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The Cities #4
The City of Splendors: A Waterdeep Novel
In the streets of Waterdeep, conspiracies run like water through the gutters, bubbling beneath the seeming calm of the city's life. As a band of young, foppish lords discovers there is a dark side to the city they all love, a sinister mage and his son seek to create perverted creatures to further their twisted ends.
544 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
32 people are currently reading
672 people want to read
About the author
Ed Greenwood
364 books875 followersEd Greenwood is the creator of the Forgotten Realms fantasy world, which became the setting for his home D&D game in 1975. Play still continues in this long-running campaign, and Ed also keeps busy producing Realmslore for various TSR publications.
Ed has published over two hundred articles in Dragon magazine and Polyhedron newszine, is a lifetime charter member of the Role Playing Game Associaton (RPGA) network, has written over thirty books and modules for TSR, and been Gen Con Game Fair guest of honor several times.
In addition to all these activities, Ed works as a library clerk and has edited over a dozen small press magazines.
Invented the character Elminster from the popular Forgotten Realms RPG series. Currently resides in an old farmhouse in the countryside of Ontario, Canada.
Ed has published over two hundred articles in Dragon magazine and Polyhedron newszine, is a lifetime charter member of the Role Playing Game Associaton (RPGA) network, has written over thirty books and modules for TSR, and been Gen Con Game Fair guest of honor several times.
In addition to all these activities, Ed works as a library clerk and has edited over a dozen small press magazines.
Invented the character Elminster from the popular Forgotten Realms RPG series. Currently resides in an old farmhouse in the countryside of Ontario, Canada.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
April 1, 2022
It's your bog-standard D20 adventure: mad scientist worshipping elder gods, class warfare, graveyard brawl, interrupted orgy, witch with an over-sized skull for a front door, inappropriate use of tentacles (NOT LIKE THAT), heroic fiber arts, bad elves, cursed jewelry, geriatric homicidal maniacs, and a sewer-based animal-harming cult.
That said, I did appreciate the sympathetic portrayal of sex workers in the Waterdeep economy.
Plus there's a fantastic moment where
Overall though, this is really a book about sons and fathers (the angst of being the younger son in a noble household; the angst of never measuring up to the standards set by your elder god-worshipping mad scientist father; being a capable not-son with an over-protective father; and theangst stark raving horror of seeing your father arrive at an orgy).
...Meh.
It should have been more compelling for the amount of action that took place, and there are multiple places where I got plain old lost because the plot gathered its skirts and took a neat hop sideways.
Content notes:
That said, I did appreciate the sympathetic portrayal of sex workers in the Waterdeep economy.
Plus there's a fantastic moment where
Overall though, this is really a book about sons and fathers (the angst of being the younger son in a noble household; the angst of never measuring up to the standards set by your elder god-worshipping mad scientist father; being a capable not-son with an over-protective father; and the
...Meh.
It should have been more compelling for the amount of action that took place, and there are multiple places where I got plain old lost because the plot gathered its skirts and took a neat hop sideways.
Content notes:
October 5, 2011
I enjoyed this book. It was a fun adventure with lots of twists and turns. The main characters were honorable yet ready to find some trouble at every turn. Ed Greenwood is one of my favorite authors but he has a strong tendency to get too in-depth about magic (what it looks like, how it acts) and people (he loves to introduce you to a score of complicated-named characters and then somehow tie their stories together at the end). What was so refreshing with this books was the inclusion of Elaine Cunningham. I so enjoy her sense of story and her easy writing style. You can see her hand all over this text smoothing out the complexities and wrinkles. What a dynamic combination! It makes for a very entertain read.
April 16, 2014
It's hard to be sure how I feel about this book. It was an okay fantasy that takes place in a city I love, had great feats of magic, and villains I'd never experienced before. But it also took awhile to get anywhere and a lot of the characters weren't memorable.
June 13, 2025
I read somehwhere that this is a bog standard fantasy novel, but I think that gives bog standard fantasy a bad name. This is the kind of book The Color of Magic is satirizing, only The Color of Magic came out in 1983 and this book 20 years later.
All the male characters are interchangeable. I had to make my self a key with thei rnames, their identifying colors, and some major plot points that happened to them. One of them is sarcastic, so that was unique.
All the female characters are either in black leather and hyper-competent in battle, or need to be saved multiple times (but eventually getting stabby-stabby and "steely-eyed"). Also rape is used as a plot device, so that's great.
It's a bad DnD book. I don't even think all the magic in the book can be accomplished with DnD magic (I'm not an expert at DnD, though--correct me if I'm wrong).
It has the cringiest "love scene" in any fantasy novel I've ever read. These two people who have barely ever spoken pledge to get married while surrounded by blood-thirsty ghosts. Uh, ok. I couldn't believe what I was reading. It didn't fit the rest of the novel.
The final battle is so poorly written you can just skip over it. "Then another Beastman ran at them, with tentacles and horns and stuff! And they stabbed him! Then ANOTHER Beastman ran at them, with scales and fur and stuff! And they stabbed HIM! There was blood everywhere!" For an entire chapter.
I read it because I heard good things about the authors and I'm in a campaign in Waterdeep so I wanted to learn more about the setting and the authors. I regret my choice. I got through two-thirds of it on two long plane rides. I'm trying to explain why I bothered to finish the book.
All the male characters are interchangeable. I had to make my self a key with thei rnames, their identifying colors, and some major plot points that happened to them. One of them is sarcastic, so that was unique.
All the female characters are either in black leather and hyper-competent in battle, or need to be saved multiple times (but eventually getting stabby-stabby and "steely-eyed"). Also rape is used as a plot device, so that's great.
It's a bad DnD book. I don't even think all the magic in the book can be accomplished with DnD magic (I'm not an expert at DnD, though--correct me if I'm wrong).
It has the cringiest "love scene" in any fantasy novel I've ever read. These two people who have barely ever spoken pledge to get married while surrounded by blood-thirsty ghosts. Uh, ok. I couldn't believe what I was reading. It didn't fit the rest of the novel.
The final battle is so poorly written you can just skip over it. "Then another Beastman ran at them, with tentacles and horns and stuff! And they stabbed him! Then ANOTHER Beastman ran at them, with scales and fur and stuff! And they stabbed HIM! There was blood everywhere!" For an entire chapter.
I read it because I heard good things about the authors and I'm in a campaign in Waterdeep so I wanted to learn more about the setting and the authors. I regret my choice. I got through two-thirds of it on two long plane rides. I'm trying to explain why I bothered to finish the book.
April 12, 2023
I’m a huge fan of the Realms! This one has a lot going on and does a good job of fleshing out the city of Waterdeep. That being said, there are lots of characters that just sort of pop in and out and aren’t very relevant… or maybe they are, I don’t really know. It’s hard to keep track of who’s who and what’s going on, like I said… it’s a very busy book. The villains along with their mongrelmen were interesting villains but I wasn’t quite sure how they became that way. In the beginning of the book it seemed the Wizard was helping the city… so what happened? The young nobles were hard to figure out, I still don’t know who was considered a hero and who wasn’t. Then there’s the part where Mirt and the others are under some kind of shield guarding the open lord of Waterdeep and there’s battle going on all around them, yet it seems they didn’t do anything about it. I don’t know 🤷♂️, just some weird unexplained parts that had me scratching my head.
March 14, 2020
I read this book the first time a decade ago and it made such an impression on me that Waterdeep was ever on my mind even when I thought to move on and leave the Forgotten Realms and all of high fantasy behind. Luckily, thankfully, blessedly I found my way back to the lands of elves and dragons, halflings and kobolds. I felt the call to return home to Candlekeep and Waterdeep and so I did.
I came back to join the noble Gemcloaks and the cunning Dyre sisters in an adventure that sparked my imagination even at a time when I thought all childish things must be put to bed. The City of Splendors was just as dazzling a second time. From the Rat Hills to Deadrest, from Dock Ward to North Ward I traveled a city I had forgotten I loved. So welcomed do I feel that I cannot bare to leave, to Blackstaff Tower!
I came back to join the noble Gemcloaks and the cunning Dyre sisters in an adventure that sparked my imagination even at a time when I thought all childish things must be put to bed. The City of Splendors was just as dazzling a second time. From the Rat Hills to Deadrest, from Dock Ward to North Ward I traveled a city I had forgotten I loved. So welcomed do I feel that I cannot bare to leave, to Blackstaff Tower!
July 20, 2013
The story is all over the place, the characters are depressingly superficial and conflict non-existent. A pointless read. After 150 pages, I called it quits. Ed Greenwood should just stop writing books.
August 12, 2025
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, even though it is far from perfect and left me very conflicted. The story is highly entertaining, but it’s never quite clear who the actual main character is. The large number of subplots—though eventually woven together quite skillfully—makes the opening chapters rather confusing. The cast of characters is huge, and I especially struggled to keep the five young noblemen apart, partly due to their exotic Forgotten Realms names (Beldar Roaringhorn, Thaeros Hawkwinter... I've already forgotten the rest. Thankfully, they each wore uniquely colored cloaks, so I could at least distinguish them Ninja turtle style).
That said, there are also some truly memorable characters. I particularly enjoyed reading about Golskyn of Gods and his son Mralder. These leaders of monster cult the Amalgamation, who collect monster body parts to augment themselves and their followers, were fascinating. Unfortunately, they serve mainly as plot drivers, and as my research into Forgotten Realms history revealed, they never appear again in any other book or game product.
The writing style is generally strong. It certainly benefits from being written not only by Ed Greenwood but also by Elaine Cunningham, and you can see her influence in the prose. Moreover, Greenwood and Cunningham bring the city of Waterdeep vividly to life, going beyond what one might expect from a typical sword-and-sorcery novel set in the Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms. The book has intrigue, plenty of action (naturally), romance, class struggle, and—with a little imagination—you could even call it romantasy (though I’m fairly sure the term hadn’t been coined yet).
One last point of criticism is a very personal one: there are strong hints as to who will succeed Open Lord Peiregorn of Waterdeep. But after looking into the Forgotten Realms timeline, I discovered that this character never became Open Lord—and, in fact, never appeared in any other work. Somebody other than the Open Lord controlling one of the Walking Statues? Forgotten about in all the Realms literature... This highlights one of the weaknesses of the shared universe model in the Forgotten Realms, as well as the publishing strategy of Wizards of the Coast at the time (and TSR before them). They flooded the market with novels—this one being a qualitative outlier—that hinted at far more interconnection than actually existed. They created the impression of a tightly knit shared universe, like Marvel Comics, but in reality, most of these stories and series were standalone tales simply set in the same world.
Apologies for the side tangent. Still, I do recommend this book.
That said, there are also some truly memorable characters. I particularly enjoyed reading about Golskyn of Gods and his son Mralder. These leaders of monster cult the Amalgamation, who collect monster body parts to augment themselves and their followers, were fascinating. Unfortunately, they serve mainly as plot drivers, and as my research into Forgotten Realms history revealed, they never appear again in any other book or game product.
The writing style is generally strong. It certainly benefits from being written not only by Ed Greenwood but also by Elaine Cunningham, and you can see her influence in the prose. Moreover, Greenwood and Cunningham bring the city of Waterdeep vividly to life, going beyond what one might expect from a typical sword-and-sorcery novel set in the Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms. The book has intrigue, plenty of action (naturally), romance, class struggle, and—with a little imagination—you could even call it romantasy (though I’m fairly sure the term hadn’t been coined yet).
One last point of criticism is a very personal one: there are strong hints as to who will succeed Open Lord Peiregorn of Waterdeep. But after looking into the Forgotten Realms timeline, I discovered that this character never became Open Lord—and, in fact, never appeared in any other work. Somebody other than the Open Lord controlling one of the Walking Statues? Forgotten about in all the Realms literature... This highlights one of the weaknesses of the shared universe model in the Forgotten Realms, as well as the publishing strategy of Wizards of the Coast at the time (and TSR before them). They flooded the market with novels—this one being a qualitative outlier—that hinted at far more interconnection than actually existed. They created the impression of a tightly knit shared universe, like Marvel Comics, but in reality, most of these stories and series were standalone tales simply set in the same world.
Apologies for the side tangent. Still, I do recommend this book.
January 30, 2019
What I liked a lot about this book is it attempts to tell the story of Waterdeep through both the viewpoint of the common working man and that of a lesser noble. I have always thought that as great and as mysterious the city of Waterdeep is always referenced in many of the other FR novels, we never hear about the guts of Waterdeep. This book envelops it. Yeah, the storylines are not all that engrossing, and at times it is a bit hard to keep track of the relationships, otherwise because the book moves slow or you simply don’t care enough about the five young nobles to follow each ones storyline. However, it is well written and I did enjoy it. Hopefully there were a few more written in FR after this one that explores more of what Waterdeep has to offer in terms of potential terrific storylines. I went and started looking back at all the FR novels out there since I now plan on reading all of them, and since I’m missing roughly half of those novels, I am guessing there is much more out there. Onward!
December 23, 2025
This is a fun book, one of the last good ones released at the tail end of the golden age of FR books. It has all your classic FR adventure tropes. Old faces make an appearance while new heroes emerge. Elaine Cunningham shows why she was one of the premier FR novelists.
There is one reason why I couldn't give it a full five stars. Beldar Roaringhorn is far from a great guy and he still has a lot of room to grow even at the end of the story. But he's friends are just unnecessarily cold towards him. Why would they believe the word of a random maid versus that of their long time friend. Especially later on when the word of said maid was proven to be unreliable. Kind of a small detail, sure, but it just gave me a bad taste on the otherwise likable characters.
There is one reason why I couldn't give it a full five stars. Beldar Roaringhorn is far from a great guy and he still has a lot of room to grow even at the end of the story. But he's friends are just unnecessarily cold towards him. Why would they believe the word of a random maid versus that of their long time friend. Especially later on when the word of said maid was proven to be unreliable. Kind of a small detail, sure, but it just gave me a bad taste on the otherwise likable characters.
December 13, 2020
Oh, what a mix this became! I feel like the book sort of has the best (and the worst) of both authors blended together. What I did love about this book is how it's just filled with so much ideas. I've already used some of them for a campaign I'm doing, and in some time I'll probably use a few others. It really helps to give an interesting mental image of Waterdeep (if you didn't already have one).
December 16, 2021
Buena novela ambientada en los Reinos Olvidados y escrita por Ed Greenwood y Elaine Cuningham, imagino que para darle una empujoncito en lo que a literatura fantástica se refiere. Si no recuerdo mal, esta escritora se pondría después con Danilo Dan y una misteriosa elfa de la luna.
En sí, la novela es entretenida.
En sí, la novela es entretenida.
January 13, 2023
First off why the hell you they kill off Korvaun! (I’ll probably end up spelling all the names wrong) they did the nice dramatic romantic love thing with Naomi and Korvaun and that the death they’re gonna give him. His death deserved more, just felt fast, I don’t know how to describe it. Loved the Dyr sisters.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 7, 2019
Forgotten realms stand alone tale will not dissapoint
This standalone forgotten realms book is engaging. Sword and sorcery, elves etc. Are fully developed into great characters. I loved it.
This standalone forgotten realms book is engaging. Sword and sorcery, elves etc. Are fully developed into great characters. I loved it.
October 16, 2017
I spent to much time second guessing the magic in it going "That's not how it works!", but after bit of a rocky start it was fine.
November 1, 2022
Yeah, I just never finished the book. It was without merit or enjoyment for me.
June 4, 2023
Pretty darn good story. A phenomenal use of language and good twists abound. I can't help to wonder how many old gaming session jokes are within and known to only those who were there
February 26, 2015
Not quite as good as I remembered, but still a strong entry from the creator of the Forgotten Realms and one of the best authors to ever play in that pool.
It's essentially a coming-of-age story in a lot of ways, tracking the evolution of a group of nobles from a band of spoiled younger sons of wealth and privilege to a serious band of heroes looking to do right by their city. There's romance and tragedy and all kinds of fights and threats. There's lot of good Waterdeep lore and you get a great feel for the city, which is great.
One of the reasons the Forgotten Realms has always been so popular is all of the places feel real, like there's real history and evolution behind them. Which of course, there is, since it's one of the major locations of Greenwood's campaign world since the start and he's been writing stories there for decades. Cunningham has always done a great job taking the hints and scraps of things Greenwood has left lying around and built them seamlessly into stories that fit very well into the world while being unique an interesting. She's a great choice to write with Greenwood here.
Good stuff. Too bad Wizards doesn't seem interested in publishing her any longer...
It's essentially a coming-of-age story in a lot of ways, tracking the evolution of a group of nobles from a band of spoiled younger sons of wealth and privilege to a serious band of heroes looking to do right by their city. There's romance and tragedy and all kinds of fights and threats. There's lot of good Waterdeep lore and you get a great feel for the city, which is great.
One of the reasons the Forgotten Realms has always been so popular is all of the places feel real, like there's real history and evolution behind them. Which of course, there is, since it's one of the major locations of Greenwood's campaign world since the start and he's been writing stories there for decades. Cunningham has always done a great job taking the hints and scraps of things Greenwood has left lying around and built them seamlessly into stories that fit very well into the world while being unique an interesting. She's a great choice to write with Greenwood here.
Good stuff. Too bad Wizards doesn't seem interested in publishing her any longer...
June 4, 2014
No me ha gustado este libro, y tras ser el tercero que leo de Ed Greenwood, he llegado a la conclusión que no me gusta este autor. La trama me ha parecido muy pobre, con muchas hojas en las que lo que ocurre es banal. Los personajes, unos nobles jóvenes, son predecibles y totalmente clichés. El único personaje que podría ser atractivo es Kelven, pero lo dejan fuera de combate a las primeras de cambio.
Lo terminé porque había pagado por él, pero no creo que vuelva a gastar tiempo en leer nada suyo.
Lo terminé porque había pagado por él, pero no creo que vuelva a gastar tiempo en leer nada suyo.
May 10, 2015
Typically busy and overcrowded with magic, races and weirdness, it took me a while to get into this one-off (I think) fantasy. D&D lends itself to such problems, and the Forgotten Realms moreso, but once I got past all the names and powers and stuff, there's a fun story. The action is fast and furious, although sometimes arbitrary, and the big fight at the end is a hoot. While the characters come in a little shallow (there are an awful lot of them to cram in), the city itself is center-stage, and reveals itself in al the overwrought, magic-drenched splendor one could hope for.
January 19, 2010
I'm not going to pretend that this book was spectacular or anything, but I liked it. Ed Greenwood has a tendency of falling for classic fantasy cliches (though arguably he invented a lot of them), but it definitely got better by the end. It had some reoccurring characters from other books in the series and expanded my knowledge of Waterdeep.
Not for someone that isn't a Forgotten Realms fan, but a good read for someone who is.
Not for someone that isn't a Forgotten Realms fan, but a good read for someone who is.
February 12, 2018
"Argue not with success."
"...beauty was its own guild and the business of its members was to charm all the world into doing their will"
"Be careful which toes you step on now, lest they be connected to the arse you must kiss on the morrow."
"...some stories were great only if they remained untold."
"...beauty was its own guild and the business of its members was to charm all the world into doing their will"
"Be careful which toes you step on now, lest they be connected to the arse you must kiss on the morrow."
"...some stories were great only if they remained untold."
Want to read
March 17, 2008Hardcover purchased directly from one of the authors, Elaine Cunningham, with a personalized autograph:-) Cunningham & Greenwood are two of my favorite Forgotten Realms authors; I look forward to reading this story.
More to come...
More to come...
March 28, 2011
Love Forgotten Realms, Waterdeep, and Ed Greenwood - this was a fun romp with great characters by a master storyteller!
December 15, 2010
Resumint, és com de costum un llibre sacacuartos, però la ciutat on està ambientada m'encanta i té el seu què.
April 14, 2016
Got bored, didn't finish.
Read
May 12, 2016Eh, got 40 pages into this and it couldn't keep my attention.
March 10, 2025
3 stars [Fantasy]
(W: 3.63, P: 3.47, O 3.33, T 2.25)
Exact rating: 3.17
(W: 3.63, P: 3.47, O 3.33, T 2.25)
Exact rating: 3.17
August 4, 2020
A fun story set in Waterdeep. Good for background on a D&D setting.
October 27, 2010
Another magical book!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews