La couronne de feu

Shandril's Saga #2

by Ed Greenwood

FLEUVE NOIR Les Royaumes Oubliés n° 14 (1995) - Ed GREENWOOD La Couronne de feu

Genres: Forgotten Realms, Fantasy, Fiction, Dungeons and Dragons, Science Fiction Fantasy, High Fantasy, Magic

256 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1994

About the author

Ed 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.

Reviews

[Marc *Dark Reader with a Thousand Young! Iä!* · Rating 1 out of 5]

"Slightly better than the prior book" is the highest praise available here. Ed Greenwood continues to write in fanciful-dungeon-master mode, thrusting his self-love of his own creations upon us, providing a book with barely a hint of a plot, one-dimensional characters that we were already tired of from the first book, and overly florid prose throughout.

Shandril, unintentional wielder of the dreaded, raw-magic SPELLFIRE, is just plain wispy in character. Her husband, Narm a young mage, is no stronger. Delg, the grumbling dwarf with a heart of gold, is exactly that and no more. The undefeatable Elminster wields his plots and defences from afar. A number of other disposable characters with awkward names come and go to no consequence. Every single villain is a caricature; actually they're all the same caricature, akin to Ming the Merciless in complexity, ego, and evil cackling. They are also all useless and all get SPELLFIRE'd to death. Oh, look, some beholders, SPELLFIRE! Oh, some highly threatening shapeshifting beings from another dimension, who are the real threat.. SPELLFIRE! The entirety of the villainous Zhentil keep, who pose a threat to all that is kind and just in the Realms... SPELLFIRE! and the book is over.

Ed Greenwood even basically apologizes for what a mess the first book was in this book's afterword. Sadly, there is a third book in the series with apparently more of the same; fortunately I have another 6 years' worth of Forgotten Realms novels ahead of me before I encounter it. A smart person would be tempted to skip the really bad books in this line, but unfortunately I am not that person.

[Ralph Pulner · Rating 3 out of 5]

More polished but still has the problems of the first book. I think his manic pacing is just how Ed Greenwood sees his Realms and I'm just going to have to suck it up.

The Good
The Clone Wars. Mirt the Money Lender. The sad departure of Delg. Exploding Beholders. Exploding Liches.

The Bad
Torm and Rathan have overstayed their welcome. Mirt is kind of a pervert. Endless battle after battle after battle after...

The Ugly
Handling of the miscarriage was just crass. For shame, Sir.

[Benjamin Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s been quite a while since I’ve visited the Forgotten Realms. I still have quite a few such books on my shelves waiting to be read but tend to choose them less and less often. It’s not because I’m snobbish and want to read “higher quality” fantasy (and there is a lot of that out there these days). Rather, it’s because shared worlds like this have become so vast that even when I confine myself to one series, I still feel like there are hundreds of other books that tie in and I’ll never read them all. As a completist, this becomes a problem for me.

Nevertheless, I still revisit occasionally. This is the ninth book in the Harpers series but unfortunately is also the middle book of a different trilogy. I hate it when this happens. It’s written by Ed Greenwood, the creator of the entire milieu, but unsurprisingly, he is a far better creator than a writer of novels. While this book had some pretty cool fight scenes and we got to see a number of different places across the realms, the plot leaves a lot to be desired. Basically, a D&D campaign that moves from one fight to the next. Also, way too many characters. The core group was not too bad (except for the worthless Narm) but the protagonist, Shandril, showed incredible inconsistency of personality. She goes from scared maiden in need of protection to near all-powerful destroyer of arch mages in a matter of a few pages. I also thought the mighty Elminster, who was helping out from time to time, could have stepped it up. It wasn't until the author's afterward that I came to understand he was actually busy elsewhere with much bigger problems. I guess I was supposed to know that because of reading the other 8,000 Forgotten Realms books.

I’ve found that many of these novels are hit and miss, depending mostly on the author, of course. I'm being generous with 3 stars here but that is largely for the nostalgia factor. Hopefully, the next in the series will be an uptick.

[Liam · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun adventure, turning some things in their head. The Realms are very much alive, and Shandril’s quest is not a peaceful one and involves many parties vying for her power.

[Jason Kalinowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just finished Crown of Fire. It was pretty good and can be a stand alone read as it was for me but helps if you read the the first book Spellfire, to add depth. Again, I did not because I was reading the Harper series books but the background on the characters from the first book would help it make a bit more sense of it.

This book is also part of the Shandril's Saga, even though it is in the harpers series too? The author published this book years after the first and he addresses concerns and the multitude of themes and plots in his afterwards. There are a lot of other characters going in and out from other books to include dark agencies but the main antagonists are the Zhentarium. Honestly though, I liked it. The author puts you right into action and even has a favored character get killed!

If you are a fan of Ed Greenwood books but missed this one, you will love it! ;)

Shandril is plagued with what she sees as a curse called Spellfire. It's powerful energy she can use to destroy whatever she wants...from what it seems. The good-entities, want to make sure she is just passing through. The evil-entities want her for her power but if they cannot have it, they want her dead. A hearty dwarf and a somewhat fumbling boyfriend do what they can to guard her from others while they find interesting allies along the way. Ultimately however, she releases her Spellfire!

My favorite Character was the hearty dwarf accompanying Shandril.

[Ogre · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the worst thing he's written, but Greenwood needs to stick to worldbuilding and not novel writing. He has no concept of how things progress or the concept of writing downtime. Everything is crisis to crisis, and it gets dull after the three hundredth time Shandril kills a hundred people with her godlike power and then collapses, crying over how many times she will have to fight before people just leave her alone.

[Cesare Bartolini · Rating 2 out of 5]

Terribly close to rubbish. I'm sad at saying this, because I am a huge fan of the Realms and I really appreciate Ed's work there, but it appears that, as a novelist, he is not really in his best clothes.

It's strange how most of the comments say that this book is better than the first. I found it the other way around. Although the first one is not a good book, it still has a lot more perspective than this.

This book, essentially, is a neverending, continuous battle. The first half of the book has the following plot: Shandril and her friends are traveling, but they are attacked. They almost succumb (occasionally someone dies, often they get external help). Then Shandril finds a way to blast a lot of spellfire. All enemies die. Rinse and repeat. Like, five or six times overall.

The second part is almost the same, with the sole difference that Shadril is not attacked, but attacks instead. She goes to the Citadel of the Raven, blasts everyone with spellfire, then goes back. Unsatisfied, she goes back there, blasts some more, then goes back. End of the book.

And in the epilogue, after Shandril has become some sort of a demigod who can destroy anyone and blast whole cities with spellfire, there is again a Malaugrym who decides to attack her - when she is completely recovered and surrounded by friends. Why?

Apart from the extremely boring plot, what I found here is a complete abuse of the Zhentarim. Not in the sense that most of them are almost completely destroyed, but in the sense that they do not seem Zhentarim at all. If anything, they behave like barbarians from Rashemen, using continuous, repetitive, and idiotic attacks with brute force. In my opinion, the Zhentarim should be much more subtle and manipulative, not rush headlong into battle and be killed like so many lemmings.

The characters are completely shallow. And Ed shows that he is completely unable to manage characters emotionally. Essentially, all the characters, including Shandril, are completely indifferent at the miscarriage, both from a mental point of view and from a physical on. I would say that the subplot concerning Shandril's child is completely useless, and put into the story with an utter ignorance on how to develop it.

There's also an annoying amount of chuckling. The author seems to try to put a lot of humor where there isn't actually anything funny. In particular, the characters Torm and Rathan are used as the funny sidekicks. In truth, they are more or less as funny as Pumbaa and Timon - their style might be amusing as a child, but very low laughing matter for adults.

All in all, one of the worst D&D books I've read, close to (but not quite as bad as) those by Scott Ciencin.

[CJ · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had high hopes that this book would be better than Spellfire, and honestly, it just wasn't. If anything it is more of the same. It picks up directly after the first with the group traveling to Silverymoon, only to have those pesky Zhents perusing them nonstop. During their travels,

Shan finally has enough and convinces a friend to send her to the Zhents so she can be on the offensive. Remember in the first book when Shan just obliterates dragons like it was another Tuesday in the Realms, well how about destroying an absolute load of Zhent wizards and beholders, because this is exactly what happens. Again, her training has been hilariously minimal up to this point but she is basically a God as there seems to be no ceiling to the power she can possess.

The pacing is much the same as Spellfire. Chaotic, choppy, rushed in certain parts. When the party is in trouble, no worries, Elminster to the rescue! He is mentioned a handful of times as the always watchful eye of the realms. As an aside, being introduced to Elminster in this way, I might be pushing off that series until the end of the my FR readings.

At this point, you would think the Crown of Fire is some ancient artifact that is provided to Shan or one that she finds in a dungeon while learning about her magical skills that haunt her as she now flips from the first novels and hates adventuring. Nope. In the last 2 chapters we learn that another wizard may give their life force to a Spellfire user and allow them to wield a Crown of Fire that makes them even more powerful, and obviously she uses it to defeat Fzoul and his goons.

The Zhents are comically bad villains at this point. Always someone else vying for power and scheming, little to no organization. And don't worry Manshoon is still alive, he just has clones popping up everywhere whenever Shan wields the ultra power of Spellfire against him. Instead of holding this reveal until the third book, we are given it in the epilogue. Apparently there are no consequences to Shan and her parties actions, at least for Manshoon and arguably the Zhent leadership as a whole.

The lack of character development and decent pacing has lead me to a point that a truly do not care what happens to these characters anymore. I will eventually get to Hand of Fire, but it is not a priority for me to close out this trilogy.

This book is a 1.4, as is it barely more tolerable than the Spellfire.

[Cognatious Thunk · Rating 1 out of 5]

In addition to my commonly espoused opinions that "love triangles are stupid and a lazy way to artificially create conflict" and "rape should never be used as a plot device," I shall forthwith amend my statements to "rape and miscarriages should never be used as plot devices." Sigh. It began so promisingly too. I was utterly impressed that a fantasy author who created a more medieval world (you know, the whole swords and armor type of deal) and included magic didn't also use magical talismans or amulets to keep their heroine from pregnancy and instead had her battling morning sickness on top of evil baddies. True, she was also an emotional train wreck, constantly sobbing after battle, but I felt that could conceivably be written off as pregnancy hormones. However, I became less enamored with the novel as it progressed, since it desperately needed better pacing. Too many battles and too many characters piled in together to create a messy mudslide of events that blurred together and lost significance, but the occasional glimmer of the wit that sparked my initial interest kept it a solid three stars. That is, until the heroine failed to notice her own miscarriage, was informed by another character that she should hurry up and become pregnant again (imagine telling someone who just lost their six-year-old to hurry up and adopt a new one, and you will understand why that is a completely repugnant and indifferently heartless statement) and furthermore failed to demonstrate in any physical way said miscarriage. Mind you, this is in a novel that never failed to let us know when Shan's magic turned her clothing to ash or illuminate how adventuring leaves little privacy. Furthermore, our heroine who previously cried at the drop of a hat managed to bounce back after the devastating loss of her child and near loss of husband in a SINGLE DAY. There is absolutely no way that Greenwood did even cursory research into how miscarriages affect women, either physically or mentally, and compounding the distastefulness of it all was the fact that the loss of the child served no literary purpose. Add to all this the creepy Peeping Tom final scene, and this book has definitely landed in my resale shop pile.

[Scott Kirkland · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably the best in the trilogy. The creation of the crown of fire was a great prestige class trait for 1 player character/plot device in a campaign, but with so many other things to do in a campaign, to target a single character with as much attention, left some of the other characters out in the cold. Now that's the critique for the game. The novel itself was like I said, the best in the trilogy. But unless you are a completionist and attempting to read the Forgotten Realms in chronological order like me, then there's no need to focus on this story.

It does include a few Elminster appearances though, so if you are approaching his story, then this might be required for you to see Elminster across multiple generations.

[Maira · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to read a light adventure, and somehow the second part of Greenwood's saga doesn't disappoint. In it, Shandril must fight all of those who want to rip the spellfire from her - and they aren't few. A bit more fluid and more at ease with his own story, the author develops the narrative a bit better, putting the heroes in real danger, making the reader start actually caring for them. There are still many stupid parts - for lack of a better word - especially related to Narm and Shandril, but they also, fortunately, appear less and are smoothen out by the good action scenes. I admit this little piece has captivated me, and I'm looking forward to reading the last installement.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this novel - book 2 in the Shandril's Saga trilogy. It continues the story of Shandril, who wields the fabled power of Spellfire, along with her emerging wizard (and far less powerful) husband Narm, who is always at her side. I was bummed when Nelg, their dwarf fighter got killed defending Shandril against gargoyles being commanded by an evil (possibly lesbian?) Sorceress. There's lots of fights and introductions to Realms characters (notably for me Tessaril and Mirt, and we learn more about Elminster and Storm). Looking forward to reading book 3 in the trilogy (Hand of Fire) to see how this story ends.

[Marco Bizzarri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Again, we are thrown between the realms, and the endless struggle of the various factions; the prize this time is the poor Shandril, wielding the spellfire.

We encounter some of the main characters of the Realms: Manshoon, Elminster, Storm, and the Knights of Myth Drannor.

The tone is light, more akin to a D&D session played in light tones than to a tragic novel (even though tragedy is there).

Still willing to read the next one.

[Taddow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely better than the original but still could have been better. At least this time there appeared to be more of a story instead of just a bunch of random battle sequences and meetings with personalities of the Realms. There is still plenty of whining and back-to-back battles but at least this time Shandril finally decides to take it to the enemy.

[Chris Taylor · Rating 1 out of 5]

In the second worst book I have ever read (slightly better than the book in the series before it) two young adults with a gun in a medieval age mercilessly bully and torture a kindly Dwarf slaved to them until one of them has a miscarriage without even realizing it, and the other has the tragic name of “Narm”.

[Jacob Brewer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Out of the Harper books I've read so far this was the best written and most entertaining. Once you get into the book you can tell it's the continuation of another book but you don't have to read the other book to enjoy this book. This book has a lot of action and a lot of story. It never gets dull or boring. It's Forgotten Realms meets Stephen King's Firestarter.

[Ida · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have a soft spot for Harpers, I always think of them as punk festival going around bringing down great powers but with hippie colours.

I also only a little less than hate how Ed Greenwood writes Elminster. It's cool if you don't read it as a novel, though, but rather history of Faerûn.

I know it's ironic to see that a fantasy adventure novel is static, but it is.

[Jdetrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a step down from the first book in this series...it's a non-stop charge of adventure, and it doesn't spend much time on its characters. It puts those characters in a no-win situation, and then ends with a much too pat ending.

[Benjamin Hesdorf · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a real pageturner. I read it all in one sitting.

[Tiago Campany · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ed Greenwood as a novelist is a wonderful worldbuilder.

[Karl Dwyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

is allright

[Manfree Alanso · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring and repetitive. Let's go for a walk. Then get attacked. Then go for a walk. Then get attacked. Repeat.

[Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

Shandril Shessair, one of the most sought-after women in the Forgotten Realms for her world shaking Spellfire powers, leaves the protection of Shadowdale and goes on the run. She and her husband Narm must cross the length of the realms to seek safety, all while still learning how to wield her unprecedented power.

This novel was published a big jump after Spellfire, 6 years later. It fits into the sequence of the Harper’s series, as well as being the second in the Shandril Saga. I enjoy this book considerably less than Spellfire for a number of reasons, and I wonder if it’s a story that really needed to be told.

The plot is repetitive. People chase Shandril and friends, a battle ensues, and Shandril’s Spellfire awards her a decisive victory. Rinse and repeat. There is so much death and destruction in this novel that it becomes numbing. She torches foes that other series would have spent a whole trilogy working up towards, and it leaves the novel with very low stakes and no clear trajectory. The villains have no discernable motivation beyond wanting more power, and thinking power is cool.

Worse, though, is the treatment of Shandril’s character. I like her in Spellfire-- spunky, unwashed, careening towards a fate that she’s not quite sure what to do with. In Crown of Fire she starts out 16 and pregnant, being kicked out of the safety of Shadowdale by the Harpers, theoretically good guys, to go on a long and miserable journey with her mostly useless husband. Any agency she had in the first book is gone, and instead she is pushed from place to place, forced to either murder or be saved at the last minute by a wide cast of supposed allies. Most of the novel is spent with either her or Narm being weepy. While it is cool to see a fantasy heroine go about her quest pregnant, the handling of her miscarriage is unforgiveable. It’s like Greenwood got overwhelmed by keeping track and couldn’t figure out how else to handle that plot, which is then quickly forgotten by everyone else in the story.

This story has a lot of potential but isn't particularly well executed. It feels like a simultaneous rush and slog. While I do love the magical girl style rainbow cover, which would obstensively target this at a female audience, I can't think that many women want to see themselves in Shandril's character here. This isn't a jewel in Greenwood's crown.

[Jesse · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't like this book as much as the first one, but I still like this series more than anything else I've read by this author.

This book had a lot of the same cool characters from the first book and a few new ones, namely the lord of Eveningstar, Tessaril and Mirt the Moneylender, a lord of Waterdeep.
There is not as much of Elminster, but he is definitely present.

In this book the number one villians are the Zhents. Manshoon is back, Fzoul is back, lots of Beholders, and some backstabbing within the Zhent's organization.

Like the first book, there was alot of action and moving basicly from one incounter to the next (which I don't really care for), but I liked this book. There was some more history, which is what I really like. Shandril was pregnant, but then lost the baby during a crazy spellfire fight. Now, as morbid as this sounds, I hope that there is a point to that scene, 'cause why write it if it was pointless. I guess it could have pushed her over the edge and made her go attack the Zhents by herself(which totally fails), but I don't know...

I am looking forward to the next, and last, book.

[Valerie Harridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shandril has been born with the gift of spellfire. Spellfire is the most powerful magic that anyone can possess and very few have. Every cult and clan in all of Faerun is after her to get the spellfire. Shandril along with her husband Narm set out to find somewhere safe for her. Along they way they run into the different clans that which to try to take the spellfire away from her. When Shandril looses a close friend in her party. She alone sets out to one of the most powerful dark clans to destory it. With the help of everyone they seem to have defeated them for the time being.

I really like this book. I am a huge DnD fan and this follows that sort of them. I enjoyed reading this book and it kept my attention though out its entirety.

[PRJ Greenwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of a 2.75 out of 5. It's better than its predecessor, but not by much. Arguably stronger writing, more focus in the storytelling and the narrative doesn't drift as much. None of the characters within escape their cardboard boxes though, and there are too many deus ex machina elements for my liking as Gandalf Elminster saves the day once too often. Still, Ed Greenwood is having fun in the world that Ed Greenwood made and I can relate to his enthusiasm.

All taken, this book is slightly above average popcorn fiction.

[Karmakosmik · Rating 2 out of 5]

Un pochino meglio del precedente volume, ma la storia continua ad avere gli stessi problemi riscontrati nel primo. Ottime descrizioni dei paesaggi e delle location, ma pessima storia, sostanzialmente gli Zhentarim che mandano gente a caso contro Shandril ed i suoi amici, e combattimenti stile videogioco. Tant'è che il finale sembrava estrapolato direttamente da Diablo, con Shandril che bruciava gente e nemici a destra e a manca. Ma almeno la storia è più coerente e lineare.

[christopher larue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty good story. Usually I take a break after reading each book in a series but not this time. As soon as I read the last page I immediately opened up Hand of Fire. I like the cover art. Sometimes I wish we could choose which cover art for digital copies. Or just have all of them included! This book and the next one makes me want to get a detailed atlas of the Forgotten Realms. I like to see where the characters are in the worlds.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

A step up from "Spellfire" but it's a small step. Once again it's a simple story told in a very predictable way. Some of the dialog is quite amusing and at times rather touching but most falls flat and is overdone. I find myself far more interested in the background characters then the dull as dirt main character.

[John]

I found this book in the road in front of my house. I read it but I don't remember whether it was any good.