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Forgotten Realms: Netheril #3
Mortal Consequences
Endgame . . .
The Netherese Empire will collapse in five generations.
A forgotten foe, armed with a hell-spawned source of destructive magic, returns to seek her revenge, and a lost love is found in a most unexpected place.
Against a backdrop of war and chaos, the barbarian Sunbright struggles to carve out a niche for himself -- and his people -- in a rapidly changing world.
The Netherese Empire will collapse in five generations.
A forgotten foe, armed with a hell-spawned source of destructive magic, returns to seek her revenge, and a lost love is found in a most unexpected place.
Against a backdrop of war and chaos, the barbarian Sunbright struggles to carve out a niche for himself -- and his people -- in a rapidly changing world.
303 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
13 people are currently reading
560 people want to read
About the author
Clayton Emery
39 books46 followersClayton Emery is an umpteen-generations Yankee, Navy brat, and aging hippie who grew up playing Robin Hood in the forests of New England.
He's been a blacksmith, dishwasher, schoolteacher in Australia, carpenter, zookeeper, farmhand, land surveyor, volunteer firefighter, and award-winning technical writer.
He's a member of the Mystery Writers of America and Science Fiction/Fantasy Writers of America.
Clayton lives with his sweetie in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where his ancestors came ashore in 1635.
From: http://www.claytonemery.com/CE_bio.html
He's been a blacksmith, dishwasher, schoolteacher in Australia, carpenter, zookeeper, farmhand, land surveyor, volunteer firefighter, and award-winning technical writer.
He's a member of the Mystery Writers of America and Science Fiction/Fantasy Writers of America.
Clayton lives with his sweetie in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where his ancestors came ashore in 1635.
From: http://www.claytonemery.com/CE_bio.html
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
April 23, 2010
It's been a long time since I read this book, and I just realized that I'd never written a review. It must've been because it was soooo bad.
In the same vein as the other two, this one serves no purpose in the history of 'the Realms'. I really don't understand that! What was the point of writing in this time period but never making any conections to the causes it had in the future? Damnit!
Anywho...this one doesn't even have to do with Netheril. The entire plot takes place on the ground, below the floating cities. Sunbright and Knucklbones are running around trying to reunite Sunbright with his barbarian clan and mother. They are haried by a black stony feind at every step.
It turns out that the redhead wizard lady from the first book has transformed into this nasty rock monster because they left her to be tortured a little bit longer than the original year that the lame ass bet had intended. I couldn't beleive it. The worst part of the first book has come back to haunt the thrid book! Not only that, but it's so anti-climactic when they had to deal with a god in the second book, but now they have a hard time taking care of a stupid disgruntled wizard? Get real.
I can't talk about this anymore...the 'good guys' win...sheesh...
In the same vein as the other two, this one serves no purpose in the history of 'the Realms'. I really don't understand that! What was the point of writing in this time period but never making any conections to the causes it had in the future? Damnit!
Anywho...this one doesn't even have to do with Netheril. The entire plot takes place on the ground, below the floating cities. Sunbright and Knucklbones are running around trying to reunite Sunbright with his barbarian clan and mother. They are haried by a black stony feind at every step.
It turns out that the redhead wizard lady from the first book has transformed into this nasty rock monster because they left her to be tortured a little bit longer than the original year that the lame ass bet had intended. I couldn't beleive it. The worst part of the first book has come back to haunt the thrid book! Not only that, but it's so anti-climactic when they had to deal with a god in the second book, but now they have a hard time taking care of a stupid disgruntled wizard? Get real.
I can't talk about this anymore...the 'good guys' win...sheesh...
August 19, 2013
I think reading books 2 and 3 so close to each other burned me out of any tolerance I have for a bad read. The plot wasn't bad per se, it's just really, really cliché. The book also suffers from a winding down from book 2 in terms of climax - book 3's plot is so very mundane compared to book 2.
The first half of the story starts off really slow, as it follows Sunbright and Knucklebones on their journey in trying to find his tribe. It meanders around and in between introduces us to how Sunbright made acquaintance with dwarves, and which sees Sunbright back on a floating enclave for a short stint.
The second half of the story shows how Sunbright rejoins his tribe and regains their acceptance, in a very roundabout and loopsy-do way. The portrayal of the barbarians were really poor - the Rengarth barbarians felt more like a bickering republic than a tribe of noble barbarians led by a shaman and elders.
Anyway, without nitpicking too much, the overall arc is about an old antagonist from back in book 1 making an appearance, and going about the vengeance plot is a rather ridiculous and unrealistic manner. And that's putting aside how the antagonist came back in the first place.
The three biggest flaws with the plot, that just destroys my enjoyment of this book was: 1. Netheril is not even the main focus on this story - in fact, the Netheril Empire here was extremely pathetic. 2. The really unnecessary "resolution" of what happened to Greenwillow and the ridiculous family reunion. 3. The stupid fight scenes that involve the antagonist - so overpowering and such overkill when against not-Sunbright, so pathetic against Sunbright.
The story is just full of holes and inconsistent power levels. It takes so much liberty with D&D rules that it's past the point of accepting it in humour. A very poor end to a mediocre series.
The first half of the story starts off really slow, as it follows Sunbright and Knucklebones on their journey in trying to find his tribe. It meanders around and in between introduces us to how Sunbright made acquaintance with dwarves, and which sees Sunbright back on a floating enclave for a short stint.
The second half of the story shows how Sunbright rejoins his tribe and regains their acceptance, in a very roundabout and loopsy-do way. The portrayal of the barbarians were really poor - the Rengarth barbarians felt more like a bickering republic than a tribe of noble barbarians led by a shaman and elders.
Anyway, without nitpicking too much, the overall arc is about an old antagonist from back in book 1 making an appearance, and going about the vengeance plot is a rather ridiculous and unrealistic manner. And that's putting aside how the antagonist came back in the first place.
The three biggest flaws with the plot, that just destroys my enjoyment of this book was: 1. Netheril is not even the main focus on this story - in fact, the Netheril Empire here was extremely pathetic. 2. The really unnecessary "resolution" of what happened to Greenwillow and the ridiculous family reunion. 3. The stupid fight scenes that involve the antagonist - so overpowering and such overkill when against not-Sunbright, so pathetic against Sunbright.
The story is just full of holes and inconsistent power levels. It takes so much liberty with D&D rules that it's past the point of accepting it in humour. A very poor end to a mediocre series.
June 28, 2018
So our heroes Sunbright and Knucklebones return from the second book of the trilogy- Candlemas is also here in a minor role, and we pick up almost exactly where the ending of Dangerous Games left off. Sunbright and Knuckles are traveling in search of Sunbright’s tribe, the Rengarth Barbarians. Meanwhile a “forgotten foe” (as stated by the back cover) seeks revenge on our protagonists.
Now I’d like to praise this book for having, possibly, the most focused story of the trilogy. Where the first book was awkwardly lurching from event to event, with the reader having little idea of where the story was going, and the second being a endlessly forward-driving romp towards the inevitable end of the story (with several awkward asides), Mortal Consequences maintains focus on the main goals of both the protagonists and antagonist straight through to the end.
However, this does not mean that there aren’t issues with the book. Despite the focus, there were several parts that hit a lull, and had me barely wanting to turn the page. Emery knew where he was going, but he at times goes through the doldrums to get there. I think this issue could have been fixed with some simple abbreviation at these parts, getting the reader back to the more interesting parts of the book sooner. That said, once the reader climbs out of these lulls the book is enjoyable until that next the next comes along, but it pales a little in comparison to the page turner that was the second book.
I enjoyed this book, but found that over the course of the series, I simply don’t care too much for the characters, and that in combination with the sometimes lacking pace, leaves this book with a lower score than it could have achieved otherwise. Overall, I’d say the Netheril trilogy is skippable. If you’re interested in the Fall of the Netheril, I’d actually recommend the AD&D Sourcebook Netheril: Empire of Magic and the tie-in adventure module How the Mighty Are Fallen. These two books tell the tales of the Netherese better than Emery did in his second book, albeit in less of a story and more historical or informational way than a novel.
Now I’d like to praise this book for having, possibly, the most focused story of the trilogy. Where the first book was awkwardly lurching from event to event, with the reader having little idea of where the story was going, and the second being a endlessly forward-driving romp towards the inevitable end of the story (with several awkward asides), Mortal Consequences maintains focus on the main goals of both the protagonists and antagonist straight through to the end.
However, this does not mean that there aren’t issues with the book. Despite the focus, there were several parts that hit a lull, and had me barely wanting to turn the page. Emery knew where he was going, but he at times goes through the doldrums to get there. I think this issue could have been fixed with some simple abbreviation at these parts, getting the reader back to the more interesting parts of the book sooner. That said, once the reader climbs out of these lulls the book is enjoyable until that next the next comes along, but it pales a little in comparison to the page turner that was the second book.
I enjoyed this book, but found that over the course of the series, I simply don’t care too much for the characters, and that in combination with the sometimes lacking pace, leaves this book with a lower score than it could have achieved otherwise. Overall, I’d say the Netheril trilogy is skippable. If you’re interested in the Fall of the Netheril, I’d actually recommend the AD&D Sourcebook Netheril: Empire of Magic and the tie-in adventure module How the Mighty Are Fallen. These two books tell the tales of the Netherese better than Emery did in his second book, albeit in less of a story and more historical or informational way than a novel.
February 23, 2019
I think this book caught me at the wrong time. By the time I was done with this one I was rooting for the bad girl. Why did she hate so much that she did not use magic to make herself beautiful. Could she not simply teleport away if she had all the magic of the Nine Hells and escaped from there? I think the author should have stopped after the 2nd book while he was ahead. The whole storyline of Knucklebones being the reincarnated dead girlfriend elf, Greenwhatever and the barbarian humans, elves, and dwarves getting along made me want to vomit dayglow. If you like happy endings, this book is definitely for you. Personally, I wanted all three races lying dead in the barren wasteland that the world became after Netheril fell. Of course it fell since: 1). We were shown this in the prior novel, 2) the protagonist and his buddies never came back and made any changes to avoid disaster (although Candelmas did cure the land but I guess it didn’t last long or was only a small area of effect since the cure was forgotten in the wonderful plot) and 3) while the fall of Netheril and the landless barbarians is a story for another time, who gives a shit. I dragged myself through the last 80 pages of this book, stuck in he burning tar like Sunbright I suppose.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 21, 2020
A good story. Memorable. Especially if you wanted some backstory about the Netherese. Why is it in some of these books the female characters are described as having black hair and then a chapter or so later they are described as having blonde or white hair? I have read this a lot in the Forgotten Realms books. Everyone knows black colored hair is far more sexy than the other colors! I know it's just a method for getting the reader attached or attracted to the characters!
June 11, 2024
Great final too a good trilogy
An evil wizardress returns for vengeance upon what she thought a plaything - a barbarian, who has discovered within himself the powers of a shaman, and has united his people, bringing them long forgotten hope. The book is an excellent mix of magic and battle, making you live with the heroes. I really enjoined reading this one. Besides, the whole trilogy is a must, if you want to exploit the Forgotten Realms.
An evil wizardress returns for vengeance upon what she thought a plaything - a barbarian, who has discovered within himself the powers of a shaman, and has united his people, bringing them long forgotten hope. The book is an excellent mix of magic and battle, making you live with the heroes. I really enjoined reading this one. Besides, the whole trilogy is a must, if you want to exploit the Forgotten Realms.
September 25, 2017
Clayton Emery did a very nice job of wrapping up this three novel series by closing a number of open holes and hinting at other story lines. I enjoyed Mortal Consequences and recommend it to anyone exploring the early Forgotten Realms Verse.
May 18, 2017
Definitely could have been a lot better but I still enjoyed it. An interesting view of the arcane age a rarely explored forgotten realms time and a satisfying ending to the trilogy.
April 13, 2022
Great end to the series which wraps up and ties everything together nicely. It’s been fun exploring the earlier history of the realms.
May 24, 2022
Great ending to the trilogy, I wish more books had Sunbright's continued stories in them.
January 30, 2024
This was the best of the three books. I liked how he tied up the loose ends from the first two books. Still not sure about those tornado creatures that died in book 2.
April 8, 2025
It was a decent book, I don't think it'll be one that I'll reread. I think it was better than the previous ones in the series and the ending was sweet.
July 19, 2022
The third and final entry of author Clayton Emery’s Netheril trilogy opens with protagonists Sunbright Steelshanks and his love interest Knucklebones outrunning a snow lurker, en route to the former’s tribe’s hunting grounds; In the meantime, a creature known as the gulguthhydra is hungry for revenge. The barbarian and thief find the tundra weakened and encounter yak-men, after which they meet the dwarf Drigor. In a city where they take aliases, Sunbright and Knucklebones confer with an elderly woman named Bly, who promises the former that she can find his tribe.
When Sunbright does reunite with his kinsmen, including his mother Monkberry, he finds that he is unwelcome in his clan, and thus fights several of his tribe’s top warriors. Candlemas also finds a solution to the rusty crop blight, and encounters the aforementioned creature that seeks vengeance. An orc named Toch receives some minor attention during the middle of the story, remembering vaguely belonging to the One King’s army. Given the decaying land, Sunbright makes it a point to lead his tribe to greener country, encountering the Cormanthyran Elves of the High Forest, who happen to be the people of his former love Greenwillow.
Battle erupts between the Rengarth Barbarians and elves, although they ultimately call a truce, with the Moon Elves offering their forest refuge, to the reluctance of the nomads, and a final conflict arising with the monster that receives attention throughout the story. The book concludes with a brief epilogue summarizing the fate of the Netherese Empire, and satisfactorily ends the Netheril trilogy, with plenty of fantasy and action, although there is some confusion about the reference of orcs as “ores,” and a plot synopsis of the book’s predecessors as a reminder would have been welcome. Regardless, I definitely enjoyed the trilogy and would gladly read more Forgotten Realms books.
When Sunbright does reunite with his kinsmen, including his mother Monkberry, he finds that he is unwelcome in his clan, and thus fights several of his tribe’s top warriors. Candlemas also finds a solution to the rusty crop blight, and encounters the aforementioned creature that seeks vengeance. An orc named Toch receives some minor attention during the middle of the story, remembering vaguely belonging to the One King’s army. Given the decaying land, Sunbright makes it a point to lead his tribe to greener country, encountering the Cormanthyran Elves of the High Forest, who happen to be the people of his former love Greenwillow.
Battle erupts between the Rengarth Barbarians and elves, although they ultimately call a truce, with the Moon Elves offering their forest refuge, to the reluctance of the nomads, and a final conflict arising with the monster that receives attention throughout the story. The book concludes with a brief epilogue summarizing the fate of the Netherese Empire, and satisfactorily ends the Netheril trilogy, with plenty of fantasy and action, although there is some confusion about the reference of orcs as “ores,” and a plot synopsis of the book’s predecessors as a reminder would have been welcome. Regardless, I definitely enjoyed the trilogy and would gladly read more Forgotten Realms books.
July 30, 2014
As a wrap-up to the Netheril trilogy, Sunbright's story, and aid in fleshing out a little bit of the history of the Neth, "Mortal Consequences" is satisfactory...kind of.
In most other ways, this book was as disappointing as the rest of this trilogy, even though I might call it my favorite. I rather enjoyed Sunbright's return to his people, his leadership, decline, and ultimate redemption, but almost every single subplot betrayed me.
Tortured mage somehow fought her way out of hell as an invincible, near-omnipotent beast that is then finished almost easily (albeit dramatically) by Sunbright? Ugh.
Lady Polaris, the stunning, brilliant jewel of the Neth, quickly and easily defeated after vast displays of power in the first book? No thanks. Her abrupt lack of want for vengeance and transformation into the fat cow she became was one of the stupidest subplots of this whole trilogy.
Candlemas appears extremely briefly (which is too bad, since he is possibly my favorite character, and the most dynamic, in this series) to quickly cure the grain blight and then die easily to Sysquemalyn. With no further thought of either.
Greenwillow and Knucklebones are now suddenly the same person? The dwarves abruptly tromp across vast leagues to join forces with elves and human barbarians? Combats that are decided by whoever got up on the right side of the bed that morning? I'm sorry, this is a little too much for me. In fact, while I felt halfways satisfied when finishing the book, I'm starting to re-opine as I write. I really wish there was more about the history of the Neth in this trilogy, and less arbitrary, dramatic plot that was pulled out of the author's rear end in order to finish a book on time.
In most other ways, this book was as disappointing as the rest of this trilogy, even though I might call it my favorite. I rather enjoyed Sunbright's return to his people, his leadership, decline, and ultimate redemption, but almost every single subplot betrayed me.
Tortured mage somehow fought her way out of hell as an invincible, near-omnipotent beast that is then finished almost easily (albeit dramatically) by Sunbright? Ugh.
Lady Polaris, the stunning, brilliant jewel of the Neth, quickly and easily defeated after vast displays of power in the first book? No thanks. Her abrupt lack of want for vengeance and transformation into the fat cow she became was one of the stupidest subplots of this whole trilogy.
Candlemas appears extremely briefly (which is too bad, since he is possibly my favorite character, and the most dynamic, in this series) to quickly cure the grain blight and then die easily to Sysquemalyn. With no further thought of either.
Greenwillow and Knucklebones are now suddenly the same person? The dwarves abruptly tromp across vast leagues to join forces with elves and human barbarians? Combats that are decided by whoever got up on the right side of the bed that morning? I'm sorry, this is a little too much for me. In fact, while I felt halfways satisfied when finishing the book, I'm starting to re-opine as I write. I really wish there was more about the history of the Neth in this trilogy, and less arbitrary, dramatic plot that was pulled out of the author's rear end in order to finish a book on time.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 8, 2017
Nothing fantastic to say about this book. Typical Realms. We join Sunbright and Knuckle one last time as they travel north to Sunbright's home in the Tundra. They find his tribe dilapitated, and work together in reviving the people and finding a new home.
Candlemas is hard at work trying to solve the grain blight of the last two books, and succeeds in the end. Unbeknownst to any of them until it is too late, the sorceress who plagued them with her home made hell in the first place and was subsequently skinned alive and tossed back into it as punishment, has returned as a twisted, insane, rock skinned monster.
The creature spends much of the book hunting Candlemas and Sunbright down to destroy them, and suceeds in killing Candlemas. Of course when it comes face to face with Sunbright, he of course overcomes all odds and defeats the monster once and for all, marrying Knuckle and settling down to have many children with her.
The only problem here is that the book ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. At the end it is suggested that Sunbright's nomadic tribe evolves into something more than what they were, into something more along the lines of the Mongolian horsemen. But there is no such thing found within the cannon of the Realms to date, and it turns out that the ending was a set up for another series that the author hoped to write but never did. So its a little bit disspointing, they pique your interest only to leave you flat.
But it was a very entertaining and interesting series to read. We see the fall of the Netherese, the death of a goddess, and all in all an intimate account of an event that shaped the Realms into what it is today.
Candlemas is hard at work trying to solve the grain blight of the last two books, and succeeds in the end. Unbeknownst to any of them until it is too late, the sorceress who plagued them with her home made hell in the first place and was subsequently skinned alive and tossed back into it as punishment, has returned as a twisted, insane, rock skinned monster.
The creature spends much of the book hunting Candlemas and Sunbright down to destroy them, and suceeds in killing Candlemas. Of course when it comes face to face with Sunbright, he of course overcomes all odds and defeats the monster once and for all, marrying Knuckle and settling down to have many children with her.
The only problem here is that the book ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. At the end it is suggested that Sunbright's nomadic tribe evolves into something more than what they were, into something more along the lines of the Mongolian horsemen. But there is no such thing found within the cannon of the Realms to date, and it turns out that the ending was a set up for another series that the author hoped to write but never did. So its a little bit disspointing, they pique your interest only to leave you flat.
But it was a very entertaining and interesting series to read. We see the fall of the Netherese, the death of a goddess, and all in all an intimate account of an event that shaped the Realms into what it is today.
September 1, 2011
Finally! The last of the Netheril trilogy is in my hands: after a few years have passed since I read the first two Netheril books, this book reminded me nicely aboout them. Sure, it's full of cheap thrills and lousy writing, but it's very entertaining and never weak in plot.
January 20, 2011
Untied loose ends, and in many ways disappointing story devolution. Also, quite depressing, lacking its normal dose of humor. But, a nice read. The triangle idea is nice too.
January 14, 2016
Great and satisfying end to an awesome series. I only wish we could get more of Sunbright, but at least he had a happy ending :-)
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September 7, 2016Ultimately wraps up this past storyline that somehow includes the Phaerimm into the storyline. But with no interaction. And nothing else of any use.
July 9, 2021
Classic sword and sorcery! Loved it!
February 26, 2015
Dull story. Uninteresting characters.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews