycle (making this the fourth book in the cycle). The book tells the story of Glacian, a genius from the "city-state" of Halcyon who during a typical day in the mana rig is stabbed by an untouchable (an outcast or a criminal from the society) with a "powerstone". Afterwards, Glacian is hospitalized as he now suffers from a mysterious illness known as phthisis (am unsure of the correct spelling). After regular healing (white magic) proves to only worsen Glacian's condition, a banished "healer" is brought in to try and cure Glacian. However, it appears that this "healer" has an agenda of his own, while making slow and steady strides to cure the disease he plots and schemes until he finally gets what his heart desires. This is the story of Yawgmoth and his rise to power in the Thran empire, how he came to rule, the revolt from the Thran and other races in Dominaria to stop the evil genius, and the creation of the deadliest "plague of creatures" ever, the Phyrexians.

Though, I'm an essential novice to the game of Magic the Gathering, I have to say that I love this book. All the suspense and drama, the betrayals by loved ones, I mean it's all amazing. I had a hard time putting this book down because I was left wondering what would happen to Glacian would he get better or would he perish from the disease the eats away his body. And Yawgmoth, another gripping character, as you go through the book, you're just hoping that someone, anyone realizes what he's doing and tries to stop him. I must say that I am very pleased with how this story ends and can't wait to read the Invasion Cycle. This is a gripping novel of love and loss, deception and betrayal, and the ultimate battle of good and evil.

The Thran is a deep tale of progressive generation and its roots in civilization. The visions painted in our minds of heavenly cities and floating temples provoke ideas of ascension as if we were citizens of Halcyon itself. The story is enriched with intrigue and open-ended technological innovation in the form of a limitless source of energy. Insights into the brilliant mind of Glacian imbue a sense of wonder at the possibilities of such energy sources. His wife Rebbec has countless inspirations of beauty, and as an archictect they both contribute to the good of the city. Yawgmoth is the catch. He is much more than a character, he is an idea. He is the embodiment of human moral failure, shown through his rape of entire nations for his own means. He is a compulsive liar, and tends to get away with it because anyone who speaks the truth is silenced immediately and branded a sick person who needs to be quarantined. I would love to see this on the big screen, with a high budget. Johhny Depp would make a great Yawgmoth, Sean Bean would make a great Glacian, and Vin Diesel would be awesome as Gix. Angelina Jolie as Dyfed and the woman who plays "M" for 007 as Eldest Jameth.

this is the bomb. If you ever wondered how yawgmouth came to power this is the book you need. Must have

The first book I read in this series is Nemisis, then I got Apocalypse, and all time I wanted to know more abot Yawgmoth, Rebbec and Halycon, now I know! This is so good I cried, even the sample pages show how cool the book is. J. Robert King writes the best MTG books (and the funniest and must cursed filled ones.). This is my favorite book in the world.

This book is excellent. It has a lot of background information on some important characters in the magic universe. This book takes place before Urza and Mishra, and even before there were colors of magic. In fact, there is no knowledge of magic in "the Thran." This book starts with the knowledge of a Thran-Phyrexian War. It then jumps back and explains the build up to this war - which by the end will leave you wondering what just happened and how the magic universe was drastically affected thousands of years before Urza rocked the world in the Brother's War.

Very interesting book and I recommend it for Magic: The Gathering fans and those who have never played the game. M:TG fans will certainly love the history provided but the story is still so well written and an amazing tale that even people who do not know who Yawgmoth is will still like the book.

Upon finishing this book I wanted to immediately to jump in to the "Invasion" cycle because the Phyrexians are so crazy and powerful. I can't wait.