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Forgotten Realms: The Nobles #1
King Pinch
Having robbed a temple, Pinch must hide his theft from the temple's priestess, his traveling companion, Lissa, who holds the secret that could make him the next king of Ankhapur. Original. 75,000 first printing.
316 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published May 23, 1995
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About the author
David Zeb Cook
90 books78 followersDavid "Zeb" Cook is an American game designer best known for his work at TSR, Inc., where he was employed for over fifteen years. Cook grew up on a farm in Iowa where his father worked as a farmer and a college professor. In junior high school, Cook playing wargames such as Avalon Hill's Blitzkrieg and Afrika Korps. "I was primarily a wargamer, but there wasn't any role-playing available then," although in college, he was introduced to the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game through the University of Iowa gaming club. Cook earned his B.A. in English (with a Theater minor) in 1977. He married his high school sweetheart, Helen, with whom he had one son, Ian. Cook became a high school teacher in Milligan, Nebraska, where his students gave him his nickname of "Zeb"; the name derives from his signature, which is dominated by a stroke resembling a 'Z'.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
January 9, 2025
This was one of the weirder FR books I've read, and that's really saying something.
Mostly it boils down to the titular "Pinch", an accomplished-albeit-ageing thief in the northerly city of Elturel. He isn't all that likeable a fellow, quite sulky and pragmatic by nature and grudgingly bonded with a larcenous crew that includes a rascally halfling, a drunken wizardess and a sullen, musclebound problematic gypsy analogue. To Pinch's somewhat credit he doesn't "punch down" and victimize the weaker characters he encounters along the story, though given how the narrator shares his thought processes it feels like this is more due to expediency and lack of opportunity over any particular scruples.
The plot, such as it is, involves a convoluted succession dispute in a far-off city where Pinch (suprise surprise!) has a connection to the ruling house. Soon his crew and a well-meaning cleric who tails them from Elturel are drawn into the machinations of the Regent, the ambitious princes, and the eminence gris of a dastardly lich. Much difficult to credit skulduggery ensues.
All this said there were some entertaining sequences and the author could string together a pithy if bleak sentiment or two, so I don't regret reading it although if I never encounter this sorry lot of chancers (I don't think they deserve the full title of adventurers) I won't regret it.
Mostly it boils down to the titular "Pinch", an accomplished-albeit-ageing thief in the northerly city of Elturel. He isn't all that likeable a fellow, quite sulky and pragmatic by nature and grudgingly bonded with a larcenous crew that includes a rascally halfling, a drunken wizardess and a sullen, musclebound problematic gypsy analogue. To Pinch's somewhat credit he doesn't "punch down" and victimize the weaker characters he encounters along the story, though given how the narrator shares his thought processes it feels like this is more due to expediency and lack of opportunity over any particular scruples.
The plot, such as it is, involves a convoluted succession dispute in a far-off city where Pinch (suprise surprise!) has a connection to the ruling house. Soon his crew and a well-meaning cleric who tails them from Elturel are drawn into the machinations of the Regent, the ambitious princes, and the eminence gris of a dastardly lich. Much difficult to credit skulduggery ensues.
All this said there were some entertaining sequences and the author could string together a pithy if bleak sentiment or two, so I don't regret reading it although if I never encounter this sorry lot of chancers (I don't think they deserve the full title of adventurers) I won't regret it.
July 30, 2020
Not too bad, in comparison, after some other abysmal Forgotten Realms books. David Cook produces some atypical stories in this setting. His past efforts include Horselords and Soldiers of Ice, both of which have a srong ethnographic or fantasy cultural anthropological component. King Pinch might have benefited from a bit of this; the distant city of Pinch's birth that he returns to lacks characterization to set it apart from any other busy city-state in this world. I suppose you can say that Cook is doing a cultural study of a criminal element instead.
Pinch is in no way a likeable character. Amoral, abrasive, scheming, paranoid, self-dealing, the list goes on and on. He uses some highly colorful phrases and interesting metaphors, as though he has been living in a hard-boiled crime thriler for so long that he forgot how to speak like a normal person. He's not even a particularly skilled thief. I was never rooting for him, yet I enjoyed reading his story. The plot is also atypical for these books, sorely lacking in structure, but somehow it works. It is not what one might call a "good" book, but given it's company it's a worthy entry in the FR line. David Cook is a more accomplished RPG adventure writer than a novelist, but his storytelling ability is such that it can cross these formats, unlike many other TSR creative staff who attempted the same.
You would do well to read the short story Gallows Day in the anthology Realms of Infamy prior to this book, because the crux of that story, in which Pinch saves one of his crew from a hanging, is referred to A LOT.
Pinch is in no way a likeable character. Amoral, abrasive, scheming, paranoid, self-dealing, the list goes on and on. He uses some highly colorful phrases and interesting metaphors, as though he has been living in a hard-boiled crime thriler for so long that he forgot how to speak like a normal person. He's not even a particularly skilled thief. I was never rooting for him, yet I enjoyed reading his story. The plot is also atypical for these books, sorely lacking in structure, but somehow it works. It is not what one might call a "good" book, but given it's company it's a worthy entry in the FR line. David Cook is a more accomplished RPG adventure writer than a novelist, but his storytelling ability is such that it can cross these formats, unlike many other TSR creative staff who attempted the same.
You would do well to read the short story Gallows Day in the anthology Realms of Infamy prior to this book, because the crux of that story, in which Pinch saves one of his crew from a hanging, is referred to A LOT.
May 10, 2021
A perfectly average offering in a perfectly average set of novels. It is sad that the editors of TSR's novel line never really figured out what they wanted (or set standards for authors) out of this product line. The main character is entertaining, but the author cannot figure out if he is a noble antihero or a real scalawag who cares for nothing. Emotional turmoil and angst is often unjustified by previous character growth, and the end is sudden with no denouement.
September 23, 2014
More intrigue that I would have expected from this book
23 September 2014
Well, it has been over twenty years since I read my last Forgotten Realms novel, but after reviewing the ones that I have already read (and I generally cannot bring myself to read them a second time, which is why I have given them a rating and written a commentary) and going over other people's thoughts on these novels, I decided that I might grab a couple off of Ebay and see if what people have said (bad writing, bland characters, etc) is true. So, while digging through the numerous books that have been published since I pretty much stopped reading everything that was released, I stumbled across this one. So, why is it that I decided that I would read this one? Well, it had a cool title. Okay, they do say that you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, but nobody ever said anything about judging it by its title.
Okay, as for this book, it was enjoyable but I would hardly call it a work of literature (are any of the books that come out of the Wizards of the Coast printing machine such?) and I simply am not able to compare the author with Dostoyevsky, but it was still an enjoyable read (and the writing wasn't that bad, and the characters were not hugely shallow, though there was only one character of importance in the novel and that was Pinch). So, after having made my way through two Dostoyevsky bricks it certainly was a change to try something that I had not touched since I was a lot younger, though I must admit that Terry Pratchett writes a much more enjoyable and much more engaging fantasy story (though he does tend to be a lot more satirical than the writers at Wizards of the Coast, but then I have yet to come across a novel that has any humour in it whatsoever).
The story is about a thief named, you guessed it, Pinch, and he and his colleagues have just pulled off a daring heist by stealing an amulet from a temple of one of the many gods of the Forgotten Realms (being Lathandar, the Morning Lord, who is the god of, yes that's right, the morning). While drinking to their success in a local drinking establishment (the Piss Pot, which surprised me because I did not realise that these Forgotten Realms novels could be crude) he is approached by an old acquaintance, who also happens to be the Lord Chamberlain of a distant country that, as it turns out, Pinch happens to have come from, and more interestingly, where he was the ward of the king. So, after being blackmailed, he is taken back to this home (with his companions in tow) to assist in the quest that he has been encouraged to complete.
Now, I probably wouldn't suggest that this comes across as an adventure that the author and his mates played (simply because the entire focus is on Pinch, and his companions spend the bulk of the book under house arrest, which would have been really boring for the other players), but the story certainly did have its fair share of intrigue – to a point. I say that because about two thirds of the way through the book the intrigue ended up falling flat on its face, and the story turned out to be incredibly predictable (as you may work out by the title). Okay, it was predictable in the sense that the heroes kill the bad guy and save the day, but the book does happen to be more predictable than even the standard Hollywood ending.
Another thing that I probably should mention is that the problem with these books is that there is a lot of assumed knowledge, meaning that if you come to the story knowing absolutely zip about the Forgotten Realms you may find yourself a little lost (though I cannot say for sure because I am very familiar with the setting). However, it was nice to see that there were some instances that suggested the author did have some understanding of the way things worked in the medieval world (such as commissions being purchased) though I guess one would not be looking for too much realism in a high fantasy setting.
23 September 2014
Well, it has been over twenty years since I read my last Forgotten Realms novel, but after reviewing the ones that I have already read (and I generally cannot bring myself to read them a second time, which is why I have given them a rating and written a commentary) and going over other people's thoughts on these novels, I decided that I might grab a couple off of Ebay and see if what people have said (bad writing, bland characters, etc) is true. So, while digging through the numerous books that have been published since I pretty much stopped reading everything that was released, I stumbled across this one. So, why is it that I decided that I would read this one? Well, it had a cool title. Okay, they do say that you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, but nobody ever said anything about judging it by its title.
Okay, as for this book, it was enjoyable but I would hardly call it a work of literature (are any of the books that come out of the Wizards of the Coast printing machine such?) and I simply am not able to compare the author with Dostoyevsky, but it was still an enjoyable read (and the writing wasn't that bad, and the characters were not hugely shallow, though there was only one character of importance in the novel and that was Pinch). So, after having made my way through two Dostoyevsky bricks it certainly was a change to try something that I had not touched since I was a lot younger, though I must admit that Terry Pratchett writes a much more enjoyable and much more engaging fantasy story (though he does tend to be a lot more satirical than the writers at Wizards of the Coast, but then I have yet to come across a novel that has any humour in it whatsoever).
The story is about a thief named, you guessed it, Pinch, and he and his colleagues have just pulled off a daring heist by stealing an amulet from a temple of one of the many gods of the Forgotten Realms (being Lathandar, the Morning Lord, who is the god of, yes that's right, the morning). While drinking to their success in a local drinking establishment (the Piss Pot, which surprised me because I did not realise that these Forgotten Realms novels could be crude) he is approached by an old acquaintance, who also happens to be the Lord Chamberlain of a distant country that, as it turns out, Pinch happens to have come from, and more interestingly, where he was the ward of the king. So, after being blackmailed, he is taken back to this home (with his companions in tow) to assist in the quest that he has been encouraged to complete.
Now, I probably wouldn't suggest that this comes across as an adventure that the author and his mates played (simply because the entire focus is on Pinch, and his companions spend the bulk of the book under house arrest, which would have been really boring for the other players), but the story certainly did have its fair share of intrigue – to a point. I say that because about two thirds of the way through the book the intrigue ended up falling flat on its face, and the story turned out to be incredibly predictable (as you may work out by the title). Okay, it was predictable in the sense that the heroes kill the bad guy and save the day, but the book does happen to be more predictable than even the standard Hollywood ending.
Another thing that I probably should mention is that the problem with these books is that there is a lot of assumed knowledge, meaning that if you come to the story knowing absolutely zip about the Forgotten Realms you may find yourself a little lost (though I cannot say for sure because I am very familiar with the setting). However, it was nice to see that there were some instances that suggested the author did have some understanding of the way things worked in the medieval world (such as commissions being purchased) though I guess one would not be looking for too much realism in a high fantasy setting.
January 24, 2008
David Cook, King Pinch (TSR, 1995)
The typical Dungeons and Dragons-related novel has one pace to it: breakneck. I've wondered more than once if one of the writing guidelines for new TSR authors is Poe's old maxim that all novels should be written as if they are to be read in one sitting. (This, of course, is why Poe wrote only one novel.) I've read a lot of D&D-themed novels, and very few break that mold. The most recent to cross my desk is David Cook's King Pinch.
Pinch is a thief of indeterminate birth who leads a band of merry men (and one overly merry woman) down a road of small-time crookery-- that is, until a member of Pinch's past life shows up and takes him and his companions back to Ankhapur, the city of Pinch's birth, with promises of a nebulous job that will put enough money in their bank accounts to keep them comfortable for life, and threats of their heads on pikes if they don't come.
The book starts off in an almost leisurely way, with Cook taking some time to develop Pinch's character before getting into the action. While that's never a bad thing, it does jar in the greater scheme of things. The pace does pick up as the novel goes on, but I wonder if most series readers who focus on TSR novels won't abandon this one given its initial slow pace. More fool them, however, because the reader of swords-and-sorcery fantasy will find much to enjoy once it gets going. ***
The typical Dungeons and Dragons-related novel has one pace to it: breakneck. I've wondered more than once if one of the writing guidelines for new TSR authors is Poe's old maxim that all novels should be written as if they are to be read in one sitting. (This, of course, is why Poe wrote only one novel.) I've read a lot of D&D-themed novels, and very few break that mold. The most recent to cross my desk is David Cook's King Pinch.
Pinch is a thief of indeterminate birth who leads a band of merry men (and one overly merry woman) down a road of small-time crookery-- that is, until a member of Pinch's past life shows up and takes him and his companions back to Ankhapur, the city of Pinch's birth, with promises of a nebulous job that will put enough money in their bank accounts to keep them comfortable for life, and threats of their heads on pikes if they don't come.
The book starts off in an almost leisurely way, with Cook taking some time to develop Pinch's character before getting into the action. While that's never a bad thing, it does jar in the greater scheme of things. The pace does pick up as the novel goes on, but I wonder if most series readers who focus on TSR novels won't abandon this one given its initial slow pace. More fool them, however, because the reader of swords-and-sorcery fantasy will find much to enjoy once it gets going. ***
October 12, 2024
This is the first of 6 books in the Forgotten Realms series, "The Nobles." It took some time to start but it had an exciting ending. Long ago, Janol shed his princely lifestyle for a life of crime. Taking on the name "Pinch" for himself, he and his band of thieves (Lady Mauve the alcoholic magic user, Sprite the alcoholic halfling-thief, and Therin the ruffian who is looking to usurp Pinch) are forced to return to Pinch's homeland due to the death of Pinch's father, Manferic the King of Ankhapur. Overall, the author does a great job portraying Pinch as a jerk. Why his party follows him around is beyond me. Once Pinch returns, you get a sense of why he left and maybe why he is a jerk; he was a bastard and was mistreated by his fellow kin. His forced return is perceived as a threat to those who covet the throne. While Pinch dodges jealous kin and the wake of a previous burglary, he is tasked with the purpose of his forced return; to steal the Cup and Knife of assentation to the throne! Pinch eventually accomplishes his task but for whom!?
***Does anyone else see Paul Stanley from Kiss on the cover of this book?
***Does anyone else see Paul Stanley from Kiss on the cover of this book?
April 30, 2008
Well, I am re-reading my books all over again so I can do more reviews.
King Pinch is a fun read. The heroes aren't really heroes at all, since they are looking out for themselves and trying to find a way to profit.
This is really a story of Janol (Pinch) learning of his past and finally throwing off the lies that clouded his birth and childhood.
All in all, it's a very good and fast read.
King Pinch is a fun read. The heroes aren't really heroes at all, since they are looking out for themselves and trying to find a way to profit.
This is really a story of Janol (Pinch) learning of his past and finally throwing off the lies that clouded his birth and childhood.
All in all, it's a very good and fast read.
July 22, 2025
Very slow and was lacking in the fantasy aspect for a bit. Got better towards the last 3rd of the book. 4 more to this series, hopefully they are better.
March 6, 2010
This book was not doing it for me at all. I spent a week getting through the first 2/3rds and thought I had made a huge mistake (as I can't ever stop reading a book once I've started). But luckily for me, it did pick up in the last 100 pgs.
D&D novels are never really that amazing (with several notable exceptions), but they are my guilty pleasure and I love them. This one falls into the former group. This is the second story I've read by David Cook, I've got one more on my short "to read" list. I think that the author has a great imagination and I feel like he is better at creating worlds and backgrounds than telling a story.
Also, at times, this novel seemed so wordy I found myself wondering if it was a testement to authors of a grander period (i.e. Lord Dunsany or even Dumas). I can appreciate that style in its approprate place, but a 300 page D&D book hardly seems to be the proper venue.
Next, too much time was spent inside the protagonists head scheming and stratagizing all of these little plans that never come to fruition.
Okay, like I said, the end was much more entertaining and there were some cool ideas and the wordy descriptions of magical fights were actually good. The climax left a bit to be desired, but it was okay.
Yet another Forgotten Realms book finished!
D&D novels are never really that amazing (with several notable exceptions), but they are my guilty pleasure and I love them. This one falls into the former group. This is the second story I've read by David Cook, I've got one more on my short "to read" list. I think that the author has a great imagination and I feel like he is better at creating worlds and backgrounds than telling a story.
Also, at times, this novel seemed so wordy I found myself wondering if it was a testement to authors of a grander period (i.e. Lord Dunsany or even Dumas). I can appreciate that style in its approprate place, but a 300 page D&D book hardly seems to be the proper venue.
Next, too much time was spent inside the protagonists head scheming and stratagizing all of these little plans that never come to fruition.
Okay, like I said, the end was much more entertaining and there were some cool ideas and the wordy descriptions of magical fights were actually good. The climax left a bit to be desired, but it was okay.
Yet another Forgotten Realms book finished!
August 15, 2012
Not a bad book. Cook can make interesting characters, I want more adventure with them because this mass market novel let you wanting for more. Intrigue is good but like many short d&d novels the ending is abrupt and not in space with the rest of the storie.
Didn't like artifact in story when the hero activated it at the last minute to save the day.
But still a good Forgotten Realms book even if not a classic, it's not just for fan and didn't feel like a RPG sourcebook.
Didn't like artifact in story when the hero activated it at the last minute to save the day.
But still a good Forgotten Realms book even if not a classic, it's not just for fan and didn't feel like a RPG sourcebook.
May 26, 2017
Honestly one of the best FR/TSR/DL books out there. Started solid, introduced some fun characters, threw in a small twist, and ended pretty well (though a bit rushed). Definitely a solid, mass market, brainless, formulaic fantasy novel... which is essentially what all FR/TSR/DL novels are. This one just happens to be one of the better ones.
February 26, 2025
The first D&D novel I ever read! A series of heists, shenanigans, and outrageous lies, set against a backdrop of political intrigue, by which I mean the final battle takes place in a palace. All these years later, it’s still a good read, and still feels like D&D to me. A lot of the reviews discuss its merits as a fantasy novel, which is valid, but there’s a second layer underneath these Forgotten Realms novels – the ways in which the book is built on the scaffolding of game rules, and experiences around the table.
Pinch is a 2nd edition D&D rogue, who is growing older and coming to the end of his adventuring (thieving) career, but has put a lot of points into social skills to keep his crew alive and under his control. These skills serve him well when the DM finally decides to use his backstory, and he is thrown into the snake pit of royal politics in his hometown, and must figure out what everyone wants from him, and how to survive double crossing them.
So, is this a viable D&D adventure? Eh, not really. D&D is a game about teams, and Pinch does most of his heists solo or with one teammate, while the rest of the party is under house arrest. And yet, it feels like D&D. There are sections of banter that feel lifted straight from the table - the parts where your friend has memorized an impressive amount of thieves' cant and rattles it off impromptu, the parts where someone gets caught red handed but nat 20s a bluff check and the whole table screams as they manage to weasel out of it, the irreverent sense of humor, the mutual understanding that though you're all playing cutthroat bastards everyone at the table is a friend and you're all here to keep playing a game together as long as you can. So, this book can best be understood as a D&D player harvesting all the good bits of his games to write a solo adventure where his cool rogue gets the spotlight and saves the day with , and the party lives happily ever after.
Pinch is a 2nd edition D&D rogue, who is growing older and coming to the end of his adventuring (thieving) career, but has put a lot of points into social skills to keep his crew alive and under his control. These skills serve him well when the DM finally decides to use his backstory, and he is thrown into the snake pit of royal politics in his hometown, and must figure out what everyone wants from him, and how to survive double crossing them.
So, is this a viable D&D adventure? Eh, not really. D&D is a game about teams, and Pinch does most of his heists solo or with one teammate, while the rest of the party is under house arrest. And yet, it feels like D&D. There are sections of banter that feel lifted straight from the table - the parts where your friend has memorized an impressive amount of thieves' cant and rattles it off impromptu, the parts where someone gets caught red handed but nat 20s a bluff check and the whole table screams as they manage to weasel out of it, the irreverent sense of humor, the mutual understanding that though you're all playing cutthroat bastards everyone at the table is a friend and you're all here to keep playing a game together as long as you can. So, this book can best be understood as a D&D player harvesting all the good bits of his games to write a solo adventure where his cool rogue gets the spotlight and saves the day with , and the party lives happily ever after.
September 19, 2025
An aging rogue, an irascible halfling, a young upstart with more muscles and ambition than brains, and a drunken wizardess: a literal den of thieves swept up into court intrigue, dark secrets, and the machinations of a mysterious figure. It's a good recipe for a daring adventure and I enjoyed it. Cooks writing was highly palatable. Pinch's last moment conversion from jaded, selfish thief to Carebear seemed a little sudden and unmerited, but it's entirely possible I wasn't paying close enough attention.
May 31, 2017
"...always learning the wrong thing first." Therrin rubbed against the scarf around his neck. "I've been hanged once. I don't need to be hanged again." "See!" came the hicup from below. "Mos' man saves the hanging lesson for las'."
October 10, 2017
Surprisingly good. I had a D&D issue with the effectiveness of a spell cast in this book, but what the hell.
December 31, 2017
interesting and fun Forgotten Realms story and a Ward, Thief, a King and his friends. I highly recommend.
August 8, 2023
A fun standalone about a thief now in line for the throne of a city-state. There are some fantastic turns and I was thoroughly enjoyed.
January 30, 2010
The novel was written by David Coo. There is no Zeb on the cover or on the copyright.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 11, 2016
Had a little trouble with the writing style, but was a decent enough book.
August 13, 2011
Didn't really connect with this one.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews