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Forgotten Realms: Avatar #1
Η κοιλάδα των σκιών
Εξόριστοι από τους ουρανούς, οι άλλοτε κυρίαρχοι του κόσμου περιπλανιούνται τώρα στις χώρες των ανθρώπων, από τα Τάντρας ως τα μακρινά Βαθιά Νερά, προσπαθώντας να ανακτήσουν τις χαμένες δυνάμεις τους. Ο μοχθηρός Μπέιν, η διψασμένη για δύναμη Μίστρα και ο Χελμ, φύλακας των ουρανών, όλοι ξέρουν πως οι χαμένες Δέλτοι της Μοίρας είναι το κλειδί για την επιστροφή τους στα Υψηλά Πεδία.
Με ένα μυστηριώδες φυλαχτό στην κατοχή τους, τέσσερις ήρωες, κυνηγημένοι από τα σκοτεινά φαντάσματα του παρελθόντος τους, αιχμαλωτίζονται στη δίνη μιας σύγκρουσης υπερφυσικών δυνάμεων. Ο χρόνος όμως κυλά εις βάρος τους. Η ίδια η φύση επαναστατεί: αλλόκοτα, τρομακτικά πλάσματα παραμονεύουν σε κάθε γωνιά του κόσμου και ακόμα και η μαγεία γίνεται απρόβλεπτη. Οι ήρωες πρέπει να αναζητήσουν τον σοφό Έλμινστερ, το μοναδικό θνητό που θα μπορούσε να γνωρίζει το μυστικό που περιβάλλει τις Δέλτους της Μοίρας.
Και η αναζήτηση ξεκινάει στην.... Κοιλάδα των σκιών.
Το πρώτο μέρος της εξαιρετικής τριλογίας που εκτυλίσσεται στο φανταστικό κόσμο των Forgotten Realms.
Με ένα μυστηριώδες φυλαχτό στην κατοχή τους, τέσσερις ήρωες, κυνηγημένοι από τα σκοτεινά φαντάσματα του παρελθόντος τους, αιχμαλωτίζονται στη δίνη μιας σύγκρουσης υπερφυσικών δυνάμεων. Ο χρόνος όμως κυλά εις βάρος τους. Η ίδια η φύση επαναστατεί: αλλόκοτα, τρομακτικά πλάσματα παραμονεύουν σε κάθε γωνιά του κόσμου και ακόμα και η μαγεία γίνεται απρόβλεπτη. Οι ήρωες πρέπει να αναζητήσουν τον σοφό Έλμινστερ, το μοναδικό θνητό που θα μπορούσε να γνωρίζει το μυστικό που περιβάλλει τις Δέλτους της Μοίρας.
Και η αναζήτηση ξεκινάει στην.... Κοιλάδα των σκιών.
Το πρώτο μέρος της εξαιρετικής τριλογίας που εκτυλίσσεται στο φανταστικό κόσμο των Forgotten Realms.
373 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1989
208 people are currently reading
3147 people want to read
About the author
Scott Ciencin
178 books77 followersScott Ciencin was a New York Times best-selling novelist of 90+ books. He wrote adult and children's fiction and worked in a variety of mediums including comic books. He created programs for Scholastic Books, designed trading cards, consulted on video games, directed and produced audio programs & TV commercials, and wrote in the medical field about neurosurgery and neurology. He first worked in TV production as a writer, producer and director. He lived in Sarasota, Florida with his wife (and sometimes co-author) Denise.
(Also wrote under the pseudonyms Nick Baron and L.J. Oliver)
(Also wrote under the pseudonyms Nick Baron and L.J. Oliver)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 179 reviews
August 27, 2023
Just... not... good. A plot-driven novel more than anything else, and the plot is not even entirely the author's own, given that this book and the whole series it starts off are just one part of a multimedia enterprise around a change in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting path of history. "Richard Awlinson" is in this case the pseudonym of Scott Ciencin. The second book in this series ("Tantras") lists both Scott Ciencin and editor Jim Lowder as represented by the same single pseudonym... suggesting perhaps that "Shadowdale" had no editor? If so, that would explain a lot.
Characters are not so much introduced as just sprung into the story, and somehow you are supposed to give a damn about them without any characterization, backstory, or redeeming or interesting traits, The one exception is an incorrigibly vain cleric of the goddess of beauty, whose antics were at least amusing. Otherwise, I suppose that the characters were meant to harbor an aura of mystery, until some of their histories were later revealed, but even by then I found little to interest me in these 'heroes'. The villains too are equally dull. The primary villain, an evil god, is in fact quite pitiful in his machinations and laughable as a threat. Cruel buffoonery is as bad as he gets.
The events presented were equally banal. Although meant to be world-changing, ground-shaking calamities in scope, catastrophic happenings require all of the emotional investment in their impact to come from the reader. I got none of this from the written word. The characters seem to agree, as they barely react to, say, a decaying meat forest erupting around them, or an enormous eye opening in the sky whose tears fall as torrential rain. The response is merely, "Oh well," if even that. The gods walk the earth, the landscape is changing chaotically, magic fails all, and the whole fabric of the world is threatened? The heroes just carry on with a series of banal tasks without notable reaction.
Despite the title, there is no mention of Shadowdale, nor do the main characters have any interest in this location, until half way through the novel, and only in the final fifth do they actually spend any time there. It might as well have been titled "In and near Arabel" for all of the significance of the location. At least the time spent in Shadowdale is the most interesting of the entire story, sustaining a moderate amount of interest. But still, even in the final showdown, there is never any sense of real threat, merely a bit of action so that the story can wind up.
Of course this is but one part of a trilogy (later expanded by two additional sequels), so there is the requisite cliffhanger, although even that lacks any punch, and depends on well-known Realms characters, who ought to display more wisdom, leaping to unrealistic conclusions.
I trudged through it. The writing was slightly better than Ed Greenwood's earliest (not a great feat) but the tone throughout still smacked more of 'Dungeon Master recounting' than 'fantasy novelist'. I would like to think that given more freedom of story and character, Scott Ciencin could produce a more compelling work, but for me that remains to be seen. Looking at his bibliography, I see many licensed works and at least one more pseudonym, so perhaps this is as good as it gets.
Characters are not so much introduced as just sprung into the story, and somehow you are supposed to give a damn about them without any characterization, backstory, or redeeming or interesting traits, The one exception is an incorrigibly vain cleric of the goddess of beauty, whose antics were at least amusing. Otherwise, I suppose that the characters were meant to harbor an aura of mystery, until some of their histories were later revealed, but even by then I found little to interest me in these 'heroes'. The villains too are equally dull. The primary villain, an evil god, is in fact quite pitiful in his machinations and laughable as a threat. Cruel buffoonery is as bad as he gets.
The events presented were equally banal. Although meant to be world-changing, ground-shaking calamities in scope, catastrophic happenings require all of the emotional investment in their impact to come from the reader. I got none of this from the written word. The characters seem to agree, as they barely react to, say, a decaying meat forest erupting around them, or an enormous eye opening in the sky whose tears fall as torrential rain. The response is merely, "Oh well," if even that. The gods walk the earth, the landscape is changing chaotically, magic fails all, and the whole fabric of the world is threatened? The heroes just carry on with a series of banal tasks without notable reaction.
Despite the title, there is no mention of Shadowdale, nor do the main characters have any interest in this location, until half way through the novel, and only in the final fifth do they actually spend any time there. It might as well have been titled "In and near Arabel" for all of the significance of the location. At least the time spent in Shadowdale is the most interesting of the entire story, sustaining a moderate amount of interest. But still, even in the final showdown, there is never any sense of real threat, merely a bit of action so that the story can wind up.
Of course this is but one part of a trilogy (later expanded by two additional sequels), so there is the requisite cliffhanger, although even that lacks any punch, and depends on well-known Realms characters, who ought to display more wisdom, leaping to unrealistic conclusions.
I trudged through it. The writing was slightly better than Ed Greenwood's earliest (not a great feat) but the tone throughout still smacked more of 'Dungeon Master recounting' than 'fantasy novelist'. I would like to think that given more freedom of story and character, Scott Ciencin could produce a more compelling work, but for me that remains to be seen. Looking at his bibliography, I see many licensed works and at least one more pseudonym, so perhaps this is as good as it gets.
May 5, 2022
1.5 stars, rounded up because I would prefer to read this over Ed Greenwood.
Not good. There is some potential in the ideas in this story, but they are horribly executed and the writing style made my eyes glaze over and threatened to put me asleep.
Shadowdale (we don't even get to Shadowdale until the last quarter of the book) is about the gods suddenly flung onto the material plane and forced to take on physical bodies. Why? Because someone stole the Tablets of Fate and Ao is mad about it.
What do the Tablets do? shrug
Why are they important? shrug
Why can't Ao just use his god-powers to find them again? shrug
We follow a group of "heroes" (as the novel repeatedly refers to them when not calling them by their class or hair color) who kind of... stumble into the story. They're given a quest by a plucky youngster which, then happens with every other "nice" character in the book that suddenly crops up.
The main characters are, for the most part, insufferable. Kelemvor is a sexist baby with a secret. Midnight is boring with a secret. Cyric is angsty with a secret. Adon is vain and kind of funny and is the only one who has real character development.
And of course, the Mary Sue of the Realms, Elminster. Who literally shows up at one point to deus ex machina a problem and then leave. Because he's so cool and smart and powerful. Then the heroes find him again and he's still so cool and smart and powerful. I honestly hate this character and he makes these novels worse every time he shows up.
All magic used in this book is either blue-white or amber in color. Bane is pathetic. Myrkul just kinda does whatever anyone tells him to do?? The actions scenes are so drawn-out and boring to read. We get weird backstory resolution to things we are told about but never shown. Kelemvor's curse is stupid.
The map in this book is not good (why is there a Castle Krag, Castle Crag, and a Crag pool? why is Shadowdale NOT MARKED ON THE MAP??). The editing in this book is nonexistent. The cover art is confusing (who is the blonde woman? we're repeatedly told Midnight has long black hair. Is Adon the blonde guy with a sword? he uses a hammer in the book. does that make Cyric the thief the scrawny dude in a robe in the back? why is Kelemvor using a bow when he never uses one in the book?)
This entire novel is poorly put together and I dread reading the next one in the series.
Not good. There is some potential in the ideas in this story, but they are horribly executed and the writing style made my eyes glaze over and threatened to put me asleep.
Shadowdale (we don't even get to Shadowdale until the last quarter of the book) is about the gods suddenly flung onto the material plane and forced to take on physical bodies. Why? Because someone stole the Tablets of Fate and Ao is mad about it.
What do the Tablets do? shrug
Why are they important? shrug
Why can't Ao just use his god-powers to find them again? shrug
We follow a group of "heroes" (as the novel repeatedly refers to them when not calling them by their class or hair color) who kind of... stumble into the story. They're given a quest by a plucky youngster which, then happens with every other "nice" character in the book that suddenly crops up.
The main characters are, for the most part, insufferable. Kelemvor is a sexist baby with a secret. Midnight is boring with a secret. Cyric is angsty with a secret. Adon is vain and kind of funny and is the only one who has real character development.
And of course, the Mary Sue of the Realms, Elminster. Who literally shows up at one point to deus ex machina a problem and then leave. Because he's so cool and smart and powerful. Then the heroes find him again and he's still so cool and smart and powerful. I honestly hate this character and he makes these novels worse every time he shows up.
All magic used in this book is either blue-white or amber in color. Bane is pathetic. Myrkul just kinda does whatever anyone tells him to do?? The actions scenes are so drawn-out and boring to read. We get weird backstory resolution to things we are told about but never shown. Kelemvor's curse is stupid.
The map in this book is not good (why is there a Castle Krag, Castle Crag, and a Crag pool? why is Shadowdale NOT MARKED ON THE MAP??). The editing in this book is nonexistent. The cover art is confusing (who is the blonde woman? we're repeatedly told Midnight has long black hair. Is Adon the blonde guy with a sword? he uses a hammer in the book. does that make Cyric the thief the scrawny dude in a robe in the back? why is Kelemvor using a bow when he never uses one in the book?)
This entire novel is poorly put together and I dread reading the next one in the series.
September 12, 2018
Okay, I picked this up because our D&D group is or has begun a game in (cue portentous music) THE REALMS....DUH,DUH,DUH!
Anyway my friend N and I rotate DMing duties and he has us in Waterdeep. As I play a Paladin and I prefer to play a Christian Paladin we need to work out the details on the Forgotten Realms pantheon.
Anyway this trilogy entails the (again cue portentous music) TIME OF TROUBLES ....DUH,DUH,DUH!
This is/was when (in duh,duh,duhThe Realms Ao the above deity, you know above the OTHER deities of duh,duh,duhThe Realms) turned all the other deities into mortals and they had bunches of fights and wars and some of the deities died...sort of.
Anyway (I say that a lot don't I?) there are mortals who get involved in straightening things out. See they are trying to recover....
Wait that would be a huge spoiler, sorry. Lets say they are trying to recover...the MacGuffin.
And this is the first book of the trilogy (which turned into a Pentalogy that is 5 books) and (crap, I stopped saying "anyway" and started saying "and"...like right there.)
Anyway(crap) this book is good and worth reading. It starts out a little slowly (due to setting up the situation and so on) but once all the players are on the board the story moves on and we get some good D&D based brain candy.
I'd say if you just enjoy light fantasy, even without a gaming background you'll enjoy it and if you do have a gaming background (especially in D&D or even the Forgotten Realms specifically) you'll already have sort of a toe in the door.
Good brain candy and light fantasy. Enjoy.
Anyway my friend N and I rotate DMing duties and he has us in Waterdeep. As I play a Paladin and I prefer to play a Christian Paladin we need to work out the details on the Forgotten Realms pantheon.
Anyway this trilogy entails the (again cue portentous music) TIME OF TROUBLES ....DUH,DUH,DUH!
This is/was when (in duh,duh,duhThe Realms Ao the above deity, you know above the OTHER deities of duh,duh,duhThe Realms) turned all the other deities into mortals and they had bunches of fights and wars and some of the deities died...sort of.
Anyway (I say that a lot don't I?) there are mortals who get involved in straightening things out. See they are trying to recover....
Wait that would be a huge spoiler, sorry. Lets say they are trying to recover...the MacGuffin.
And this is the first book of the trilogy (which turned into a Pentalogy that is 5 books) and (crap, I stopped saying "anyway" and started saying "and"...like right there.)
Anyway(crap) this book is good and worth reading. It starts out a little slowly (due to setting up the situation and so on) but once all the players are on the board the story moves on and we get some good D&D based brain candy.
I'd say if you just enjoy light fantasy, even without a gaming background you'll enjoy it and if you do have a gaming background (especially in D&D or even the Forgotten Realms specifically) you'll already have sort of a toe in the door.
Good brain candy and light fantasy. Enjoy.
July 16, 2013
http://www.rantingdragon.com/review-o...
Shadowdale was first published in 1989 as the leading novel in The Avatar Trilogy, arguably one of the most significant series of Realms novels in terms of their effect on the setting. It was written under the pseudonym Richard Awlinson, which I always believed was to protect the actual authors (Troy Denning and Scott Ciencin) from the ensuing fallout. Shadowdale begins the tale of the fall of the Gods of the Realms. Chaos, destruction, and death abound as the Gods themselves walk the earth in mortal shells.
Even the Gods have Gods
The premise of the story is this: the Gods and Goddesses of the Forgotten Realms themselves answer to an over-being called Ao. Ao summons all of the deities into his presence and informs them that the Tablets of Fate (which define and describe the individual duties of each deity) have been stolen, and their juvenile jockeying for power, instead of managing the world as they should have, has disappointed their master. As punishment, Ao forces them all into human bodies and casts them down to the Realms to, I guess, learn humility or something.
Naturally, they just continue their juvenile scheming and jockeying for power. This leads to a number of, frankly, ridiculous changes to the existing structure of Forgotten Realms geography, religion, magic, you name it. We’re talking dead Gods, mortals elevated to Godhood, the introduction of “dead” and “wild” magic zones in the world, earthquakes, floods, and all the good bible stuff. It’s such a fundamental change to so many things, done so early in the life of the setting that it makes one wonder just what TSR was thinking.
Some compelling characters
Major plot element aside, here’s the actual meat of this story: the adventures of a very typical D&D party (composed of a fighter, cleric, mage, and thief, exactly how D&D was designed) are actually quite good. As much as I may disagree in isolation about the changes that were made to the Realms in this book, watching these characters deal with something as significant as Gods walking the earth was very engaging. They all have their own problems going on, were thrust together more by circumstance than choice, and experience plenty of conflicts among themselves; all this combined made for some really great storytelling.
One of the two most interesting characters is the party fighter, Kelemvor Lyonsbane, who suffers from one of the most original curses I’ve seen in a long time. Some early ancestor of his was a greedy jerk who fell afoul of some gypsies (as you do) who cursed him (as they do) such that he could only ever engage in selfless acts without any desire for compensation or reward. If he ever did something for his own profit, he would transform into a werebeast and kill people. However, somewhere down the line, the terms of the curse flipped around. Kelemvor can ONLY do things for his own personal selfish benefit. He needs to put a price on everything, and do nothing for the sake of the act. It makes for some really amazing scenes when the group is basically trying to save the world, and he’s trying to negotiate a price for it.
The other great character is the party thief Cyric. He’s the best kind of burgeoning villain. Pragmatic rather than malevolent, he believes what he sees and not much else. He’s cynical, suspicious, and rational. One of the early introductory bits of history about Cyric involves him directly facing the Goddess Tymora, to whom he did not tithe a proper amount of gold. When asked whether or not he believes in her, and whether that is why he would not sacrifice to her, the response is basically, “If you’re not a goddess, you don’t deserve my gold; if you are a goddess you have no need for it, so why bother?” In a world like the Realms where the supernatural is so commonplace, the logic and rationality is actually quite refreshing. Cyric becomes a much larger fixture in the history of the Realms as a result of actions that occur during this trilogy, and giving him such a relateable grounding helps establish him later in the series.
Some strong opinions
The Avatar Trilogy turned out to be something of a polarizer for fans of the Forgotten Realms. It was once suggested to me by a source who will remain nameless that many of the changes these books made to the setting were done without much consulting with the other authors; a few works in progress had to be changed if not all but scrapped to account for the new state of things. This is where my almost certainly false idea about why the book was published under a pseudonym originates. It was also the catalyst for plenty of questions for various authors and other TSR staff at conventions for a few years following the publication of the series.
As a lifelong reader of the Forgotten Realms, I don’t like a lot of what happened in this book and this trilogy. It just pushed so much existing lore out the window and replaced it for evidently no necessary reason. This is a lot like retconning a series to make a future mistake into truth. Instead they seem to be suggesting that they’d screwed up somewhere in earlier works and wanted to reset the world more to their liking, but the changes they went with remain very strange to me.
Why should you read this book?
If you enjoy epic fantasy without necessarily having to slog through 10+ books and thousands of pages, this is a great book for you. The whole trilogy is only about 1000 pages end to end and all done in the classic action-oriented realms style that made it so popular. Not to mention, you have Gods battling over cities, magic going awry throughout the world, and an intrepid band of heroes facing impossible odds to try and save the world from utter destruction.
It also serves as one of the more integral “realms history” books in the catalogue. So much changes with how the Realms function as a result of this series that in order to really understand a lot of events of later works, you need to understand what happened during this time. Many elements are referenced only obliquely from here on out, and if you don’t read it here, you might find certain things confusing or hard to follow down the road.
Whether you like, dislike or don’t care about the changes these books made to the setting, they are inarguably among the most important and impacting entries in the Forgotten Realms bibliography.
Shadowdale was first published in 1989 as the leading novel in The Avatar Trilogy, arguably one of the most significant series of Realms novels in terms of their effect on the setting. It was written under the pseudonym Richard Awlinson, which I always believed was to protect the actual authors (Troy Denning and Scott Ciencin) from the ensuing fallout. Shadowdale begins the tale of the fall of the Gods of the Realms. Chaos, destruction, and death abound as the Gods themselves walk the earth in mortal shells.
Even the Gods have Gods
The premise of the story is this: the Gods and Goddesses of the Forgotten Realms themselves answer to an over-being called Ao. Ao summons all of the deities into his presence and informs them that the Tablets of Fate (which define and describe the individual duties of each deity) have been stolen, and their juvenile jockeying for power, instead of managing the world as they should have, has disappointed their master. As punishment, Ao forces them all into human bodies and casts them down to the Realms to, I guess, learn humility or something.
Naturally, they just continue their juvenile scheming and jockeying for power. This leads to a number of, frankly, ridiculous changes to the existing structure of Forgotten Realms geography, religion, magic, you name it. We’re talking dead Gods, mortals elevated to Godhood, the introduction of “dead” and “wild” magic zones in the world, earthquakes, floods, and all the good bible stuff. It’s such a fundamental change to so many things, done so early in the life of the setting that it makes one wonder just what TSR was thinking.
Some compelling characters
Major plot element aside, here’s the actual meat of this story: the adventures of a very typical D&D party (composed of a fighter, cleric, mage, and thief, exactly how D&D was designed) are actually quite good. As much as I may disagree in isolation about the changes that were made to the Realms in this book, watching these characters deal with something as significant as Gods walking the earth was very engaging. They all have their own problems going on, were thrust together more by circumstance than choice, and experience plenty of conflicts among themselves; all this combined made for some really great storytelling.
One of the two most interesting characters is the party fighter, Kelemvor Lyonsbane, who suffers from one of the most original curses I’ve seen in a long time. Some early ancestor of his was a greedy jerk who fell afoul of some gypsies (as you do) who cursed him (as they do) such that he could only ever engage in selfless acts without any desire for compensation or reward. If he ever did something for his own profit, he would transform into a werebeast and kill people. However, somewhere down the line, the terms of the curse flipped around. Kelemvor can ONLY do things for his own personal selfish benefit. He needs to put a price on everything, and do nothing for the sake of the act. It makes for some really amazing scenes when the group is basically trying to save the world, and he’s trying to negotiate a price for it.
The other great character is the party thief Cyric. He’s the best kind of burgeoning villain. Pragmatic rather than malevolent, he believes what he sees and not much else. He’s cynical, suspicious, and rational. One of the early introductory bits of history about Cyric involves him directly facing the Goddess Tymora, to whom he did not tithe a proper amount of gold. When asked whether or not he believes in her, and whether that is why he would not sacrifice to her, the response is basically, “If you’re not a goddess, you don’t deserve my gold; if you are a goddess you have no need for it, so why bother?” In a world like the Realms where the supernatural is so commonplace, the logic and rationality is actually quite refreshing. Cyric becomes a much larger fixture in the history of the Realms as a result of actions that occur during this trilogy, and giving him such a relateable grounding helps establish him later in the series.
Some strong opinions
The Avatar Trilogy turned out to be something of a polarizer for fans of the Forgotten Realms. It was once suggested to me by a source who will remain nameless that many of the changes these books made to the setting were done without much consulting with the other authors; a few works in progress had to be changed if not all but scrapped to account for the new state of things. This is where my almost certainly false idea about why the book was published under a pseudonym originates. It was also the catalyst for plenty of questions for various authors and other TSR staff at conventions for a few years following the publication of the series.
As a lifelong reader of the Forgotten Realms, I don’t like a lot of what happened in this book and this trilogy. It just pushed so much existing lore out the window and replaced it for evidently no necessary reason. This is a lot like retconning a series to make a future mistake into truth. Instead they seem to be suggesting that they’d screwed up somewhere in earlier works and wanted to reset the world more to their liking, but the changes they went with remain very strange to me.
Why should you read this book?
If you enjoy epic fantasy without necessarily having to slog through 10+ books and thousands of pages, this is a great book for you. The whole trilogy is only about 1000 pages end to end and all done in the classic action-oriented realms style that made it so popular. Not to mention, you have Gods battling over cities, magic going awry throughout the world, and an intrepid band of heroes facing impossible odds to try and save the world from utter destruction.
It also serves as one of the more integral “realms history” books in the catalogue. So much changes with how the Realms function as a result of this series that in order to really understand a lot of events of later works, you need to understand what happened during this time. Many elements are referenced only obliquely from here on out, and if you don’t read it here, you might find certain things confusing or hard to follow down the road.
Whether you like, dislike or don’t care about the changes these books made to the setting, they are inarguably among the most important and impacting entries in the Forgotten Realms bibliography.
June 8, 2014
I enjoy the Forgotten Realms setting, especially the diverse pantheon. Shadowdale was the first Forgotten Realms novel I read, primarily due to my fear of the novels destroying my vision of the Forgotten Realms setting and what it would be. I wanted my own interpretation of the setting to paint the canvas of Forgotten Realms, rather than an author trying to sell a book. Going into this, I was concerned, but I decided that due to my appreciation of the Forgotten Realms' Pantheon, that if I were to read an Forgotten realms book it should be from the Avatar series.
Shadowdale was a bit of a disappointment. The gods were much more flawed than I thought they should be. Because of the overload/high god, Ao, mentioned early in the prologue a picture is painted which shows that the realms will never change, that good nor evil will ever truly overcome one another and that the fight between good and evil will be kept in balance as to not favor one side over the other because Ao will never allow it. Ao is pissed because of the theft of his Tablets of Fate, yet when the theft was clearly done by the hands of evil gods, Ao takes no sides and punished both good and evil without a second thought.
The only thing which made this book enjoyable was the comical relief of Adon the Sunite. The other three of the four main adventures, we already know are destined to one day become gods themselves. For characters bound to become gods, I felt that their stories and personalities were a bit weak.
I will not throw out any spoilers, but Kelemvor's secret, is fairly weak and random. Midnight, who is destined to become the future Mystra had potential to be more interesting, yet her romance and sudden feelings for the womanizing, apparently self-serving, and disrespectful Kelemvor is also random and does not come off as being natural and true, but felt forced. Cyric was alright, but he needed something a bit extra to drive him.
And well, do not even get my started on Elminister, who does appear in this book. He is unimaginably obnoxious, unrelatable, and unrealistic even in a fantasy setting that I legitimately became furious at this book for how they had this wizardly jackass breeze through this story, showing up just to remind people he is as powerful as the gods themselves with little to know burden felt upon him despite the wild struggles of everyone else in the world.
This is a quick pace, shallow story which is difficult to relate to, possessing characters with no significant quirks or depth. If it were not for the cleric of Sune, Adon, this book would have felt flat. Shadowdale is not a horrible book, and I likely will read the rest of the books in the trilogy plus the Cyric trial books for completeness, but it certainly is not a series I would recommend, and it has left me pessimistic regarding my expectations of future Forgotten Realms novels.
Overall, my real rating for Shadowdale would be a 2.5/5 rather than a flat 2/5.
Shadowdale was a bit of a disappointment. The gods were much more flawed than I thought they should be. Because of the overload/high god, Ao, mentioned early in the prologue a picture is painted which shows that the realms will never change, that good nor evil will ever truly overcome one another and that the fight between good and evil will be kept in balance as to not favor one side over the other because Ao will never allow it. Ao is pissed because of the theft of his Tablets of Fate, yet when the theft was clearly done by the hands of evil gods, Ao takes no sides and punished both good and evil without a second thought.
The only thing which made this book enjoyable was the comical relief of Adon the Sunite. The other three of the four main adventures, we already know are destined to one day become gods themselves. For characters bound to become gods, I felt that their stories and personalities were a bit weak.
I will not throw out any spoilers, but Kelemvor's secret, is fairly weak and random. Midnight, who is destined to become the future Mystra had potential to be more interesting, yet her romance and sudden feelings for the womanizing, apparently self-serving, and disrespectful Kelemvor is also random and does not come off as being natural and true, but felt forced. Cyric was alright, but he needed something a bit extra to drive him.
And well, do not even get my started on Elminister, who does appear in this book. He is unimaginably obnoxious, unrelatable, and unrealistic even in a fantasy setting that I legitimately became furious at this book for how they had this wizardly jackass breeze through this story, showing up just to remind people he is as powerful as the gods themselves with little to know burden felt upon him despite the wild struggles of everyone else in the world.
This is a quick pace, shallow story which is difficult to relate to, possessing characters with no significant quirks or depth. If it were not for the cleric of Sune, Adon, this book would have felt flat. Shadowdale is not a horrible book, and I likely will read the rest of the books in the trilogy plus the Cyric trial books for completeness, but it certainly is not a series I would recommend, and it has left me pessimistic regarding my expectations of future Forgotten Realms novels.
Overall, my real rating for Shadowdale would be a 2.5/5 rather than a flat 2/5.
September 29, 2018
The Forgotten Realms are in a state of monumental upheaval. Cast out from the heavens by the Overgod Ao as punishment for the theft of the Tablets of Fate, the deities of Faerûn walk the earth. Thrust into the centre of this chaos are four heroes, one of whom carries a pendant containing the essence of the fallen goddess of magic. They must survive the machinations of the evil god Bane and seek the aid of the famed sage Elminster of Shadowdale before the Realms are lost to darkness and chaos for good.
Shadowdale is the first book in The Avatar Trilogy, which deals with the reshaping of the Faerûnian pantheon of gods while handily transitioning the setting from 1st edition to 2nd edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. All three books were written under the pseudonym Richard Awlinson ("Richard All-in-one"): in fact, Shadowdale and its sequel Tantras were penned by Scott Ciencin, while the third book, Waterdeep, was written by Troy Denning. Scott sadly passed away in August 2014 of a blood clot to the brain.
Written while he was in his mid-20s, Shadowdale was Scott's first published novel and in many ways, it shows. The first part of the book in particular demonstrates the author learning his craft on the job - the writing is often unclear and hard to read, with sentences occasionally not making much sense. The main characters - Midnight the magic-user, Kelemvor the fighter, Cyric the thief, and Adon the cleric - are frequently referred to simply by their professions, which quickly becomes grating. It's perhaps unfortunate that a young and inexperienced author was chosen to pen a novel detailing such an influential Realm-shaking event: the way the gods and their schemes are written is anything but convincing, and their juvenile antics clash with their more measured (and believable) characterizations in later novels and game accessories. The motives of the gods Bane and Myrkul in stealing the Tablets of Fate, for example, are poorly explained and more in keeping with naughty schoolchildren than the most powerful evil gods in the Realms.
Unfortunately, the way the human protagonists are introduced and brought together is as clumsy as the handling of the gods. There's something about a threat to the city of Arabel, but it isn't well explained. Before we know it, the heroes are unconvincingly thrown together and set out on a quest to rescue the mistress of a young woman, who becomes mysteriously ill in the presence of Midnight and her newfound pendant. It's all quite contrived. Fortunately, the story takes shape later on. The final third of the book, a drawn-out invasion of Shadowdale by Zhent forces, is markedly better-written than the rest. I think it's safe to assume the novel was written under some pressing time constraints and that there wasn't, perhaps, much time to go back and edit the rougher early material.
Though I've been quite hard on the quality of the novel's writing - and it is, in truth, below the level most modern fantasy imprints would consider of publishable quality - there's no questioning the great imagination of the author. I first read Shadowdale around 20 years ago, and certain scenes stuck with me from then right until the moment I re-read them days ago with a boyish grin on my face. Mystra's ill-fated confrontation with Helm on the Celestial Stairway, Elminster's battle with Bane in the Temple of Lathander - they have an enduring, mythic quality that ultimately transcends the novel's technical issues.
Of the main characters, the only one really worth mentioning (in this book) is Kelemvor, whose unusual curse forces him to demand payment for every good deed or risk becoming a bloodthirsty monster. Cyric is reasonable as the troubled thief struggling with a dark past, while Adon is something of a buffoon, a cleric of the goddess of love with delusions of grandeur. Midnight is the weakest of the leads - a magic-user who is sort-of-good when it's convenient and who predictably falls for Kelemvor's muscles before much time has passed. I'll discuss this in more detail during my Tantras review, but regardless of the batshit-crazy loon he later becomes, mortal Cyric kind of has a point when it comes to his companions' failings.
Two other thoughts occurred to me while reading Shadowdale. One, I hope whichever editor decided to allow "Spanish moss" into the text got a good telling off. Two: the Zhentarim wizard Tempus Blackthorne seems as though he was originally supposed to be Manshoon before someone got cold feet about killing off such a high-profile villain. I mean, "Tempus Blackthorne?" It might have been wise not to give a major villain the same name as a major god in a novel about the gods walking the earth....
Shadowdale is the work of a fledgling author writing under (one assumes) less-than-ideal conditions. It's a brave attempt at satisfying the requirements of a host of designers, authors and fans as the setting transitioned between game editions, though one replete with editorial and technical issues. Though not a well-written book, it is entertaining and a must-read for Realms aficionados - if only because of its importance to the setting lore.
Shadowdale is the first book in The Avatar Trilogy, which deals with the reshaping of the Faerûnian pantheon of gods while handily transitioning the setting from 1st edition to 2nd edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. All three books were written under the pseudonym Richard Awlinson ("Richard All-in-one"): in fact, Shadowdale and its sequel Tantras were penned by Scott Ciencin, while the third book, Waterdeep, was written by Troy Denning. Scott sadly passed away in August 2014 of a blood clot to the brain.
Written while he was in his mid-20s, Shadowdale was Scott's first published novel and in many ways, it shows. The first part of the book in particular demonstrates the author learning his craft on the job - the writing is often unclear and hard to read, with sentences occasionally not making much sense. The main characters - Midnight the magic-user, Kelemvor the fighter, Cyric the thief, and Adon the cleric - are frequently referred to simply by their professions, which quickly becomes grating. It's perhaps unfortunate that a young and inexperienced author was chosen to pen a novel detailing such an influential Realm-shaking event: the way the gods and their schemes are written is anything but convincing, and their juvenile antics clash with their more measured (and believable) characterizations in later novels and game accessories. The motives of the gods Bane and Myrkul in stealing the Tablets of Fate, for example, are poorly explained and more in keeping with naughty schoolchildren than the most powerful evil gods in the Realms.
Unfortunately, the way the human protagonists are introduced and brought together is as clumsy as the handling of the gods. There's something about a threat to the city of Arabel, but it isn't well explained. Before we know it, the heroes are unconvincingly thrown together and set out on a quest to rescue the mistress of a young woman, who becomes mysteriously ill in the presence of Midnight and her newfound pendant. It's all quite contrived. Fortunately, the story takes shape later on. The final third of the book, a drawn-out invasion of Shadowdale by Zhent forces, is markedly better-written than the rest. I think it's safe to assume the novel was written under some pressing time constraints and that there wasn't, perhaps, much time to go back and edit the rougher early material.
Though I've been quite hard on the quality of the novel's writing - and it is, in truth, below the level most modern fantasy imprints would consider of publishable quality - there's no questioning the great imagination of the author. I first read Shadowdale around 20 years ago, and certain scenes stuck with me from then right until the moment I re-read them days ago with a boyish grin on my face. Mystra's ill-fated confrontation with Helm on the Celestial Stairway, Elminster's battle with Bane in the Temple of Lathander - they have an enduring, mythic quality that ultimately transcends the novel's technical issues.
Of the main characters, the only one really worth mentioning (in this book) is Kelemvor, whose unusual curse forces him to demand payment for every good deed or risk becoming a bloodthirsty monster. Cyric is reasonable as the troubled thief struggling with a dark past, while Adon is something of a buffoon, a cleric of the goddess of love with delusions of grandeur. Midnight is the weakest of the leads - a magic-user who is sort-of-good when it's convenient and who predictably falls for Kelemvor's muscles before much time has passed. I'll discuss this in more detail during my Tantras review, but regardless of the batshit-crazy loon he later becomes, mortal Cyric kind of has a point when it comes to his companions' failings.
Two other thoughts occurred to me while reading Shadowdale. One, I hope whichever editor decided to allow "Spanish moss" into the text got a good telling off. Two: the Zhentarim wizard Tempus Blackthorne seems as though he was originally supposed to be Manshoon before someone got cold feet about killing off such a high-profile villain. I mean, "Tempus Blackthorne?" It might have been wise not to give a major villain the same name as a major god in a novel about the gods walking the earth....
Shadowdale is the work of a fledgling author writing under (one assumes) less-than-ideal conditions. It's a brave attempt at satisfying the requirements of a host of designers, authors and fans as the setting transitioned between game editions, though one replete with editorial and technical issues. Though not a well-written book, it is entertaining and a must-read for Realms aficionados - if only because of its importance to the setting lore.
June 8, 2014
Novelising the move from 1st to 2nd edition Dungeons & Dragons
24 March 2012
Back in 1989 it was decided by TSR that it was well and truly time to reinvigorate the AD&D system, and to be honest it was sorely needed. The gave was about 20 years old at this stage and it had been evolving continuously with more complex and complicated rules being forever thrown on top of the pre-existing ones. The original game has come out as what was then known as the basic set, and had then moved onto more advanced rules. In describing these rules as advanced the better description would be complex and incredibly clunky. As such, in their infinite wisdom, TSR decided that a complete rewrite of the rules was needed, and thus out came 2nd edition (and every ten years since they have moved to further upgrade the rules, though I must admit that I am still quite happy with 3rd edition).
However, due to the extensive changes and reworking of the rules, the creators decided that they needed to bring in a huge change to the worlds as well, and at this stage the standard AD&D world was The Forgotten Realms. Thus they created a world wide event that would coincide with the new rules, and the result was a series of three novels and a series of three adventures dealing with the period that has come to be known as 'The Time of Troubles'.
The story is about a couple of the evil gods who decide to steal an artifact which in turn angered the great god Ao. As a result all of the gods were cast out of the heavens and into the Realms as punishment and were to wonder around until the culprit stepped forward (which, being evil gods, they did not). As the gods wondered around the world they, as can be expected, came into conflict with each other, as well as setting themselves up in their favourite spots. Some of them even died, though there was a catch – if a god dies, they die quite spectacularly, and usually in the form of a nuclear explosion.
This was not going to leave the people of the Realms safe, because not only do they have these gods wondering around, but all of the magic has gone completely haywire, so as it turns out (surprise, surprise) a group of adventurers decide to go off and attempt to solve this problem. In the Realms, if a solution to a problem is needed, then one travels to visit Elminster, which is what the adventurers do, and which is why this story is called Shadowdale (namely because that is where Elminster lives).
I will continue my discussion about the series when I move on to the next book in the series, and will discuss my thoughts on this particular trilogy upon reaching the third one. Needless to say, I will flag at this point that I would not be recommending this trilogy to anybody: it is a simple waste of time and energy and was written purely to provide a bridge between 1st and 2nd edition AD&D. While it may have been fun at the time, currently, as far as I am concerned, 20 years after the event that triggered these novels, they are pretty much obsolete and really only for those die hard Dungeons & Dragons fans who want a bit of nostalgia, and even then there are much better books out there than these ones.
24 March 2012
Back in 1989 it was decided by TSR that it was well and truly time to reinvigorate the AD&D system, and to be honest it was sorely needed. The gave was about 20 years old at this stage and it had been evolving continuously with more complex and complicated rules being forever thrown on top of the pre-existing ones. The original game has come out as what was then known as the basic set, and had then moved onto more advanced rules. In describing these rules as advanced the better description would be complex and incredibly clunky. As such, in their infinite wisdom, TSR decided that a complete rewrite of the rules was needed, and thus out came 2nd edition (and every ten years since they have moved to further upgrade the rules, though I must admit that I am still quite happy with 3rd edition).
However, due to the extensive changes and reworking of the rules, the creators decided that they needed to bring in a huge change to the worlds as well, and at this stage the standard AD&D world was The Forgotten Realms. Thus they created a world wide event that would coincide with the new rules, and the result was a series of three novels and a series of three adventures dealing with the period that has come to be known as 'The Time of Troubles'.
The story is about a couple of the evil gods who decide to steal an artifact which in turn angered the great god Ao. As a result all of the gods were cast out of the heavens and into the Realms as punishment and were to wonder around until the culprit stepped forward (which, being evil gods, they did not). As the gods wondered around the world they, as can be expected, came into conflict with each other, as well as setting themselves up in their favourite spots. Some of them even died, though there was a catch – if a god dies, they die quite spectacularly, and usually in the form of a nuclear explosion.
This was not going to leave the people of the Realms safe, because not only do they have these gods wondering around, but all of the magic has gone completely haywire, so as it turns out (surprise, surprise) a group of adventurers decide to go off and attempt to solve this problem. In the Realms, if a solution to a problem is needed, then one travels to visit Elminster, which is what the adventurers do, and which is why this story is called Shadowdale (namely because that is where Elminster lives).
I will continue my discussion about the series when I move on to the next book in the series, and will discuss my thoughts on this particular trilogy upon reaching the third one. Needless to say, I will flag at this point that I would not be recommending this trilogy to anybody: it is a simple waste of time and energy and was written purely to provide a bridge between 1st and 2nd edition AD&D. While it may have been fun at the time, currently, as far as I am concerned, 20 years after the event that triggered these novels, they are pretty much obsolete and really only for those die hard Dungeons & Dragons fans who want a bit of nostalgia, and even then there are much better books out there than these ones.
November 7, 2022
this might have reached three stars from me but the brain dead exposition just ruined it. A god gets injured and one of his servants literally says "You can use the healing spells that you grant to your followers on yourself!" and the god is like "Oh yeah, i can do that!". This same things happens later when a spell caster is told "Hey, you can use such and such a spell to get out of this mess!" and the spell caster is like "Oh yeah, good idea!".
Do these powerful being really forget that they can do these things? I don't think readers would have been confused if Ciencin simply had these characters do these things rather than clumsily set them up like he did.
Do these powerful being really forget that they can do these things? I don't think readers would have been confused if Ciencin simply had these characters do these things rather than clumsily set them up like he did.
August 5, 2017
Ah, taj divni svijet Zaboravljenih kraljevstava...
Prilikom preslagivanja starih knjižica naišao sam na ovaj zaboravljeni dragulj iz moje srednjoškolske povijesti i nisam mogao izdržati ponovno ga ne pročitati. Izdao ga je dvano propali nakladnik Strijelac koji se specijalizirao za izdanja Forgotten realmsa, svijeta Dungeons and Dragons svijeta igara na ploči, kao i mojih nikad nadmašenih all-time video-igračkih favorita Baldur's Gate i Icewind Dale. Dječaki snovi Eda Greenwooda obistinili su se krajem osamdesetih kad je kreirao svijet Forgotten Realmsa i stvorio cijeli niz licenci od igara na ploči do romana...
Originalno trilogija, koja je kasnije porasla na pentologiju, služila je kao tranzicija priliko prelaženja scenarija Realmsa s prve na drugu ediciju AD&D pravila (primarno igre na ploči). A napravljena je i kao modul za igranje pod istim nazivima. Prvi dio nosi naziv Shadowdale, po regiji mitskog Faeruna kojom je vladao lik čarobnjaka Elminstera. Iako je kao autor naznačen Richard Awlinson, to je zapravo pseudonim Scotta Ciencina, kao i ostalih koji su bili uključeni u stvaranje trilogije.
Roman se događa u Vrijeme nevolja, kad su bogovi Faeruna hodali Kraljevstvima, protjerani od vrhovnog boga Aoa zbog krađa Tablica Sudbine. Prognani su svi bogovi osim Helma koji je ostao čuvati Nebesa. Već po klasičnom obrascu FRP igara stvara se družina junaka koja će krenuti u misiju pronalaska izgubljenih Tablica. Družinu čine ratnik Kelemvor Lyonsbane, svećenik Adon od Sune, čarobnica Midnight i redovnik Cyric. Kako je Midnight bila obdarena darom Mystre, božice magije, na njezin nagovor, s junacima kreće prvo do prvo nebeskog stepeništa gdje bogovi uvide da je povratak na Nebesa za njih zatvoren zauvijek. Tu misija ne staje jer si junaci uzimaju za cilj vratiti ponovno mir u Faerun i bogove na nebesa. A u tome će im pomoći mag Elminster. Magija u tim vremenima je nestabilna i avatari Bogova hodaju zemljom. Glavni antagonisti su Bane, bog rata i Myrkul, bog mrtvih.
Pravo fantasy džepno izdanje s dobrom i tečnom pričom, zanimljivim likovima, akcijom, preobratima i fino spredanom mitologijom u pozadini. Samo me podsjetilo koliko fantasy znam biti dobar. Strijelac je propao prije negoli je dovršio trilogiju, a kamoli pentologiju... Dajem peticu, ne samo zbog nostalgije, nego zbog toga koliko predivnih svjetova je ljudska mašta sposobna osmisliti. Ah još jednom...
Prilikom preslagivanja starih knjižica naišao sam na ovaj zaboravljeni dragulj iz moje srednjoškolske povijesti i nisam mogao izdržati ponovno ga ne pročitati. Izdao ga je dvano propali nakladnik Strijelac koji se specijalizirao za izdanja Forgotten realmsa, svijeta Dungeons and Dragons svijeta igara na ploči, kao i mojih nikad nadmašenih all-time video-igračkih favorita Baldur's Gate i Icewind Dale. Dječaki snovi Eda Greenwooda obistinili su se krajem osamdesetih kad je kreirao svijet Forgotten Realmsa i stvorio cijeli niz licenci od igara na ploči do romana...
Originalno trilogija, koja je kasnije porasla na pentologiju, služila je kao tranzicija priliko prelaženja scenarija Realmsa s prve na drugu ediciju AD&D pravila (primarno igre na ploči). A napravljena je i kao modul za igranje pod istim nazivima. Prvi dio nosi naziv Shadowdale, po regiji mitskog Faeruna kojom je vladao lik čarobnjaka Elminstera. Iako je kao autor naznačen Richard Awlinson, to je zapravo pseudonim Scotta Ciencina, kao i ostalih koji su bili uključeni u stvaranje trilogije.
Roman se događa u Vrijeme nevolja, kad su bogovi Faeruna hodali Kraljevstvima, protjerani od vrhovnog boga Aoa zbog krađa Tablica Sudbine. Prognani su svi bogovi osim Helma koji je ostao čuvati Nebesa. Već po klasičnom obrascu FRP igara stvara se družina junaka koja će krenuti u misiju pronalaska izgubljenih Tablica. Družinu čine ratnik Kelemvor Lyonsbane, svećenik Adon od Sune, čarobnica Midnight i redovnik Cyric. Kako je Midnight bila obdarena darom Mystre, božice magije, na njezin nagovor, s junacima kreće prvo do prvo nebeskog stepeništa gdje bogovi uvide da je povratak na Nebesa za njih zatvoren zauvijek. Tu misija ne staje jer si junaci uzimaju za cilj vratiti ponovno mir u Faerun i bogove na nebesa. A u tome će im pomoći mag Elminster. Magija u tim vremenima je nestabilna i avatari Bogova hodaju zemljom. Glavni antagonisti su Bane, bog rata i Myrkul, bog mrtvih.
Pravo fantasy džepno izdanje s dobrom i tečnom pričom, zanimljivim likovima, akcijom, preobratima i fino spredanom mitologijom u pozadini. Samo me podsjetilo koliko fantasy znam biti dobar. Strijelac je propao prije negoli je dovršio trilogiju, a kamoli pentologiju... Dajem peticu, ne samo zbog nostalgije, nego zbog toga koliko predivnih svjetova je ljudska mašta sposobna osmisliti. Ah još jednom...
November 7, 2025
This book was honestly a mess, but I’m hyperfixating hard right now so I’m giving it two stars. The pacing was ok and I liked most of the characters (except for Elminster and Kelemvor). Overall I expected cheap fantasy slop, and I got cheap fantasy slop. But hey, that’s exactly what I ordered. I mean, just look at that abomination of a cover - if it didn’t ward me off this novel, nothing could.
Characters:
Adon, my beloved. I didn’t expect this much character development from you, so I was pleasantly surprised. I mean, it’s awful you suffered a horrible wound and now have a crisis of faith, but hey - who doesn’t? There are only two constants when you’re playing a cleric - abandoning/changing your god and taking war caster as your first feat.
Kelemvor, remember when you had suicidal thoughts after the town found out about your curse? Yeah? Why don’t you act on them? Anytime the pov switched to this male furry human fighter I wanted to claw my eyes out.
Midnight, oh Midnight. You really must be built different because HOW could anyone choose Kelemvor over Cyric. Like. Girl. Do you even have eyes?
And before anyone says „but Cyric is evil!” so what. „You can’t fix him” my ass, I’m going to make him so much worse. Ten minutes and a hair tie. I need to hear this man whimper. If you lock me and him in one room, one of us is getting pregnant and it sure as hell won’t be me
Characters:
Adon, my beloved. I didn’t expect this much character development from you, so I was pleasantly surprised. I mean, it’s awful you suffered a horrible wound and now have a crisis of faith, but hey - who doesn’t? There are only two constants when you’re playing a cleric - abandoning/changing your god and taking war caster as your first feat.
Kelemvor, remember when you had suicidal thoughts after the town found out about your curse? Yeah? Why don’t you act on them? Anytime the pov switched to this male furry human fighter I wanted to claw my eyes out.
Midnight, oh Midnight. You really must be built different because HOW could anyone choose Kelemvor over Cyric. Like. Girl. Do you even have eyes?
And before anyone says „but Cyric is evil!” so what. „You can’t fix him” my ass, I’m going to make him so much worse. Ten minutes and a hair tie. I need to hear this man whimper. If you lock me and him in one room, one of us is getting pregnant and it sure as hell won’t be me
September 26, 2017
Oy, beyond oy, vae and gevalt! I came across this paperback, in near-mint condition, on a used paperback rack at a gas station somewhere in Kansas. I thought I had scored a find. But...well, this story is awful. Pace is about the only thing it has going for it. Both dialogue and narrative are a hodgepodge of fantasy genre tropes and gender equality posturing that is shallow enough to be an insulting facade. The plot is no better. The characters are all inconsistent and bipolar, randomly doing and feeling things with no discernible motive whatsoever (apart from exposition, I mean.) The protagonists are unsympathetic and without depth. The main antagonist comes across as someone straight out of a 1980's Saturday morning cartoon. I counted no less than three glaring instances of deus ex machina. It is also never a good thing when game mechanics can be discerned throughout a story; this one doesn't even try to hide them. The author even name-drops several spells, straight out of the AD&D 2d Edition Player's Handbook! This story could have been so much more than it is. At least none of the protagonists is a Mary Sue...
October 24, 2015
I love Dungeons and Dragons. I love Forgotten Realms. This book had a strong enough set up to keep me reading it.
Nonetheless, little things in the book screamed "I was written by a dungeon master!" and yanked me out of the story and setting, such as using character classes as pronouns (e.g. "The cleric" instead of "him"). Third person omniscient narration did not help either.
I rage-quit reading this book after the line, "The sunlight was absorbed by elegant strands of Spanish moss..."
Nonetheless, little things in the book screamed "I was written by a dungeon master!" and yanked me out of the story and setting, such as using character classes as pronouns (e.g. "The cleric" instead of "him"). Third person omniscient narration did not help either.
I rage-quit reading this book after the line, "The sunlight was absorbed by elegant strands of Spanish moss..."
April 4, 2024
Strangely endearing. The writing is painful and the pacing is off, characters enter the story just to get killed, and don't get me started on the horses... But I had a lot of fun. Cyric is bae!
March 1, 2017
I do like the dragonlance series and have read so many books in the forgotten realms. So of course I did enjoy this one merely because of the world it plays in. I must say though, that I have read much better stories. I know that these books are often based on role playing books or campaigns and that gives them a certain direction. I don't like it though if this is all too obvious and you can basically replay the battles and scenes in a pure rpg structure. The characters did become a bit familiar although I could not really bond with any of them. A good story and gripping tale, but details could have been better.
November 1, 2011
This book tries to be two things at once. Fortunately, it does one of those things very well: it is a fun action romp that gets you interested in the setting and makes you want to play the D&D adventure of the same name (circa 1988). Unfortunately, it does a fairly poor job of being the first installment of an epic fantasy involving world-changing events. The real let-down, however, is that it fails to even be a serviceable fantasy jaunt with believable character development and an unbroken plot. While the author does a good job of making you believe the world is in chaos and gets you hooked into the characters, he just let's the ball roll downhill once it gets going. Character motivations are one dimensional, as are the cardboard cut-out RPG archetype characters. The most developed backstory is that of Kelemvor, and its such a heavy handed element that the author all but asks for forgiveness for making him act in a completely unbelievable manor. We also must suffer through a journey of rapid character development so unwarranted the characters themselves seem confused by their actions. To make this worse what seems like a few days as you read the book ends up being a journey that spans a month! I won't spoil anything, but suffice it to say the ending of this book is nothing more than a set of contrived excuses to top it off with a large amount of action and makes you feel like everything you read before this should have been squeezed into a prologue. For a trilogy that is supposed to cover one of the most ground-breaking events in the history of the Forgotten Realms, Shadowdale feels too much like a junior high D&D game transcript to do the backstory justice.
July 17, 2018
My love for fantasy fiction was truly challenged with this offering by Richard Awlinson (Pen name for Scott Ciencin). Shadowdale: Book One of The Avatar Trilogy is difficult to review because there was so much I disliked. I'm still unsure why I finished reading it - and because I finished it, I gave it two stars. And as hard as it is, I'll try to evoke the past and replay some of it to write a proper review.
Ao, the Maker of All Things, informs without warning, a handful of lesser gods that the Tablets of Fate have been stolen and he's holding them responsible - as well as having been 'a millennium of disappointment'. Ao banishes these lesser gods to the Realms where they were previously worshiped so they may live as a human. Ao transforms them into mystical lights that must find and possess a human.
From there on, we have an enormous story, so enormous I felt the author was having difficulty controlling and conveying it to the reader. There were many characters, gods and humans and worshipers alike and none of them was interesting or well-written. They are often referred to, not by name but by an attribute.
The Realms meanwhile had magic but it was made unstable by the fall of these gods. The fallen gods, however, possessing humans, still possess quite a bit of their previous godly skills - and still they prove to be extremely incompetent.
The four so-called heroes were not heroic and I wasn't drawn to any of them or their purposes. Nothing seemed to matter but getting to the end of this book. Pretty sure I'll not read the rest of the trilogy although I hear from some that the third book is better.
Ao, the Maker of All Things, informs without warning, a handful of lesser gods that the Tablets of Fate have been stolen and he's holding them responsible - as well as having been 'a millennium of disappointment'. Ao banishes these lesser gods to the Realms where they were previously worshiped so they may live as a human. Ao transforms them into mystical lights that must find and possess a human.
From there on, we have an enormous story, so enormous I felt the author was having difficulty controlling and conveying it to the reader. There were many characters, gods and humans and worshipers alike and none of them was interesting or well-written. They are often referred to, not by name but by an attribute.
The Realms meanwhile had magic but it was made unstable by the fall of these gods. The fallen gods, however, possessing humans, still possess quite a bit of their previous godly skills - and still they prove to be extremely incompetent.
The four so-called heroes were not heroic and I wasn't drawn to any of them or their purposes. Nothing seemed to matter but getting to the end of this book. Pretty sure I'll not read the rest of the trilogy although I hear from some that the third book is better.
July 20, 2007
Well, I made two other attempts to get started on this book in the past and found it fairly dull but I guess I just needed to give it some more time to get started. So far so good, but it would be a bit more interesting if it wouldn't follow the standard TSR books formula of character introduction, a monster fight, character development, monster fight, character development, monster fight ad nauseum.
Did I mention the monster fights just kind of happen ... seemingly they're thrown in after the story is written to break up annoying things like dialog and plot progression.
Not a terrible book, and it is growing on me. Hopefully I can make it through the next two books of the Avatar Trilogy.
Now that I've finished it, I found the final two or three chapters more exciting, what with there being a big battle and all. I'm still giving it two stars due to the cardboard cutout characters with secrets syndrome this book seems afflicted with, and it's uncanny ability to go for what seems like several pages without any actual dialog. Finally, in the very last paragraph of the book, what seemed to me like a really unnecessary cliffhanger occurred. Perhaps I'll find out if this anything to do with the overall plot arc in the next book of the trilogy - Tantras.
Did I mention the monster fights just kind of happen ... seemingly they're thrown in after the story is written to break up annoying things like dialog and plot progression.
Not a terrible book, and it is growing on me. Hopefully I can make it through the next two books of the Avatar Trilogy.
Now that I've finished it, I found the final two or three chapters more exciting, what with there being a big battle and all. I'm still giving it two stars due to the cardboard cutout characters with secrets syndrome this book seems afflicted with, and it's uncanny ability to go for what seems like several pages without any actual dialog. Finally, in the very last paragraph of the book, what seemed to me like a really unnecessary cliffhanger occurred. Perhaps I'll find out if this anything to do with the overall plot arc in the next book of the trilogy - Tantras.
May 3, 2014
After hearing so much about this trilogy, I came to it with (probably unreasonably) high expectations, and was definitely let down.
The only really good parts of this book involve Cyric, his interactions with other characters, and his internal struggles. Kelemvor is interesting, but the clumsy writing often makes him come across as a stupid brute that's incapable of thinking outside the box.
Most everything else is quite heavy-handed. Descriptions are often crude, transitions abrupt, characters rather one-dimensional, and the entire atmosphere quite juvenile. Powerful characters like Bane, Mystra, and Elminster succumb to anime-isms, and by that I mean: they're SO POWERFUL that the only way to break them is for things to get EVEN MORE DRAMATIC AND POWERFUL. This is a frustrating and eye-roll inducing way of writing, and unfortunately became tiring very quickly.
Interestingly, the god's avatars are generally decent characters, and reasonably well-portrayed if, again, clumsily. The ending was poor enough that it has almost put me off reading the second entry, and the book in general dragged so much that it took quite some time to get around to finishing.
All that said, it's still worth reading...once, to get some sense of atmosphere around the Time of Troubles.
The only really good parts of this book involve Cyric, his interactions with other characters, and his internal struggles. Kelemvor is interesting, but the clumsy writing often makes him come across as a stupid brute that's incapable of thinking outside the box.
Most everything else is quite heavy-handed. Descriptions are often crude, transitions abrupt, characters rather one-dimensional, and the entire atmosphere quite juvenile. Powerful characters like Bane, Mystra, and Elminster succumb to anime-isms, and by that I mean: they're SO POWERFUL that the only way to break them is for things to get EVEN MORE DRAMATIC AND POWERFUL. This is a frustrating and eye-roll inducing way of writing, and unfortunately became tiring very quickly.
Interestingly, the god's avatars are generally decent characters, and reasonably well-portrayed if, again, clumsily. The ending was poor enough that it has almost put me off reading the second entry, and the book in general dragged so much that it took quite some time to get around to finishing.
All that said, it's still worth reading...once, to get some sense of atmosphere around the Time of Troubles.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 29, 2010
I sort of have mixed feelings about this book.
The writing was redundant (seriously, how many times do I have to read blue-white (insert word here) or the same word two or three times in a sentence?) and at times very quick (as if the author got bored with writing so he just wrote some real quick junk to take the place of something that could have been good), the characters...well, there really wasn't any I cared for, and the story, for the most part, wasn't terribly exciting.
But.... I enjoyed the book. I was interested and read it fairly quickly (compared to the last book I read). Perhaps I was interested in the book because it is slightly educational for me... I am playing in my first D&D campaign so I was able to gain some gaming knowledge from the book.
So, despite my mixed feelings, the book was okay and I'll read the rest. I hope they get a bit more exciting as the story progresses.
The writing was redundant (seriously, how many times do I have to read blue-white (insert word here) or the same word two or three times in a sentence?) and at times very quick (as if the author got bored with writing so he just wrote some real quick junk to take the place of something that could have been good), the characters...well, there really wasn't any I cared for, and the story, for the most part, wasn't terribly exciting.
But.... I enjoyed the book. I was interested and read it fairly quickly (compared to the last book I read). Perhaps I was interested in the book because it is slightly educational for me... I am playing in my first D&D campaign so I was able to gain some gaming knowledge from the book.
So, despite my mixed feelings, the book was okay and I'll read the rest. I hope they get a bit more exciting as the story progresses.
March 11, 2014
It's hard going back and reading these first books in the Forgotten Realms setting. I'm trying to judge these books based off my current reading and not factor in that this is the infantile stage of the world. These first books are classics, without doubt, but reading them today, they're just not that good. They rely too much on the gaming aspect. I do like the premise of this series however.
As of now I am continuing to read from the beginning of Forgotten Realms, and stuck in 1989.
Next up is the 2nd book in this series Tantras.
As of now I am continuing to read from the beginning of Forgotten Realms, and stuck in 1989.
Next up is the 2nd book in this series Tantras.
December 30, 2024
Może to kwestia słabego tłumaczenia, a może po prostu ta książka słabo się zestarzała. Nie ma tu nic oryginalnego, żarty na poziomie gimnazjum i całkowita stereotypizacja...właściwie wszystkiego i wszystkich xd Powiało nudą, a gwoździem do trumny na pewno jest to tłumaczenie i brak jakiejkolwiek korekty. To wszystko brzmiało jak jedna wielka kalka z języka angielskiego i śmiem twierdzić, że w języku angielskim czytaloby się to lepiej i miałoby to więcej sensu.
May 24, 2017
Storia potenzialmente molto interessante, ma sviluppata in maniera non molto convincente. I personaggi del party principale sono ben caratterizzati, ma ogni tanto la storia s'incaglia in momenti di stanca, per poi ripartire all'improvviso di slancio. Ottima invece è la battaglia finale alle porte di Shadowdale.
August 5, 2018
No esperaba mucho de esta novela y el resultado ha sido peor. Sin contar la mala traducción que empaña todo el libro, nos encontramos ante un grupo de adolescentes hormonados en cuerpos de adultos queriendo salvar el mundo. La historia no es muy allá, los personajes son muy planos y el final es una chorrada.
Si eres un rolero intensito de 15 años te flipara en colores.
Si eres un rolero intensito de 15 años te flipara en colores.
May 11, 2019
This was a pretty good story. It was a little rushed or short in some parts, but overall was a good read.
February 28, 2024
2.2 ☆
Only good thing was the Prologue (there are not enough words to describe how much I love Ao)
...and maybe Cyric's story.
Only good thing was the Prologue (there are not enough words to describe how much I love Ao)
...and maybe Cyric's story.
November 9, 2021
the most vanilla forgotten realms book I've read so far but it does make you want to read more. Great place to start if you have interest in these books. The characters are the most likely of "an unlikely band of heroes" but as their individual backstories become known and personal interests are found out they become unique if only subtly. If you've read Drizzt, Elminster, or played Baldur's gate this fills in some gaps.
November 10, 2025
I've been reading all the Forgotten Realms novels as nostalgia for the ones I loved as a child. Finally got back to this after accepting that maybe once I've read a couple books by one author and hated them it's okay to not read the rest if they're so bad I struggle to read them... This isn't one of the ones I read back then, so there's no nostalgia for this one in particular.
Overall, this is better than some Forgotten Realms novels, worse than others, thus earning its middling score. First, the characters. For the non-spoilery version, I do have enough lore knowledge to know what certain characters would become, so that may have colored my expectations a bit. I found Cyric and Adon interesting, Bane was exactly as expected for a fantasy dark lord style pure evil villain in a good way, Mystra and Kelemvor were insufferable but did actually have personalities, and Midnight was bland in that way you get with the stereotypical strong female character of older fantasy novels.
For the more spoilery, in depth version-
Kelemvor is a deeply frustrating character.
Midnight is annoyingly bland, and honestly I don't think there's even anything I can say about her worth spoilering. She's ambitious, and there's a little bit of spite to her (desire to cook terribly for the party to get back at Kelemvor for being sexist) but other than that she's a very hollow character. She doesn't really seem to feel emotions other than being horny for Kelemvor.
Cyric
Adon has layers to him. Not all of those layers are great, but he's genuinely a pretty neat character. He's vain and talks too much and a bit of a playboy (one element of the initial backstory is that he literally seduced a member of the conspiracy's wife to get information out, a role typically only played by female characters even in modern novels), but he's also genuinely kind-hearted and loyal.
As for plot and pacing... Uncovering the Zhentish conspiracy in Arabel probably should have been part of the text instead of backstory. This would have given Kel, Adon, and Cyric reasons of their own to pursue Bane, then they could have hooked up with Midnight and Caitlin later on or something. As it is the plot starts kind of weakly. Next, the random monster attacks are kind of weak story-wise. Either use them to reinforce 'oh no we need to stabilize magic' or 'oh no Bane is after us'. Then, the scenes in Bane's Castle and immediately following should have been a climax, not a midpoint. I mean, you're seriously going to in the middle of a novel? Yeah, you'd have to change the name if 'go to Shadowdale' was the sequel hook, but it would have made for a better story. Instead the actual sequel hook relies on the people of Shadowdale being stupid enough to think that . Anyway, yes, the second half doesn't really mesh cleanly with the first. But there's a big battle, and you have to finish with a big battle, right? There's a bit of character development in the second half but not a lot of plot.
Other nitpicks I don't know where to put-
Why the fuck do people keep using magic when magic is going wrong? Seriously, you'd think after a few times they'd start checking themselves no matter how much habit it is. But instead you get Midnight at several points in the book going 'oh magic is going wrong maybe I should stop using it' and then using it again in a couple pages. Seriously? There's still someone who uses it towards the end and then is surprised when it misfires on him. Also, why doesn't magic go wrong for Elminster? Yes, I realize he's Elminster, biggest badass ever and whatever, but seriously, if magic is going wrong for the literal goddess of magic it ought not to be fine for him, that's just cheap.
Don't name one character Thurbrand and one Thurbal if you can get away with it. It makes it hard to follow.
Also don't name a character Tempus in a setting with a Tempus god where the gods are walking the earth. I spent ages wondering if there was more to Tempus Blackthorne...
Dumb injury timelines. You're telling me thst
Overall, this is better than some Forgotten Realms novels, worse than others, thus earning its middling score. First, the characters. For the non-spoilery version, I do have enough lore knowledge to know what certain characters would become, so that may have colored my expectations a bit. I found Cyric and Adon interesting, Bane was exactly as expected for a fantasy dark lord style pure evil villain in a good way, Mystra and Kelemvor were insufferable but did actually have personalities, and Midnight was bland in that way you get with the stereotypical strong female character of older fantasy novels.
For the more spoilery, in depth version-
Kelemvor is a deeply frustrating character.
Midnight is annoyingly bland, and honestly I don't think there's even anything I can say about her worth spoilering. She's ambitious, and there's a little bit of spite to her (desire to cook terribly for the party to get back at Kelemvor for being sexist) but other than that she's a very hollow character. She doesn't really seem to feel emotions other than being horny for Kelemvor.
Cyric
Adon has layers to him. Not all of those layers are great, but he's genuinely a pretty neat character. He's vain and talks too much and a bit of a playboy (one element of the initial backstory is that he literally seduced a member of the conspiracy's wife to get information out, a role typically only played by female characters even in modern novels), but he's also genuinely kind-hearted and loyal.
As for plot and pacing... Uncovering the Zhentish conspiracy in Arabel probably should have been part of the text instead of backstory. This would have given Kel, Adon, and Cyric reasons of their own to pursue Bane, then they could have hooked up with Midnight and Caitlin later on or something. As it is the plot starts kind of weakly. Next, the random monster attacks are kind of weak story-wise. Either use them to reinforce 'oh no we need to stabilize magic' or 'oh no Bane is after us'. Then, the scenes in Bane's Castle and immediately following should have been a climax, not a midpoint. I mean, you're seriously going to in the middle of a novel? Yeah, you'd have to change the name if 'go to Shadowdale' was the sequel hook, but it would have made for a better story. Instead the actual sequel hook relies on the people of Shadowdale being stupid enough to think that . Anyway, yes, the second half doesn't really mesh cleanly with the first. But there's a big battle, and you have to finish with a big battle, right? There's a bit of character development in the second half but not a lot of plot.
Other nitpicks I don't know where to put-
Why the fuck do people keep using magic when magic is going wrong? Seriously, you'd think after a few times they'd start checking themselves no matter how much habit it is. But instead you get Midnight at several points in the book going 'oh magic is going wrong maybe I should stop using it' and then using it again in a couple pages. Seriously? There's still someone who uses it towards the end and then is surprised when it misfires on him. Also, why doesn't magic go wrong for Elminster? Yes, I realize he's Elminster, biggest badass ever and whatever, but seriously, if magic is going wrong for the literal goddess of magic it ought not to be fine for him, that's just cheap.
Don't name one character Thurbrand and one Thurbal if you can get away with it. It makes it hard to follow.
Also don't name a character Tempus in a setting with a Tempus god where the gods are walking the earth. I spent ages wondering if there was more to Tempus Blackthorne...
Dumb injury timelines. You're telling me thst
January 31, 2024
Me gusta la historia y me parece que parte de una idea con potencial e interesante, pero se me ha hecho bola, no he conseguido empatizar con los personajes (son agotadores) y me ha costado engancharme a la lectura.
November 19, 2020
Забавное дело. Мы переводили книжки по Forgotten Realms уже сколько... семнадцать? лет назад. А у меня тогда так и не дошли руки до Avatar Trilogy. Хотя, в общем-то, одно из основопологающих произведений.
Но тут Саша наконец прошла Baldur's Gate I&II, я думал выдать ей на почитать Evermeet от Каннингем в качестве дополнительного контекста к антагонисту, а сам решил наконец-то почитать Shadowdale.
Очевидно, смотреть на книгу с точки зрения литературы — нельзя. Литературы в этом примерно столько же, сколько в Campaign Log, который мы вели после каждого модуля на D&D-сессиях. Осторожно предположу, что качество текста у нас было даже повыше.
Поэтому для меня это скорее забавное чтиво в духе учебника фэнтезийной истории одного конкретного мира. Эдакого Сильмариллиона. Я помнил, к чему всё приходит хронологически (поэтому глобальные вехи сюжета для меня удивительными не стали), но не особо знал, с чего всё начиналось и через какие повороты шло.
Могу ли я это кому-то порекомендовать? Вряд ли. Разве что вы, как и я, в юности нежно любили Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale и прочее около-ForgottenRealms'овское.
Отдельный слой для меня — понимать, что все эти книги (в том числе более популярный «Тёмный Эльф» Сальваторе и все его производные) — суть функция от маркетинга Dungeons&Dragons. В таком виде становится лучше понятно и общее качество, и нюансы литературного стиля.
А, вот ещё один забавный момент. В последние годы модно хайпить на теме феминизма в духе «никогда нас не признавали сильными независимыми женщинами в произведениях культуры, а вот тепееерь!..» — так вот, Shadowdale, написанная даже не в 90-е, а на исходе 80-х, прямым текстом ставит мысль о том, что «Даже в рамках приключенческого мира, женщина, которая ведёт себя просто как женщина, а не пытается подстроиться под мужской мир, прекрасна сама по себе и заслуживает уважения».
Но тут Саша наконец прошла Baldur's Gate I&II, я думал выдать ей на почитать Evermeet от Каннингем в качестве дополнительного контекста к антагонисту, а сам решил наконец-то почитать Shadowdale.
Очевидно, смотреть на книгу с точки зрения литературы — нельзя. Литературы в этом примерно столько же, сколько в Campaign Log, который мы вели после каждого модуля на D&D-сессиях. Осторожно предположу, что качество текста у нас было даже повыше.
Поэтому для меня это скорее забавное чтиво в духе учебника фэнтезийной истории одного конкретного мира. Эдакого Сильмариллиона. Я помнил, к чему всё приходит хронологически (поэтому глобальные вехи сюжета для меня удивительными не стали), но не особо знал, с чего всё начиналось и через какие повороты шло.
Могу ли я это кому-то порекомендовать? Вряд ли. Разве что вы, как и я, в юности нежно любили Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale и прочее около-ForgottenRealms'овское.
Отдельный слой для меня — понимать, что все эти книги (в том числе более популярный «Тёмный Эльф» Сальваторе и все его производные) — суть функция от маркетинга Dungeons&Dragons. В таком виде становится лучше понятно и общее качество, и нюансы литературного стиля.
А, вот ещё один забавный момент. В последние годы модно хайпить на теме феминизма в духе «никогда нас не признавали сильными независимыми женщинами в произведениях культуры, а вот тепееерь!..» — так вот, Shadowdale, написанная даже не в 90-е, а на исходе 80-х, прямым текстом ставит мысль о том, что «Даже в рамках приключенческого мира, женщина, которая ведёт себя просто как женщина, а не пытается подстроиться под мужской мир, прекрасна сама по себе и заслуживает уважения».
September 27, 2017
If I read books like this all the time, I'm pretty sure the review that follows would become repetitive. It may well apply to all cheap paperback fantasies. I admit though, not having read anything like this since I was in seventh grade, I am out of touch with the genre.
This book seems geared towards seventh grade boys who sit apart and read it at recess while the other kids play basketball or talk to girls. Don't get me wrong, these boys are important people: safekeepers of the imagination and a long tradition of heroic fantasy adventure. Forgive the blanket sexism; I think it's true. In any case, books like Shadowdale may well be gateways to the great sophistication of Tolkien or GRR Martin, or perhaps the life of a reader in general.
It's easy to read, and not terribly written, and you may enjoy it if a) you are immune to the painful cliche of the D and D adventure story, b) you have five or so hours to waste, and c) you have never read a good book in your life, except maybe To Kill a Mockingbird in your seventh grade English class (and you were uninterested). The second factor (b) above was certainly true for me over the past four days.
But really, I'm glad I read this. It brings me back to the books I used to love so much as an adolescent. I really have no problem with it. It was almost fun to read.
Not bad. Not too bad... Not too bad at all.
This book seems geared towards seventh grade boys who sit apart and read it at recess while the other kids play basketball or talk to girls. Don't get me wrong, these boys are important people: safekeepers of the imagination and a long tradition of heroic fantasy adventure. Forgive the blanket sexism; I think it's true. In any case, books like Shadowdale may well be gateways to the great sophistication of Tolkien or GRR Martin, or perhaps the life of a reader in general.
It's easy to read, and not terribly written, and you may enjoy it if a) you are immune to the painful cliche of the D and D adventure story, b) you have five or so hours to waste, and c) you have never read a good book in your life, except maybe To Kill a Mockingbird in your seventh grade English class (and you were uninterested). The second factor (b) above was certainly true for me over the past four days.
But really, I'm glad I read this. It brings me back to the books I used to love so much as an adolescent. I really have no problem with it. It was almost fun to read.
Not bad. Not too bad... Not too bad at all.
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