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The Sundering #2
The Godborn
In the 2nd book of the multi-author Sundering series launched by New York Times best-selling author R.A. Salvatore, the shadow legacy of Erevis Cale lives on even as his old foe Mephistopheles seeks to stamp it out at any cost. Cale’s son Vasen—unmoored in time by the god Mask—has thus far been shielded from the archdevil’s dark schemes, alone among the servants of the Lord of Light who have raised him since birth.
Living in a remote abbey nestled among the Thunder Peaks of Sembia, Vasen is haunted by dreams of his father, trapped in the frozen hell of Cania. He knows the day will come when he must assume his role in the divine drama unfolding across Faerûn. But Vasen knows not what that role should be . . . or whether he is ready to take it on. He only knows what his father tells him in dreams—that he must not fail.
Enter Drasek Riven, a former compatriot of Erevis Cale, now near divine and haunted by dreams of his own—he too knows the time to act is near. Shar, the great goddess of darkness, looks to cast her shadow on the world forever. Riven has glimpsed the cycle of night she hopes to complete, and he knows she must be stopped.
At the crossroads of divine intrigue and mortal destiny, unlikely heroes unite to thwart the powers of shadow and hell, and the sundering of worlds is set on its course.
Living in a remote abbey nestled among the Thunder Peaks of Sembia, Vasen is haunted by dreams of his father, trapped in the frozen hell of Cania. He knows the day will come when he must assume his role in the divine drama unfolding across Faerûn. But Vasen knows not what that role should be . . . or whether he is ready to take it on. He only knows what his father tells him in dreams—that he must not fail.
Enter Drasek Riven, a former compatriot of Erevis Cale, now near divine and haunted by dreams of his own—he too knows the time to act is near. Shar, the great goddess of darkness, looks to cast her shadow on the world forever. Riven has glimpsed the cycle of night she hopes to complete, and he knows she must be stopped.
At the crossroads of divine intrigue and mortal destiny, unlikely heroes unite to thwart the powers of shadow and hell, and the sundering of worlds is set on its course.
400 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2014
132 people are currently reading
1668 people want to read
About the author
Paul S. Kemp
61 books941 followersBestselling speculative fiction author, creator of Egil and Nix, Erevis Cale, drinker of scotch, smoker of cigars, amiable dude. :-)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 197 reviews
July 9, 2013
Raised in an abbey, Erevis Cale's son Vasen lives a life of peace despite being born of shadow, until he gets caught in the schemes of demons and devils. Can Vasen and his new friend Orsin stop the machinations of Mephistopheles and prevent the world from being destroyed?
I got this courtesy of NetGalley and Wizards of the Coast.
When I got the first two books of The Sundering from Netgalley, I assumed they were closely linked. They are not. They both are set in the Forgotten Realms around the same time period but that's about as far as it goes.
The Godborn is the tale of several beings that are the chosen of various gods, some trying to prevent the Cycle of Night, others trying to stop it. Vasen Cale, son of the presumed deceased Erevis Cale, was whisked forward in time 70 years while still in the womb in order to hide him from his father's enemies. He lives a life of peace in an abbey until trouble comes knocking.
I was not a tremendous fan of this book, especially compared with The Companions. First of all, the Companions was accessible to me, a Forgotten Realms noob, whereas this one had me in the dark a lot of the time. None of the characters were very likeable or interesting and a lot of the book seemed like filler between battle scenes.
The thing that stopped me from giving this a one was Paul S. Kemp's writing. I'd like to read something of his not set in the Forgotten Realms and featuring likeable characters. Also, the ending was pretty good, from what I understood of it.
The Godborn is a hard 2. I'm not sure if I'm going to read the final book in The Sundering series.
Edit: Young Anthony tells me there are seven books in this series, not three. My relationship with The Sundering has been Sundered.
I got this courtesy of NetGalley and Wizards of the Coast.
When I got the first two books of The Sundering from Netgalley, I assumed they were closely linked. They are not. They both are set in the Forgotten Realms around the same time period but that's about as far as it goes.
The Godborn is the tale of several beings that are the chosen of various gods, some trying to prevent the Cycle of Night, others trying to stop it. Vasen Cale, son of the presumed deceased Erevis Cale, was whisked forward in time 70 years while still in the womb in order to hide him from his father's enemies. He lives a life of peace in an abbey until trouble comes knocking.
I was not a tremendous fan of this book, especially compared with The Companions. First of all, the Companions was accessible to me, a Forgotten Realms noob, whereas this one had me in the dark a lot of the time. None of the characters were very likeable or interesting and a lot of the book seemed like filler between battle scenes.
The thing that stopped me from giving this a one was Paul S. Kemp's writing. I'd like to read something of his not set in the Forgotten Realms and featuring likeable characters. Also, the ending was pretty good, from what I understood of it.
The Godborn is a hard 2. I'm not sure if I'm going to read the final book in The Sundering series.
Edit: Young Anthony tells me there are seven books in this series, not three. My relationship with The Sundering has been Sundered.
August 17, 2013
The Godborn by Paul S. Kemp has been a long time coming. Ever since I finished reading The Twilight War Trilogy back in 2008, I have long awaited the sequel to continue this massive story arc revolving around Mask and his chosen. Fortunately, Wizards of the Coast gave me an early peek so I could review this book.
For those of you who have not read the Cale books before, you can still read The Godborn without having read the previous Cale stories. Paul writes in references to the previous entries frequently so that new readers aren't lost and for those who have waited over four years can get refreshed with past events.
Now to the book itself... The Godborn is about Vasen Cale, Erevis' son, who gets swept up into events set in motion by his father. Throw in a power hungry archdevil who wants to make his plotting come to fruition by finding more power which he believes starts with exacting revenge on Erevis Cale and his allies, and a shade prince who wants to find a way to end the world and please his goddess.
There is a lot of focus on consequence and fate as Vasen not only tries to find out how to understand his destiny, but to also not let that destiny define who he is. At times he feels that his life is a story that is already written because of the choices his father made. Paul's strength is writing great characters and Vasen is definitely separated from Erevis, yet similar to him in many ways. I believe Vasen is more of a hero who sticks to his religious principles whereas Erevis is more anti-hero in the fact that he is willing to sacrifice principle for the sake his friends and allies.
Of course, much of the cast from previous novels return such as Riven, Magadon, Rivalen, Brennus, etc. but a whole bunch of new ones are introduced as well. One in particular I find compelling is Orsin. I won't talk too much about him but his character is so well written. Paul has a way of making his characters complex and realistic even for a fantasy setting. Magadon is one of my favorite characters from the entire series and he plays an important part. You don't read much of him in the first part but I can assure you what you do read of him are some really great scenes.
The princes of shade are another great story arc that I am glad to see come to a full climax. Rivalen has done some pretty nasty and unforgivable things which causes some tension within his own house. His father is the leader of their people, but Rivalen contains more power than his father which in in itself makes him a threat. Brennus deals with more personal problems which his father tells him to move on from, but he cannot let it go. You really start to like Brennus because you can relate to his problems. In the Twilight War Trilogy (more specifically Shadowbred, I found myself rooting for him to hate his brother. Now that story has come full circle.
I had an absolute blast with this book. Paul S. Kemp writes prose that is crisp, narrative that can be lush, epic, and dark all in the same breath, tense action full of swords and sorcery, characters that make you relate to their struggles and motives, even the villains, and ties it all into a pretty package that is one hell of a read. I do recommend that before reading The Godborn you start with Shadow's Witness, The Erevis Cale Trilogy, and The Twilight War Trilogy. This will give you the full understanding and appreciation for this brilliant and smart story that Paul S. Kemp has written. I must give plenty of thanks to Mr. Kemp as well as Wizards of the Coast for providing me the opportunity to read and review this novel.
For those of you who have not read the Cale books before, you can still read The Godborn without having read the previous Cale stories. Paul writes in references to the previous entries frequently so that new readers aren't lost and for those who have waited over four years can get refreshed with past events.
Now to the book itself... The Godborn is about Vasen Cale, Erevis' son, who gets swept up into events set in motion by his father. Throw in a power hungry archdevil who wants to make his plotting come to fruition by finding more power which he believes starts with exacting revenge on Erevis Cale and his allies, and a shade prince who wants to find a way to end the world and please his goddess.
There is a lot of focus on consequence and fate as Vasen not only tries to find out how to understand his destiny, but to also not let that destiny define who he is. At times he feels that his life is a story that is already written because of the choices his father made. Paul's strength is writing great characters and Vasen is definitely separated from Erevis, yet similar to him in many ways. I believe Vasen is more of a hero who sticks to his religious principles whereas Erevis is more anti-hero in the fact that he is willing to sacrifice principle for the sake his friends and allies.
Of course, much of the cast from previous novels return such as Riven, Magadon, Rivalen, Brennus, etc. but a whole bunch of new ones are introduced as well. One in particular I find compelling is Orsin. I won't talk too much about him but his character is so well written. Paul has a way of making his characters complex and realistic even for a fantasy setting. Magadon is one of my favorite characters from the entire series and he plays an important part. You don't read much of him in the first part but I can assure you what you do read of him are some really great scenes.
The princes of shade are another great story arc that I am glad to see come to a full climax. Rivalen has done some pretty nasty and unforgivable things which causes some tension within his own house. His father is the leader of their people, but Rivalen contains more power than his father which in in itself makes him a threat. Brennus deals with more personal problems which his father tells him to move on from, but he cannot let it go. You really start to like Brennus because you can relate to his problems. In the Twilight War Trilogy (more specifically Shadowbred, I found myself rooting for him to hate his brother. Now that story has come full circle.
I had an absolute blast with this book. Paul S. Kemp writes prose that is crisp, narrative that can be lush, epic, and dark all in the same breath, tense action full of swords and sorcery, characters that make you relate to their struggles and motives, even the villains, and ties it all into a pretty package that is one hell of a read. I do recommend that before reading The Godborn you start with Shadow's Witness, The Erevis Cale Trilogy, and The Twilight War Trilogy. This will give you the full understanding and appreciation for this brilliant and smart story that Paul S. Kemp has written. I must give plenty of thanks to Mr. Kemp as well as Wizards of the Coast for providing me the opportunity to read and review this novel.
June 2, 2019
This one was a hard one to rate. I haven't read any of the previous books in the Erevis Cale storyline. I read this story because it is the second in "The Sundering" which begins with an RA Salvatore Drizzt novel (having read that series to this point in the Forgotten Realms world).
I liked the characters and story line. Was able to get into it pretty easily with the background I already know from the Drizzt stories. Paul S Kemp did a good job with summarizing what was needed from his past stories to catch up a new reader.
My only problem with the writing style and the story was the dialog in moments that were supposed to be tense and high action. When two characters were about to battle each other the dialog between them was campy. Full of not so witty, witty jabs. Very stilted like a poorly scripted b-movie. Lines like this: I am paraphrasing to prevent any spoilers (This shield and sword....I'm going to kill you with them.) Also a few cartoonish feeling exclamations of "Die!" These moments were jolting. I am reading along and getting into the events when suddenly I am stopped cold and left thinking "what?"
Otherwise this was a very well told story and I would have given it 5 stars if not for those awkward moments.
I liked the characters and story line. Was able to get into it pretty easily with the background I already know from the Drizzt stories. Paul S Kemp did a good job with summarizing what was needed from his past stories to catch up a new reader.
My only problem with the writing style and the story was the dialog in moments that were supposed to be tense and high action. When two characters were about to battle each other the dialog between them was campy. Full of not so witty, witty jabs. Very stilted like a poorly scripted b-movie. Lines like this: I am paraphrasing to prevent any spoilers (This shield and sword....I'm going to kill you with them.) Also a few cartoonish feeling exclamations of "Die!" These moments were jolting. I am reading along and getting into the events when suddenly I am stopped cold and left thinking "what?"
Otherwise this was a very well told story and I would have given it 5 stars if not for those awkward moments.
February 10, 2014
Confession: I have a problem when it comes to the fantasy genre of sticking with my tried and true authors - mainly Tolkien, R.A. Salvatore, and Terry Goodkind (although after reading what he really thinks about himself, I'm pretty sure I'm off that train - see this interview).
So after doing a little bit of research on The Sundering Series, I figured it would be the perfect way to discover new fantasy authors because (1) The series is headed off by R.A. Salvatore who I know I love. (2) The books are considered stand alone as each of them are about about a different world within the Forgotten Realms. (3) Wizards of the Coast chose the authors they consider to be their best to participate in this series. Sounds perfect to me!
The Godborn was, therefore, the first book I read by a fantasy author that I am unfamiliar with.
The story starts with Varra (great name, right?) She's running from something, and she's pregnant. She ends up in a wildflower field where a shadowwalker touches her stomach and "changes" the baby. Then, she suddenly is able to magically wish herself to safety. The place that she unknowingly wishes herself to is 70 years in the future at the Abbey of the Rose. She dies in childbirth, and baby Vasen is left for the people of the light to raise. Skip ahead 30 years - Vasen is one of the First Blade, the protectors of the Oracle and very powerful with his gift of the light. He was born of shadow but studies the light - it is this that makes him the key to saving the world and also sought by powerful evil for an end to their means. So the journey begins with our hero Vasen Cale..
This book is extremely well written - I was literally getting a vocabulary lesson the entire time; however, it did not distract from the story. This story was darker than the typical fantasy that I go for - there was a lot of brutal and vivid killing, and the fighting scenes were explained in gory detail - but I found it essential to the story. The characters, even the small ones, were developed in such a way that you get to really know the plight of the people living in darkness and you truly understand the extent of the evil that is threatening to end the world.
I'm sure that a fantasy author trying to write a standalone novel is not an easy task, because most authors develop their world throughout several series and have so much rich, imagined history woven in. I had to read this book slowly at the beginning to make sure I wasn't missing any details, but for the amount of backstory that had to be told, Kemp did an amazing job. I never felt lost or confused.
Vasen Cale is the type of character that draws you in and keeps you rooting for his outcome. I loved the combination of light and darkness. Vasen himself is a contradiction and proves that "bad" is not always bad. Perceptions are not always correct. There is true evil in the world and then there are just prejudices.
He didn't know how much more apetite he had for any of it. The things he'd seen...
The Godborn is rich in detail, action, character development, and vivid themes. It will make your soul hurt for the people suffering but smile with the victory throughout. Overall, I'm intrigued and will continue on in The Sundering series.
This review is also posted on Great Minds Read Alike.
So after doing a little bit of research on The Sundering Series, I figured it would be the perfect way to discover new fantasy authors because (1) The series is headed off by R.A. Salvatore who I know I love. (2) The books are considered stand alone as each of them are about about a different world within the Forgotten Realms. (3) Wizards of the Coast chose the authors they consider to be their best to participate in this series. Sounds perfect to me!
The Godborn was, therefore, the first book I read by a fantasy author that I am unfamiliar with.
The story starts with Varra (great name, right?) She's running from something, and she's pregnant. She ends up in a wildflower field where a shadowwalker touches her stomach and "changes" the baby. Then, she suddenly is able to magically wish herself to safety. The place that she unknowingly wishes herself to is 70 years in the future at the Abbey of the Rose. She dies in childbirth, and baby Vasen is left for the people of the light to raise. Skip ahead 30 years - Vasen is one of the First Blade, the protectors of the Oracle and very powerful with his gift of the light. He was born of shadow but studies the light - it is this that makes him the key to saving the world and also sought by powerful evil for an end to their means. So the journey begins with our hero Vasen Cale..
This book is extremely well written - I was literally getting a vocabulary lesson the entire time; however, it did not distract from the story. This story was darker than the typical fantasy that I go for - there was a lot of brutal and vivid killing, and the fighting scenes were explained in gory detail - but I found it essential to the story. The characters, even the small ones, were developed in such a way that you get to really know the plight of the people living in darkness and you truly understand the extent of the evil that is threatening to end the world.
I'm sure that a fantasy author trying to write a standalone novel is not an easy task, because most authors develop their world throughout several series and have so much rich, imagined history woven in. I had to read this book slowly at the beginning to make sure I wasn't missing any details, but for the amount of backstory that had to be told, Kemp did an amazing job. I never felt lost or confused.
Vasen Cale is the type of character that draws you in and keeps you rooting for his outcome. I loved the combination of light and darkness. Vasen himself is a contradiction and proves that "bad" is not always bad. Perceptions are not always correct. There is true evil in the world and then there are just prejudices.
He didn't know how much more apetite he had for any of it. The things he'd seen...
The Godborn is rich in detail, action, character development, and vivid themes. It will make your soul hurt for the people suffering but smile with the victory throughout. Overall, I'm intrigued and will continue on in The Sundering series.
This review is also posted on Great Minds Read Alike.
July 10, 2013
The Godborn is the second novel of the soon-to-be released The Sundering series. The Sundering is a multi-authored series, where each novel chronicles the lives and experiences of characters set in the worlds originally imagined by the creators of Dungeons and Dragons (DND) role playing game.
The Sundering marks the events and time period within the DND milieu Faerun, on the planet Toril, within the lands of the Forgotten Realms. The Sundering occurs at the conclusion of the time of the Spellplague (see:http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki...) which has been effecting the use of magic and other events on Toril for approximately a century. While it is important to note that not all of The Sundering novels chronicle the lives of the same characters, many fantasy readers will appreciate how each novel is set within the same world/time/event and will soon discover how meaningful connections between novels can be drawn and examined.
The Godborn begins with the traumatic birth of Vasen Cale whose laboring mother,Varra, had been magically transported 70 years into the future, narrowly avoiding a fatal attack by undead fiends. Varra is found and carried to the Abbey of the Rose, the secret and sacred refuge of the Oracle, the seer of the sun god Amaunator. After being rescued by Derreg, and other Dawnsword guardian soldiers of the Abbey, Varra dies while giving birth to Vasen. Vasen is born surrounded by the shadows and appears to be a child of the Shadovar, enemies of the light worshiping denizens of the Abbey. After Varra death, Derreg swears to raise Vasen as his son and is immediately visited by Drasken Riven, a Shadowfell godling, who reveals that Vasen will someday play a key role in divine events.
The core of the novel takes place during Vasen’s 30th year when, joined by two companions, he embarks on a voyage to find and free his father from an icy hell-bound prison. Vasen is also called to intervene in the struggle between Mephistopheles, Archfiend of the Eighth Hell Cania, Rivalin Tanthul, Nightseer of the world-consuming goddess Shar, and Drasken Riven, godling imbued with the divinity of Mask, the god of Shadows. To help save the world from destruction, Vasen must learn to unite the two seemingly opposite sides of his person; his power from and faith in light and his birthright to the world of shadows.
Unlike The Companions, the first novel the series (see: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...), The Godborn is more dark in nature, complicated in storyline, and violent. For readers who are new to the DND inspired novels, the characters and storylines in The Godborn may be difficult, but certainly not impossible, to grasp. After reading the Godborn, many epic fantasy fanatics will emerge ready to get to know characters better by reading earlier novels. These lucky DND novel rookies will be encouraged to engage in one of my favorite activities: beginning an excited new epic fantasy series after all the individual novels have been published. No waiting!
The Sundering marks the events and time period within the DND milieu Faerun, on the planet Toril, within the lands of the Forgotten Realms. The Sundering occurs at the conclusion of the time of the Spellplague (see:http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki...) which has been effecting the use of magic and other events on Toril for approximately a century. While it is important to note that not all of The Sundering novels chronicle the lives of the same characters, many fantasy readers will appreciate how each novel is set within the same world/time/event and will soon discover how meaningful connections between novels can be drawn and examined.
The Godborn begins with the traumatic birth of Vasen Cale whose laboring mother,Varra, had been magically transported 70 years into the future, narrowly avoiding a fatal attack by undead fiends. Varra is found and carried to the Abbey of the Rose, the secret and sacred refuge of the Oracle, the seer of the sun god Amaunator. After being rescued by Derreg, and other Dawnsword guardian soldiers of the Abbey, Varra dies while giving birth to Vasen. Vasen is born surrounded by the shadows and appears to be a child of the Shadovar, enemies of the light worshiping denizens of the Abbey. After Varra death, Derreg swears to raise Vasen as his son and is immediately visited by Drasken Riven, a Shadowfell godling, who reveals that Vasen will someday play a key role in divine events.
The core of the novel takes place during Vasen’s 30th year when, joined by two companions, he embarks on a voyage to find and free his father from an icy hell-bound prison. Vasen is also called to intervene in the struggle between Mephistopheles, Archfiend of the Eighth Hell Cania, Rivalin Tanthul, Nightseer of the world-consuming goddess Shar, and Drasken Riven, godling imbued with the divinity of Mask, the god of Shadows. To help save the world from destruction, Vasen must learn to unite the two seemingly opposite sides of his person; his power from and faith in light and his birthright to the world of shadows.
Unlike The Companions, the first novel the series (see: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...), The Godborn is more dark in nature, complicated in storyline, and violent. For readers who are new to the DND inspired novels, the characters and storylines in The Godborn may be difficult, but certainly not impossible, to grasp. After reading the Godborn, many epic fantasy fanatics will emerge ready to get to know characters better by reading earlier novels. These lucky DND novel rookies will be encouraged to engage in one of my favorite activities: beginning an excited new epic fantasy series after all the individual novels have been published. No waiting!
September 17, 2013
Originally Reviewed At: Mother/Gamer/Writer
Rating: 5 Controllers
Review Source: NetGalley
Reviewer: AimeeKay
Ok. I enjoyed the Godborn, but I really thought there would be more of a connection to the first book, The Companions. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great book, but since it is the second book in the Sundering series…yea, well…I thought it would have some of the characters from the first book in it. :-)
Wanted to get that out of the way, now on with the rest of the review…
I enjoyed this one as much as I enjoyed the first book. The world is awesome, the characters are well written and the story pulled me in from the first page.
This story I think was much darker than the first one, The Companions (The Sundering #1) by R.A. Salvatore, and not just because of the shadows that surround Vasen. There was definitely more gore, much more graphic gore. Also, there just seems to be less hope and a lot more death. Still while it is darker, it is still just as excellent.
I enjoyed the characters. Even supporting ones had a sense of depth to them. I became attached to them even when they hadn’t been in the story that long.
Overall, I definitely suggest picking up the Sundering series. After having read both stories, I don’t think it really matters what order they are read in. Both are solid stand-alone novels in their own rights. Yes, they have questions left unanswered, but I hope that future installments of the series remedy that.
I’m giving the second books the same rating as the first 5 out of 5 controllers.
Rating: 5 Controllers
Review Source: NetGalley
Reviewer: AimeeKay
Ok. I enjoyed the Godborn, but I really thought there would be more of a connection to the first book, The Companions. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great book, but since it is the second book in the Sundering series…yea, well…I thought it would have some of the characters from the first book in it. :-)
Wanted to get that out of the way, now on with the rest of the review…
I enjoyed this one as much as I enjoyed the first book. The world is awesome, the characters are well written and the story pulled me in from the first page.
This story I think was much darker than the first one, The Companions (The Sundering #1) by R.A. Salvatore, and not just because of the shadows that surround Vasen. There was definitely more gore, much more graphic gore. Also, there just seems to be less hope and a lot more death. Still while it is darker, it is still just as excellent.
I enjoyed the characters. Even supporting ones had a sense of depth to them. I became attached to them even when they hadn’t been in the story that long.
Overall, I definitely suggest picking up the Sundering series. After having read both stories, I don’t think it really matters what order they are read in. Both are solid stand-alone novels in their own rights. Yes, they have questions left unanswered, but I hope that future installments of the series remedy that.
I’m giving the second books the same rating as the first 5 out of 5 controllers.
October 2, 2013
First off, your enjoyment of this book is somewhat dependent on your experience with The Forgotten Realms and specifically the Erevis Cale stories already published. Not reading the previous books won’t diminish your enjoyment, this is a solid novel that stands well on it’s own. However having read the previous books you will be in for an exceptional wrap up of many things (don’t want to spoil anything here).
Lets get down to the brass tacks. It’s a solid plot. Overall I think anyone can follow this, which is impressive as it is a bit complicated, but the author does a fine job of breaking it down in such a way that anyone can follow it. Even if you don’t have an extensive knowledge of The Forgotten Realms this should be a solid story.
Behind the scenes in the Dungeons & Dragons RPG the novels are set in the rules and setting have changed between game editions. In the latest, 4th Edition the timeline is advanced by 104 years and one of the keys to the big changes made to the setting is something called the Spellplague. Magic goes wild, gods are killed, places are destroyed, cats and dogs living together…mass hysteria. Erevis Cale and his contemporaries were important during the 3rd Edition period but since the God he served was killed (and consequently split up) it makes for an interesting twist on what the future holds for The Realms.
The characters are probably the most important part for me and Mr. Kemp knocks this out of the park. One of his strongest skills is in characterization. The characters are rich. That doesn’t necessarily always mean likable, but they are interesting, atypical. More like real people working through problems versus a lame pastiche. These aren’t straight-forward “Heroes” (tm) by the way. Going way back to the Erevis Cale intro series, nobody is a dyed in the wool “Good Guy” except for maybe Vasen himself. It’s not a four-color story. Lots of shades of grey here. That’s part of the charm of the previous series as well as The Godborn.
There are some excellently crafted fight scenes, some exceptional battles. There is also a lot of depth which is atypical of most genre fiction. Actually, Paul S. Kemp hardly writes what I’d call “Genre Fiction” in the first place: it’s fiction and it can easily stand up beside anything else at Barnes & Noble or Amazon.com. Genre Fiction has a long history of being in a niche alongside Westerns and “Men’s Adventure” novels like Mack Bolan…not exactly top shelf writing. In the past decade though the caliber of writing has made some serious jumps upward and it’s very respectable now, in no small part due to the efforts of writers like Paul S. Kemp, Dan Abnett, Graham McNeill, R.A. Salvatore and others. These aren’t kiddy D&D novels anymore. These are rich stories of deep characters, emotional investment and horror.
Yes, I mentioned horror. There is a strong element of horror in this one. I certainly approved. It was creepy. Without giving away the story, let it suffice that I’d give the book a PG-13 rating. Nuff said.
This novel is 70 years set after the events of The Twilight War Trilogy. The main character is the son of Erevis Cale who is one of the Chosen of Mask and a shade. The son is raised by goodly priests of Amaunator, God of the Dawn. So from the get-go he’s set up as straddling two worlds, Shadow and Light. He’s a faithful lad and he’s guided by dreams and by old associates of Erevis Cale and some new ones. It’s …complicated, but it’s well done. You’ll enjoy it.
Overall it’s a fantastic story. For those who read all the previous material it’s got the endings you expect and some you don’t (which is nice). I thought it wrapped up the previous storylines perfectly and opened the door for the future nicely.
*One important note. The Sundering Series is not sequential and the stories don’t necessarily have anything to do with each other Have no expectation of The Godborn having anything to do with Drizzt and The Companions: it doesn’t. It’s set in the same world, but telling two completely different tales of what is happening in the world and explaining what is to come in The Forgotten Realms. One book tells of something happening with one important canon character of the setting, another book tells of something happening elsewhere with other important canon characters. That is all. This is an important expectation to set.
I received this book originally via Netgalley as an ARC from WotC. I also just purchased the hardcover as well. It’s good, you should read it.
If you’ve read The Twilight Wars Trilogy, you’ll get more out of it so I’d give it a 5 of 5. If you haven’t it’s still a damn good read at 4 of 5.
Lets get down to the brass tacks. It’s a solid plot. Overall I think anyone can follow this, which is impressive as it is a bit complicated, but the author does a fine job of breaking it down in such a way that anyone can follow it. Even if you don’t have an extensive knowledge of The Forgotten Realms this should be a solid story.
Behind the scenes in the Dungeons & Dragons RPG the novels are set in the rules and setting have changed between game editions. In the latest, 4th Edition the timeline is advanced by 104 years and one of the keys to the big changes made to the setting is something called the Spellplague. Magic goes wild, gods are killed, places are destroyed, cats and dogs living together…mass hysteria. Erevis Cale and his contemporaries were important during the 3rd Edition period but since the God he served was killed (and consequently split up) it makes for an interesting twist on what the future holds for The Realms.
The characters are probably the most important part for me and Mr. Kemp knocks this out of the park. One of his strongest skills is in characterization. The characters are rich. That doesn’t necessarily always mean likable, but they are interesting, atypical. More like real people working through problems versus a lame pastiche. These aren’t straight-forward “Heroes” (tm) by the way. Going way back to the Erevis Cale intro series, nobody is a dyed in the wool “Good Guy” except for maybe Vasen himself. It’s not a four-color story. Lots of shades of grey here. That’s part of the charm of the previous series as well as The Godborn.
There are some excellently crafted fight scenes, some exceptional battles. There is also a lot of depth which is atypical of most genre fiction. Actually, Paul S. Kemp hardly writes what I’d call “Genre Fiction” in the first place: it’s fiction and it can easily stand up beside anything else at Barnes & Noble or Amazon.com. Genre Fiction has a long history of being in a niche alongside Westerns and “Men’s Adventure” novels like Mack Bolan…not exactly top shelf writing. In the past decade though the caliber of writing has made some serious jumps upward and it’s very respectable now, in no small part due to the efforts of writers like Paul S. Kemp, Dan Abnett, Graham McNeill, R.A. Salvatore and others. These aren’t kiddy D&D novels anymore. These are rich stories of deep characters, emotional investment and horror.
Yes, I mentioned horror. There is a strong element of horror in this one. I certainly approved. It was creepy. Without giving away the story, let it suffice that I’d give the book a PG-13 rating. Nuff said.
This novel is 70 years set after the events of The Twilight War Trilogy. The main character is the son of Erevis Cale who is one of the Chosen of Mask and a shade. The son is raised by goodly priests of Amaunator, God of the Dawn. So from the get-go he’s set up as straddling two worlds, Shadow and Light. He’s a faithful lad and he’s guided by dreams and by old associates of Erevis Cale and some new ones. It’s …complicated, but it’s well done. You’ll enjoy it.
Overall it’s a fantastic story. For those who read all the previous material it’s got the endings you expect and some you don’t (which is nice). I thought it wrapped up the previous storylines perfectly and opened the door for the future nicely.
*One important note. The Sundering Series is not sequential and the stories don’t necessarily have anything to do with each other Have no expectation of The Godborn having anything to do with Drizzt and The Companions: it doesn’t. It’s set in the same world, but telling two completely different tales of what is happening in the world and explaining what is to come in The Forgotten Realms. One book tells of something happening with one important canon character of the setting, another book tells of something happening elsewhere with other important canon characters. That is all. This is an important expectation to set.
I received this book originally via Netgalley as an ARC from WotC. I also just purchased the hardcover as well. It’s good, you should read it.
If you’ve read The Twilight Wars Trilogy, you’ll get more out of it so I’d give it a 5 of 5. If you haven’t it’s still a damn good read at 4 of 5.
July 24, 2014
More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/
This second outing in the multi-author series 'The Sundering' is similar to the first book, "The Companions" in the sense that it heavily relies on the reader being familiar with the earlier books which it relies on - the Twilight War.
Personally, I had not read them so my review comes from the point of a person who is not familiar with the characters. Hopefully those who do will find this a much nicer read, as I did not enjoy this book at all. The characters were poorly fleshed out and I found none of them interesting. Readers of the original trilogy may find the culminations of some of the characters interesting - I just wondered why a few of the characters were not cut from the book as they did not do anything of interest.
As for the plot, I felt I was stuck in a D&D campaign where the characters had advanced to too-high a level, and the DM was desperately trying to keep things interesting by throwing in plane travel, godlings, demons and angels. It never works in D&D, and didn't work in this book either.
Received as an ARC from the publisher.
September 29, 2010
cant wait for this release.
July 31, 2013
And Erevis Cale Is Who?
Before I begin let me establish something first. I had zero, none, nada, zip, absolutely no clue who Erevis Cale even was until quite recently. Growing up I played way more than my share of Dungeons & Dragons and I am in no way ashamed to admit that I spent a lot of time doing so within the confines of the Forgotten Realms. I have always had a fondness for the setting and over the years have followed its shifting storylines. And yet somehow I had managed to never notice the stories of one Erevis Cale.
Now, Erevis Cale, for the record is a protagonist penned by none other than Paul S. Kemp. Who, also I should point out I had only recently discovered by reading his Egil and Nix books, which are great by the way. But other than that I hadn’t really read any of his established works. So when I received a random email from the book-brownies over at NetGalley explaining how I had magically been pre-approved for the first two novels in the Sundering Series I was curious to say the least. Especially since Paul S. Kemp wrote the second book in the series and it involves Erevis Cale.
To further explain things let me just say that like many readers I am often reluctant to jump into a long standing series that I have never read from the beginning before. Add to that the fact that it is part of an ongoing epic storyline set to reshape a known setting and I was doubly dubious. Even with the reassurance that each book in the Sundering Series was a ‘stand-alone story’ I was a little concerned. There have been several series to make such a claim only to find a reader later lamenting the fact that without reading them all they missed various details or plot elements.
So I tried my hand at the first in the series, and without getting into the gory details had to cast it aside and try my luck with the second. Like I said I had enjoyed some of Mr. Kemp’s other works enough that I felt the leap of faith worth the risk. But what I found waiting for me was a more than pleasant surprise. It was like walking blindly into a room full of friendly folk who allowed their story to unfold around me. I couldn’t tell you thing one about who some of these people were or what had happened to shape them before then and honestly it never once mattered.
Kemp skillfully manages to lay out an intricate and intriguing series of events that draw you in without asking anything of you to know before hand. Everything just blossoms around you to form and you find yourself curiously charging along. Instead of making you feel guilty or lost about missing what has already happened you are trying to figure out what is going to happen next.
I’ll compare it like this; imagine that you are a child who has just been handed what looks like a simple puzzle. But as you work at it you find yourself losing more and more track of time as you become engrossed in the enigma. That experience is not unlike reading The Godborn. And for me, that warm welcome was more than enough to secure it as a worthy read.
Now, I know for some the idea of a review is to analyze the plot, the characters contained within or even divulge a spoiler or three. Well, I am not about to even ruin a single aspect of this book by dancing around any such elements. All I will say is that it doesn’t make demands on the reader to research anything that came before. And if you are familiar with Faerun you will find some things that will easily catch your eye. However, with the nature of the beast being what it is – a part of an epic whole that is promised to bring about change, you will also find new things to enjoy.
So, whether you’re stumbling blindly in from the cold for the first time or you’re an old adventuring companion to the likes of Cale you should enjoy the tale either way. It is a rare find in an ongoing series and one I can honestly say that will have me return for any past or future exploits. Give The Godborn a try when you get the chance, no homework required.
Before I begin let me establish something first. I had zero, none, nada, zip, absolutely no clue who Erevis Cale even was until quite recently. Growing up I played way more than my share of Dungeons & Dragons and I am in no way ashamed to admit that I spent a lot of time doing so within the confines of the Forgotten Realms. I have always had a fondness for the setting and over the years have followed its shifting storylines. And yet somehow I had managed to never notice the stories of one Erevis Cale.
Now, Erevis Cale, for the record is a protagonist penned by none other than Paul S. Kemp. Who, also I should point out I had only recently discovered by reading his Egil and Nix books, which are great by the way. But other than that I hadn’t really read any of his established works. So when I received a random email from the book-brownies over at NetGalley explaining how I had magically been pre-approved for the first two novels in the Sundering Series I was curious to say the least. Especially since Paul S. Kemp wrote the second book in the series and it involves Erevis Cale.
To further explain things let me just say that like many readers I am often reluctant to jump into a long standing series that I have never read from the beginning before. Add to that the fact that it is part of an ongoing epic storyline set to reshape a known setting and I was doubly dubious. Even with the reassurance that each book in the Sundering Series was a ‘stand-alone story’ I was a little concerned. There have been several series to make such a claim only to find a reader later lamenting the fact that without reading them all they missed various details or plot elements.
So I tried my hand at the first in the series, and without getting into the gory details had to cast it aside and try my luck with the second. Like I said I had enjoyed some of Mr. Kemp’s other works enough that I felt the leap of faith worth the risk. But what I found waiting for me was a more than pleasant surprise. It was like walking blindly into a room full of friendly folk who allowed their story to unfold around me. I couldn’t tell you thing one about who some of these people were or what had happened to shape them before then and honestly it never once mattered.
Kemp skillfully manages to lay out an intricate and intriguing series of events that draw you in without asking anything of you to know before hand. Everything just blossoms around you to form and you find yourself curiously charging along. Instead of making you feel guilty or lost about missing what has already happened you are trying to figure out what is going to happen next.
I’ll compare it like this; imagine that you are a child who has just been handed what looks like a simple puzzle. But as you work at it you find yourself losing more and more track of time as you become engrossed in the enigma. That experience is not unlike reading The Godborn. And for me, that warm welcome was more than enough to secure it as a worthy read.
Now, I know for some the idea of a review is to analyze the plot, the characters contained within or even divulge a spoiler or three. Well, I am not about to even ruin a single aspect of this book by dancing around any such elements. All I will say is that it doesn’t make demands on the reader to research anything that came before. And if you are familiar with Faerun you will find some things that will easily catch your eye. However, with the nature of the beast being what it is – a part of an epic whole that is promised to bring about change, you will also find new things to enjoy.
So, whether you’re stumbling blindly in from the cold for the first time or you’re an old adventuring companion to the likes of Cale you should enjoy the tale either way. It is a rare find in an ongoing series and one I can honestly say that will have me return for any past or future exploits. Give The Godborn a try when you get the chance, no homework required.
September 18, 2015
Story was compelling and had nice touches of detail to be thrilling fantasy novel. I do not suggest reading it as Sundering series book 2, but to get the know setup of this particular D&D universe before as I only have read Drizzt stories and this book background left me really in the dark.
April 28, 2014
The Godborn is the second novel in The Sundering series of books set in the Forgotten Realms. Each of the novels in The Sundering is designed to be a standalone installment, so, reading the previous novels is suggested but not required. This one is designed to be a sort of capstone to the "Cale" series of books, which I haven't read. Moreover, if you haven't read any of the authors novels in the Forgotten Realms before, you may feel a bit "Dropped in" where you have no idea who the characters are. However, despite this, the author does attempt to fill in enough of the blanks to make even a newcomer understand the character relationships in broadstrokes.
This novel, when compared with The Companions is much, much darker and centers around the goddess Shar attempting to consume Toril while another group of companions tries to stop it. Several of the companions have a piece of the "Dead god" Mask inside them and attempt to resurrect the old god who is the enemy of Shar. While the companions attempt to foil Shar's plan, the Lord of the eighth layer of The Nine Hells, Mephistopheles, wishes to absorb the remains of Mask's divinity in the hopes of acquiring enough power to defeat the Lord of the ninth layer and all of The Nine Hells, Asmodeus. To do this, he signs pacts with many, including a very unfortunate group of brothers who leave nothing but carnage in their wake. All the the two brothers have to do is find the son of Cale and they will be granted a painless death, but until then, they are cursed.
Until I read The Godborn, the only Forgotten Realms novels I read were authored by R.A. Salvatore so I was expecting a similar, but not identical, presentation style. The book is well written, but is far darker than any other novel I have read in the Forgotten Realms. The darkest parts of the novel center around the brothers and include graphic scenes of what they do, from wholesale slaughter of a village, to physically corrupting a child, to the assualt on an Abbey. Outside of that, the novel still remains quite dark, but nothing too intense. After reading The Godborn, I've decided to read more of this authors work in the Forgotten Realms if only to fill in the gaps with the characters mentioned. At the end of this book, I'm left with questions that I hope will be answered in other novels, such as what happens to Cale's son? What happens to Mask? What happens to Mephistopheles?
This novel, when compared with The Companions is much, much darker and centers around the goddess Shar attempting to consume Toril while another group of companions tries to stop it. Several of the companions have a piece of the "Dead god" Mask inside them and attempt to resurrect the old god who is the enemy of Shar. While the companions attempt to foil Shar's plan, the Lord of the eighth layer of The Nine Hells, Mephistopheles, wishes to absorb the remains of Mask's divinity in the hopes of acquiring enough power to defeat the Lord of the ninth layer and all of The Nine Hells, Asmodeus. To do this, he signs pacts with many, including a very unfortunate group of brothers who leave nothing but carnage in their wake. All the the two brothers have to do is find the son of Cale and they will be granted a painless death, but until then, they are cursed.
Until I read The Godborn, the only Forgotten Realms novels I read were authored by R.A. Salvatore so I was expecting a similar, but not identical, presentation style. The book is well written, but is far darker than any other novel I have read in the Forgotten Realms. The darkest parts of the novel center around the brothers and include graphic scenes of what they do, from wholesale slaughter of a village, to physically corrupting a child, to the assualt on an Abbey. Outside of that, the novel still remains quite dark, but nothing too intense. After reading The Godborn, I've decided to read more of this authors work in the Forgotten Realms if only to fill in the gaps with the characters mentioned. At the end of this book, I'm left with questions that I hope will be answered in other novels, such as what happens to Cale's son? What happens to Mask? What happens to Mephistopheles?
September 13, 2013
Godborn was a book I have been waiting for for 5 years. I could literally not put it down. Paul Kemp is a master in the antihero and realistic personality department. His books hit grey areas many realms authors avoid(this is a good thing, much like game of thrones) and does it in style, often leaving you teary eyed for the characters you grow to love.
The sundering is a book series in Forgotten realms, but each book has nothing to do with others in the series. Rather, each story follows stories each author has previously written, but all take place during the time of the sundering.
This book follows the events of the twilight war trilogy and in grand fashion with so many big names. I could literally not put the book down because I just had to know what happened next.
Ill be posting a full review with spoilers for discussion after the release date on Candlekeep where I review realms books regularly and on my new blog as a first review.
http://www.tumblr.com/blog/kojirealm
The sundering is a book series in Forgotten realms, but each book has nothing to do with others in the series. Rather, each story follows stories each author has previously written, but all take place during the time of the sundering.
This book follows the events of the twilight war trilogy and in grand fashion with so many big names. I could literally not put the book down because I just had to know what happened next.
Ill be posting a full review with spoilers for discussion after the release date on Candlekeep where I review realms books regularly and on my new blog as a first review.
http://www.tumblr.com/blog/kojirealm
November 23, 2013
You can read the full review over at my blog:
http://sonsofcorax.wordpress.com/2013...
This is the year that Wizards of the Coast goes really big. They are in the midst of launching the next edition of Dungeons & Dragons and to tie-in with that they are releasing a series of linked novels that tell of how all the changes to the D&D settings, such as the Forgotten Realms, end up happening. Each book is written by Wizards’ top talent and links to existing series. Bob Salvatore’s The Companions is the first tale of The Sundering and it is also the latest novel in Dark Elf Drizzt Do’Urden’s epic saga that has lasted for a great number of novels.
Paul S. Kemp’s latest, The Godborn, is the second book in The Sundering and it is also the latest in his Erevis Cale series that has lasted for seven novels thus far and doesn’t look like its going to stop anytime soon. I read the novel last month and it proved to be just as damn good a read as the previous two trilogies. There were a lot of plot threads left open at the end of the Twilight War trilogy, even as Paul provided a very satisfying, but emotional, conclusion. With the new novel, he addresses many of them and creates yet more mysteries, maintaining a healthy balance between the two.
The Sundering 02 GodbornBeing the eighth novel in the saga of Erevis Cale, the Chosen of Mask (the God of shadows and thieves), it is hard to talk about events herein without referring to events that have already happened in the series. There are a lot of momentous things that have already happened and now they all come to a head as the Realms begin to tear themselves apart, as all the gods make their play for the event that will be known down the ages as the Sundering. The Godborn deals with Vasen Cale, the son of Erevis and Varra. At the end of Shadowrealm, the third Twilight War novel, we knew that Varra had been spirited away by Mask as a favour to Erevis so that she could survive the events of the Cycle of Night, the great apocalyptic event that would ensure the ascendance of Shar, the Goddess of loss and the night.
That’s where we find ourselves when the novel begins. To keep Varra safe and to make his own move for the Sundering, Mask brought her several decades forward in time and gave her in to the care of the followers of Amaunator, formerly known as Lathandar, the God of the dawn and hope. Varra passes in childbirth but the boy is raised by Lathander’s followers and grows up to be one of them, enjoying high station in the out-of-way monastery. However, much as with Paul’s other Erevis Cale novels, Vasen isn’t the sole POV character, not by a long shot. We also get to see some extensive scenes from returning characters like Riven, Rivalen, Mephistopheles and Magadon too. And much joy was had.
Riven is one of my favourite characters in the entire series and its great to see him return for another outing. He is older, more grizzled, more tired, and more ready to just end everything. Along with Erevis, he was marked by Mask as his Chosen, and in the absence of his friend he has soldiered on for nearly a century. He’s had to shoulder all the responsibilities of being the Chosen of Mask by himself for all that time. He has felt incomplete and he has been buried under those expectations. When he finds about Vasen, he sees a sign from Mask and he ensures that Erevis’ child grows up to be worthy of his father’s legacy. Through the entire novel, these are the kinds of things we see from him. When I first met Riven in the Erevis Cale Trilogy, he was Erevis’ bitter rival. Since then he’s grown to be Erevis’ most steadfast friend, a true friend, the kind that is rare to see. And he’s been loyal.
This comes to an incredibly satisfying conclusion later on in the novel when Riven and Vasen go to visit Mephistopheles and set things right as they should be, as Mask decrees it. I was waiting for that to happen all through, and when it happened, I couldn’t really stop myself from jumping up and down in glee. Come on, it was expected, it had to happen, and it was all glorious. Glorious.
Rivalen proved to be a very different character this time around. He’s completely lost in his service to Shar and there isn’t any depth that he will not go to in order to further his Goddess’ plans. The Godborn marks his further descent. Its fascinating to see him since his situation is extremely complicated. There are things that he did in his past that put him at odds with his brother, and even with his father. There are familial complications involved here that directly affect Rivalen and in many ways these complicated prove to be his undoing. Watching that entire debacle unfold was one of the most satisfying experiences in the novel.
And finally we have Magadon, the half-breed son of Mephistopheles, the Archduke of Cania, the Lord of the Eighth. Magadon has always struggled with his devilish heritage and his father has made him a pawn in his vendetta against Asmodeus, the Lord of the Nine Hells who is also a god, but this time it is Mags who gets the one-up. His father made him suffer during the events of Twilight War, and the mind-mage finally gets his revenge on his father, in the best way possible. Another air-pumping moment.
Throughout the novel, we continue to see how each of these characters, and more besides, continue to develop. They are the heroes of sorts that define the other struggles taking place across the Realms. For Vasen it all comes down to acknowledging his heritage. Since he was conceived during Erevis’ tenure as a Chosen of Mask, having already undergone the transformation process that turned him into someone akin to one of the Shadover with his entire body made out of the stuff of shadows, Vasen is very much the same. This marks him out from the very beginning and is just one of the many things that the young man has to accept. For Riven, it all comes down to acknowledging that his entire service to Mask has indeed been something to be regarded highly. He just has to take that final step. For Rivalen and Mephistopheles, it is all about fulfilling their devious plans and becoming supreme within their spheres of influence. That’s what it all comes down to.
The action in the book is grander than it has been throughout the entire series. Everything is on a whole different scale. Paul’s action choreography is one of the reasons why I love to read his novels since he writes them extremely well and The Godborn is no exception to that. They are always packed with tons of excitement and anticipation, with things able to go either way.
Of course, since this book is also a part of The Sundering, we need to see some references to that event happening. Curiously, much as with Bob Salvatore’s The Companions we don’t really see all that much, aside from references as to how the Shadovar are collecting an entire group of potential Chosen since their leaders are seeing signs that some monumental changes are on the horizon and they want to be kept abreast of it all, they want to be able to understand what’s happening as it all comes about. In hindsight, I can tell you that it isn’t until Erin M. Evans’ The Adversary, the third Brimstone Angels novel from the author and the next book in this event series that we really get to see more of that aspect of this entire event. So that was the only downside to The Godborn. I didn’t really learn anything about the big event.
Other than all of that, this book proved to be just as excellent as Paul’s previous novels in the series. The incredible scope of his novels always exposes so many different sides of the Realms and that’s one of the best things about his writing. He writes to surprise you, amaze you and just in general show off the incredible diversity of the Realms. As a relative new reader to the setting, this is an approach that works extremely well for me.
Rating: 9.5/10
http://sonsofcorax.wordpress.com/2013...
This is the year that Wizards of the Coast goes really big. They are in the midst of launching the next edition of Dungeons & Dragons and to tie-in with that they are releasing a series of linked novels that tell of how all the changes to the D&D settings, such as the Forgotten Realms, end up happening. Each book is written by Wizards’ top talent and links to existing series. Bob Salvatore’s The Companions is the first tale of The Sundering and it is also the latest novel in Dark Elf Drizzt Do’Urden’s epic saga that has lasted for a great number of novels.
Paul S. Kemp’s latest, The Godborn, is the second book in The Sundering and it is also the latest in his Erevis Cale series that has lasted for seven novels thus far and doesn’t look like its going to stop anytime soon. I read the novel last month and it proved to be just as damn good a read as the previous two trilogies. There were a lot of plot threads left open at the end of the Twilight War trilogy, even as Paul provided a very satisfying, but emotional, conclusion. With the new novel, he addresses many of them and creates yet more mysteries, maintaining a healthy balance between the two.
The Sundering 02 GodbornBeing the eighth novel in the saga of Erevis Cale, the Chosen of Mask (the God of shadows and thieves), it is hard to talk about events herein without referring to events that have already happened in the series. There are a lot of momentous things that have already happened and now they all come to a head as the Realms begin to tear themselves apart, as all the gods make their play for the event that will be known down the ages as the Sundering. The Godborn deals with Vasen Cale, the son of Erevis and Varra. At the end of Shadowrealm, the third Twilight War novel, we knew that Varra had been spirited away by Mask as a favour to Erevis so that she could survive the events of the Cycle of Night, the great apocalyptic event that would ensure the ascendance of Shar, the Goddess of loss and the night.
That’s where we find ourselves when the novel begins. To keep Varra safe and to make his own move for the Sundering, Mask brought her several decades forward in time and gave her in to the care of the followers of Amaunator, formerly known as Lathandar, the God of the dawn and hope. Varra passes in childbirth but the boy is raised by Lathander’s followers and grows up to be one of them, enjoying high station in the out-of-way monastery. However, much as with Paul’s other Erevis Cale novels, Vasen isn’t the sole POV character, not by a long shot. We also get to see some extensive scenes from returning characters like Riven, Rivalen, Mephistopheles and Magadon too. And much joy was had.
Riven is one of my favourite characters in the entire series and its great to see him return for another outing. He is older, more grizzled, more tired, and more ready to just end everything. Along with Erevis, he was marked by Mask as his Chosen, and in the absence of his friend he has soldiered on for nearly a century. He’s had to shoulder all the responsibilities of being the Chosen of Mask by himself for all that time. He has felt incomplete and he has been buried under those expectations. When he finds about Vasen, he sees a sign from Mask and he ensures that Erevis’ child grows up to be worthy of his father’s legacy. Through the entire novel, these are the kinds of things we see from him. When I first met Riven in the Erevis Cale Trilogy, he was Erevis’ bitter rival. Since then he’s grown to be Erevis’ most steadfast friend, a true friend, the kind that is rare to see. And he’s been loyal.
This comes to an incredibly satisfying conclusion later on in the novel when Riven and Vasen go to visit Mephistopheles and set things right as they should be, as Mask decrees it. I was waiting for that to happen all through, and when it happened, I couldn’t really stop myself from jumping up and down in glee. Come on, it was expected, it had to happen, and it was all glorious. Glorious.
Rivalen proved to be a very different character this time around. He’s completely lost in his service to Shar and there isn’t any depth that he will not go to in order to further his Goddess’ plans. The Godborn marks his further descent. Its fascinating to see him since his situation is extremely complicated. There are things that he did in his past that put him at odds with his brother, and even with his father. There are familial complications involved here that directly affect Rivalen and in many ways these complicated prove to be his undoing. Watching that entire debacle unfold was one of the most satisfying experiences in the novel.
And finally we have Magadon, the half-breed son of Mephistopheles, the Archduke of Cania, the Lord of the Eighth. Magadon has always struggled with his devilish heritage and his father has made him a pawn in his vendetta against Asmodeus, the Lord of the Nine Hells who is also a god, but this time it is Mags who gets the one-up. His father made him suffer during the events of Twilight War, and the mind-mage finally gets his revenge on his father, in the best way possible. Another air-pumping moment.
Throughout the novel, we continue to see how each of these characters, and more besides, continue to develop. They are the heroes of sorts that define the other struggles taking place across the Realms. For Vasen it all comes down to acknowledging his heritage. Since he was conceived during Erevis’ tenure as a Chosen of Mask, having already undergone the transformation process that turned him into someone akin to one of the Shadover with his entire body made out of the stuff of shadows, Vasen is very much the same. This marks him out from the very beginning and is just one of the many things that the young man has to accept. For Riven, it all comes down to acknowledging that his entire service to Mask has indeed been something to be regarded highly. He just has to take that final step. For Rivalen and Mephistopheles, it is all about fulfilling their devious plans and becoming supreme within their spheres of influence. That’s what it all comes down to.
The action in the book is grander than it has been throughout the entire series. Everything is on a whole different scale. Paul’s action choreography is one of the reasons why I love to read his novels since he writes them extremely well and The Godborn is no exception to that. They are always packed with tons of excitement and anticipation, with things able to go either way.
Of course, since this book is also a part of The Sundering, we need to see some references to that event happening. Curiously, much as with Bob Salvatore’s The Companions we don’t really see all that much, aside from references as to how the Shadovar are collecting an entire group of potential Chosen since their leaders are seeing signs that some monumental changes are on the horizon and they want to be kept abreast of it all, they want to be able to understand what’s happening as it all comes about. In hindsight, I can tell you that it isn’t until Erin M. Evans’ The Adversary, the third Brimstone Angels novel from the author and the next book in this event series that we really get to see more of that aspect of this entire event. So that was the only downside to The Godborn. I didn’t really learn anything about the big event.
Other than all of that, this book proved to be just as excellent as Paul’s previous novels in the series. The incredible scope of his novels always exposes so many different sides of the Realms and that’s one of the best things about his writing. He writes to surprise you, amaze you and just in general show off the incredible diversity of the Realms. As a relative new reader to the setting, this is an approach that works extremely well for me.
Rating: 9.5/10
Read
April 14, 2021I haven’t read anything by Paul S. Kemp before. After finishing The Godborn, I have to wonder why. The man can write.
The Godborn is the second book in the Forgotten Realms event ‘The Sundering’. Wizards of the Coast plan to release six standalone novels from series authors that will show the events of The Sundering from the perspective of some of Faerûn’s best known heroes. For those unfamiliar with Kemp, his hero is Erevis Cale, shade and chosen of Mask. The Godborn begins with the birth of Erevis’ son.
Vasen Cale is named for his father and resembles him in many ways. Shadows leak from his skin—the descriptions of this phenomenon delighted me throughout the book. He’s not a full shade, though. He’s half human and this is an important part of the story. Vasen Cale’s personal journey is to reconcile his two halves, shadow and light. By accident (or design, this is Faerûn) he is born at the Abbey of the Rose, a sanctuary dedicated to Amaunator, the deity of order, the law, sun and time. He grows up to be First Blade of the Dawnguard; a priest of Amaunator, of the light. In the Dungeons and Dragons world, priests are some of the most talented warriors and Vasen Cale exemplifies the class.
As the ‘Godborn’, Vasen has a greater destiny, however. The Cycle of Night is drawing to a close and only he can halt the cataclysm that would destroy Faerûn and Toril. He does not know how. The dreams of his father and the messages of the Oracle both hint at his role, but the clues are mystifying.
Enter the cast of other characters—men, godlings, shades and demons—who all seek Vasen for a different purpose. Some are friends of Erevis Cale, some enemies. Some simply seek Vasen as a means to their own end. Special enchantments keep the Abbey of the Rose hidden in the Thunder Peaks of Sembia, a land where the sun does not shine. Not the place you would think to look for an abbey dedicated to the deity of light! With events wheeling toward apocalypse, shadows lift, enchantments fail (or are withdrawn) and those who seek, find.
The Godborn tells the story of a classic battle between light and dark, but the concepts of light and dark are altered. Not all that is shadowed is evil and there is darkness in even the best of men. Kemp explores these themes fully.
The variety of characters and separate agendas is astonishing. As is the fact Kemp manages to keep the voices separate and distinct. I never forgot whose narrative I followed and I found the journey of each character equally fascinating (Orsin and his lines!). Kemp so obviously knows his characters and loves them well enough to share them in the barest strokes and yet have the reader gain a full picture. I came to care for even the most twisted beings, only to have my sympathy shredded by horror. I did not expect to be so moved, and I was, several times.
Carrying all of this is the prose of an author who obviously has such a vivid picture of this gloomy world in his head, he has no trouble transcribing it to the page. From the prologue forward, I had such a clear, mental view of Sembia, the village of Fairelm and the abbey. Enough background is related through thought and deed the reader quickly becomes familiar with Kemp’s portion of the world of Toril and the backstory of Erevis Cale and his companions. Sympathy is built and expectations expertly played upon. Alliances shift and the line between light and shadow moves, constantly.
Fans of Paul S. Kemp are going to read The Godborn for the same reason I read The Companions. It’s a chance to visit with beloved characters and another, rather important, piece of a larger tale. What an event like ‘The Sundering’ does, though, is encourage fans to try something new. Explore a different story. I really enjoyed the experience of reading a different adventure in Faerûn. As a longtime fan of Drizzt and R.A. Salvatore, I’ve always meant to try some of the other Forgotten Realms books, but it’s usually a matter of time. I can’t read all day. The Godborn has inspired me to read more of Kemp’s novels (I have already ordered the first Erevis Cale book) and to look at other authors exploring the realms.
Review written for an originally posted at SFCrowsnest.
The Godborn is the second book in the Forgotten Realms event ‘The Sundering’. Wizards of the Coast plan to release six standalone novels from series authors that will show the events of The Sundering from the perspective of some of Faerûn’s best known heroes. For those unfamiliar with Kemp, his hero is Erevis Cale, shade and chosen of Mask. The Godborn begins with the birth of Erevis’ son.
Vasen Cale is named for his father and resembles him in many ways. Shadows leak from his skin—the descriptions of this phenomenon delighted me throughout the book. He’s not a full shade, though. He’s half human and this is an important part of the story. Vasen Cale’s personal journey is to reconcile his two halves, shadow and light. By accident (or design, this is Faerûn) he is born at the Abbey of the Rose, a sanctuary dedicated to Amaunator, the deity of order, the law, sun and time. He grows up to be First Blade of the Dawnguard; a priest of Amaunator, of the light. In the Dungeons and Dragons world, priests are some of the most talented warriors and Vasen Cale exemplifies the class.
As the ‘Godborn’, Vasen has a greater destiny, however. The Cycle of Night is drawing to a close and only he can halt the cataclysm that would destroy Faerûn and Toril. He does not know how. The dreams of his father and the messages of the Oracle both hint at his role, but the clues are mystifying.
Enter the cast of other characters—men, godlings, shades and demons—who all seek Vasen for a different purpose. Some are friends of Erevis Cale, some enemies. Some simply seek Vasen as a means to their own end. Special enchantments keep the Abbey of the Rose hidden in the Thunder Peaks of Sembia, a land where the sun does not shine. Not the place you would think to look for an abbey dedicated to the deity of light! With events wheeling toward apocalypse, shadows lift, enchantments fail (or are withdrawn) and those who seek, find.
The Godborn tells the story of a classic battle between light and dark, but the concepts of light and dark are altered. Not all that is shadowed is evil and there is darkness in even the best of men. Kemp explores these themes fully.
The variety of characters and separate agendas is astonishing. As is the fact Kemp manages to keep the voices separate and distinct. I never forgot whose narrative I followed and I found the journey of each character equally fascinating (Orsin and his lines!). Kemp so obviously knows his characters and loves them well enough to share them in the barest strokes and yet have the reader gain a full picture. I came to care for even the most twisted beings, only to have my sympathy shredded by horror. I did not expect to be so moved, and I was, several times.
Carrying all of this is the prose of an author who obviously has such a vivid picture of this gloomy world in his head, he has no trouble transcribing it to the page. From the prologue forward, I had such a clear, mental view of Sembia, the village of Fairelm and the abbey. Enough background is related through thought and deed the reader quickly becomes familiar with Kemp’s portion of the world of Toril and the backstory of Erevis Cale and his companions. Sympathy is built and expectations expertly played upon. Alliances shift and the line between light and shadow moves, constantly.
Fans of Paul S. Kemp are going to read The Godborn for the same reason I read The Companions. It’s a chance to visit with beloved characters and another, rather important, piece of a larger tale. What an event like ‘The Sundering’ does, though, is encourage fans to try something new. Explore a different story. I really enjoyed the experience of reading a different adventure in Faerûn. As a longtime fan of Drizzt and R.A. Salvatore, I’ve always meant to try some of the other Forgotten Realms books, but it’s usually a matter of time. I can’t read all day. The Godborn has inspired me to read more of Kemp’s novels (I have already ordered the first Erevis Cale book) and to look at other authors exploring the realms.
Review written for an originally posted at SFCrowsnest.
September 26, 2013
New Release! I received an electronic copy of this book via Netgalley for review.
Premise: Dungeons and Dragons is coming out with a new edition next year. This series of books (each focused on a different set of characters) take place during the in-world adjustments necessary so that the abilities of the characters in the novels will match the adjustments to the rules of the game. Insert eyeroll here.
Okay, remember how I said that the first one of these books wasn’t a good jumping on point? This one is worse. Now, my reaction is probably partially due to the fact that rather than starting with a bit of poorly-remembered background on the characters, I had nothing going into this one. However, these books were not only offered to Netgalley reviewers, they were specially promoted to them, so it’s Wizards of the Coast’s own PR department’s fault if new readers are reviewing these.
This book was confusing and boring, but my biggest problems with it was the testosterone was too thick throughout, sticky and unpleasant like chewing tar.
Here’s a little synopsis of the premise: This dude whose mother dies in the first chapter is a paladin and he’s also the son of a dark warrior who is maybe dead or maybe trapped in Hell and there was a god whose powers got split amongst a bunch of guys in some previous book, some of whom are barely mentioned until the end, even though I guess they’re really important to the plot? Other dudes decide to adventure with the paladin because why not. And there’s an evil goddess who wants to destroy the world, but mostly we hear about the priest dude who wants to help her and how his brother hates him for maybe killing their mother and there’s another couple of dudes who were horribly cursed and go about raping (magically-metaphorically, but the metaphor is way too horrendously obvious) and slaughtering people.
It’s all a bit... bleck. And bleak. And blah.
I started skimming about two-thirds of the way through, and only finished the thing through sheer perversity. Who the main character was seemed to change abruptly near the end, and the whole thing was just boring when it wasn’t gross.
I’m going to go on a little side-note here, because I’m not always one to be hard on books for their gender representation, but this was ludicrous.
Female character count: (spoilers, naturally)
-Mother of the main character: dies in childbirth after being on stage for a handful of pages, kid grows up w/adoptive father.
-Mother of priest-dude: killed before book to motivate priest and brother.
-Wife of supporting character: only on-screen long enough to create desire for vengeance/reason for questing when she dies horribly. Husband's desire for vengeance fades inexplicably after a few chapters.
-Daughter in peasant family: appears only to immediately die horribly to prove the bad guys are bad.
-Pilgrim mother: lives through her brief appearance, her entire purpose is to worry about her son, who almost dies horribly.
-Evil Goddess: wants to destroy existence, is only a force with no personality and no dialogue, we only know anything about her through her priest.
I think those are all of the named women in the entire book. Every one an adjunct to a more important male character. Four of them die to serve the male characters' motivation. I just... I can’t even... ugh. (Incidentally, The Companions, for all its many faults, had one major female protagonist and at least five major supporting female characters, all of whom had their own interesting motivations, and none of whom were fridged.)
Some of the writing was fine, but I was by turns pissed off and grossed out for most of this book. Not a winner.
1 Star - Do Not Read.
Premise: Dungeons and Dragons is coming out with a new edition next year. This series of books (each focused on a different set of characters) take place during the in-world adjustments necessary so that the abilities of the characters in the novels will match the adjustments to the rules of the game. Insert eyeroll here.
Okay, remember how I said that the first one of these books wasn’t a good jumping on point? This one is worse. Now, my reaction is probably partially due to the fact that rather than starting with a bit of poorly-remembered background on the characters, I had nothing going into this one. However, these books were not only offered to Netgalley reviewers, they were specially promoted to them, so it’s Wizards of the Coast’s own PR department’s fault if new readers are reviewing these.
This book was confusing and boring, but my biggest problems with it was the testosterone was too thick throughout, sticky and unpleasant like chewing tar.
Here’s a little synopsis of the premise: This dude whose mother dies in the first chapter is a paladin and he’s also the son of a dark warrior who is maybe dead or maybe trapped in Hell and there was a god whose powers got split amongst a bunch of guys in some previous book, some of whom are barely mentioned until the end, even though I guess they’re really important to the plot? Other dudes decide to adventure with the paladin because why not. And there’s an evil goddess who wants to destroy the world, but mostly we hear about the priest dude who wants to help her and how his brother hates him for maybe killing their mother and there’s another couple of dudes who were horribly cursed and go about raping (magically-metaphorically, but the metaphor is way too horrendously obvious) and slaughtering people.
It’s all a bit... bleck. And bleak. And blah.
I started skimming about two-thirds of the way through, and only finished the thing through sheer perversity. Who the main character was seemed to change abruptly near the end, and the whole thing was just boring when it wasn’t gross.
I’m going to go on a little side-note here, because I’m not always one to be hard on books for their gender representation, but this was ludicrous.
Female character count: (spoilers, naturally)
-Mother of the main character: dies in childbirth after being on stage for a handful of pages, kid grows up w/adoptive father.
-Mother of priest-dude: killed before book to motivate priest and brother.
-Wife of supporting character: only on-screen long enough to create desire for vengeance/reason for questing when she dies horribly. Husband's desire for vengeance fades inexplicably after a few chapters.
-Daughter in peasant family: appears only to immediately die horribly to prove the bad guys are bad.
-Pilgrim mother: lives through her brief appearance, her entire purpose is to worry about her son, who almost dies horribly.
-Evil Goddess: wants to destroy existence, is only a force with no personality and no dialogue, we only know anything about her through her priest.
I think those are all of the named women in the entire book. Every one an adjunct to a more important male character. Four of them die to serve the male characters' motivation. I just... I can’t even... ugh. (Incidentally, The Companions, for all its many faults, had one major female protagonist and at least five major supporting female characters, all of whom had their own interesting motivations, and none of whom were fridged.)
Some of the writing was fine, but I was by turns pissed off and grossed out for most of this book. Not a winner.
1 Star - Do Not Read.
July 8, 2015
Originally published on Tales to Tide You Over
The Godborn suffered from the same issue I had with The Companions, that of too many main characters existing in distant locations scattered throughout the world. What made this issue a bigger deal for me in The Godborn was the lack of an overall goal. The shape of the story did not become clear to me until rather late in the book, an effect worsened by the characters having the same problem in that they were following a path laid on faith and cloaked in shadow so they were lucky if they could see the step right in front of them.
But if you’ve been following my reviewing patterns, you’d know that I don’t post about books I didn’t like.
The above is absolutely true. I struggled to keep track of all the characters, and most of the times the story switched from one person/group to another, I had to step out of the book to reorient myself and remember this particular piece of the overall tale. Others might be better able to track disparate pieces without a clear tie between then, but I often felt as though this were a middle book in the series and the reason I couldn’t see the ties would be explained by them being bridging conflicts to move the characters in place for the final one. I also, I admit, was keeping an eye out for the companions, who never show up.
So why did I go ahead and review this book if I hated it so much? The characters.
Kemp puts together a huge cast in which each character–bad, good, mixed, or unclear–has a very real and vibrant presence, even those who grace the pages for all too short a time. No matter how much I struggled with the narrative shifts, I couldn’t give up. I wanted to see what was happening with pretty much every character in the book. I wanted them to find redemption, have a moment of glory, survive, reach their goal, commit their crime–or more often wanted them to fail–and ultimately live out the arc they were given.
Even how I describe my issue with not seeing the shape of the story shows how much this book got under my skin. The play of light and shadow in physical and moral terms is crucial. Even better, though, Kemp avoids the traditional dark is bad, light is good sequence to provide a much more nuanced view.
And the moments of philosophy are beautiful. This ties back into the character strengths, but a few key characters, like Vasen, actively struggle with their path and what it means to be who they are, what they are, and who they came from. Their gods are present as active forces, though some exist only in the consequences of their previous destruction, and with these gods come belief systems, approaches, and philosophies that both guide and twist the characters.
The Godborn is not a simple adventure novel. It’s so much more than that while at the same time providing the adventure, the epic quests, and the traumas along the way. It says a lot for Kemp and this particular novel that I was captivated almost despite myself.
So, be forewarned and forearmed. This book is not a series of bridging conflicts. Everything that happens comes together in the end for a satisfying conclusion. You need to be patient with the structure if you’re a reader like I am, but that patience is rewarded with characters you can love and hate, sometimes in equal measure, and who make you want to see how their trials end.
P.S. I received this title from the publisher through Netgalley in return for an honest review.
The Godborn suffered from the same issue I had with The Companions, that of too many main characters existing in distant locations scattered throughout the world. What made this issue a bigger deal for me in The Godborn was the lack of an overall goal. The shape of the story did not become clear to me until rather late in the book, an effect worsened by the characters having the same problem in that they were following a path laid on faith and cloaked in shadow so they were lucky if they could see the step right in front of them.
But if you’ve been following my reviewing patterns, you’d know that I don’t post about books I didn’t like.
The above is absolutely true. I struggled to keep track of all the characters, and most of the times the story switched from one person/group to another, I had to step out of the book to reorient myself and remember this particular piece of the overall tale. Others might be better able to track disparate pieces without a clear tie between then, but I often felt as though this were a middle book in the series and the reason I couldn’t see the ties would be explained by them being bridging conflicts to move the characters in place for the final one. I also, I admit, was keeping an eye out for the companions, who never show up.
So why did I go ahead and review this book if I hated it so much? The characters.
Kemp puts together a huge cast in which each character–bad, good, mixed, or unclear–has a very real and vibrant presence, even those who grace the pages for all too short a time. No matter how much I struggled with the narrative shifts, I couldn’t give up. I wanted to see what was happening with pretty much every character in the book. I wanted them to find redemption, have a moment of glory, survive, reach their goal, commit their crime–or more often wanted them to fail–and ultimately live out the arc they were given.
Even how I describe my issue with not seeing the shape of the story shows how much this book got under my skin. The play of light and shadow in physical and moral terms is crucial. Even better, though, Kemp avoids the traditional dark is bad, light is good sequence to provide a much more nuanced view.
And the moments of philosophy are beautiful. This ties back into the character strengths, but a few key characters, like Vasen, actively struggle with their path and what it means to be who they are, what they are, and who they came from. Their gods are present as active forces, though some exist only in the consequences of their previous destruction, and with these gods come belief systems, approaches, and philosophies that both guide and twist the characters.
The Godborn is not a simple adventure novel. It’s so much more than that while at the same time providing the adventure, the epic quests, and the traumas along the way. It says a lot for Kemp and this particular novel that I was captivated almost despite myself.
So, be forewarned and forearmed. This book is not a series of bridging conflicts. Everything that happens comes together in the end for a satisfying conclusion. You need to be patient with the structure if you’re a reader like I am, but that patience is rewarded with characters you can love and hate, sometimes in equal measure, and who make you want to see how their trials end.
P.S. I received this title from the publisher through Netgalley in return for an honest review.
September 19, 2014
I feel like I buck the trend a bit in the world of Forgotten Realms fiction. Paul S. Kemp’s Erevis Cole is by far my favorite character and Kemp’s handle on dialogue is superb. The Godborn continues Wizards of the Coast’s Sundering event following Salvatores The Companions. I wasn’t a huge fan of The Companions as a novel, it felt far too transitory to make for a good stand alone read, and thankfully The Godborn doesn’t follow in that tradition. The Companions hinted and The Godborn confirms that the The Sundering is mostly a background tie-in that doesn’t really get expounded on in the plot. Indeed, in The Godborn the major event felt a bit more tertiary to the proceedings than even the previous novel. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing as Kemp’s handle on characterization really brought to the needs and desires of his characters to the fore; a fact which definitely helped in getting things rolling.
The Godborn focuses heavily on the duality of it’s lead character Vasen Cole. As the son of a shade Vasen is perhaps an unlikely candidate to become a paladin of Amaunator, a deity of light and healing. A good portion of the novel is Vasen’s struggle to find a balance between his inborn shadow magic and his devotion of Amaunator. It’s an interesting and immediately compelling tension that never goes overly far into brooding. Vasen, is new to readers and makes for an excellent choice in leads since he has a connection to Kemp’s previous work (he is after all the son of Erevis Cole, whisked forward in time 70 years during the Spellplague) and at the same time an excellent means to introduce new readers to established characters.
Kemp sets out quickly establishing Vasen’s character, helped especially through the character of Orsin; a monk devoted to Mask. The quick camaraderie between Orsin and Vasen definitely served to set the novel tone and their banter definitely helped keep the novel from slipping too far into darkness. Kemp sets up a lot of moving parts in The Godborn, including dangling plot threads from his Twilight War series, and introducing new dangers such as the monstrous Sayeed and Zeehad; two brothers monstrously cursed by Mephistopheles and sent forth to seek out Vasen. I will say that you will never quite look at cats the same way again.
Kemp excels a quickly and effectively painting vivid characters and in doing so manages to keep the complicated plot grounded in individuals the read can quickly come to care about. While I have read some of Kemp’s previous Forgotten Realms and quite feel that they are a necessity in enjoying The Godborn to its fullest. While knowledge of Kemp’s previous works definitely enhances the reading he introduces new elements, an concisely explains the old one, just enough that new readers should follow along nicely. Unfortunately, The Godborn does nothing to enhance my view of The Sundering as a whole. While long time Forgotten Realms fans know what is in store the lack of cohesiveness to the event saps my interest overall. I finished The Godborn thinking that it was a great novel but not at all curious as to what happens next in The Sundering. To me that smacks of bad marketing and poor editorial direction. Regardless, rest assured that if you’re interesting in reading a top-notch adventure fantasy story than The Godborn is a novel well worth picking up.
The Godborn focuses heavily on the duality of it’s lead character Vasen Cole. As the son of a shade Vasen is perhaps an unlikely candidate to become a paladin of Amaunator, a deity of light and healing. A good portion of the novel is Vasen’s struggle to find a balance between his inborn shadow magic and his devotion of Amaunator. It’s an interesting and immediately compelling tension that never goes overly far into brooding. Vasen, is new to readers and makes for an excellent choice in leads since he has a connection to Kemp’s previous work (he is after all the son of Erevis Cole, whisked forward in time 70 years during the Spellplague) and at the same time an excellent means to introduce new readers to established characters.
Kemp sets out quickly establishing Vasen’s character, helped especially through the character of Orsin; a monk devoted to Mask. The quick camaraderie between Orsin and Vasen definitely served to set the novel tone and their banter definitely helped keep the novel from slipping too far into darkness. Kemp sets up a lot of moving parts in The Godborn, including dangling plot threads from his Twilight War series, and introducing new dangers such as the monstrous Sayeed and Zeehad; two brothers monstrously cursed by Mephistopheles and sent forth to seek out Vasen. I will say that you will never quite look at cats the same way again.
Kemp excels a quickly and effectively painting vivid characters and in doing so manages to keep the complicated plot grounded in individuals the read can quickly come to care about. While I have read some of Kemp’s previous Forgotten Realms and quite feel that they are a necessity in enjoying The Godborn to its fullest. While knowledge of Kemp’s previous works definitely enhances the reading he introduces new elements, an concisely explains the old one, just enough that new readers should follow along nicely. Unfortunately, The Godborn does nothing to enhance my view of The Sundering as a whole. While long time Forgotten Realms fans know what is in store the lack of cohesiveness to the event saps my interest overall. I finished The Godborn thinking that it was a great novel but not at all curious as to what happens next in The Sundering. To me that smacks of bad marketing and poor editorial direction. Regardless, rest assured that if you’re interesting in reading a top-notch adventure fantasy story than The Godborn is a novel well worth picking up.
August 14, 2013
Author Paul S. Kemp continues the multi-author series The Sundering with his contribution, The Godborn which seems to take place at about the same time as Book 1, The Companions but with a much heavier ‘feel.’ Each book in the series brings to life the characters and events in the Forgotten Realms, originally part of the Dungeons and Dragons phenomenon. The Godborn, really starts with the eminent birth of Vasen, destined to play an important role in the battle between light and dark. His mother is sent many years into the future to give to birth to him. Now an adult, Vasen goes in search of his missing father, Erevis Cale, held prisoner for many years in the 8th level of Hell. To do so will involve risking his life to attempt to reunite both of his inner selves, the light and the dark, while intervening in the battles of several opposing gods. Will he be able to save his father in time? Can he fulfill his destiny and survive? What course will the world be set on if he fails?
Not being a Dungeons and Dragons aficionado, but having read The Companions this venture into this fantasy realm was very different, much darker and more violent. The intensity level is on high alert the entire time, the feeling of ominous danger around every corner!
I was fascinated, once again with the Forgotten Realm, the creative genius of Paul S. Kemp and yet, his very dark take was almost too much for me in this battle between good and evil! The attention to detail is amazing, as he built his version of this violent playground of the gods and godlings. This series has the makings of true “cult” status among the Dungeons and Dragons fans!
I received this ARC copy of The Godborn from NetGalley and Wizards of the Coast in exchange for my honest review.
Publication Date: October 1, 2013
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
Series: The Sundering, Book 2
ISBN: 978-0786963737 (Hardcover)
Number of Pages: 366
Genre: Dark Fantasy
My Rating: 4 Stars
Available from: Amazon / Barnes & Noble
For more reviews check out Tome Tender's Book Blog or find us on Facebook.
Not being a Dungeons and Dragons aficionado, but having read The Companions this venture into this fantasy realm was very different, much darker and more violent. The intensity level is on high alert the entire time, the feeling of ominous danger around every corner!
I was fascinated, once again with the Forgotten Realm, the creative genius of Paul S. Kemp and yet, his very dark take was almost too much for me in this battle between good and evil! The attention to detail is amazing, as he built his version of this violent playground of the gods and godlings. This series has the makings of true “cult” status among the Dungeons and Dragons fans!
I received this ARC copy of The Godborn from NetGalley and Wizards of the Coast in exchange for my honest review.
Publication Date: October 1, 2013
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
Series: The Sundering, Book 2
ISBN: 978-0786963737 (Hardcover)
Number of Pages: 366
Genre: Dark Fantasy
My Rating: 4 Stars
Available from: Amazon / Barnes & Noble
For more reviews check out Tome Tender's Book Blog or find us on Facebook.
August 14, 2013
I received an electronic advanced reading copy of this from the publisher via NetGalley.
This is the first non-Salvatore book I've read in the Forgotten Realms universe, and for a book in this shared-universe genre I found it quite good with writing superior to what I typically would see even in the best of Salvatore's or similar. As a stand-alone novel in the loosely-tied "Sundering" series, I found that Kemp managed to keep this novel far tighter and less mysterious than Salvatore's "The Companions" despite my being utterly unfamiliar with any of the characters here.
My unfamiliarity with Kemp's characters may be partially why this novel felt nicely fresh and new compared to the well-tread tales of Salvatore. There are fewer cleanly good, upright moral characters in this compared to Salvatore's, and Kemp doesn't turn aside of moments of discomfort, horror or vulgarity when necessary. I also appreciated that this novel by Kemp is a proper story in completion. Though it obviously sets the stage for future adventures of the characters, it stands on its own with a sense of completion and payoff.
The only weakness I saw in this was Kemp's handling of action sequences. They are often related in a straightforward manner, one event listed after another, each sentence with similar construction and flow, almost as a dry summary. I don't think anyone would look at this expecting some amazing piece of literature, it certainly isn't. But it is an enjoyable, easy fantasy read with enough complexity and style to make it worthwhile. In the end I don't know if I'll read the remaining novels in the "Sundering" series, but I'm glad I had the opportunity to be freely introduced to Kemp's work, it provides a welcome alternate to the overfamiliar quaintness of Salvatore.
This is the first non-Salvatore book I've read in the Forgotten Realms universe, and for a book in this shared-universe genre I found it quite good with writing superior to what I typically would see even in the best of Salvatore's or similar. As a stand-alone novel in the loosely-tied "Sundering" series, I found that Kemp managed to keep this novel far tighter and less mysterious than Salvatore's "The Companions" despite my being utterly unfamiliar with any of the characters here.
My unfamiliarity with Kemp's characters may be partially why this novel felt nicely fresh and new compared to the well-tread tales of Salvatore. There are fewer cleanly good, upright moral characters in this compared to Salvatore's, and Kemp doesn't turn aside of moments of discomfort, horror or vulgarity when necessary. I also appreciated that this novel by Kemp is a proper story in completion. Though it obviously sets the stage for future adventures of the characters, it stands on its own with a sense of completion and payoff.
The only weakness I saw in this was Kemp's handling of action sequences. They are often related in a straightforward manner, one event listed after another, each sentence with similar construction and flow, almost as a dry summary. I don't think anyone would look at this expecting some amazing piece of literature, it certainly isn't. But it is an enjoyable, easy fantasy read with enough complexity and style to make it worthwhile. In the end I don't know if I'll read the remaining novels in the "Sundering" series, but I'm glad I had the opportunity to be freely introduced to Kemp's work, it provides a welcome alternate to the overfamiliar quaintness of Salvatore.
September 27, 2013
Thank you to Netgalley for inviting me to review this book.
After very much enjoying "The Companions" I was looking forward to this one, and although the wrting is just as good, I have marked it down a bit simply because I did not enjoy it as much as Book One. This often happens I find with a series, the second book is hardly ever the best of the bunch and you find that as the series moves on, THEN you get the even better instalments.
Anyway I digress slightly... lets get back to the important stuff. I think my disappointment stems from the fact that this story seemed to have nothing much to do with "The Companions" and as I have started with "The Sundering" series and not read the previous books from the same Universe, I was kind of hoping to carry on from where I left off so to speak. This is set in the same time but a completely different character set. The plot seemed over convoluted at times and the understanding I garnered from the first book was lost.
Whilst the writing continued to be terrific I just could not, sadly, lose myself in the story at all. I struggled to finish it simply because I felt off kilter by not having enough knowledge. That did not occur during "The Companions" where I soon felt right at home with the characters and the world they were inhabiting.
For me I guess that 2 stars would be more accurate - I give it 3.5 however because I know that its highly likely if I had been in since the start I would have had an entirely different viewpoint!
This book is definitely for those who know a lot more about the background than I do.
Happy Reading Folks!
After very much enjoying "The Companions" I was looking forward to this one, and although the wrting is just as good, I have marked it down a bit simply because I did not enjoy it as much as Book One. This often happens I find with a series, the second book is hardly ever the best of the bunch and you find that as the series moves on, THEN you get the even better instalments.
Anyway I digress slightly... lets get back to the important stuff. I think my disappointment stems from the fact that this story seemed to have nothing much to do with "The Companions" and as I have started with "The Sundering" series and not read the previous books from the same Universe, I was kind of hoping to carry on from where I left off so to speak. This is set in the same time but a completely different character set. The plot seemed over convoluted at times and the understanding I garnered from the first book was lost.
Whilst the writing continued to be terrific I just could not, sadly, lose myself in the story at all. I struggled to finish it simply because I felt off kilter by not having enough knowledge. That did not occur during "The Companions" where I soon felt right at home with the characters and the world they were inhabiting.
For me I guess that 2 stars would be more accurate - I give it 3.5 however because I know that its highly likely if I had been in since the start I would have had an entirely different viewpoint!
This book is definitely for those who know a lot more about the background than I do.
Happy Reading Folks!
November 27, 2025
Paul S. Kemp once again pulls you deep into this completely bewitching fantasy world in The Godborn.
His mother was transported into the future for his birth. Now Vasen's birth is suppose to play a pivotal role in the battle between light and dark. When he reaches adulthood, Vasen is haunted by visions of his father's imprisonment. For Vasen questing into hell is no easy task, but that is where he must go to find his father. During this quest Vasen risks uniting his light and dark sides while fighting gods and godlings with conflicting views. The race is on to find Erevis Cale, Vasen's father and to fulfill his destiny.
This is an intense, violent, dark fantasy. A few times, I had to remember to breathe during this white knuckle suspense filled plot.
I have to admit the vast reaches of Kemp's imagination scares me :). Perfectly detailed, you are whipped away to this battle between light and dark/good and evil and even the gray areas in between.
I really enjoyed The Companions which brings a lot of the Forgotten Realm characters into the time of The Godborn. Both these books seem to be written during the same time, though The Godborn seems darker and more sinister.
I personally was caught up in the allure of this story. definitely a must read for the fantasy lover and Dungeon and Dragon devotee.
I received this ARC copy of The Godborn from Wizards of the Coast in exchange for a honest review. This book is set for publication October 1, 2013.
His mother was transported into the future for his birth. Now Vasen's birth is suppose to play a pivotal role in the battle between light and dark. When he reaches adulthood, Vasen is haunted by visions of his father's imprisonment. For Vasen questing into hell is no easy task, but that is where he must go to find his father. During this quest Vasen risks uniting his light and dark sides while fighting gods and godlings with conflicting views. The race is on to find Erevis Cale, Vasen's father and to fulfill his destiny.
This is an intense, violent, dark fantasy. A few times, I had to remember to breathe during this white knuckle suspense filled plot.
I have to admit the vast reaches of Kemp's imagination scares me :). Perfectly detailed, you are whipped away to this battle between light and dark/good and evil and even the gray areas in between.
I really enjoyed The Companions which brings a lot of the Forgotten Realm characters into the time of The Godborn. Both these books seem to be written during the same time, though The Godborn seems darker and more sinister.
I personally was caught up in the allure of this story. definitely a must read for the fantasy lover and Dungeon and Dragon devotee.
I received this ARC copy of The Godborn from Wizards of the Coast in exchange for a honest review. This book is set for publication October 1, 2013.
September 2, 2013
ARC provided by Netgalley for a honest review
So for my first disclaimer I have been reading/playing Dungeons and dragons for over 20 years now so I have a good understanding of the books and world of Forgotten Realms. This book is the continuation of the twilight war by Paul S. Kemp and to say it was anticipated due to delays would be a massive understatement. This book was so engaging I was unable to put it down and read it in one day. The character of Vasen Cale was engaging and displayed the particular shades of Grey we have come to expect from Mr. Kemp. The tie-ins with the Sundering were near seamless also, especially considering it was put into this book series when it was originally a starter to a new trilogy. The glimpses into the minds of exarchs, godlings and demigods were written in such a way as to explain just how complex the “minds” of these beings are. All in all I found the Godborn to be an excellent read very worthy of Mr. Kemp’s name and I cannot wait for any further adventures of Vasen Cale and company.
So for my first disclaimer I have been reading/playing Dungeons and dragons for over 20 years now so I have a good understanding of the books and world of Forgotten Realms. This book is the continuation of the twilight war by Paul S. Kemp and to say it was anticipated due to delays would be a massive understatement. This book was so engaging I was unable to put it down and read it in one day. The character of Vasen Cale was engaging and displayed the particular shades of Grey we have come to expect from Mr. Kemp. The tie-ins with the Sundering were near seamless also, especially considering it was put into this book series when it was originally a starter to a new trilogy. The glimpses into the minds of exarchs, godlings and demigods were written in such a way as to explain just how complex the “minds” of these beings are. All in all I found the Godborn to be an excellent read very worthy of Mr. Kemp’s name and I cannot wait for any further adventures of Vasen Cale and company.
December 7, 2013
I had just finished The Companions, book one of this series by R.A. Salvatore, and I enjoyed it very much. I am very familiar with Salvatore's books and characters and found it to be an enjoyable read. I assumed that all of the books in this series would be connected in some way, but that does not seem to be the case. Perhaps when further books in this series are released it will become more evident how they will tie together, if at all.
Unlike R.A. Salvatore, I have not read any prior works by this author, and I felt a little lost at times. The author does an ok job of filling in the backstory, yet I still had difficulty feeling familiar with these characters. I did enjoy the story for the most part, but it did feel a little slow, I would find myself struggling to get through certain parts. Overall not a bad read, but it felt a little too much like work at some times. I hope that the rest of this book series will tie everything together at some point, that might help me enjoy this book a bit more and make me want to re-read it.
Unlike R.A. Salvatore, I have not read any prior works by this author, and I felt a little lost at times. The author does an ok job of filling in the backstory, yet I still had difficulty feeling familiar with these characters. I did enjoy the story for the most part, but it did feel a little slow, I would find myself struggling to get through certain parts. Overall not a bad read, but it felt a little too much like work at some times. I hope that the rest of this book series will tie everything together at some point, that might help me enjoy this book a bit more and make me want to re-read it.
August 12, 2013
An amazing read. It kept me turning through the pages throughout the whole book.
This is the second book in the new epic multi-author series called The Sundering. This book takes place one hundred years after the Twilight Wars trilogy by Kemp and details the adventures of Erevis Cale's son Vasen Cale and a couple of his friends.
Shar is stirring and her Nightseer is plotting, Mask has laid down plans upon plans to stop the Cycle of Night from coming to fruition. It's up to Vasen and company to stop the Nightseer from consuming the whole world of Toril. Aided by some of Erevis Cale's old friends (one of which is now a godling carrying part of Mask's divinity). The adventure takes off through minor twists and turns but ever onward to the final fight between the heroes and the villain...
This is the second book in the new epic multi-author series called The Sundering. This book takes place one hundred years after the Twilight Wars trilogy by Kemp and details the adventures of Erevis Cale's son Vasen Cale and a couple of his friends.
Shar is stirring and her Nightseer is plotting, Mask has laid down plans upon plans to stop the Cycle of Night from coming to fruition. It's up to Vasen and company to stop the Nightseer from consuming the whole world of Toril. Aided by some of Erevis Cale's old friends (one of which is now a godling carrying part of Mask's divinity). The adventure takes off through minor twists and turns but ever onward to the final fight between the heroes and the villain...
July 30, 2013
Paul S Kemp does it again with his upcoming book GODBORN. GODBORN is the second book in the Sundering Series taking place in the Forgotten Realms universe. The book has been a long time coming. I have to say that the book’s delay is one of the reasons that I had given up on Forgotten Realms. I can now forgive them for the wait. It was a great read with Mr. Kemp demonstrating his talent for storytelling.
GODBORN isn’t just a by the numbers swords and sorcery novel. It’s about people dealing with difficult issues and overcoming challenges. Paul S Kemp manages to draw me into the story and start caring for his characters. I definitely recommend this book. However, if you have never read Paul S Kemps forgotten realms books before, I would recommend you start off with Twilight Falling: The Erevis Cale Trilogy, Book I
GODBORN isn’t just a by the numbers swords and sorcery novel. It’s about people dealing with difficult issues and overcoming challenges. Paul S Kemp manages to draw me into the story and start caring for his characters. I definitely recommend this book. However, if you have never read Paul S Kemps forgotten realms books before, I would recommend you start off with Twilight Falling: The Erevis Cale Trilogy, Book I
June 8, 2016
After reading the Erevis Cale trilogy, I remember anxiously waiting for the Twilight War books to come out and being delighted as each book was as exciting as the last, while getting more and more epic. I loved Kemp's intricate plot and character development, where many of the Forgotten Realms books seem to be more of a "let's just play a D&D game and then write about what we did" approach.
The Godborn unfortunately broke the trend. There was enough action and FR lore in the book to keep it interesting, but I found the plot predictable and dry, and the characters fairly one-dimensional and uninteresting. It was like the Expendables movies: lots of explosions, guns, and cameos; but not much else.
If this was your first book by Paul S. Kemp, then I'd recommend reading some of the other Erevis Cale books. This one just doesn't do it justice.
The Godborn unfortunately broke the trend. There was enough action and FR lore in the book to keep it interesting, but I found the plot predictable and dry, and the characters fairly one-dimensional and uninteresting. It was like the Expendables movies: lots of explosions, guns, and cameos; but not much else.
If this was your first book by Paul S. Kemp, then I'd recommend reading some of the other Erevis Cale books. This one just doesn't do it justice.
October 7, 2013
The Godborn, like other of Paul S. Kemp's Forgotten Realms novels, was AWESOME!!!!!!
And, for those of you who have not read the others, as well as R.A. Salvatore's The Companions (Book One of The Sundering), really, really, REALLY need to read them BEFORE reading The Godborn. I cannot stress that enough.
Trust me.
Of course, I wish it had been longer, but that is my only complaint. The story and characters themselves were amazing, as I have come to expect from Paul S. Kemp. And so far, he has not let me down.
And, for those of you who have not read the others, as well as R.A. Salvatore's The Companions (Book One of The Sundering), really, really, REALLY need to read them BEFORE reading The Godborn. I cannot stress that enough.
Trust me.
Of course, I wish it had been longer, but that is my only complaint. The story and characters themselves were amazing, as I have come to expect from Paul S. Kemp. And so far, he has not let me down.
July 11, 2013
“The Godborn” is the second book in "The Sundering" series of Forgotten Realm books. It has been a while since I have read any of the Forgotten Realm series and it was nice revising it. Researching the series reveals that there will be six books in this current offering, all by different authors. I liked the first two books in the series and will definitely read more.
July 18, 2013
The second book in a series written by different authors, The Godborn is an exciting read and true to Kemp's style of writing. Kemp keeps the pages turning with a thrilling plot ride, a variety of characters true to who they are, and a dark theme that draws the reader in. As always, Kemp keeps true to the Forgotten Realms.
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