Ed Greenwood is a giant in the world of D&D. as the creator of the massively-successful Forgotten Realms. His slate of adventures for TSR are a mixed bag, but most are good enough. I had never been exposed to his fiction before (I am not a big fan of D&D litterature).
This book did not endear me to either.
Things happen randomly and the plot armor reaches deific level. Litterally. Most of the book is complete, boring filler as he goes around from one random event to another, meeting random NPCs. And their events are best described as "the GM rolls random shit and you see it."
- The names.... the long, unpronounceable name
- The many, many, many characters whose importance is dubious
- Exactly what happens in parts is difficult
- Elminster changes sex (and back) for no reason
- NPCs get major introduction then get kill off then come back to life only to die(?) again.
- The Epilogue is where the important and interesting event happens, even if what is happening is not fully clear.
- But then we are introduced to NPCs we never heard from before (or after).
Now... I would have dropped this book one third of the way in. BUT it did something that I found I could apply to my own current novel, the sequel to One Hundred Daughters. The characters introduced to be disposed of later. In my own book, I use this to expand and present elements the main characters would not know, yet provide the reader with the information to better understand the situation.
The funniest part of this was that my wife kept telling me to "Stop reading it if you don't like it" every night when I picked it up to read a few pages.
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