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EverQuest
EverQuest: The Ocean of Tears
R.A. Salvatore presents the second volume in the epic fantasy series set in the EverQuest universe. EverQuest is one of the largest massively multiplayer games (over 500,000 users). First printing 100,000. Extensive cross promotion with Sony Online Entertainment. National advertising and publicity campaign.
- GenresFantasy
342 pages, Paperback
First published October 12, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
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April 5, 2025This was an interesting enough read but didn't feel like a novel as much as a handful of scenes (3, really) that were somewhat connected. In short, an ancient elf works behind the scenes to shape the world for the better. I don't know much about Everquest lore, but from what I could tell this was a "prequel" of sorts to the time period of the game.
On a side note, the cover says the title is "The Ocean of Tears" but the title page says "Ocean of Tears." Odd that they would be different.
On a side note, the cover says the title is "The Ocean of Tears" but the title page says "Ocean of Tears." Odd that they would be different.
January 16, 2020
The main value for me in reading this was gleaning additional lore about the game - as I'm a long time fan of the franchise (especially EQ 1).
February 7, 2013
Empires may rise and fall, but revenge is eternal...
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Aataltall has had many guises over the centuries. Human, Orc, Elf, and more. Every identity part of a plan or a scheme set to one goal. Gain access to the power needed to confront Innorukk and make him, and his allies pay for what they did to his people and his beloved city.
It's been a long and tiring battle though. Every time Aataltaal comes close to achieving his goal his plans are thwarted by the forces arrayed against him or by simple bad luck. So the spy master decides to try something different.
He will help the youngest race, humans, achieve a goal few have tried. The Combine Empire will include every race that inhabits Norrath. Even the Dark Elves. Once the races of Norrath are united even a god won't be able to hide from their might.
The Summit to unite the empire is near and all appears to be going according to plan. Aataltall forgot one thing though. Humans are hard to change....
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This is not a series I normally read, since I don't play the game. Books like this can be hard to follow if you don't know the back story to put everything in context. Luckily this book halfway avoids this problem. By halfway I mean that I can tell you the main characters, the overall plot, and most of the battles.
Just don't ask me their names(it's probably just me, my brain rebels on anything more complicated than Joe, Jack or Mary) or where any of it happened(my response would be on a continent and then boats) . Now if you play Everquest then you probably won't have this problem because you are familiar with the lore and the environments. Also from other reviews I gather that this book actually uses names and locations from the game instead of making them up.
That aside, this was a good revenge story. By the nature of Aataltal's age (he's been at this a loooong time) and the years between important events some of the story can be a bit vague when it's filling in the details, but when it narrows down to individual events the pace picks up again and it kept me reading.
One thing I did have to remember though is that this story is about Aataltal and his perspective which is that everything is a tool to achieve his goal, so if some of the characters seem a little one note then, that was probably the point. It's the way he sees them at the beginning till around the middle of the book.
To sum up though this was a good fantasy/action/adventure read whether or not you are familiar with the universe. If I could give it a 3.5 I would since the core story keeps things going even when it gets bogged down in being part of Everquest. m.a.c
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Aataltall has had many guises over the centuries. Human, Orc, Elf, and more. Every identity part of a plan or a scheme set to one goal. Gain access to the power needed to confront Innorukk and make him, and his allies pay for what they did to his people and his beloved city.
It's been a long and tiring battle though. Every time Aataltaal comes close to achieving his goal his plans are thwarted by the forces arrayed against him or by simple bad luck. So the spy master decides to try something different.
He will help the youngest race, humans, achieve a goal few have tried. The Combine Empire will include every race that inhabits Norrath. Even the Dark Elves. Once the races of Norrath are united even a god won't be able to hide from their might.
The Summit to unite the empire is near and all appears to be going according to plan. Aataltall forgot one thing though. Humans are hard to change....
–
This is not a series I normally read, since I don't play the game. Books like this can be hard to follow if you don't know the back story to put everything in context. Luckily this book halfway avoids this problem. By halfway I mean that I can tell you the main characters, the overall plot, and most of the battles.
Just don't ask me their names(it's probably just me, my brain rebels on anything more complicated than Joe, Jack or Mary) or where any of it happened(my response would be on a continent and then boats) . Now if you play Everquest then you probably won't have this problem because you are familiar with the lore and the environments. Also from other reviews I gather that this book actually uses names and locations from the game instead of making them up.
That aside, this was a good revenge story. By the nature of Aataltal's age (he's been at this a loooong time) and the years between important events some of the story can be a bit vague when it's filling in the details, but when it narrows down to individual events the pace picks up again and it kept me reading.
One thing I did have to remember though is that this story is about Aataltal and his perspective which is that everything is a tool to achieve his goal, so if some of the characters seem a little one note then, that was probably the point. It's the way he sees them at the beginning till around the middle of the book.
To sum up though this was a good fantasy/action/adventure read whether or not you are familiar with the universe. If I could give it a 3.5 I would since the core story keeps things going even when it gets bogged down in being part of Everquest. m.a.c
May 1, 2009
The Ocean of Tears is way better than its predecessor, The Rogue's Hour. The characters are interesting, the plot has some great twists and the book ties into the EQ universe quite well. The ending does leave the reader hanging a bit, though, with no clear resolution. It could actually use a second volume to wrap things up. But, I would enjoy this book standing on its own, even without any knowledge of EQ.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews