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Forgotten Realms: Twilight Giants #3
The Titan of Twilight
In the epic conclusion of the Twilight Giants trilogy, the secret of Twilight is revealed, and it is up to firbolg scout Tavis Burdun, runemaster giant-kin Basil, and Avner, the orphan thief, to help Princess Brianna of Hartwick escape. Original. 75,000 first printing.
313 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 26, 1995
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444 people want to read
About the author
Troy Denning
185 books662 followersAlso known as Richard Awlinson.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy_Den...
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy_Den...
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
October 6, 2022
Bad. It’s just bad. Even with low expectations set by the prior two books in this trilogy, wowza; a fully useless end to a useless series.
It was an ill-conceived series overall. Every story element is done badly, from the characters' jobs to the legendary weapon to the fantasy races. Something focused on giants in the Dungeons & Dragons realm is potentially interesting, but this series dialled it way down and chose to focus on their smaller kin: Firbolgs and Verbeegs in particular are straight-up D-listers from the Monster Manual. There were a few giants, merely obstacles and devoid of personality, and it seems like the humans in this land have developed the absolute worst strategies to fight them. You take a troupe of trained soldiers and have them charge at a giant. Two thirds of them get smashed, slashed, or crushed in the initial attack, so that a few can get in close enough to stab the giant in the dick, then if you’re one of the lucky survivors who manages to hamstring the behemoth maybe you won’t get crushed by his falling body, but don’t count on it.
And that cover:
It's Dom Deluise doing King Friday cosplay, re-enacting a scene from The Friendly Giant but on cocaine.
Technically the book’s an improvement over some of the self-published dreck I have unwisely exposed myself to, since it went through a proper editing process, but there’s nothing in the writing to grab onto. It’s adjective-laden purple prose all the way through. There’s nothing about any of the characters or the setting worth caring a damn for, and so many chapters and sections focused on mundane struggles pad the page count. I don’t know or care what impact the success of failure of the main characters’ mission may have had on the world.
In short: a giant flub.
It was an ill-conceived series overall. Every story element is done badly, from the characters' jobs to the legendary weapon to the fantasy races. Something focused on giants in the Dungeons & Dragons realm is potentially interesting, but this series dialled it way down and chose to focus on their smaller kin: Firbolgs and Verbeegs in particular are straight-up D-listers from the Monster Manual. There were a few giants, merely obstacles and devoid of personality, and it seems like the humans in this land have developed the absolute worst strategies to fight them. You take a troupe of trained soldiers and have them charge at a giant. Two thirds of them get smashed, slashed, or crushed in the initial attack, so that a few can get in close enough to stab the giant in the dick, then if you’re one of the lucky survivors who manages to hamstring the behemoth maybe you won’t get crushed by his falling body, but don’t count on it.
And that cover:
It's Dom Deluise doing King Friday cosplay, re-enacting a scene from The Friendly Giant but on cocaine.
Technically the book’s an improvement over some of the self-published dreck I have unwisely exposed myself to, since it went through a proper editing process, but there’s nothing in the writing to grab onto. It’s adjective-laden purple prose all the way through. There’s nothing about any of the characters or the setting worth caring a damn for, and so many chapters and sections focused on mundane struggles pad the page count. I don’t know or care what impact the success of failure of the main characters’ mission may have had on the world.
In short: a giant flub.
April 22, 2016
I know what you're asking - is there a pompous earl in this book? Yes. Do we meet a few new varieties of giants? Yes. Is there a somewhat contrived conflict between Brianna and Tavis? Yes. Do a lot of characters die? My goodness, YES.
Before I address the book itself, can I mention how ridiculous the cover art is? A princess stands in a window far too large for the rest of the structure and gasps as King Henry VIII attacks. This is the kind of cover you wouldn't want any of your friends to see. An embarrassment.
Now, the actual book... while the by-now-familiar Twilight Giants tropes are all here, Denning tries a few different things. Some passages are narrated in the first person by the villain, Lanaxis (the titular twilight titan), which is fun and interesting. While there is less action overall, the battle sequences are huge and wonderfully written (the storm giant sequence is especially memorable). In their final appearances, I finally felt like I was starting to get to know Brianna, Tavis, Avner, and the rest.
The downside is the plot, which is downright weird. This book takes place three YEARS after the previous one, and Brianna has been pregnant the ENTIRE TIME. When she finally has her baby, its face changes from handsome to ugly and it growls constantly. Basil is suddenly "ancient" although he was never described that way before. There's also suddenly a magical weapon that everyone wants AND an alliance of giant-kin who are out to get our heroes. The amount of material here is almost enough for a trilogy in its own right, not the last entry of one.
The ending is also a slight disappointment. After spending so much time with these characters, the final chapters seem extremely rushed and provide an ambiguous (at best) wrap-up to the whole saga. Does the war with the giants end? Do Tavis and Brianna live happily ever after? We don't really find out. It's a mediocre ending to a solid, entertaining fantasy series.
Before I address the book itself, can I mention how ridiculous the cover art is? A princess stands in a window far too large for the rest of the structure and gasps as King Henry VIII attacks. This is the kind of cover you wouldn't want any of your friends to see. An embarrassment.
Now, the actual book... while the by-now-familiar Twilight Giants tropes are all here, Denning tries a few different things. Some passages are narrated in the first person by the villain, Lanaxis (the titular twilight titan), which is fun and interesting. While there is less action overall, the battle sequences are huge and wonderfully written (the storm giant sequence is especially memorable). In their final appearances, I finally felt like I was starting to get to know Brianna, Tavis, Avner, and the rest.
The downside is the plot, which is downright weird. This book takes place three YEARS after the previous one, and Brianna has been pregnant the ENTIRE TIME. When she finally has her baby, its face changes from handsome to ugly and it growls constantly. Basil is suddenly "ancient" although he was never described that way before. There's also suddenly a magical weapon that everyone wants AND an alliance of giant-kin who are out to get our heroes. The amount of material here is almost enough for a trilogy in its own right, not the last entry of one.
The ending is also a slight disappointment. After spending so much time with these characters, the final chapters seem extremely rushed and provide an ambiguous (at best) wrap-up to the whole saga. Does the war with the giants end? Do Tavis and Brianna live happily ever after? We don't really find out. It's a mediocre ending to a solid, entertaining fantasy series.
July 3, 2010
Well, I got through the series...
This one was alright. Unfortunatly, the first book of this series was the best one. It's always sad when that happens.
The things that I liked about this book was the little glipses into a past when giants were the rulers of Toril. I really read these books just to get a better idea of what the world that I like to play D&D in is like. So, whenever there is history, I eat it up.
The bad part is that it was such a small glimpse. What made the first book good was that Denning was so focused on the ogres. I felt like I learnd more about the ogre tribes and the stuff that they could do than I did about any of the other giants featured in the series. And for me, ogres are the least intriguing when there are Stone Giants, Fire Giants, Frost Giants, and Storm Giants to pick from (even the dumb hill giants got more time than the others). However, we did get to learn quite a bit about the "giant-kin" races, so I guess that was cool.
I also lost interest as the main character kept getting sooooo beat up and then brought back from the brink of death. It just seemed like this guy (and I'm talking about through the whole series) was always getting his ass kicked.
Next, the rocky relationship between the queen and her husband got pretty old. Call me old fashioned, but I prefer my heros to have a united front, not to be worried about whether or not their husband is going to kill their son. Especially when both characters are supossed to be good guys. I mean, these were not George R.R. Martin books. These aren't anti-heros. So, for me, they should just keep it simple. Come up with some new FANTASY stuff, don't try to break ground in the cheap D&D book world by moving into liturature themes...that's why I read Kafka. I read Forgotten Realms books because I want escape to a place that is simple.
This one was alright. Unfortunatly, the first book of this series was the best one. It's always sad when that happens.
The things that I liked about this book was the little glipses into a past when giants were the rulers of Toril. I really read these books just to get a better idea of what the world that I like to play D&D in is like. So, whenever there is history, I eat it up.
The bad part is that it was such a small glimpse. What made the first book good was that Denning was so focused on the ogres. I felt like I learnd more about the ogre tribes and the stuff that they could do than I did about any of the other giants featured in the series. And for me, ogres are the least intriguing when there are Stone Giants, Fire Giants, Frost Giants, and Storm Giants to pick from (even the dumb hill giants got more time than the others). However, we did get to learn quite a bit about the "giant-kin" races, so I guess that was cool.
I also lost interest as the main character kept getting sooooo beat up and then brought back from the brink of death. It just seemed like this guy (and I'm talking about through the whole series) was always getting his ass kicked.
Next, the rocky relationship between the queen and her husband got pretty old. Call me old fashioned, but I prefer my heros to have a united front, not to be worried about whether or not their husband is going to kill their son. Especially when both characters are supossed to be good guys. I mean, these were not George R.R. Martin books. These aren't anti-heros. So, for me, they should just keep it simple. Come up with some new FANTASY stuff, don't try to break ground in the cheap D&D book world by moving into liturature themes...that's why I read Kafka. I read Forgotten Realms books because I want escape to a place that is simple.
March 18, 2022
I didn't enjoy this, the underwhelming end to a weak trilogy. Never warmed to the characters, it didn't feel connected to the wider Realms setting, and the final villain just didn't work for me.
May 10, 2025
I'd read this primarily as research (with my obsession with trying to make my FR adventures roughly canon) for a planned finale in Hartsvale and involving Lanaxis.
certainly it was useful from a lore perspective (although not much more than FOR7 Giantcraft) and fledged out Lanaxis the Twilight Titan and Skycleaver well enough. Yet a book is only as good as it's characters and they didn't quite work for me. The key protagonists Travis and Brianna have the most dysfunctional unrealistic marriage and their discord continues literally to the last chapter. It wears you down as you read it! The plot is bizarre, not least with the weird child born from some tasteless drug non-consensual sex scene from the prior book. This blasphemous baby is the target of giantkin seeking to kill it lest it become a prophesied leader of the giants.
The prose is clunky, the dialogue daft, and the plot thin. The action sequences are okay enough, and the magic well written. The hero is a real beat stick. How he gets to finale I'll never know. The life-draining giant axe was a good idea for the last third but felt like a McGuffin added in.
Anyhow, if you read it for lore like me fair enough. But if you wanted a good Forgotten Realms book then stick to Cunningham, Salvatore, and Erin Evans, and I suppose some Greenwood. Skip this.
certainly it was useful from a lore perspective (although not much more than FOR7 Giantcraft) and fledged out Lanaxis the Twilight Titan and Skycleaver well enough. Yet a book is only as good as it's characters and they didn't quite work for me. The key protagonists Travis and Brianna have the most dysfunctional unrealistic marriage and their discord continues literally to the last chapter. It wears you down as you read it! The plot is bizarre, not least with the weird child born from some tasteless drug non-consensual sex scene from the prior book. This blasphemous baby is the target of giantkin seeking to kill it lest it become a prophesied leader of the giants.
The prose is clunky, the dialogue daft, and the plot thin. The action sequences are okay enough, and the magic well written. The hero is a real beat stick. How he gets to finale I'll never know. The life-draining giant axe was a good idea for the last third but felt like a McGuffin added in.
Anyhow, if you read it for lore like me fair enough. But if you wanted a good Forgotten Realms book then stick to Cunningham, Salvatore, and Erin Evans, and I suppose some Greenwood. Skip this.
June 13, 2020
Fairly satisfying conclusion to the trilogy.
July 9, 2021
A weak ending to a good series. Very disappointing
November 16, 2015
I am glad to have finally concluded The Twilight Giants Trilogy by Troy Denning. I was nice to see that Tavis was able to marry Brianna, even though he is not royalty.
Troy Denning changes his writing style a bit for this story by having the reader see what is going on in the mind of Lanaxis. Personally, I could have done without all of those chapters as I found them hard to follow and, therefore, a little boring.
As for the action, again, this was also a change. I found it to be somewhat lacking and I was disappointed by this. The entire story revolves around Tavis chasing down Brianna and preparing to battle Lanaxis. There just wasn't a lot of combat in this story, like there was in The Giant Among Us.
Overall, I think this story was good, but I think The Titan of Twilight could have been a lot better. Still, if you are looking for a good conclusion to The Twilight Giants Trilogy, then this book is a must read. I hope that Troy Denning does write more about Tavis Burdun and his adventures as I really like a lot of the characters that he has created.
I rated this book a 7 out of 10.
Troy Denning changes his writing style a bit for this story by having the reader see what is going on in the mind of Lanaxis. Personally, I could have done without all of those chapters as I found them hard to follow and, therefore, a little boring.
As for the action, again, this was also a change. I found it to be somewhat lacking and I was disappointed by this. The entire story revolves around Tavis chasing down Brianna and preparing to battle Lanaxis. There just wasn't a lot of combat in this story, like there was in The Giant Among Us.
Overall, I think this story was good, but I think The Titan of Twilight could have been a lot better. Still, if you are looking for a good conclusion to The Twilight Giants Trilogy, then this book is a must read. I hope that Troy Denning does write more about Tavis Burdun and his adventures as I really like a lot of the characters that he has created.
I rated this book a 7 out of 10.
July 6, 2007
I picked this book at random from a local bookstore so that I would have something to read while I played for the university commencements. In the past I have been very lucky with choosing books at random, but not so much in this case. While the book (and the books that followed) were not terrible, I didn't feel at all involved in what was happening. I didn't care about what happened to the characters, and I only mildly cared about the story as a whole.
July 20, 2016
This series had a lot of potential going in.
I was drawn to it. Due to the fact it was about giants, not the usual elves, dwarves and such.
Not sure what the authors goals may have been. Simply put by the end.
The finish or wrap up. Was very weak.
Things not resolved or finished that well.
Seemed left open or hoping for a sequel. Not a satisfying finish. After reading through three books getting there.
If you like giants, fine. Other than that.
You may want to avoid this series.
I was drawn to it. Due to the fact it was about giants, not the usual elves, dwarves and such.
Not sure what the authors goals may have been. Simply put by the end.
The finish or wrap up. Was very weak.
Things not resolved or finished that well.
Seemed left open or hoping for a sequel. Not a satisfying finish. After reading through three books getting there.
If you like giants, fine. Other than that.
You may want to avoid this series.
December 20, 2008
Very average fantasy series. Although the storyline was compelling, the characters were shallow and the writing was simplistic. The novels cover an interesting gamut of giants and giant-kin, their cultures and differences, but overall, these books are nothing special.
For these reasons, and because I enjoy the fantasy genre, I give the books in this series 2 stars.
For these reasons, and because I enjoy the fantasy genre, I give the books in this series 2 stars.
January 17, 2017
There were many things I did not like or would have done differently if it had been my story but that did not stop it from being a great ending to the trilogy. I greatly recommend anyone interested in fantasy to read this book as well as the other two. Bravo.
sold
February 23, 2012Sold to Lewis White on eBay on 7-Jun-11:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI....
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI....
August 25, 2013
best of the three books in the trilogy.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews