Realms of War

Forgotten Realms: Anthologies #12

by Philip Athans (Editor)

War stories from the battlefields of Faerûn!

The millennia-old history of Faerûn is punctuated by wars both local and world-spanning. This anthology of all new stories are set against the backdrop of a dozen of those conflicts. From forest elf assassins to jungle-dwelling halflings, from the mighty Seven Sisters to primitive goblins, warriors in every form struggle for their place in the Forgotten Realms world.

Realms of War is an anthology of all new war stories from The New York Times best-selling authors R.A. Salvatore, Paul S. Kemp, Elaine Cunningham, and Lisa Smedman; Forgotten Realms creator Ed Greenwood; fan favorites Richard Lee Byers, Mel Odom, Bruce R. Cordell, and Jess Lebow; and talented newcomers Mark Sehestedt, Jaleigh Johnson, and Susan Morris.

Genres: Forgotten Realms, Fantasy, Anthologies, Dungeons and Dragons, Fiction, Short Stories, High Fantasy

352 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 8, 2008

About the author

I 100% support AUTHORS AGAINST BOOK BANS
https://www.authorsagainstbookbans.com

I give every book 5 stars in protest against the concept of star ratings in general and the ever-unfolding algorithm dystopia!

Philip Athans, an anti-AI, anti-book bans liberal, is the founding partner of Athans & Associates Creative Consulting (www.athansassociates.com), and the New York Times best-selling author of Annihilation and more than a dozen other fantasy and horror books including The Best of Fantasy Authors Handbook Vol. I 2009-2013, The Guide to Writing Fantasy & Science Fiction, and Writing Monsters. Born in Rochester, New York he grew up in suburban Chicago, where he published the literary magazine Alternative Fiction & Poetry. His blog, Fantasy Author’s Handbook, is updated every Tuesday (https://fantasyhandbook.wordpress.com), less regularly on the FAH YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@FantasyAutho...), and you can follow him on Twitter @PhilAthans. He makes his home in the foothills of the Washington Cascades, east of Seattle.

Reviews

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Realms of War edited by Philip Athans- This anthology is included in The Twilight War trilogy by Paul S. Kemp. Comprised of twelve short stories by Paul S. Kemp, Lisa Smedman, Susan J. Morris, Bruce R. Cordell, Ed Greenwood, Jess Lebow, Mark Sehestedt, Elaine Cunningham, Mel Odom, Jaleigh Johnson, R. A. Salvatore, and Richard Lee Byers. There are many famous characters from the Forgotten Realms that appear in the different stories.

Continuum by Paul S. Kemp- This short story fills in some of the back story found in the third book of The Twilight War trilogy entitled Shadowrealm. So it takes place between the second and third book of the trilogy. It first tells of Rivalen Tanthul's conversion to Shar, the Lady of Loss. Then it fills the reader in with what happened to Varra and how Rivalen's brother, Brennus, finds their mothers' necklace.
Negatives:
1) Rivalen. The short story didn't really add much to the character, only how he converted and how he feels towards Shar. There really wasn't any added dimension or anything to the character.
Positives:
1) Brennus. Throughout the trilogy, you didn't really hear too much about the younger brother. He showed up here and there, but didn't get a lot of the limelight. In this short story, he is interesting and is more dimensional than I thought Rivalen was.
2) What happened to Varra? I was wondering what did happen to Varra during Shadowrealm, and it's good to see that we find out. I was obvious who she was talking to, but what happens I really felt comfortable with and it explained a lot without going into too much detail.
3) Answers. When I was reading Shadowrealm, I always wondered by how Brennus found his mothers' necklace and with what happened to Varra. I am happy that the questions I had were answered and I think I should have read the short story before going into Shadowrealm.
Overall: 4.5/5
*While a good short story, Rivalen just seemed to be there. However, Brennus and Varra did become a little more than secondary characters and were interesting.*

Weasel's Run by Lisa Smedman- This story follows Weasel, who is a spriggan (a creature that can change sizes) that tries to escape priests of Malar, the Beastlord, in their hunt. The priests are halfling werewolves, who follow their leader names The Beast.
Negatives:
1) Confusing. I just felt confused at times. I'm not all that knowing on creatures of the Realms or anything so a lot of these things Lisa Smedman included, I didn't know about. That and the time frame was weird, I kind of forgot that -67 is farther back than the more recent -65. But that wasn't the big problem. I just felt that the jumping between the years just seemed confusing and got me lost at times.
2) War? Seeing as this is the Realms of War, I would think it would have been a more action focused. Yes there was fighting, but it wasn't really touched on.
Positives:
1) Fast paced. Even though I had to take a moment to figure out what was that thing, I was relatively fast. The chase scenes were appropriately paced and it left you with a sense of urgency.
2) Creative. The story was pretty creative at parts in which Weasel tries to either elude pursuit or when he fights. That was the real highlight I think.
Overall: 3.5/5
*For me, it was just a little to confusing with creatures I never heard of, so I was hard pressed to try to figure out what the descriptions were of these things. *

The Last Paladin of Ilmater by Susan J. Morris- The story centers around two women kidnapping a fallen paladin's son. Maze, an assassin, and Jaeriko, a druid, decide to kidnap the General of Arrabar's son by the General of Reth, to stop a war in which the fallen paladin is using ghouls to win the war.
Negatives:
1) Lacking. Some paragraphs seemed to be lacking an important detail. They seemed to be wrapped up either way to quickly or wrapped up in which an action is missing. Then there were times when there wasn't enough information given about what was going on.
2) Confusing. The story was kind of confusing at times. There were times in which I didn't know which woman was talking or doing something and I didn't really know what suddenly happened between the two.
Positives:
1) Interesting ideas. I have to like the overall plot and ideas behind what was going on. They were pretty interesting and new. Who would think a paladin would use ghouls to fight a war? Not only that, but to have him do other unspeakable things to other people, it just felt different, in a good way.
2) Characters. After getting passed who was talking and what was going on, the characters themselves were pretty interesting. Maze was your typical bull-headed leader. Jaeriko was the more interesting of the two. She had a lot of different dimensions and didn't seem to be your typical main character.
Overall: 3/5
*The confusing aspects and how it sometimes lacked details really made this hard to read and follow clearly. But the overall concept is exciting and fresh.*

Black Arrow by Bruce R. Cordell- The story opens with a letter to a mother saying that her son has died in a battle to save a city called Sarshel. After the letter, the story then follows Jotharam, the son, in what happened.
Negatives:
None. However, I'd liked to know more about what happened to Jotharam and the battle/ war in general.
Positives:
1) Fast paced. I was really sucked into how smooth and fast the story went. I didn't want to put it down, even after finishing it, I don't want it to stop.
2) Characters. The characters in the story is perfect. Simple, yet there is enough to make you like them. Yet at the same time, the characters didn't seem to be overly powerful or important enough that made them invincible, and that was really needed in a story like this.
3) Plot. Simple, yet very effective. It didn't bog you down with useless information or with so much going on that you couldn't follow. Simplicity, in this case, is best.
Overall: 5/5
*Great all round with everything*

Too Many Princes by Ed Greenwood- The story is about a war in Amn and how a group of merchant nobles and mercenaries are being kept in a fortified cathedral called Ombreir. The focus of the story is on Mirt the Merciless, the leader of the mercenaries has he tries and find out who is real and who is murdering the merchant nobles.
Negatives:
1) Too many names and characters. This is always a fault I have with Ed Greenwood's short stories (I have yet to read a full novel by him). He throws at you to many names of characters that quite frankly, you don't need to know their names.
2) To much information. Yet another fault I have with Ed Greenwood's short stories. There is an over abundance of trivial and pointless information that is given that doesn't need to be included in the story at all. Then the useful information that's given is given in a round-about fashion.
3) The beginning. With all the name throwing and the pointless, over abundant information, it surpasses the point of confusion. I honestly had no idea what the story is about, who it's about, and what is going on.
Positives:
1) The end. I did like the end. It made sense of the confusion at the beginning and there was even a small twist. I've noticed other people didn't like the fact of the super powerful characters that you find in Ed Greenwood's work showing up, but to me, it made the ending at least a little comprehensible. Those super powerful characters were like the "voice" of reason, which made sense of the mess that was this short story.
2) The idea. I also liked the idea of what the plot could have been, when I figured it out. It was interesting and could have been very exciting. Basically, a murder mystery with an army coming to kill you, is a great idea.
Overall: 2/5
*Some people liked the beginning, I didn't. That's why I'm rating it so low. Simplification would have made this story so much better.*

The Siege of Zerith Hold by Jess Lebow- The story is about a siege happening against Zerith Hold. Lord Purdun and his companion, a half-elf, half-steel dragon named Jivam Tammsel are the main focus of the story as they try to hold Zerith Hold from a force of goblins.
Negatives:
1) Lack of character depth. Purdun and Tammsel seem to be very interesting characters, but they didn't have enough time to become more fleshed out.
Positives:
1) Action. I hardly ever say this, but I really enjoyed the action. It's not like I don't enjoy it, they just always seem to be the same usually. Here though, I really thought it was well done and very exciting.
2) Plot. I did like where the story was heading. You can feel the desperation that the main characters feel and the plan they make to have a last-ditch effort to try to live. Simple, yet good.
Overall: 4/5
*The characters really need some work, but seeing all the action involved, a longer story would have made it better.*

Mercy's Reward by Mark Sehestedt- The story involves a man named Gethred and how he winds up the target of a werebear after freeing a wolf. He escapes the werebear when the army that he escaped capture from hunts him down.
Negatives:
1) Gethred. While he at times, especially in the beginning, seemed to be a fun and interesting character, kind of fell flat towards the middle and at the end. He started with some promise, but didn't really grow or change all that much.
2) Felt cliché. The story did seem to like feel like I've read this before. And yet, Mark Sehestedt wrote another book, Frostfell part of the Wizards series, that kind of dealt with roughly the same things. It was like I was reading something that I've before, and during parts of the story, roughly some of the same things happened in Frostfell.
Positives:
1) Pacing. It was a pretty fast read. I have to say that the reason for this is that I was pretty interested about what happens.
2) Message. There was a sort of message that was brought up when reading the story. Do a good deed and you may get rewarded.
Overall: 3.5/5
*I really don't know how I feel about this story. It was interesting and did have a good positive message, yet at the same time, it just felt like I've read this before and seen it done better.*

Redemption by Elaine Cunningham- The story involves an elf assassin named Ferret that goes and kills a commander of a garrison of troops. But she is caught and it takes Elaith Craulnober to cover up the evidence.
Negatives:
1) Background. I don't fault Elaine Cunningham, but myself on this fact. It seems to me that you need to read the series called Songs & Swords to really understand what is happening. I haven't, but will one day. But I was utterly confused when reading this.
Positives:
1) Characters. I've heard that Elaith is a very complex and interesting character. Seeing him in this story and the things and inner demons he faces is pretty interesting. Ferret seemed like an interesting character in the few scenes she was in. But I have to say that Elaith stole the story.
2) Clever. The way that Elaith decides to cover up the assassination is pretty ingenious.
Overall: 4/5
*Like I said, it would be a good story, if I had the background to understand what was going on.*

Changing Tides by Mel Odom- The focus of the story is on Rytagir Volak and his deep-sea treasure hunting. When exploring for a sunken ship, Rytagir encounters sea elves led by Irdinmai, in which she and Rytagir strike a bargain with helping salvage the wreckage. However trouble comes in the form of the sea devils, called sahuagin.
Negatives:
1) Left me wanted more. It's not a negative by any means. I just want to read more about what happened and am really bummed it ended so soon.
Positives:
1) Characters. Wonderful. Rytagir was an interesting and complex. Irdinmai was also very interesting. They were what really made this story great. Along with...
2) ... the Plot. Excellent. Interesting and kept me interested in what was going to happen. Action isn't everything in this story and it really benefits that. Nevertheless, the story was fast paced and exciting.
3) Dialogue. Some stories have dialogue that seems "forced" and unnatural, here it felt natural and real. It wasn't cheesy and it wasn't overly serious, it was just good.
Overall: 5/5
*Very good characters and a fast paced plot line are the major highlights.*

Chase the Dark by Jaleigh Johnson- The story follows Devlen Torthil, who is a charlatan and an outcast in Amn, who just wants to be a hero.
Negatives:
1) Confusing. I wasn't, and still am not, sure about why Devlen was a charlatan. I didn't think that it was really explained to well. Was he able to use magic? Is that what made him a charlatan? I just felt it wasn't very clear.
Positives:
1) Characters. Each character was very interesting. The relationship between Devlen and his commander, Morla, was very interesting. Devlen himself was well thought out and the major highlight. While the priest Gerond was also an intriguing character.
2) Twist. What happened I never really expected. It was a shock, and totally unexpected.
3) Memoirs. I liked this little insight into Devlen's thought on what happens. I think that this is what really made him interesting and a developed character. Also, I liked how it briefly either, recapped or set up, the next scenes.
Overall: 4/5
*Even though it was confusing to me at times, the characters were the highlights.*

Bones and Stones by R. A. Salvatore- The story follows Thibbledorf Pwent and his search for a fallen companion after the battle between Obould and Mithral Hall. During Pwent's search, he comes across and orc, G'nurk, who is searching for his daughter. Anger rises and realization ensues.
Negatives:
1) Drizzt Diaries. If there is one thing I don't like about Drizzt it has to be his philosophical diaries. They aren't bad, most of the time, but they just drag on. While in this short story, the diaries serve as an insight, I just felt like it wasn't necessary, and quite honestly, it started to get a little boring.
Positives:
1) Pwent. I used to think that Pwent was just battle crazed and unable to do anything else but fight and kill. Here he has some added depth and I'm really surprised to see how complex he is.
2) Philosophical meanings. When Pwent and G'nurk, fight and their realizations hit, it carries a lot of meaning. Who would have thought that Pwent has a conscious?
Overall: 4.5/5
*I don't like the Drizzt Diaries, they are a nice touch, but they always come across as whiny and just boring.*

Second Chance by Richard Lee Byers- The story starts with an apprentice, Kemas, who became captured after fleeing a temple of Kossuth that was under attack, and to gain information on the temple through torture. However, Bareris Anskuld, intervenes and saves Kemas. Bareris than tell Kemas to go back to the temple with the plans of attack to allow the temple a way to defeat them. Facing the gruesome undead, does Kemas gain courage?
Negatives:
1) Mirror. Where was Mirror in all of this? For those of you who don't know, Mirror is Bareris' ghostly companion in The Haunted Lands trilogy. He was only mentioned twice and yet I like Mirror so I was a little bummed.
Positives:
1) Kemas. I liked the character for the reason that he HAD to become braver unless he dies. It was an interesting look into the mind of a person who was fearful, yet later, becomes brave. It isn't often that you see a character mature before your eyes. Most heroes are generally brave and fearless, it was a nice change to have one that was actually scared.
2) Plot. I liked how fast the story moved and how entertaining it was. It was well written so that you didn't notice the events happening quickly as they were.
3) Bareris. I can't get enough of this character. I liked him in The Haunted Lands trilogy and its nice to see him, albeit, quickly here.
Overall 4.75/5
*Good story, yet it just needed more Mirror.*

OVERALL ANTHOLOGY: 4/5

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

The following review was taken from http://beezermn.laethyn.com/index.php
I highly recommend this website for this and other fantasy author reviews.


Realms of War is the latest anthology released by Wizards of the Coast. All of the stories are edited by Philip Athans. This anthology is a direct tie-in to Paul S. Kemp’s latest trilogy titled The Twilight War. The crux of this anthology is each of these stories take place in a war that has occurred, or is occurring, in the Realms. There are many events, and characters, that astute readers will recognize. Fans of the Forgotten Realms will recognize many of the authors in this anthology, such as Kemp, R.A. Salvatore, Ed Greenwood, and many more.
Instead of reviewing each story individually, which would take entirely too long. I will say a few words about each story and give my general impressions of it, and hope that will suffice.

#1 – Continuum by Paul S. Kemp – This story ties right into Mr. Kemp’s Twilight War trilogy. While it doesn’t answer many questions, it does provide some significant background into a couple of the characters as well as leaving the reader with at least two major questions. Fast pacing and solid writing here – just what we have come to expect from Mr. Kemp. 4 out of 5

#2 - Weasel's Run by Lisa Smedman - This is a quick little self contained tale. Nothing Realms shattering by any means, but the pacing and characters more than held my attention. After what I considered a disappointing second book in the Lady Penitent trilogy it is nice to see Ms. Smedmann return to form. Another solid story for this anthology. 4 out of 5.

#3 - The Last Paladin of Ilmater by Susan J. Morris – Editor Susan Morris tries her hand at the short story with this tale. High praises around. Very interesting story, solid characters, and enough action to keep me turning the pages. It already seems as though small things are happening in the Realms gearing up for something major. Yet another solid addition to this anthology. 4 out of 5.

#4 - Black Arrow by Bruce R. Cordell – A quaint story about a boy doing what his mom tells him not to. However, Mr. Cordell wraps this story in a very nice shell and the presentation is spot on. In fact, I would have liked to see this one as a novella, there was so much more I wanted to read about. Good plot, great characters, and equally solid pacing. A very good addition tot his anthology. 4 out of 5.

#5 - Too Many Princes by Ed Greenwood – This story had quite a bit of promise. A solid build up, an interesting plot and entertaining characters. Then, Mr. Greenwood does what he always does and brings in the ultra-strong characters that runs roughshod over everything and everyone totally destroying the plot and all the build up. Sometimes, you just have to leave those characters at home. A good start and disappointing finish. 2 out of 5.

#6 - The Siege of Zerith Hold by Jess Lebow – A solid tale detailing a battle at a fortress known as Zerith Hold. Mosltly all plot and action here. There are some interesting characters, but being that this is a short story there is not a lot of time for character development. Hopefully some of these characters appear in later short stories or a novel or two. Another good addition to this anthology. 4 out of 5.

#7 - Mercy's Reward by Mark Sehestedt – A tale about a lone man who’s choices pays a great dividend in the end. The actual plot of this story is solid enough, the pacing is good and keeps the reader interested. However, the main character, seemed shallow to me. Maybe this is because there were so many additional characters added to the story. This isn’t the best story of this anthology but it’s not too bad either. 3 out of 5.

#8 - Redemption by Elaine Cunningham – A story about the renowned Elaith and delves a little into who he is and what some of his motives ‘might’ be. A decent amount of action and a plot that leaves some questions, of which I assume will be answered later this year with the release of Reclamation by Ms. Cunningham. A solid story that held my interest and left me wanting more. 4 out of 5.

#9 - Changing Tides by Mel Odom – It’s good to see Mr. Odem back in the Realms, and of course he jumps right up onto a ship and into the sea. A very engaging tale about a historian seeking answers, and a little cash. Very interesting plot, solid characters that I connected with right away. I was reminded again why I like Mr. Odem’s writing. One of the best stories in this anthology and that says a lot. 5 out of 5.

#10 - Chase the Dark by Jaleigh Johnson – An interesting tale about an outcast of Amn trying to make a name for himself. An engaging story and very good characters, which is surprising since it’s a short story. There is more depth in this story than most of the others in this anthology. It certainly held my interest and left me wanting to read more about the main character. Very good addition to this anthology 5 out of 5.

#11 - Bones and Stones by R.A. Salvatore – This was not the story I was expecting. No Drizzt or Artemis here. It’s all Pwent. This story actually adds a great deal of substance to Pwent as a character. No longer is he the crazy dwarf bent on ravaging an opponent. He has depth, and a heart. It is all written around a Drizzt journal entry which makes it very poignant . A must read for such. 5 out of 5.

#12 - Second Chance by Richard Lee Byers – This short story ties into Mr. Byers The Haunted Land trilogy. Fans of the first book, Unclean, will see the story progression. This story was mildly entertaining. The plot was decent and the characters were adequate. However, I wasn’t as interested in the events, or characters, of this story as I was with some of the other stories in this anthology. It’s not a bad story, but just seemed a little flat to me. 3 out of 5.

This may be one of the best anthologies I have read in quite some time. The overall quality of the stories is fantastic. There are some great stories in this collection such as Mel Odom’s, Jaleigh Johnson’s, and R.A. Salvatore’s. The rest are entertaining in their own right and certainly add lore and depth to the various wars that they take place in. All in all this anthology is a must for any Forgotten Realms fan. Kudos to all the authors who have a story in this one.

- BeezerMN

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I first read in the back of some book that there was going to be a Realms of War anthology, I was a little perplexed. ‘War’ is a pretty broad subject. But, then again, so is ‘Valor’, and ‘The Underdark’, and ‘The Arcane’. Picking up the book, the cover was pretty cool looking, I’ll admit. All of the Twilight War-related covers are.

-The first short story, “Continuum”, by Paul Kemp, is one of the best pieces of Forgotten Realms literature that there is. Honestly. This story explained one of the nagging problems that has existed since Telamont Tanthul/Lord Shadow was reintroduced in the Return of the Archwizards trilogy- Where is his wife? The one that he went through such pains to marry, in the Netheril: Empire of Magic box set. Her absence was one of the main driving points in the ‘Telamont Tanthul is not Lord Shadow’ conspiracy theories. The way in which she died- “[I want] to be the instrument of your downfall”- coupled with the ending- Discovering things was his gift? Pure genius. Honestly, I was less interested in the story with Varra than I was the “sideplot” with Rivalen, his mother, and Brennus. It’s just too bad that the FRCG “ruined” things, since we know that Prince Rivalen is still among the living and doing just fine. The climax that this short story alluded to- Brennus and/or Lord Shadow vs. Rivalen- would have been spectacular.

-“Weasel’s Run”, the story by Lisa Smedman, I enjoyed. When I first began reading it, I was getting the sense that this was going to be one of those stories that I trudged through, for the sake of having finished reading it. But, as I got deeper into the story, this really wasn’t the case. It was a good story, a good protagonist in Weasel, a good antagonist, in The Beast, and a good ending. It was also a good depiction on how actual events get transformed into myths, even in the Forgotten Realms.

-“The Last Paladin of Ilmater”, by Susan Morris, I didn’t like too much. The plot was decent, but the characters, and character selection seemed a bit too much like something from someone’s D&D campaign. A fighter? Check. A rogue? Check. A spellcaster? Check. While I have nothing against “balanced parties” in literature, it felt a little artificial to me. The story did have an interesting ending, towards the end, though.

-“Black Arrow”, by Bruce Cordell, I enjoyed. It was also very refreshing for a Bruce Cordell story, with his…”weird” take on Realmslore, every so often. This story was “gritty”. This story was “dirty”. It was very good, though. In a world where the majority of novels revolve around people like Drizzt, or Elminster, or other NPCs that are created for novels, it’s nice to see a deep story about low-level individuals. The protagonists were well written. The ending was a very nice touch. It’s a good reminder about the realities of things like war, even in a fantasy world, like the Forgotten Realms.

-“Too Many Princes”, by Ed Greenwood, was one of my least favorite stories in this book. To be honest, when I lost interest, I began skimming, rather than reading. Ever since I “discovered” that it was “OK” to not like Ed Greenwood’s fiction, his writing has appealed less and less to me.

-“The Siege of Zerith Hold”, by Jess Lebow, was a decent story. The major problem I had with it was that it was too bland. It seemed like a half-hearted attempt to Realmsify the Battle at Helmsdeep, from the Lord of the Rings. If the short story by Bruce Cordell wasn’t included in this anthology, I think I would have liked this story a bit more. But, Bruce’s story is included, and is a basic tale of a bunch of regular Joes fighting against Goblinoid enemies, so this story seems redundant.

-“Mercy’s Reward”, by Mark Sehestedt, was a decent story. I enjoyed it. I like the Tuigan, I like the Tuigan Horde Invasion, and I like the Utter East, so there was plenty for me to enjoy. I don’t like the Eastern Lythari too much, but, eh. In Frostfell, where they were introduced, nothing egregious happened, so my dislike of them is something minor. Getting back to the Tuigan, though, I really think that there could be an anthology about them on their own. Realms of the Horde. Something to that effect. That would have been a cool book of short stories.

-“Redemption”, by Elaine Cunningham, I enjoyed a lot. But, that’s typical of any Elaine Cunningham literature. The story had so many great elements. The Wealdath, and allusions to Myth Rhynn, was a great touch. Elaith willing to use necromancy, an Elven taboo, shows just how far he’s fallen, and yet, how noble he still is. I find stories in which others ‘taint’ themselves for the good of others to be very interesting. And, as always, I enjoy all of the inner monologues when Elaith runs into Arilyn, about how, in some other world somewhere, Arilyn could have been his daughter. It just makes me a bit sad, though, to know that, this story definitely had some “build up” to Elaine’s final novel, Reclamation, that we all know, was not meant to be.

-“Changing Tides”, by Mel Odom, was a decent story. I didn’t particularly love it, but I didn’t dislike it, either. I enjoyed the lore to be glimmered from the Sea Elves, at any rate. I never read the Threat from the Sea books, so the built up to it was slightly lost on me. Though, should I choose to, this is an obvious gateway. Though, personally, I think that prequels are more provocative as prequels, and not introductions.

-“Chase in the Dark”, by Jaleigh Johnson, I didn’t enjoy too much. It was just one of those things, I guess. The story didn’t call out to me, the characters didn’t call out to me, nothing, really. It seems that Jaleigh’s literature has that effect on me. Others like Jaleigh’s literature, though, so that’s fine. Everyone has their own tastes.

-“Bones and Stones”, by R.A. Salvatore, I didn’t like too much, either. Again, we have more ‘preaching’ by R.A. Salvatore, to redefine what we are supposed to think about Orcs. This story, The Orc King, they both reek of it. Orcs are Orcs. Orcs are fantasy vermin. That’s how it’s always been. Now, that’s not to say that there can’t be good Orcs. My problem, however, is that, in this story, Salvatore is depicting Joe Average the Orc. It’s not an Ondonti Orc. It’s not an Orc intellectual. It’s supposed to be Gnurk the average Orc. I’m sorry, but the average Orc just isn’t like this.

[Stuart Schneider · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took a while to finish this one, not because of the storylines, which were very good, but because I’ve been busy. My plan is to reread Ready Player One, finish the Realms series by reading the last book, and then reading RPO a third time before the movie comes out next Friday.

[Liam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, Great, and Amazing stories lie herein.

[South Away]

three stickers on back cover

[Joel Flank · Rating 3 out of 5]

Realms of War, edited by Philip Athans, is a short story anthology loosely linked to the Twilight War trilogy. It is similar to other Forgotten Realms short story books, in that there's one story by the author of the trilogy, which is directly tied to the events of that series, and then a bunch of other stories, that have nothing to do with it at all. In this case, the linking theme is that they have to do with warfare, somewhere and somewhen in the Forgotten Realms. It's unfortunate that these anthologies no longer have a stronger link to the major events set forth in the series they're arguably linked to. That would make them much more distinct than just a bunch of stories.

In this case, the story by Kemp is a nice bit of background for one of the major villains of the story, and is useful to have read before reading the third book in the series. The rest of the stories are fine and entertaining, but not particularly memorable. Some are quite good, but they don't reach out and demand to be read. There are some by favorite Forgotten Realms authors, and some by relative newcomers, but nothing that really adds to Realmslore or stand particularly strong on their own. I would much rather read a short story collection from a shared world like Thieves World, or of stories by a favorite author , rather than this collection.

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the Realms Short Story Collections. This one was just as good. All the short stories were about war in some form or another. Each author had some aspect of war that there story followed. It is a nice collection. As usual there are some stories that are better than others. I can say that there wasn't one that I didn't enjoyed. They were are good.