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Dungeons & Dragons Iconic Series #5
The Bloody Eye
In a new fantasy adventure based on the popular role-playing game, a corrupt cleric searches for the Eye of Gruumsh, a dangerous relic sacred to the evil god of the orcs, while a scullery maid, a paladin, a priest of the god Pelor, and a half-orc barbarian risk everything to stop him. Original.
192 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
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110 people want to read
About the author
T.H. Lain
16 books9 followersT.H. Lain was a collective pseudonym used by nine separate authors writing under Wizards of the Coast's Dungeons & Dragons novels imprint.
According to Peter Archer, WotC's Director of Publishing, the decision to credit the Dungeons & Dragons novels to just one author was made to ensure they would be shelved together, as well as to spark a certain measure of curiosity and speculation as to T.H. Lain's identity. However, it was already obvious to many from the stylistic differences between volumes that Lain's output was the work of many authors rather than one.
In December 2003, WotC formally announced the nine authors whose work was published under the T.H. Lain name.
According to Peter Archer, WotC's Director of Publishing, the decision to credit the Dungeons & Dragons novels to just one author was made to ensure they would be shelved together, as well as to spark a certain measure of curiosity and speculation as to T.H. Lain's identity. However, it was already obvious to many from the stylistic differences between volumes that Lain's output was the work of many authors rather than one.
In December 2003, WotC formally announced the nine authors whose work was published under the T.H. Lain name.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 14, 2008
This should really be listed with the books I've written. I was the fifth T.H. Lain in succession. I suppose that makes me T. H. Lain V. I was excited to write this novel, but I had several disappointments with it. First, the first four novels in the series were advertised heavily. This one wasn't advertised at all. Second, by writing under a house name, you don't get any credit. Third, because we were trying to write these in parallel, without having continuity meetings, I ended up having to rewrite all of the dialogue in my book for the half-orc character (Krusk) because another author used him first and didn't handle the dialogue with my gimmick.
What I was proudest of with regard to this novel was the villain, Calmet, and an incidental character who ended up capturing my imagination (and that of my editor) and writing herself a bigger part. Calmet was a failed priest who had turned to the dark side because he didn't like his god's approach to the problem of evil. Calmet was so angry at his god that he turned to any authority who promised power. At first, Calmet intended to serve good with evil, but he was (of course) sucked into a pattern of evil for survival's sake.
To a large extent, Calmet was a part of me. I hadn't turned completely away from God, but I had left the active ministry because I felt God hadn't protected me from the bad guys. I was still dealing with my feelings when I wrote this book. I just amped up my feelings about 10,000% in order to think like Calmet. I've always admired C.S. Lewis' work and wanted, in some way, to emulate him. With the character of Calmet, I came the closest I can. He really expresses the cost of sin and experiences a bit of redemption at the end. Fortunately, I think it's a realistic redemption because he doesn't change completely--at least, right away. I had planned a sequel, but WotC's book department didn't want any sequels in that series.
The incidental character was Yddith. If you were playing her in D&D (as I did in a campaign we played in the Microsoft conference room), she would have started out as a 0 level character. However, she makes up for her lack of skill with intelligence, courage, and, as we later discover, the ability to cast spells through an artifact. One reviewer hated the way I had her fall in love with Krusk, but I thought it was sort of fun to have a human fall in love with a half-orc.
Shortly after the book was published, I caught just a little of the original Star Wars trilogy on television. I suddenly realized that I had subconsciously nabbed something similar to a scene in that trilogy for my climactic battle scene. I guess Qoholeth was right in Ecclesiastes when he said there is something new under the sun. I still like the scene the way I wrote it. I just wish it wasn't so close to Episode 6.
What I was proudest of with regard to this novel was the villain, Calmet, and an incidental character who ended up capturing my imagination (and that of my editor) and writing herself a bigger part. Calmet was a failed priest who had turned to the dark side because he didn't like his god's approach to the problem of evil. Calmet was so angry at his god that he turned to any authority who promised power. At first, Calmet intended to serve good with evil, but he was (of course) sucked into a pattern of evil for survival's sake.
To a large extent, Calmet was a part of me. I hadn't turned completely away from God, but I had left the active ministry because I felt God hadn't protected me from the bad guys. I was still dealing with my feelings when I wrote this book. I just amped up my feelings about 10,000% in order to think like Calmet. I've always admired C.S. Lewis' work and wanted, in some way, to emulate him. With the character of Calmet, I came the closest I can. He really expresses the cost of sin and experiences a bit of redemption at the end. Fortunately, I think it's a realistic redemption because he doesn't change completely--at least, right away. I had planned a sequel, but WotC's book department didn't want any sequels in that series.
The incidental character was Yddith. If you were playing her in D&D (as I did in a campaign we played in the Microsoft conference room), she would have started out as a 0 level character. However, she makes up for her lack of skill with intelligence, courage, and, as we later discover, the ability to cast spells through an artifact. One reviewer hated the way I had her fall in love with Krusk, but I thought it was sort of fun to have a human fall in love with a half-orc.
Shortly after the book was published, I caught just a little of the original Star Wars trilogy on television. I suddenly realized that I had subconsciously nabbed something similar to a scene in that trilogy for my climactic battle scene. I guess Qoholeth was right in Ecclesiastes when he said there is something new under the sun. I still like the scene the way I wrote it. I just wish it wasn't so close to Episode 6.
October 1, 2023
Based on the main characters from the D&D Third Edition Handbook, this book features the human paladin Alhandra, the human cleric Jozan, and the half-orc Barbarian Krusk. Another standard adventure with a bit of a dungeon crawl at the end.
February 8, 2018
As someone else has mentioned, this book is an excellent story to "turn your brain off" and just enjoy. It is short and fulfilling, and you won't walk away from it disappointed if you're looking for a standard action-fantasy story. In that regard, it excels quite a bit, actually. There's a scene in the beginning, where one of the protagonists fights a demon-possessed boar that actually hooked me from the very beginning.
This book certainly had enough descriptions of skulls caving in, blood spewing forth, and entrails falling out to keep me entertained. On top of that, it is set in the world of Dungeons & Dragons (Specifically in Greyhawk, I believe,) and it follows the lore and mechanics of the setting very well. The paladin is described "detecting evil" and an orc is described as wielding an "urgrosh". As a long time fan of the tabletop tradition, it felt good to know that it didn't just have the D&D label on it, but that it was was a legitimate telling of a tale within the game's world.
That leads me to the book's highest point, and that is the fact that it's based on the "Iconic characters". All of my life, I have seen the characters in the 3.5 D&D manuals and never knew anything about them outside of their physical appearance, or the few things that can be gleaned from examples of play in the rulebooks. This felt like I actually met Alhandra and Krusk after years of seeing their pictures, and I can't say that I was disappointed. Krusk is actually one of my favorite characters in fiction now, and I'm sort of sad that I won't be seeing much of him anymore. That being said, I cannot wait to read the rest of this series.
The only flaws that I can mention about this book are that it's a bit on the nose with it's phrasing when it comes to how D&D's game rules are represented in the story. This only happens a few times, but there were parts where I had to wonder if they really had to describe something as an "action" or use a specific character class name to repeatedly describe a character. Other than that, the only thing wrong with The Bloody Eye, was that it didn't keep going!
This book certainly had enough descriptions of skulls caving in, blood spewing forth, and entrails falling out to keep me entertained. On top of that, it is set in the world of Dungeons & Dragons (Specifically in Greyhawk, I believe,) and it follows the lore and mechanics of the setting very well. The paladin is described "detecting evil" and an orc is described as wielding an "urgrosh". As a long time fan of the tabletop tradition, it felt good to know that it didn't just have the D&D label on it, but that it was was a legitimate telling of a tale within the game's world.
That leads me to the book's highest point, and that is the fact that it's based on the "Iconic characters". All of my life, I have seen the characters in the 3.5 D&D manuals and never knew anything about them outside of their physical appearance, or the few things that can be gleaned from examples of play in the rulebooks. This felt like I actually met Alhandra and Krusk after years of seeing their pictures, and I can't say that I was disappointed. Krusk is actually one of my favorite characters in fiction now, and I'm sort of sad that I won't be seeing much of him anymore. That being said, I cannot wait to read the rest of this series.
The only flaws that I can mention about this book are that it's a bit on the nose with it's phrasing when it comes to how D&D's game rules are represented in the story. This only happens a few times, but there were parts where I had to wonder if they really had to describe something as an "action" or use a specific character class name to repeatedly describe a character. Other than that, the only thing wrong with The Bloody Eye, was that it didn't keep going!
October 25, 2012
The Bloody Eye by T.H. Lain is a breezy, well-written book with an entertaining hook that is a perfect excuse for the battle-filled epic good versus evil campaign that we are presented with. It is like an old-school D&D module brought to life. The characters, motivations and plot are not overly complex, but there is enough depth to give colour and meaning to the actions of the characters. An entertaining read.
April 15, 2008
Fun read-- interesting characters both good and bad. would have liked to see more in this series following these characters.
January 7, 2011
Basically just a dnd campaign that was written down. A fun thing to turn off your brain and read.
March 21, 2018
Awesome fast read. Not a lot of world development which was ok see as the world stage of D&D has already been set. Combat and character development was great also, makes you want to keep reading. Relatively fast paced, which made it a great in-between book for me. At times I felt as though I sat at the table rolling the dice and reading the outcomes. Highly recommend if your into D&D, although do not go into expecting the same building and detail as the Dragon Lance books.
November 28, 2021
Id say and excellent book for what it is but this book isn't that, its excellent full stop. It has interesting 3 dimensional characters that feel like real people in 200 pages when 1000 page epics struggle with that. Interesting concepts, nice fights and locations. The plot is relatively basic but the villain is excellent.
Heartily recommend to everyone. Doubly so to people who want to visualise what a dnd session looks like in universe. This should be required reading for all new dms
Heartily recommend to everyone. Doubly so to people who want to visualise what a dnd session looks like in universe. This should be required reading for all new dms
October 10, 2014
T.H. Lain has been crafting a series out of the iconic character written for the 3rd Edition release of Dungeons and Dragons, and Lain's latest, "The Bloody Eye," is a bit more gruesome than the previous offerings. Featuring Alhandra (the paladin), Jozan (the cleric), Krusk (the barbarian) and... a scullery maid... this one involves the plot of Jozan's former teacher to release an avatar of Gruumsh (think big bad evil one-eyed orc god) onto the land. Twisted beasts, gorey eye-mutilations, hack-n-slash, and, of course, a dungeon crawl make this one of the solid 'brain candy' works of D&D fiction that is just the right size to eat up and enjoy in the space of an afternoon or a long bus ride.
What is frustrating is the 181 page length for the hefty $7.99 Canadian price - I'd rather the books be released in one volume of three tales for a higher price, if that means it would be of a more worthy length. Regardless, as far as brain-candy reading goes, this is a good quick reading experience.
What is frustrating is the 181 page length for the hefty $7.99 Canadian price - I'd rather the books be released in one volume of three tales for a higher price, if that means it would be of a more worthy length. Regardless, as far as brain-candy reading goes, this is a good quick reading experience.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews