Wizard Books

THIS MUST BE MY FAVORITE BOOK FROM EBERRON... THE TRILOGY WAS OK... BUT THE FIRST BOOK OF THIS TRILOGY WAS THE BEST I READ... PEOPLE THAT LOVE PIRATES AND VAMPIRES THIS BOOK IS THE ONE...

Thieves of Blood is the continuation of the Blade of Flame short story found in the Anthology book. This book is a great read. There are some parts that will leave you to scratch your head in wonder but over all is good. Quick paced and definitly a character worth bringing back into other books.
Diran has the potential by comparison to be Eberron's version of Drizzt. In my own opinion better because there is no conveluted blood ties and extra character to mess with the tales.

I just finished reading Thieves of Blood. Great ending! Wow, that was very well done. I was quite impressed and it was so nasty. I love the main character, Diran. He's such a great character. I love that he was an assassin and now he's a priest. His backstory is awesome. I love Makala too. Oh, poor Makala and Diran. Wow.

I like how it ended though. There's a part with ghouls under a floor that was just totally horrifying. There were a lot of clever moments in the final battle also. Diran made such a clever use of his holy symbol. Being a priest of the Silver Flame has its definite advantages.

Anyway, it was a very well-written book with exciting scenes and great characters. I look forward to reading the rest of the series. Diran and Ghaji are a good team and I look forward to seeing their further adventures.

The creator of Eberron, Keith Baker would be proud of this one.

Paul Genesse

www.paulgenesse.com
www.paulgenesse.blogspot.com

Author of The Golden Cord
Book One of the Iron Dragon Series
Five Star Books (April 2008)

I must start by saying that anyone wanting to read this book should start with Tim Waggoner's short story from Tales of the Last War anthology. The short story introduces the characters and gives a good starting point for Thieves of Blood. I really enjoyed Waggoner's characters in this book. They are definitely a step above the average, run of the mill, fantasy characters that populate many novels. In fact I think that Diran, the main character, is one of the most interesting characters I've seen in a long time. The main plot is not quite as groundbreaking in that it is mainly a "chase" story. Something gets taken, now we have to go get it back. Not bad, but not new either. Still the characters themselves make it interesting enough. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

Thus far, I've only read the Eberron books by Keith Baker. I was interested in seeing what another author could do with this world . . and I am glad I did.

"Thieves of Blood" is an action-packed, character-driven novel. I was pleasantly surprised at how well written the book is. It is very different from Keith Baker's novels, in that Mr. Waggoner doesn't have the daunting task of creating a whole world. Instead, he expands upon it . . seamlessly, I might add.

The characters are wonderfully written, and are very memorable. The only problem I have with the quasi-once-evil main character, Diran, is that his morals are so high right now, one doesn't believe he was capable of things he might have done in the past.

There is one minor logic problem in the book, but it still bothered me. Early on, Diran and Ghaji are given aliases while talking with the warforged on Nowhere Island. But during this conversation, Diran calls Ghaji by his real name, and no one seems to take notice. This kind of editing in a book always bothers me.

Other than this simple mistake, the book is absolutely a joy. It is a good, quick read . . . but this is no way diminishes the epic feel of the story. I highly recommend this book.

If you haven't read a book by the Wizard yet, you really should. Once you start reading you'll never want to stop. It covers some of the concepts that exist in the other Wizard of Ads books such as "Seussing" "Being Monet" and "Frosting" as well as more concepts and then a plethora of "literary snapshots" to accompany black and white photographs. It is not only another book I wouldn't want to live without for information purposes but it also manages to stir up creativity and emotions through the writing. It also reminds me of a magazine I once had a subscription to, The Sun.

I rescue dogs. I normally do o.k. in finding good homes but I had to do better when I got up to 9 and could not find homes for them. I bought this book. Studied the technique. Now I have families fighting over who gets my dogs. Great. It's all in the presentation. These are examples.

If you haven't read a book by the Wizard yet, you really should. Once you start reading you'll never want to stop. It covers some of the concepts that exist in the other Wizard of Ads books such as "Seussing" "Being Monet" and "Frosting" as well as more concepts and then a plethora of "literary snapshots" to accompany black and white photographs. It is not only another book I wouldn't want to live without for information purposes but it also manages to stir up creativity and emotions through the writing. It also reminds me of a magazine I once had a subscription to, The Sun....

A total waste of money! I believed the subtitle of this book: "... Techniques..." There are no valuable or original techniques here, and next to no explanations about how to write.

If you're looking for how-to on writing, DO NOT get this book.

Let me begin by saying that I am a HUGE fan of the Wizard of Ads trilogy. I found them inspirational, educational, and fascinating to read. I noticed a drastic improvement in my writing techniques because of them. This book, however, I did not enjoy very much. The opening chapters are reprints of ones in the previous books followed by pages of photos with submitted stories behind them. While some of the captions were great to read, I found myself quickly bored and never quite made it to the end. I purchased the book under the assumption that it was in same genre of the trilogy rather than a coffee table book- which, admittedly was my mistake- but it just wasn't for me. On a positive note, having an example of the techniques never hurt anyone; and all the proceeds go to charity.

I'm not a big fan of the WotC SWRPG -- it's simply too complicated mechanics-wise for my tastes -- but this book is an excellent supplement and could be used obviously by its intended audience or by the old d6 WEG crowd with very little modification. It goes into substantive detail on a number of worlds and is well worth the price, especially for what Amazon charges.

One of the most memorable things about Star Wars is in just how unique the worlds are, and that is definitely the case here. The worlds in this book have one thing in common: they are Core planets. Other than that, they are as different from each other as Hoth is from Tatooine.

This wonderfully illustrated hardcover book details no less than 29 Core worlds. Coruscant gets the most space at nearly 30 pages, and most of the other worlds, including Alderaan and Corellia, get three to five pages each. In general, each world has brief sections on its description, history, people, and important locations. Changes from the time of the Old Republic up to the New Jedi Order are also discussed.

At the end of each planet's profile there is a "GM-only" section for each world with adventure hooks and a selection of important NPCs. There are also several new species, six new feats, about a dozen items of new equipment, over a dozen new vehicles and starships, four new droids, and more new creatures than you can shake a stick at (my favorite was the fearsome Coromon Headhunter). Sadly, there is only one new Prestige Class, the five-level Seyugi Dervish.

While I really would have preferred to see a greater selection of PrCs, the book's other qualities largely make up for this deficiency. I should emphasize that while each planet receives a generous amount of information, it is by no means a complete description. The focus of the book seems to be on providing GM's and players with ideas for their own campaigns and characters, rather than on being an exhaustive resource.

As a GM I found the plot hooks and NPC sections to be the most useful. And boy, there are a lot of NPCs, over a hundred of them in fact. Even better is the fact that the plot hooks and NPCs are often connected to each other, which makes for easy adventure creation.

My main complaint regarding this otherwise excellent book is that some of the maps are a bit lacking. Specifically, many of them don't have a scale, which makes it difficult to tell if the map of this or that location covers hundreds of meters or dozens of kilometers. The maps are also far too small for tabletop use, but a trip to the copy shop should solve that problem.

As others have pointed out, a GM would probably get the most use out of this book, especially in a Core-based campaign. Of course, a player could still find this book to be a valuable tool for fleshing out the background of a favorite character. Even so, there is so much variety, information, and so many ideas in this book that I'd recommend it to anyone. Overall I'm giving Coruscant and the Core Worlds a very strong 4 out of 5.

And besides, what campaign could possibly be complete without the main characters visiting Coruscant at least once?

Prior to the release of this sourcebook, there were only three decent sources for information on Star Wars worlds. The first was the Star Wars Encyclopedia, which is filled with so much other stuff that unless you know the names of these worlds already, it's unlikely you'll find them. The second is the Guide to the Star Wars Universe, which additionally has no illustrations and little enough description. The third, and the one I used, is the Essential Guide to Planets and Moons, which provides some useful background info but was obviously not written with the RPG in mind (in fact, it predates it by several years). It's therefore a great relief to see that purpose-written hardcovers are being released that detail parts of the galaxy.

The Core Worlds include many of the worlds mentioned in the movies and expanded universe- Corellia, Ralltiir, Duro, Alderaan, Chandrila, Kuat, and other notables. The systems are listed in alphabetical order save for Coruscant, which is first, and each section has the following parts: General stats (general trivia regarding the system), Description (basic description useful for introduction), History (summary of notable events in all SW periods), People (species and how they behave), Locations (some notable spots and cities, with at least one map).

Additionally, there is a 'For the GM' section with adventure hooks, NPC heroes and villains from various eras that can easily be adapted to any of them, and various stat blocks for said NPCs, creatures, and unique vehicles and starships. There is only one new prestige class- the Seyugi Dervish (an unarmed fighter) but this book isn't really meant to detail those in the first place. Several new feats and species are added, most of which are obviously meant for NPC locals (the Brachiation feat, for example, lets you swing through trees at your speed).

Perhaps the best thing about this book are the illustrations, which are numerous, original, and inspiring. Just getting a glimpse of the Core Worlds is often enough to describe them and plan a few nasty surprises for your players, and the sourcebook does a fine job of providing visual cues. The corresponding information is thorough but not long-winded, and ideal for getting your adventure going with minimal fuss. Coruscant and the Core Worlds really sets the standard for ease of use and value. I am looking forward to seeing similar ones that will describe the other parts of the Star Wars galaxy.

Each Planet listed in this book has details on length of day, length of year, species, population, size, climate, terrain, & much more. Each one also has a picture of the planet accompanying it.

There's also a map of the core worlds along with key location / site maps on nearly every listed planet(very cool).

Coruscant has a huge 29-page entry to it. It also has the GM character Dexter Jettster, info on the Jedi Temple, and many more spots on this planet. Great for many, many adventures.
Alderaan & Corellia get around 7-pages.

There's also a few new species, many new creatures, and a lot of GM characters to throw at Players.

Some starships are also in here, inlcuding : TIE/Ad Defender prototype & E-Wing.

My only complaint is, there AREN'T more of these Planet books out there for this RPG. WotC could have done a series of Secrets of... books for each system (or something like that.)

Otherwise, there ARE a lot of things in this book that will make players believe that their characters are in STAR WARS.

So, yes, buy the book! Support this space fantasy RPG!

I for one can't imagine playing the Star Wars universe without it. I just reciently started playing using the core book and I have to say that world design is the tough part foe me. I don;t lack imagination but I like to have a little consistance from game to game and be able to create a sense of "reality". You know, plot continuity from the movies and all that. Without this book that would be an impossibility for me. I am not a die hard star wars fanatic so I really don't have the info on the entire universe memorized, and even though I don't know tons of facts, I find that usually my players can sense when we're just winging it. Making stuff up and it really doesn't make much fun. This books has what you're looking for. It has all the core worlds and info on each, carefully detailed and well written in a professional way. Weith plenty of NPC and plots tossed in. Just buy it. You won't go wrong.

The Covenant of the Forge portrays the dwarven image to perfection and is a fast read for any fantasy lover. High action and great wording by Parkinson kept me going strong until the end. The best thing about this book is that its a trilogy, so I can satisfy my need for more and reach the conclusion of a great start of a great series.

A wonderful explaination of why Dwarves are the way they are. Wondeful book with lots of suprises along the way!

Dan Parkinson does an excellent job spinning the tale of how the dwarves came to find (or claim) their new mountain home and how the many dwarven clans become inspired to live (somewhat) peacefully alongside their neighboring clans. The history of the majestic and powerful Hylar clan and how they helped to unite the dwarves is an interesting one that I would recommend any Dragonlance fan should read.

This book was the one that drew me into the amazing world of krynn. This story begins the Dwarven Nations Trilogy, which is one of the best DL series ever!

I was totally captivated by this story. The dwarves leave thier homeland, being lead by "Colin Stonetooth", leader of will soon be the "Hylar" clan. They soon arrive in Kal-Thax, and make thier new home below the mountains.

What a spirited begining!! A must read!!

This is a good book, with a big flaw. The timeline is all wrong. The Elven Nations Trilogy for the most part is supposed to have taken place after the Dwarves have delved Thorbardin, and Damon Omenborn (Father of Kings) is long dead. Namely because the ambassador to the Silvanesti in the book Firstborn is Hylar, as well as the fact that troops that fight alongside Kith-Kanan are Hylar troops.

Well in this book Cale Greeneye meets elves in Kal-Thax that say they are from Qualinesti. That really cannot be, since Kith-Kanan didn't found Qualinesti till after the Kinslayer war. Which brings up the question, how do the Hylar of Thorbardin fight in the Kinslayer war, if they are still the Calnar of Thorin?

The Elven Nations Trilogy was released prior to this trilogy. Dan Parkinson should have at least read it, so that they could get their stories straight.

Other than that it is a very good story, and Dwarves make fascinating subjects.

As an old D&Der, I had played in this module many years ago and always loved it. Now with this new update to the old dungeon, and in the 3.5 format, I can once again return to a favorite "Dungeon Crawl" adventure.

Pro's: Well written and well thought out. Easy to use, Encounters referenced by page and section, Specific encounters published at the end of each chapter.

Cons: Having the old original module I was dissappointed that more of the dungeon wasn't mapped out (Spoiled by the old TSR adventure) for a DM to use. Some grammatical and spelling errors, but not many. As I said before, I was spoiled. But that's it for the Cons so far.

If you want a pre-written adventure, then this will last a DM a long time and provide great ideas for side treks.

This is a great book, full of very good material and not only for old Greyhawkers like me.
"Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk" is an adventure, basically, but it's also an unvaluable Gazetteer of the city of Greyhawk, bringing back to life the city with its places (from the "Green Dragon Inn" to Castle Greyhawk) its characters (from Zagig to Robilar) and its glorious history.
Even if you don't want to delve into the dungeons of the castle and into the plot you can find plenty of ideas and cues suitable for your home-made adventures.
Focusing on the adventure, the plot is not flawless, in my opinion: there are some strained situations where the motivations for the PCs are weak, but the overall impression is not bad. I appreciated the innovative managing of the encounters through sort of index-cards including maps and stats: a very good concept.
Finally, the edition is high quality: paper, art, maps are excellent.

I am always willing to pan a bad product. This aint it!
After reading through the module I find it is well written, contains a cogent adventure path, new and recurring characters, and a myriad of side quests to interest players and intrigue DMs.
I think this super module redeems the name of 'Castle Greyhawk' and will prove to be one of the 20 best D&D modules if not amongst the top 10. It moves the level of game play up a notch by having riveting above AND below ground play potential. I'd say this module does for 3rd edition what the 'Temple of Elemental Evil' did for 2nd edition.

I have purchased several of the new modules produced by Wizards of the Coast,including Expedition to Undermountain,Expedition to the Demonweb Pits,and Expedition to castle Ravenloft.This module is the best among all of those.The encounters are believable,the story plot is plausable and intriguing,and the recommended character level suggested seems to actually match the encounters unlike the previous mentions.
There is a wealth of information inside and plenty of story hooks to run side adventures without deviating to far from the original story goals.
I highly recommend this module,it should provide several months of play if used for a 4-6 hour session per week.

Long before the Forgotten Realms, Eberron, heck before most of us even knew what a role-playing game was, there was Greyhawk. Created by Dungeons & Dragons godfather Gary Gygax, Greyhawk would morph from a castle to an entire world. This was the world developed by Gygax and other early D&D pioneers Dave Arneson and Len Lakofka. Over thirty years later Greyhawk maintains a mythical air. It's characters such as Mordenkainen, Bigby, Vecna, Tenser, and Lolth, whose names are scattered all about the D&D world in relation to spell names and magical items. Over the years, both TSR and Wizards of the Coast have put out supplements based in Greyhawk and the latest major edition is the Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk, a truly massive campaign designed for characters of 8 - 13th level (Think higher rather than lower). And while it may be set on Greyhawks world of Oerth, it can easily be dropped into an existing campaign. One would have to think that Gygaz would have loved to have been able to produce a 200 plus page "module" but that was unheard of back then.

The lore of Greyhawk is some of the richest ever developed and frankly puts The Forgotten Realms to shame. The characters developed are some of the most interesting and vibrant characters ever created. The first chapter of the book details many of these major NPCs such as Zagyg (Gygax spelled backwards) who built Castle Greyhawk; Iuz the Demi-God, Archmages Iggwilv and Mordenkainen, and Lord Robilar.

The developers could have just thrown a massive dungeon crawl at players and most would have probably been happy to run gleefully off to play in Greyhawks many levels. But you really do get a complete campaign of not only the castle itself, but its surroundings that is loaded with side quests brimming with intrigue and action. Many of these side quests are ongoing throughout the book and can be revisited numerous times over the course of the entire campaign. The Welcome to Greyhawk chapter details the town itself, popular stopping points like the Green Dragon Inn and Temple of St. Cuthbert; major NPC's, town culture and much more. Mini-maps of the towns various regions are included.

All that remains of the castle are the ruins of three towers: The Tower of magic, The Tower of Zagyg, and the Tower of War. The real action lies underneath these interconnected towers in miles and miles of dungeon levels. Each tower and its dungeons are full detailed with maps and encounter areas as well as random encounter tables. Even getting inside the ruins are no easy task as the players will find out in a series of daunting quests. The sheer scope of the entire adventure could be daunting and its really best suited to a very experienced DM as this much more than a usual hack-n-slash adventure. I mean, it's fun just to sit down and read through the levels. I'm still not real crazy about the major encounters being written up at the end of each chapter instead of just being there as you go along.

There are surprisingly few new monsters and magic items which is fine by me as there are MORE than enough to go around already. Literally this is an adventure which, depending on how often you play, should take players many weeks if not months to complete. It's big...it's deep...and its waiting...I really like this book although I'm partial to the whole Greyhawk mystique. I think the writers have tried to be faithful to Gygax's creation while adding their own unique handprints.

REVIEWED BY TIM JANSON

Gambling Wizards: Conversations with the Worlds Greatest Gamblers, gives you exactly what you read in the title. A short intro to each person interviewed then a Q&A format from there on, some questions have some prior research on the part of the author so he knew which way to lead the conversation as well as a couple standard questions asked each person like "If your teenager came to you and wanted to be a professional gambler, what would you say?".

What I liked about this book the most is the personal information learned about these very famous gamblers. How they started on the road of gambling, personality, views on other gamblers and what it is like to be a professional gambler. I didn't expect them to be so candid and honest. The stereotype that most gamblers are liars hooked on drugs and alcohol didn't even come close to being upheld, most of them talk about having a great routine of exercise and are either completely against drinking and drugs or very infrequently touch it, especially while "working".

There are some really great stories about things that they've gone through, some shaken down by the government/police for money or flat out robbed by someone waiting in the parking lot. Being a millionaire one day, broke the next, and back again the day after. The gamblers don't give up secrets about particular games, which is something I didn't expect to see anyway since every time someone does then everyone knows and it doesn't work anymore.

The book is what you would expect if you were buying based on the title, candid conversations with professional gamblers. I enjoyed it.

This book helped me incredibly understand the odds and help beat the casino at their games. I recommend it.

This book contains a series of 8 interviews with gamblers across a range of games (backgammon, horse racing, poker, other) of proportionate length and content. There is a standard range of in each discussion including youth, introduction to gaming, books, going broke, children and recommendations to others. Each interview is structured as an open ended question and answer session.

The author is not famliar with some of the answers as evidenced by reference to Harvel (for Harville) and may have lost other details in the transcription. An interesting aspect of the book is the definition of gaming slang (e.g. going broke). None of the questions are very pointed and the answers are equally dull. There is nothing about the questions or answers which is going to "open the bank" for any one. Instead, the book points to hard work and frequent losing streaks for the interviewees. Recent interest in poker may stimulate some interest. It was interesting to compare and contrast the answers and come away with my own picture regarding the key factors to success.

Do not expect this book to tell you anything about how the professional gamblers bet or what they perceive the right betting strategy is or how money management is about. This book is just some kind of fiction. By adopting a question-answer or interview approach, this book reveals how those professional gamblers started his/her first betting, how they became professional gamblers and what their interesting experiences were. This book is more of a leisure reading.

This book has made me more money than any "How-to" book. The first time I read it, it was "only" entertainment. I thought "This was a really funny book, but I did not learn much". However, it was amazing how often I come to think of one passage or another while contemplating how to bet! I kept re-reading it, getting very useful hints on what to look for. It is now two years ago since I first read it and I got another one of these "flashbacks" while reading Ziemba's paper om horse betting markets. I though "Didn't they mentioned this in Gambling Wizards?" They sure did - along with one expert telling you why the PhDs model is flawed! All in all, I have been reading over 50 gambling books and this has given me the most help along the way - even though it is not even a "How to" book! My highest recommendation. Get ready to be both entertained and educated.

The Gargantuan Blue dragon is wonderfully detailed and its vibrant blue coloring makes it stand out. A true icon of the game, the blue dragon is a wonderful addition to your collection. As I have said about the other icon miniatures, if your intent is to only use this in a game as a miniature or encounter in your table top game, the price is a little high unless your campaign calls for many Blue dragon attacks. But, as a display or collector item it is very much worth its price. I love my Icon Dragons, I will most likely purchase any others they produce. This is a beautiful set of figures.

I received this product in a timely fashion. The package and the dragon wasn't damaged in any way. My friend, who is a die hard D&D fan, loved it!! Will order from you in the future! Thanks.

Not as good as the Red Dragon but not as bad as the Black. Overall it is nice just like most the minis in Wizards line the mold lines are the killer.

Just like the Red and Black the details are great and so is the paint job.

If you are planning a campaign to challenge the party, or if you just like cool dragons on your shelves this is a good buy. I docked one star because it seemed like a bit less attention was paid to this one versus the Red Dragon in the same series in regards to detail, but for half the size and price it is still very much a great addition to your collection or an even better starting point.

Keep your fire-breathing Red Dragons and give me a good ol' lightning blasting Blue Draon any day! Wizards of the Coast has done just that with their latest edition in the Icons line joining the aforementioned Red Dragon that was released last Fall. The Gargantuan Blue dragon can be used in both the D&D Miniatures skirmish game and any RPG campaign.

The Dragon is indeed gargantuan and impressive measuring around 8" long (and that's WITHOUT the tail extended) and stands about 6" tall. The Dragon's paint job is a nice glossy, bright blue which reflects the light very well creating an almost shimmering appearance which I really liked. The eyes have a certain evil malevolence to them that was also a very nice touch. The detail of the muscles and the beast's scales and claws is very good. I also like the sharp, bony protrusions along the spine that actually look the way you'd expect bone to look. The only complaint with the paint job is with the teeth, which are simply, too white and should have been yellowed to match the age of a great and ancient dragon like this.

It of course comes on a base and will look wonderful on a shelf as a decorative item even if you don't plan on using it in your gaming adventures. In addition it comes with a fold-out, full-color battle map, a game stat card and a scenario sheet. This lighting-spewing monstrosity is truly a site to behold and a fantastic new release from Wizards of the Coast. Highly recommended and well worth the price!

Reviewed by Tim Janson

So far (i've only read a few stories) "To convince the righteous of the right" and "much ado about magic" were the best. I have yet to finish it...but it's nott as good as war of the lance was so far or any of the other anthologies ive read.

If you pick this up, do not just judge the breadth of the novel by the first story or two. "Boojum, Boojum," the first short story, is pretty horribly written. But most of the rest of the stories are excellent, especially "Much Ado About Magic" and "To Convince the Righteous of the Right." If you are interested in the wheelings and dealings of the DragonLance fifth age, without becoming too bogged down by the main storylines, than this would be a perfect book for you.

This book unlike some other of the books of tales varies widely in it's selections. Some stories (Gone) are written differently and also don't have the basic ending. Others (To convince the righteous of the right) have a classic appeal to them. A third aspect of the dragonlance series that is in this book, humor, abounds and the gnomes and other races in Heroes and fools make themselves known. I believe this book to be one of the best tales books and I highly recommend it

I really enjoyed this book. Most of the stories were good, but some were horribly average. My favorite was "Gone". The suspence was terrific and I loved every moment exept for the sudden end. Overall it was a very good book envolving mainly kender and knights. It was well worth the price.

I thought Heroes and Fools was a good collection of stories about the Fifth Age, I enjoyed Boojum,Boojum,Tree of Life,Songsayer,Nobless,Oblige,The Thief in the Mirror and since I have one story left I'm looking forwared to reading To Convince the Righteous of the Right the story of Kang and his band of Draconians. I've allways enjoyed the short stories about Kang. The only story I have not enjoyed is Gone by Roger E. Moore, Manly because the story is witten in Diary form and I hate that. If you enjoy reading the Dragonlance books and like short stories than this book is for you.

I really wanted to like this book, but for some reason I found the story to be just mediocre. The plot is boring and under-developed, as are most of the characters, and Conn hardly even speaks. There is nothing very original or magical about the book, though I do think the author has a clever voice. Hopefully the follow-up will prove to be a better read.

I wasn't able to put this down once I started reading it -- it's probably one of the most engaging and entertaining children's books I've read all year.

I'm not sure that I can say why, exactly -- the elements in the story -- boy picked up off the street, marked by magic for greatness, turns out to have a mysterious past -- are all reasonably familiar from other books, but somehow the way the author combines the elements, the voice she creates for her two main characters, and the humor she sticks in, plus the unsolved mysteries she establishes, make for a whole that is far more than the sum of the various parts.

It is great praise to say that the main character reminds me a bit of Megan Walen Turner's main character in "The Thief" and its two Eddis/Attolia sequels. The Thief and the following books have some of the best writing for young people that is out there (the next book is eagerly awaited), but the second two especially are not suitable for small kids. The Magic Thief is lighter and seems appropriate for just about any age. A very nice addition to the world of children's books; I look forward to the two promised sequels with great anticipation.

More than just another entertaining read, "The Magic Thief" is a fascinating literary experience! With an excellently crafted story-line, vivid descriptions, and engaging characters Sarah Prineas draws her readers into the mystery and action of Wellmet. The book also contains several "extras:" maps, character profiles, secret messages, and even tasty recipes! Yes, my family and I enjoyed our own "Benet Biscuits!" I would recommend this book to anyone!

This is an excellent book, suitable for any age. It is very well written without any questionable language, situations, or other rudeness. A very engrossing story which draws you in and keeps you riveted. Will be looking forward to the rest of this series.

The Magic Thief is an outstanding read for children and adults alike. Prineas vividly creates a wonderfully exciting magical world that you join through the perspective of Conn, the tale's resourceful 'quick handed' hero. The book is loaded with details and extras that help you to explore Conn's world, through hidden messages, maps, and recipes of Conn's favorite food. I highly recommend this to all, you will not be able to put it down. I can't wait for the next book in the series.

'The Mirador' is the third book in a trilogy written by Sarah Monette. This book is about the continuing story of Felix Harrowgate, and his half-brother Mildmay the Fox. Mehitabel Parr becomes a major figure in this story.
I felt that this book was addictive! There are so many explanations and mysteries revealed that I felt that I didn't want to miss anything. Sarah -again-does such a phenomenal job of creating such multi-dimensional characters. It seems that everyone has secrets and a dark past. I also thought that this book was equally emotionally charged as the other two books. Felix and Mildmay both have handled their abuse suffered at Malkar Gennadion's hands differently, but with equally disastrous results. Gideon suffers a terrible end, and Mildmay's nightmares of his past as an assassin continue to haunt him.
I found that I liked Mehitabel Parr as a major voice and character in this book. Her past is revealed as well, which again explains many things about her that were merely alluded to in the second book, 'The Virtu'.
You might be able to jump into the series by reading 'The Mirador', but the author does not give any review of the events leading up to this third book. You will understand it, but so much of this third book covers events from the first two books.
I look forward to reading the next book in the series, and the evolving story of Felix and Mildmay. Sarah Monette has becomes one of my favorite authors!

It IS possible to jump into the series with this installment--but it's not recommended. Parts will be somewhat incomprehensible and you'll miss out on a LOT of back-story that is well-worth reading.

Here we are in the labyrinthine, ancient, haunted Mirador, full of betrayal and intrigue. The past also haunts the three main characters of this tale: Felix, the powerful wizard who was once broken in mind and accused of treason and whose difficult personality is the result of a dark past; Mildmay, Felix's former assassin, coarse-talking brother, tied to Felix by magic; and Mehitabel, now a successful actress, who is blackmailed into spying by her past ties to the Bastion.

Felix is concerned by the residual effects of his former evil master Malkar and is driven to investigate ghosts and the darker forms of magic, while increasingly troubled by his own dark inclinations in his personal life that is driving his lover and friends and brother away from him as well as isolating him in a Court full of intrigue and enemies.

Mildmay has nightmares of Malkar, too, but also of his murdered lover Genevra, that drive him back into the dangers of the lower city--and his own dark past-- in order to find out who was responsible for her death.

The two brothers continue to be in conflict, their personalities so different, their pasts so traumatic but also so disparate, only linked by blood and magic and their place of birth. The center cannot hold and disaster looms, for the characters and the Court of the Mirador, as some ghosts can be laid and some cannot.

I enjoyed this installment even more than the previous, since the characters and their problems were laid bare. There cannot be any quick fix for such well-drawn, deeply traumatized characters. They can just try to carry on and fight the darkness in their souls, as well as external threats that can at times seem dwarfed by their interior struggles. And there remains the amazing world-building, the very real sense of place, the theory of the various magics, the competing magic schools and philosophy... It all adds up to another fascinating read.

Sarah Monette has created an absolutely fascinating world, but it is her characters who really draw me in. I love both Felix and Mildmay (though Mildmay is my favorite). I wasn't sure if I would like having Mehitabel as a narrator, but it seemed to work and allowed the reader to see outside both Mildmay and Felix.

I don't know if I enjoyed this 3rd installment as much as the first two. Don't get me wrong, I liked it quite a bit. And the first 2 were so good, that even if this one wasn't as engaging, it is still worth 5 stars.

I loved the first two books in this series, Melusine, and The Virtu. The relationship between Mildmay and Felix is incredibly complex and engaging. I couldn't put the books down, and even when I wasn't reading them, found myself thinking about them constantly. The third installment, The Mirador, is just not quite as good. I think its main drawback is the addition of the third viewpoint, Mehitabel. I think maybe the author felt these chapters had to be there to justify Felix's fate in the end (don't want to give anything away). But honestly, I found her story rather tedious. The truth was, I just could not wait to get back to Mildmay and Felix's chapters. I'm giving this book 4 stars instead of 5 because of Mehitabel, and the fact that her chapters seem to push Mildmay and Felix to the side. That being said, I would still recommend it. There is obviously another installment yet to come, and it cannot possibly be out soon enough. I hope that we will see the two brothers taking center stage again.

I've now read all 3 of Monette's books in this series.
I've been reading fantasy for more than 50 years, and I can honestly say---Wow! This woman can write!!
This is character-driven fiction. And what wonderful, multidimensional, complex characters. Mildmay has to be one of the most fascinating voices in all literature. He's the reader's "honest informant"; I'd love for his voice to go on and on through another few books...Her plots are serpentine, political and unexpected, and the world she's created is at once familiar, so we don't get lost in the world-building, and exotic, so we find a new experience on every page. Talk about mind candy.
I will now read anything this talented woman chooses to write, so all I ask is that she keep on working and give us more. Of anything.