EverQuest: The Rogue's Hour

EverQuest

by Scott Ciencin

Your memories are lost and your life is in danger. Who can you trust? You are, after all, a rogue... A man without a past. Pursued through the port city of Qeynos by a necromancer and a shadowknight, the charming rogue eludes his assailants by stealing another's place on a ship bound for the pirate-infested Barren Coast.

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy

298 pages, Hardcover

First published September 21, 2004

About the author

Scott Ciencin was a New York Times best-selling novelist of 90+ books. He wrote adult and children's fiction and worked in a variety of mediums including comic books. He created programs for Scholastic Books, designed trading cards, consulted on video games, directed and produced audio programs & TV commercials, and wrote in the medical field about neurosurgery and neurology. He first worked in TV production as a writer, producer and director. He lived in Sarasota, Florida with his wife (and sometimes co-author) Denise.

(Also wrote under the pseudonyms Nick Baron and L.J. Oliver)

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've been part of the EverQuest universe ever since its inception in 1999, so I was excited when they published some books to accompany the world. The Rogue's Hour does a below average job of tying in the lore from EQ. The book is juvenile and corny. Even for die-hard EQ'ers this book is not worth reading.

[Lorewarden]

This novel was my first introduction to Everquest lore of any kind, and I found it mostly enjoyable. It seemed to be setting itself up as a typical party-of-adventurers story at the beginning, but quickly turned into a single character focused story. It's a bit of a shame, because the author did spend some time setting up a few other heroes, only to mostly ignore them and drop them with no closing at the end of the novel.

[Brett · Rating 1 out of 5]

You may enjoy this book if you like characters who aren't actual characters and instead are just plot devices. Other than that, this one if for completionists only. Cutting out 100 or so pages would have made it slightly more bearable. Hoping the remaining EverQuest books are a step up! (Why do I do this to myself?!)

[Joseph Ferrara · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Rogue's Hour should have delved deeper into using the lore of EverQuest instead of using it merely as a background for a relatively simple story to take place in.

The writing was often exaggerative and problems were too often "solved" by fighting or magic, which is fine, but would have benefited from contrast.

Several things remain unresolved at the end of the story, and I think with another fifty pages there could have been a more satisfying closure. It felt like right when the book was getting started...it ended rather abruptly.

Anyway, it's an average book, worth a read if you really love EverQuest and have exhausted the other avenues of content.

[Marjolein · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was not my book, and I'm actually pretty glad that I managed to finish it. Too many fights, too little story. There's a nice opportunity for a backstory with a rogue that forgot his past, but that was only touched upon in very short afterthoughts and then explained in the very last chapter, when there was so much more you could do with it. It's a book written after a game, and even though I'm not a gamer, I could notice it. It jumped from fight to fight without paying too much attention to the storytelling in between.

[Jon · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorites please reprint it!!!

[Ryan Kerby · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember reading this in either middle school or high school and enjoying it.

[Troy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starts slow and not interesting but quickly picks up the pace about 100 pages in. Lots of references for EverQuest fans to pick up on, although not everything is always accurate to the game. Satisfying ending.