The Sea Devil's Eye

The Threat from the Sea #3

by Mel Odom

Iakhovas has caused more destruction than any force since the Time of Troubles, but his true objective has been a mystery . . . until now.

When a young sailor's journey is complete, an aging bard's final song is sung, and a malenti priestess faces her most challenging test, the Threat from the Sea concludes in an explosive climax that will set all of Faerûn reeling.

Genres: Forgotten Realms, Fantasy, Fiction, Dungeons and Dragons, Collections, Science Fiction Fantasy, Ebooks

356 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 2000

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

aka Jordan Gray

Mel Odom is a bestselling writer for hire for Wizards of the Coast's Forgotten Realms, Gold Eagle's Mack Bolan, and Pocket's Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel book lines. His debut SF novel Lethal Interface made the Locus recommended list . The Rover was an Alyx Award winner. He has also written a scientific adventure of the high seas set in the 19th century entitled Hunters of the Dark Sea. He lives in Oklahoma.

Reviews

[Shana McCarl · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ll give it a 2.5/5. The story is gripping and it is well detailed in its world building and action, but the ending and the characters just fall flat. Everyone had a good setup in the first two books, but by now, Jherek is just whiny and only shows any growth at the very end. Sabyna suffers from the “strong female syndrome” where she’s only assertive with a tragic past but there isn’t much else to her. Their love story was just boring. I wanted more on Azla, because she had potential for being a great supporting character. Why did Vurgom put a 1000 gold bounty on her head?
 
Next: there are two plot holes I’d like to bring attention to: when Glawinn and Sabyna are talking about Jherek, she then turns to him “at the mention of her brother.” And she confronts him about that because she never mentioned that to him, Jherek did. However, I went over their dialogue a dozen times and not once does he mention her brother! Did I miss this, or was it a line that was dropped? And then Iakhovas saying that Jherek’s pearl disk operates a device that can destroy him and he can’t touch it. Chekov’s gun, anyone? This device is never brought up again!!!! Jherek uses his enchanted gauntlet and cutlass to stab Iakhavos in his eyes to kill him and didn’t even need anything else!
 
I had also wanted to see an ending fight between Laaqueel and Iakhovas, but she just turns on him giving Jherek time to attack and Iakhovas eats her. I was like, “WUUUT?” She is saved by Jherek but MAN, that was a letdown. There probably could have been a more satisfying ending if Mel hadn’t used the terms “the young sailor” 1-10 times every time Jherek was on the page. WE GET IT, MEL. He’s a young sailor! If he had used that description less, then by the time the description changes to “the young paladin,” there would have had more of a subtle effect on the reader. When that description changed I was so annoyed by how many times he’d been called “the young sailor” that I thought, “oh great, now he’s gonna be described as ‘the young paladin’ from now on,” which he was. If he had just substituted Jherek’s name, or even “he” instead of “the young sailor,” there could have been room for maybe 300 words, which he could have used on for more of a battle when Laaqueel turns on Iakhovas. Or she could have been stabbing him from the inside of his gullet with her trident since she was still alive!
 
And then there are the loose threads. Jherek’s father had been mentioned in the previous 2 books, hopefully setting up a battle between father and son, or father and future daughter-in-law, but he doesn’t even make an appearance! Why make him so menacing with the potential that Laaqueel was finding herself unexpectedly attracted to him if you aren’t going to do anything with him? And Vurgom was tortured to give up the location of the poisoned barrels and we are only are told that it happened? Then there’s Denhee, Jherek still has to return her item and make good on his promise to her. What is he supposed to do for her?
 
By the end of the book, I felt let down. It had so much potential but the buildup led nowhere. I’ll give credit to the world building and descriptions, but on the whole, if the ending doesn’t leave me feeling satisfied, then I’m left disappointed. It could have been so much better.

[Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

(I am playing catch up here with my reviews.) Again I will say I got this as part of the omnibook format which is an insanely good price for a lot of good Realms reading. The last in the series this book doesn't disappont. If I could draw a line to represent how well Odom does in increasing the overall setting and plot of the series I would. The setting is extremely interesting and Odom does a magnificient job describing everything for us. The characters are ones I could really identify with, not meaning they are cliche or overdone. No, Odom picks cliche elements and uses them with the most grace and tact in developing characters which are unique and memorable. The series closes well with a lot of anticipation and excitement. I will say, the final battle with Iakhovas was a little bit of a let done. It was interesting, but it seems like it is missing something. Still, I would recommend the whole series to any Realms fan.

[Cheri Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice thing about all 4 books is that they make a picture. 'The Return of the Archwizards' series also make a picture (with all 4 books).
Another nice thing about these books is they were better than most Forgotten Realms that I've read ('The Hunter's Blades' trilogy for one.....sorry, but I've read sooooo many Drizzt books....those were a chore to finish). 'Threat from..' was such a breath of fresh air, one of my very favorite book series in the Forgotten Realms.

[S.C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Review for this series is on the threat from the sea book that combines all three into one book. If you want to read my review add me as a friend and look at my read shelves. In short I love these books!

[christopher larue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Iakhovas is still being a pecker to everyone. One of the most entertaining villains I have read about.

[Ward G · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few things keeping this from five stars.

While trying to impress with the scale of conflict.
There are just to many characters and new races. Thrown into the mix.
As final show downs are coming.

The Gods seeking to help Jherek and Laqueel are revealed.

Also the Triton character mentioned in book two review.
Just vanished.
Maybe I read through things to fast.
Yet it seems we just assume he was unable to escape his fate.
Mentioned in book two of trilogy.

Question being. If using character so poorly.
Why even add him to the story at all.
He had zero impact on total story arc.

Just seems a waste of the readers time.

Anyways. A LOT of action. Pacing decent.
With not a bad wrap up overall.
If your into the Forgotten Realms mythos.
This trilogy may be worth looking into.

[Jesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this final instalment of the "Threat from the Sea" trilogy. I think I mentioned in several reviews that I was reluctant to start this series for some reason, and I am very glad that I finally did! It is truly one of the best series I have read in the Forgotten Realms setting. I actually think there are a lot of similarities between this story and Salvatore's "Homeland" series.

Odom does such a good job fleshing out the world below the waves in this universe. It is really fun, lots of new races are introduced and made in to living, swimming beings that I have only read about in the Monster Manual.

The plot moves along well, and I liked the build to the final showdown. My only negative feedback was that he ending itself felt like it was cut short.

Overall, a great read.

[Jeff Jellets · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Aye,” Khlinat bellowed, “she ain’t no pretty ‘un, swabbie, I’ll grant you that, but she’s as tight as a duck’s arse and she’s got some promise." (Fortunately, he’s referring to a ship).

So … with the year drawing to a close, I decided it was about time to finally finish Mel Odom’s The Threat from the Sea trilogy which I began a year ago. The series, set in the Dungeon & Dragons Forgotten Realms setting, involves the reawakening of an evil, aquatic demigod named Iakhovas who (as you might expect from an evil aquatic demigod) decides it’s time for a little world conquering, which he begins by uniting the evil creatures of the oceans into an undersea army. The bad fish-people are (not surprisingly) opposed by the good fish-people, some whales, and a few rag-tag adventurers.

While Odom does put a rather smart twist on Iakhovas’ identity – which I won’t spoil because it is the highlight of the book in my opinion – poor pacing and a crybaby protagonist make this one a bit of a chore to finish.

To take that second point first, hero Jherek whines a lot … gratingly so … and so incessantly that I was grateful when the story shifted to the other characters so I wouldn’t have to listen to him anyone. He might bludgeon his way through a bar of hard-bitten pirates with ease, but he’s as ham-fisted as a sow in the romance department, angsts worse over fate and destiny than prequel Anakin Skwalker, and mopes like Romeo Montague ... he’s like a bellyaching Aquaman.

It also doesn’t help that the plot is rather uneven. The early part of the book’s a slog as we spend two or three chapters grinding through what amounts to a big bar fight with page-after-page (after-page-after-page) of sword-swinging (which should be exciting, but really just becomes monotonous). The pacing picks up considerably as the book nears its conclusion – which makes the last chapters a lot more readable and – BONUS! – gives old Jherek a lot fewer chances to sit-and-bitch -- but the ending ultimately feels rushed. Certain plot points don’t seem to jell – as Iakhovas’s eye starts shooting laser beams, a magic vortex opens, Jherik’s evil father, the Bloody Falkane (introduced as a key villain in the earlier books), is wholly absent in the third – methinks author Odom was on a deadline!

I’m probably being harsh, because I've liked other things Odom has written, but a three book investment is a heck of a lot of time. I wish the final payoff had been better and a whole lot neater.

[Thingolo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unfortunately, this novel seems weaker than the previous two in the series. Firstly, it appears that the beginning and the middle are a linear quest where the main character deals with random encounters and is forced to react to completely incidental things. It is also difficult to empathize with a hero who is unable to determine his own fate to this extent and who is constantly under the auspices of successive father-like mentors. The image of an unapproachable young man who was molested by all the surrounding girls seemed more interesting. Secondly, only two characters develop in any way, while the rest continue to be pretty archetypical. Thirdly, the ending is very predictable and the author failed to develop some of the interesting ideas scattered throughout all three books.
However, this is a good old adventure novel set in the Forgotten Realms. There are several chilling legends, unexpected divine revelations, and the action finally moves to the underwater world inhabited by the most bizarre races like morkoth, koalinth, merfolk, shalarin, locathah, Ixitxachitl etc. One would unlikely find such an abundance of material for the lovers of sea food anywhere else. Lovecraft would have been very unhappy.
Overall, I wouldn't classify this book as a bad novel.
P.S. And I also really hoped that Laaqueel would eventually turn out to be a real aquatic elf. Regrettably, it did not happen.

[Jake Morrissey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the series overall but I wouldn't really recommend it to people. The most interesting part was seeing the different undersea societies interacting/exploring their imaginary cultures. In this book Jherek is still the goodest boy and his character arc is uninteresting. The series ends but some plotlines were left open for reasons I don't understand. Anyway its still a good break from the legend of drizzt series. It read as if the DM and the player had a different idea of who/what was influencing the characters motivations but it should have only been one author so I don't know why it felt like that. basically the deities that shows up at the end weren't the ones I was expecting based on foreshadowing but they've always been arbitrary anyway within the setting (If you've read the avatar/times of troubles books you'll understand). Sharks are cool though.

[Stuart Schneider · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I enjoyed the wrap up to this book, I felt it wrapped up rather quickly and that the ending wasn’t a true one, leaving us wondering what happened to the main pirate, who appeared to be an afterthought in the last page of the book. What also happened to the artifact that the other pirate captain had and was lost by Jherek that was supposed to be needed at the end? And we don’t even get to see the bard’s final song product? I feel jyped. Maybe only 3 1/2 stars. Oh well, onward to continue the Dresden files.

[Danny B · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ooof. The pacing is completely off. It definitely feels like the writer either didn't know how to bring it all to a close or just had the story bloat on him. My money would be that the main character wasn't supposed to even be in the book. Imagine how much more interesting the book would be if it was just the Taleweaver weaving the tale of how the underseas races gathered together to overcome the Taker. I imagine TSR forced the wet toast main character to be "relatable". Every time he showed up on the page the quality takes a dive. Such a shame, this trilogy had potential.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of a rushed ending but I enjoyed this series quite a bit. Mostly due to very interesting characters and relationships between them. Other than the rushed conclusion my only complaint is that I got pretty lost in this last book when trying to figure out where the characters were. I had no idea where most of the action was taking place and just kind of had to roll with it. That and a couple of dangling story lines were only minor complaints in a story that was a fun and fast read.

[Kagan Oztarakci · Rating 3 out of 5]

"men believe what they want to believe. Sometimes purely because they have nothing else to believe in.”

“Are the wants and needs of good and evil so very different?"

"it’s so often not how low you may get in life, but how you conduct yourself while you’re there."

"You have not yet tried. How can you know what you can do and not do?"

"Too often, in the right circumstances, a man’s—and a woman’s—dress is a weapon.”

[Liam · Rating 4 out of 5]

It falls a little flat, but overall I very much enjoyed this sea based epic adventure.

[Robyn Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually enjoy Forgotten Realms stories-more so than Dragonlance due to the variety. This one had an interesting backdrop but was pretty weak storywise.. I didn't read the previous 2 in the series so that might have helped. I do like Mel Odom's writing most of the time. If you feel like hanging out on the Sea of Fallen Stars then read it.

[Kurt Vosper · Rating 3 out of 5]

So while the series overall was good I was really enjoying the story and then it seemed like Odom fast forwarded it at the end to reach the conclusion. I thought the last quarter of the book to be totally unlike the rest of the series in pace and style. Felt rushed. Good overall, disappointing way to finish.

[Zuany · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had trouble finishing this story because I felt it was kinda slow at some points. Also, the charachter didn't help since I don't like ppl' who complain that much. As heroes go, Jherek is not in my favorites.

[Ken]

Sold to Lewis White on eBay on 7-Jun-11:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI....

[dVicko · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read long time ago.