The Broken Sphere

Spelljammer: The Cloakmaster Cycle #5

by Nigel Findley

The Cloakmaster Cycle follows Teldin Moore's search for answers to questions revolving around the mysterious cloak he's been bequeathed. In The Broken Sphere, Teldin's magic amulet allows him to "see" through the eyes of the great ship Spelljammer, giving him clues to its location. Chapter illustrations.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Dungeons and Dragons, Science Fiction, Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance

316 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 1, 1993

About the author

Nigel D Findley (July 22, 1959 – February 19, 1995[1]) was a game designer, editor, and an author of science fiction and fantasy novels and role-playing games (RPGs). Findley died suddenly on February 19, 1995, at his home in Vancouver, British Columbia. He suffered a heart attack at the age of 35.

Reviews

[Kevin Zuech · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another book I should have written the review right after reading the book but didn't. I only started this series because one of the books they went to Forgotten Realms. The first few books were so-so but they have grown on me. This was no different. I really don't remember much other than Teldin gets to the Broken Sphere, I kind of remember them meeting the weird looking "ancients" and him looking through the eyes of the Ultimate Helm. Not sure these are spoilers since I really don't remember much about the few things I wrote about. Overall I would read this book along with the rest and at some point I'll read the final book.

[Adam Duclos · Rating 2 out of 5]

Early thoughts: I've just started the book, and the author has already tossed out all the side characters from previous books. In the last book, as in previous books, the last author threw the next author a bone... Teldin had a ship and a couple of friends still alive at the end of the book... they leave off with Teldin getting together with his new navigator friend and getting down to business looking at star charts. However, this book starts out with Teldin alone on a crappy fourth rate ship, drunk every night, having left everyone behind again. What? The? Hell? The new author decided he liked his characters alcoholic and shell shocked I guess. And how the hell is he sailing alone? He doesn't actually know anything about sailing a ship! He never learned, he just tagged along on ships without doing any work! Also, how is he reading all of the star charts (crystal sphere flow charts)? He can barely read, and he doesn't know any math! And he didn't stop to learn either, we're clear on the fact that he talked with the navigator Kir, said screw you to everyone, bought a crappy ship with elven funds and left. And you know, why would he buy a crappy converted river boat to fly the space lanes in? He could have bought a human 'mosquito' ship or an elven 'flitter'... at least a nice looking ship would have lent an air of competency to any pirates attacking him in his drunken slumber. Or, you know, any of those many people who have touched the cloak and can use magic to scry on him and find his location no matter where he is in the universe... So, that's my thoughts on the first few pages...

Okay, so a couple more chapters in we find that he's not illiterate anymore, he's merely 'bad at reading' (um, all those times you failed at reading books because you didn't know what most of the words meant, and were too afraid to ask for help? Yeah...). Anyway, now he gained the 'super reading' ability from his cloak now, and he can read books by osmosis, just looking at a page for a second gives him all the knowledge from it without actually reading the words. I guess I don't blame the author for pulling something like this if writing about an illiterate character is as annoying a role playing one.

I'm a few more chapters in now. Teldin is still suspicious of everyone, but now he thinks he's becoming paranoid. He met a guy, and already trusts him to be his first mate, buy his ship for him and crew it himself. That seems a bit fishy.

Just before leaving, we found that a sketchy monster of some sort is after Telden, and the author describes it only enough to know that it is powerful and monstrous. Also, it turns out that Telden hired two last crew, his old friend almost girlfriend Julia from book 2 and some sketchy guy. Turns out the sketchy guy was a beholder... I'm going to guess that the monster after Telden is also a beholder. Aside from the neogi from the first book, he's made a friend of at least one representative of every opponent monstrous race he's faced... so far elves, mind flayers, bionoids... hmm, not scro (space orcs) though (then again, they were hired by the neogi at first)... We'll see...

Well, it turns out that around the halfway point we discover that everything he's done so far in the book has been a wild goose chase. I guess the story really starts here... how annoying. You see, Teldin got a bunch of info from the library and decided where to go next, fought some pirates, landed on a forbidden planet, then left having found nothing helpful. Well, I guess he could tell people why it isn't worth going to the forbidden planet 'Nex' when he gets back to civilization, but thats about it. The aliens there do tell him that the 'broken sphere' he's looking for is in a part of space that looks like a string of pearls, but we've never been told why it's so important to get to said broken sphere when they know that the Spelljammer they're chasing isn't there. Telden realizes it was there, weeks ago, though, because he used his magic pendant to see where it was weeks ago. After leaving, Teldin just uses his magic pendant to see through the Spelljammer's eyes again, and they chase after where it is now. Why would they bother? They know it keeps moving super fast, and it'll take them two months to get there. So yeah, the first half of the book was worthless, and it seems likely to me that the author wasted half his story getting rid of plot elements he didn't like from the first 4 books...

Well, I've finished reading the book, and man did this guy burn his bridges! First of all, Teldin had managed to restart a relationship with Julia from book 2, only to accidently kill her himself. Then he managed to figure out how to find the 'broken sphere', and the Spelljammer was indeed there when he arrived. Then he had the spelljammer attack the ship right as the book ended! Take that author of book 6!

Actually, I totally just read the first few chapters of book 6, and that author was all 'Nuh uh!' and rewrote the whole scene as well as the leadup to that scene. Then when the Spelljammer swooped in towards them, they crashed on one of its collossal wings, killing everyone on his ship (the survivors from the first and second battles with pirates as well as everyone they'd just hired) except for his first mate and a new wizard lady. Now the action is with all the people and monsters living in the city on the Speljammer's back...

Note: This is also the last time we hear about the Juna, an ancient race with trilateral bodies and three fingered hands that was supposed to have created the Spelljammer half a million years ago or more. The backward, devolved race on the forbidden planet is all that's left of them, and it turns out, per book 6, that they had nothing to do with it at all!

Verdict? I don't like how this author tried to change the character by turning him into a paranoid drunk. It looks like the last book will forget all about that though...

[R R Evans · Rating 2 out of 5]

For a long time I’ve wanted to read this series and I’m finally doing it now.

While I fully intend to read the next book having come this far, and it being the last one. I have become really bored with the endless death toll and sudden leaps In the main characters understanding or lack there of.

Several interesting side characters are just killed off and it’s been an endless cycle. Even if a character has survived a book there very quickly written out.

The biggest highlight in this book is a few pages long when a proper alien race and the issues of understanding are touched on and then just pushed to one side and forgotten. Which was disappointing.

[Dustin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The continuing adventure of Teldin Moore. This book continues his journey to find the Spelljammer. It was another good book with new characters and some returning characters. It's another book that keeps you guessing what's going one till the end.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full review here:

https://jamesgenrebooks.blogspot.com/...

It's just, if it weren't for the appearance of the legendary ship at the end, this book would have been filler.

[Duane Olds · Rating 5 out of 5]

I seriously feel bad for Telidin, poor dude just can't catch a break.

[Cayce · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s a D&D book, written quickly and by an amateur

[Dustin · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's been a few years since I've read this one, but I remember really enjoying it. I liked how it finally moved past the known spheres and really had this sense of adventure and awe that I kind of feel that the other books lack.
This was a great end to a fun series. Some people say that there was a sixth book in the series. Those people are dead to me.

[Ronald Wilcox · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although the series is somewhat formulaic, this one does bring the overall story forward well with three interesting settings explored.

[Scott Simmons · Rating 3 out of 5]

First five novels for this series are in my bookshelf. Must have liked them because I still have them .will eventually reread.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Teldin just doesn't get a break. Everything falls apart around him but he finally accomplishes his goal in the end. I just don't like how fragile spelljammer ships are.