The Wizard's Mask

Pathfinder Tales #15

by Ed Greenwood

Into the Shattered Tomb

In the war-torn lands of Molthune and Nirmathas, where rebels fight an endless war of secession against an oppressive military government, the constant fighting can make for strange alliances. Such is the case for the man known only as The Masked, the victim of a magical curse that forces him to hide his face, and an escaped halfling slave named Tantaerra. Thrown together by chance, the two fugitives find themselves conscripted by both sides of the conflict and forced to search for a magical artifact that could help shift the balance of power and end the bloodshed for good. But in order to survive, the thieves will first need to learn the one thing none of their adventures have taught them: how to trust each other.

From New York Times bestselling author and legendary game designer Ed Greenwood comes a new adventure of magic, monsters, and unlikely friendships, set in the award-winning world of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.

Genres: Fantasy, Gaming, Fiction

432 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 1, 2013

About the author

Ed Greenwood is the creator of the Forgotten Realms fantasy world, which became the setting for his home D&D game in 1975. Play still continues in this long-running campaign, and Ed also keeps busy producing Realmslore for various TSR publications.

Ed has published over two hundred articles in Dragon magazine and Polyhedron newszine, is a lifetime charter member of the Role Playing Game Associaton (RPGA) network, has written over thirty books and modules for TSR, and been Gen Con Game Fair guest of honor several times.

In addition to all these activities, Ed works as a library clerk and has edited over a dozen small press magazines.

Invented the character Elminster from the popular Forgotten Realms RPG series. Currently resides in an old farmhouse in the countryside of Ontario, Canada.

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have read things written by Ed Greenwood before, but these things were never a novel. I read his forgotten realms campaign book for D&D and I also read his adventure locations in the kingmaker AP for pathfinder.

So this is my first fiction book of him, and I don't really like it. It has some good parts, like the witty dialogue. But I had the constant feeling that Ed Greenwood had only plot for a 100 page book, but was forced to write a bigger book. So he filled the rest of the book with lots (and I mean lots) of encounters with city guards, army men etc..

Somewhere in the middle of the book, I even had to force myself to read through what was again a similar scene as the whole book up to then had been.

[Head Mmoid · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the works of Ed Greenwood; but, this is most definitely not one of the gems of his work. None of the characters created any sort of connection with the reader. The two lead characters go through a clear relationship development, but neither ever seems to arouse the reader’s sympathy or serious interest. The rest of the characters are simple stereotypes repeated over and over.

Most of the first two-thirds of the book were … boring. Every encounter by the main characters went almost exactly the same -- try to do something simple (sleep, hide, walk down a street, move cross country); utterly unreasonable, unthinking troops are encountered whose only desire is to kill or capture the characters; through guile, stealth, or luck the characters escape. After interweaving a bit of relationship development for the main characters, the encounter sequence repeats.

After reading the text on the cover, the first half of the book seemed to have no connection to the description. It wasn’t until almost the mid point that the plot began to unfold, although unfold may be the wrong word, as most of it was laid out within two pages.

In the last quarter of the book things begin to get better. The writing is no where near even average for the author, but it is at least more varied and interesting than the first three-quarters.

Fans of Ed Greenwood may want to approach this book with a bit of caution. Skipping a few chapters in the first half may make it more readable, but don’t expect too much. Fortunately for all of us, there are plenty of really excellent Ed Greenwood books out there.

[Leliel Mitsukai · Rating 2 out of 5]

A fast-paced romp of two murderhobos hack-n-slashing through more trash mobs than you'd ever expect to see outside an MMO.

[Jason · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read a Forgotten Realms book by Ed Greenwood in high school, and it took almost 20 years before I was willing to give Forgotten Realms a second chance.

I picked this up for a buck, and I liked one other Pathfinder Tales book well enough, so I figured I'd give Ed Greenwood a second chance. His success will continue to be a mystery to me.

Reading this, I can't imagine that it would even be fun to play a game he's DMing. Basic, boring, repetitive . . . I guess he must be good at game design, but he's no writer.

[Todd Lucht · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book needed an editor, the story rambles, the relationship building is questionable, the twists at the end silly.

[Victor Sanchez · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was a boring book. It has good dynamic between the characters (If certain reviews made me look at the romance angle with hindsight trepidation), the dialogues was interesting for the most part and the setting seemed somewhat alive and very medieval even with the magical setting.

But the chase was just endless. And very forced, as in "how do they keep finding you?" "Why do they care so much about you?" How many city guards and mercenaries can a settlement of less than 1,000 and 20,000 can truly have?" It looked as if it was made by a railroading DM with a very spiteful vendetta to the player characters.

But what broke it for me was: why Tantaerra and the Masked go to the tomb? No seriously, why? She just heard that their "patron" wanted them dead, that they didn't have any magical curse to forced them and yet they act as if they didn't have any choice in what they keep repeating was a suicidal mission. During the second half I couldn't keep myself from screaming: Run, Run. Why do you keep going to this adventure? You know the guy is going to kill you if you succed? Flee the country, go to the seas, anything. You have nothing to keep you in this forsaken land. Why are you acting as if you don't have a choice? Why do you keep going? What is wrong with you?

So, I didn't enjoy quite so much as I expected. For any person starting the setting and around 12 to 14 years old (ah, how I remember when I started reading fantasy) it would be a nice lecture, if only to school them in several fantasy tropes and some good dialogue. For those who had experience in fantasy novels, it honestly not worth your time.

[Heather Grayauskie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was cute. A lot of reviews mentioned less than stellar writing but since I listened to it as an audiobook (and since the narrator was fantastic) I didn’t notice it as much. If you enjoy audiobooks, give this one a try.

I wanted something as a nice little palette cleanser after reading a bunch of Sanderson in a row and this book was exactly that: quick, light, and a bit sweet while also being fantasy.

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been reading every single Pathfinder Tales novel so maybe I am grading this on a curve, but this was one of my favorites of the 30 or so that I have read. Granted it is a gimmick book. It is one long chase from beginning to end. But I like the gimmick. I like that it keeps getting more and more insane the longer it goes. I like the slapstick feel of the whole thing, and I liked the weird and repulsive protagonists. It’s better than another Varian Jeggare book I’ll tell you that much.

[Bob Hanks · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this . I liked the two main characters one of whom was a halfling who was a bit smaller than the usual . They travailled from one difficult situation to the next . Very pacy and thrilling fantasy adventure story

[Aleksei Volchok · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't expect anything great from a Pathfinder novel. Some world building maybe. But this is just boring and repetitive. It's an endless action sequence about two anti-heroes running from guards and murdering dozens of those guards. Boring.

[Bahman Naraghi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Expected more from Ed Greenwood.

[Michael Paulini · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent fantasy fare.
I did like the writing and the characterisation of the main protagonists, the rest of the plot was a bit generic and felt a bit short.

[John Drawdy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just awful

[Felecia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful romp with a Masked Man & a halfling!

[TK · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book, but could have done with another pass from an editor. A breather chapter or two would have been nice, the entire book was constant fight or flight.

[Jason Murphy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really wanted to stop reading this book at page 100, since by then there still seemed to be no plot or character development beyond "two thieves running away". Gets better from there but still just didn't work for me at all.

It reminded me of the start of a James Bond movie, where there is a big unexplained action scene to catch interest and then it ends and the plot starts and things are explained... Just that action scene never ended.

I suppose I would have cared more if the characters had been fleshed out at least a bit early on but there really isn't anything to make me care. Here are two characters thrown together, trying to escape the most tenacious law enforcement ever. They run from one village to a city and for some reason their notoriety beats them there and they run into even more problems... Why? Why can two people not find a place to hide for a while in a city that is explained to have a ton of empty buildings!?

Seriously I just can't get over how batshit insane the law enforcement is in this fantasy world. These criminals can't outrun news of them, they can't find a place to stop and rest for longer than an hour, they can't even spend a night camping out in the woods without waking up surrounded by soldiers! There are feats of bad luck that strain suspension of disbelief so hard you really have to assume that magic was the cause and move on.

The book suffers from pace problems as well, mainly that there is no pace other than breakneck. I found myself skipping long sections of running away from things to try and get to something actually important, some dialogue where things are explained, character backstory, some goal other than "run away".

Wouldn't recommend this book at all. Perhaps if it was heavily edited it would make an interesting short story and really there is only enough plot for a book a quarter as long.

[Joel Flank · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Wizard's Mask is set in the Pathfinder game world of Golarion and written by Ed Greenwood, the creator of the D&D Forgotten Realms. In the past, Greenwood has written some great game products and novels. Unfortunately, over time, his novels have devolved into nearly identical non-stop chases with just about every person or creature that the main characters meet trying to kill them for pretty flimsy reasons.

I had high hopes that by writing in a different game world, Greenwood would revert back to his earlier novels that were a more balanced mix of adventure, dialogue, plot, and variety in the types of bizarre magic he can weave into a story.

Unfortunately, The Wizard's Mask doesn't do that, and is over 400 pages of the two main characters being attacked on sight at almost every turn, often for no reason. There's little believability in the story, as the nations of Molthune and Nimrathas would be rapidly depleted of citizens if everyone was attacked the way the main characters were. There's also a thin plot that one of the characters is looking for a cure to the cursed magic mask he stole...despite not ever seeking out a wizard or priest or other spellcaster to try to remove the curse. Even if you removed 200 pages of relatively weak human foes attacking the heroes, it still would be a slow plodding book.

It's really a shame, since this is an unexplored area of Golarion, and Greenwood has in the past written some very enjoyable action fantasy adventures.

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, I like Pathfinder Tales (of which this book hails) and I was excited when I noticed that Ed Greenwood (he of Forgotten Realms and Elminster fame) was the author. And the story is about a rogue who stole a mask from a mage and was cursed for it--his face is melting, so he has to keep wearing the mask. He meets a perky halfling female and they hit it off. Go out on wild hijinks and such. Sounds great, right?

Unfortunately, half the book involves our intrepid heroes running from one group or another. The first 100 pages or so was one big chase scene, and when it was through I thought we would move on to adventure. But, no! The rest of the book involves a lot of running from different monsters or groups of soldiers. Truth be told, it got monotonous. Especially when there were things from which they should not run. For example, the rogue (Tarram Armistrade, or The Masked) holds his own against his nemesis, Voyvik, in battle, and together with the halfling (Tantaerra Loroeva Klazra) they are more than a match for him. Voyvik is no match for a group of soldiers. But The Masked and Tantaerra run from the soldiers. Seems to me that they should be able to take the soldiers.

So, my shortened version of my review--great characters and characterizations; story fell a bit flat.

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly there were some scenes that I thought were pure wish-fulfillment when it came to behaviors from the halfling character and she ended up being topless or fully naked a lot for seemingly gratuitous reasons.

The story itself felt trite and cliche, none of the characters really stood out and the two protagonists certainly didn't click with me, though I let myself be more open to the halfling Terra just because it's rare to find them as protagonists these days, and like I said above if not for certain liberties and frankly creepy moments would have enjoyed her much more.

I found the attempts at witty repartee to be well below par for EG; he doesn't always write great dialogue but this was certainly far from his best.

[Larry · Rating 2 out of 5]

While Ed Greenwood remains a master weaver of tall tales I'll be honest that this book really didn't do it for me. The ending was kind of good, but for the most part this seemed more like a collection of scenes of unnecessary gratuitous violence with little plot (very little) or character development connecting them. A sort of medieval James Bond tale minus all the integral reasons why Bond is interesting and keeps us going. I get that this was both a police state and a war zone, however, there really wasn't very much reason for all the soldiers to fixate on these two characters as they moved from city to city. And neither of the characters really gripped me. A few of the ancillary characters might, if they had been treated differently.

[Dave Walls · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, an OK fantasy novel. There are some classic tropes of fantasy and general fiction, along with the McGuffin that must be found and given to someone. Also, I feel a better Pathfinder novel will include information that informs the player. For instance, City of the Fallen Sky helped me understand the flavor of the Alchemist class. Others may inform on political events or geography. There is some of that here, but Molthune and its fights with Nirmathis were not that interesting.

[Seth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad read, though a bit tiresome at points. I manages to keep the action going and rarely allows for a dull moment. Then again, that was also a bit of its flaw. Most of the book is effectively just one extended chase scene with the main characters trying to evade one new foe after another. This would have gotten boring even quicker had the two protagonists not been so entertaining. The only other flaw was that parts of the plot seemed a bit convoluted with some aspects I never entirely understood.

One final note is that Ed Greenwood seems to have taken a page from Martin's book. He does not hold back on mutilating characters.

[Will · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was literally the worst thing I've read in the last five years. The intent, I think, was to create a pulp fiction high adventure swashbuckling feel, but it just failed on so many levels. I bought it because of the name Ed Greenwood on the cover, and I regret it.

The only thing I came away from the book with was the impression that everyone stinks. Seriously, there is a fixation in the book about how every character smells, it's borderline creepy, and definitely awkward.

[Clifton · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've enjoyed every book of the Pathfinder Tales series immensely, until I read this book. The book as a whole seemed to be a jumble of events that didn't flow together smoothly, or make much sense. The first half of the book was one continual chase scene, but with different groups. And there wasn't much to connect you to the heroes.

Overall, a disappointing book in a great series.

[Brent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for what it is and what I expected from Greenwood. That said, some editing would have helped, particularly regarding continuity - the halfling, for instance, loses her hand, then throws something two handed a few pages later and uses "her good hand" a page later, then is one handed again a few pages later.

[Gregory · Rating 2 out of 5]

Predictable and trite fantasy with little character development and an uninteresting plot. A couple minor gripes as well, at one point a copyeditor left a page number in the middle of a paragraph, and a character who gets a hand cut off later throws something with both hands.

[Twist Rolarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ended well, but took a while to lead up to it. I kept putting it down in favor of other books that caught my interest, and had to force myself to get back to it. Once it finally picked up in the last quarter or so, was I able to plow through it easily.

[Thom · Rating 2 out of 5]

Run Run Run

This is possibly the most wearing book I've ever read. It's non-stop running, killing, running, fighting, more running and, yes, more running. As much as I like Greenwood I really can't recommend this.

[Chris Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ed Greenwood at his best... need more be said?

[Brandon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had a hard time caring about the main characters in this book. The first half of the story felt rather repetitious with the protagonists running and hiding and running and hiding.