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Sembia, Gateway to the Realms #2
Shadow's Witness
Erevis Cale
The loyal servant of the Uskevren family, has a terrible secret.
Now, when a ruthless evil is unleashed on Selgaunt, the butler's ties to the underworld may have put the Uskevrens in jeopardy. Erevis must finally prove his loyalty to the city and to the Uskevrens.
He won't get a second chance.
The loyal servant of the Uskevren family, has a terrible secret.
Now, when a ruthless evil is unleashed on Selgaunt, the butler's ties to the underworld may have put the Uskevrens in jeopardy. Erevis must finally prove his loyalty to the city and to the Uskevrens.
He won't get a second chance.
312 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 1, 2000
18 people are currently reading
736 people want to read
About the author
Paul S. Kemp
61 books938 followersBestselling speculative fiction author, creator of Egil and Nix, Erevis Cale, drinker of scotch, smoker of cigars, amiable dude. :-)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
May 24, 2012
Shadow’s Witness by Paul S. Kemp is the second book of the Sembia: Gateway to the Realms series.
It follows the events of Resurrection by Paul S. Kemp, the short story in The Halls of Stormweather anthology.
The story is about the Uskevren’s butler, Erevis Cale seeking revenge for a tragedy that befalls the Uskevren household. Along the path of revenge, Cale goes up against demons, Harpiers, and the struggle to except a god.
Negatives:
1) Wounds and Damage. The thing that really bugged me about the story is that Cale can take insane amounts of damage and live. I would think that getting cut from your gut to your throat would be very fatal. But I guess not.
2) Uskevren complications. The other thing that bothered me was I would want to know what happened after Cale returned. Hopefully, the following stories will answer my questions.
3) A Certain Character. Drasek Riven didn’t seem as developed and really lack a lot of depth. And seeing that I’m a fan of Riven in the Erevis Cale Trilogy, I was really let down.
Positives:
1) The characters. I really enjoy the character of Cale. To be a killer and yet have a sense of humanity is pretty interesting (to say the least). I also liked Jak Fleets ability to find some humor even when he is absolutely scared.
2)The books pace. The story read really well. I didn’t want to put it down for to long and I finished it fairly quick. There were some parts that weren’t as well paced but most of the story flowed well.
3) Simplicity. I was most impressed by how easily the story read. Most author use ‘fancier’ words to spice up a lot of Forgotten Realms stories, here everything is pretty basic wording. Yeah, sure it may not seem that impressive, but reading other authors, I’ve noticed that they place in words that didn’t fit in with the other wording.
Overall: 4/5
*I would have given it a 4.5 but Riven really was a disappointment
It follows the events of Resurrection by Paul S. Kemp, the short story in The Halls of Stormweather anthology.
The story is about the Uskevren’s butler, Erevis Cale seeking revenge for a tragedy that befalls the Uskevren household. Along the path of revenge, Cale goes up against demons, Harpiers, and the struggle to except a god.
Negatives:
1) Wounds and Damage. The thing that really bugged me about the story is that Cale can take insane amounts of damage and live. I would think that getting cut from your gut to your throat would be very fatal. But I guess not.
2) Uskevren complications. The other thing that bothered me was I would want to know what happened after Cale returned. Hopefully, the following stories will answer my questions.
3) A Certain Character. Drasek Riven didn’t seem as developed and really lack a lot of depth. And seeing that I’m a fan of Riven in the Erevis Cale Trilogy, I was really let down.
Positives:
1) The characters. I really enjoy the character of Cale. To be a killer and yet have a sense of humanity is pretty interesting (to say the least). I also liked Jak Fleets ability to find some humor even when he is absolutely scared.
2)The books pace. The story read really well. I didn’t want to put it down for to long and I finished it fairly quick. There were some parts that weren’t as well paced but most of the story flowed well.
3) Simplicity. I was most impressed by how easily the story read. Most author use ‘fancier’ words to spice up a lot of Forgotten Realms stories, here everything is pretty basic wording. Yeah, sure it may not seem that impressive, but reading other authors, I’ve noticed that they place in words that didn’t fit in with the other wording.
Overall: 4/5
*I would have given it a 4.5 but Riven really was a disappointment
May 24, 2012
Erevis Cale is by far my favorite character in the all the Realms. This book accelerated my passion for Realms novels, and really ignited my fire into reading.
December 22, 2019
I like the character of Erevis Cale and found the prequel anthology a pretty fun read. This one however is a tedious long action sequence.
July 29, 2019
A nice little fantasy adventure novel. I'm interested to see where Cale goes from here.
October 11, 2022
A journey of faith. Some great thievery challenges and scenarios. Erevis is a fascinating character.
May 24, 2012
This is, as far as I can tell, the first full length novel about Erevis Cale, and the second book (of seven) in the Sembia series of novels set in the Forgotten Realms. Put simply, this is the story of Cale and his friend Jak Fleet and their struggle against some kind of shadow demon.
The book has a solid story with a limited scope. (No grand kingdoms or politics here.) That smaller scope does allow for more character development than seems normal in these fantasy adventure books, which is a good thing. That development seems a bit forced, however, but at least Kemp gave it a shot instead of ignoring it altogether (which I've seen a number of other places). I know that Kemp has written a number of further Erevis Cale books, so I'm hopeful that what we see here is the early stage of his craft, and that he gets better handling his characters as he gains ranks in Profession (Author).
Thus: this is a solid, enjoyable adventure fantasy. 4 of 5 stars.
The book has a solid story with a limited scope. (No grand kingdoms or politics here.) That smaller scope does allow for more character development than seems normal in these fantasy adventure books, which is a good thing. That development seems a bit forced, however, but at least Kemp gave it a shot instead of ignoring it altogether (which I've seen a number of other places). I know that Kemp has written a number of further Erevis Cale books, so I'm hopeful that what we see here is the early stage of his craft, and that he gets better handling his characters as he gains ranks in Profession (Author).
Thus: this is a solid, enjoyable adventure fantasy. 4 of 5 stars.
December 19, 2013
This was a fun and easy read. The plot moves quickly and some of the sword and sorcery bits are exciting. I'd heard that Erevis Cale is an interesting character with a conflicted nature, however I didn't find that to be the case in this story: Cale talks about having a wicked past, but he shows far more self-awareness and compassion than you would expect from a bad seed. Mulling over a checkered past does not necessarily make it a real burden. I was also surprised by how often magic fixes a problem. Got hurt? Healing spell! Facing insurmountable odds? Invoke the protection of your deity! Suppose that comes with the D&D setting.
December 21, 2022
Tedious and ends with a goddamn Deus Ex Machina. I'm supposed to believe that Cale getting an epiphany, throwing a piece of decorative clothing at a demon counts as winning the day? If my engagement doesn't pick up bigtime with the first book of the Erevis Cale trilogy, then I quit this character. How the fuck did this book rate an average of over 4 stars on goodreads?
PS: This book is not critical if you're going to read Lord of Stormweather.
PS: This book is not critical if you're going to read Lord of Stormweather.
May 1, 2013
First book I picked up on Erevis Cale (truly one should begin by this one). It's great. Easy to read, no boring moments. Fights are not "epic" but they are fun to read (the guy isn't godly powerful but he isn't lvl 2 either - though sometimes it seems more like it, but he will grow in power).
May 24, 2012
This is the second book in the Sembia series. And, also my all time favorite out of the seven in this series! It's really well written and has lots of action and danger. It's awesome!
July 6, 2025
As Paul S. Kemp's first novel and an introduction to Erevis Cale this was pretty good! Despite having a bit of Drizzt fatigue I've been craving a Forgotten Realms novel lately so I gave this one a shot. I was aware that this is Book 2 in a series but I also heard these "Sembia" novels can be read standalone (they can) and that this Cale fellow is considered one of FR better characters to rival Drizzt. After reading this book I can definitely see why. There is some really great character/world building in this book that has been sorely missed from the later Drizzt books and Kemp infuses Faerun with a dark/gritty feel that Salvatore rarely does. There are some minor problems hence the 4 stars but overall I enjoyed this novel and I plan on reading the rest of the Erevis Cale Saga as soon as I can get my hands on them. A fun dark fantasy adventure that I would easily recommend to fans of the genre. 4.2 stars.
September 4, 2025
I don't know what to think, honestly. I felt like too much of this book was obvious and cookie cutter, but I have no idea how it could have been told in a different way to make it NOT feel that way. Most of the characters that were introduced in the short story anthology prior to this book were so much more interesting to me. Instead we got the butler and the thief/cleric.
In truth, that doesn't make it a BAD book, just less interesting TO ME. So it was fine. It was okay.
The only things that might have made this story pop a little for me is if they would have used the noble's daughter instead of the thief/cleric. Maybe if the combats were a bit more active too, instead of just a couple sword thrusts, it would have been better.
But the number one thing that bothered me was the replacement swearing. How many times does one character have to say, "Dark!" as an exclamation? No matter what word you use, when you use it this much, it's annoying.
In truth, that doesn't make it a BAD book, just less interesting TO ME. So it was fine. It was okay.
The only things that might have made this story pop a little for me is if they would have used the noble's daughter instead of the thief/cleric. Maybe if the combats were a bit more active too, instead of just a couple sword thrusts, it would have been better.
But the number one thing that bothered me was the replacement swearing. How many times does one character have to say, "Dark!" as an exclamation? No matter what word you use, when you use it this much, it's annoying.
July 25, 2022
After the great "Halls Of Stormweather", this one was a major let-down. It's a very plain and clichéd story: bad guy summons demon, good guys kill demon. There are some interesting parts but those are evened up with tedious scenes copied directly from a D&D game, ie characters jumping over a freaking hole only to jump over another in the next scene etc. Also, while I sort-of liked the main character, I found him to be the least interesting from the roster presented in the previous book. I'll continue reading this series, but only because I was assured that the next chapters are more interesting; without it, I'd probably give it up.
March 12, 2019
Ah, the heady feeling of a book done good. Well written, loved the visuals, plot line, characters, etc. no reason to give spoilers on this one because it is a must read for fantasy fans. I read this one slower because I feared this would be the only story about Cale in this series, but I find that unlikely now. If this is the only one, I am sure it is the best in this series. Well see how it plays out soon. I won’t peak at the stack of books in this series still to read. Well done Mr. Kemp, if that’s your real name!!!
December 31, 2021
I really enjoyed this book. It was good to see Everis Cale's rise from a trained assassin to becoming a priest and champion on Mask. I really enjoyed the other two trilogies that had Everis Cale in them and it was good to see where it all started. It has plenty of action too as he faces overwhelming odds and fearlessly goes to fight ghouls and demons from the Abyss. It was a great book and I would recommend it to others.
August 31, 2023
The only motivation I had to finish this was a hurricane knocking my power out for almost two days. It was a dry and pretty tedious read that lead to a somewhat disappointing ending. If it was that easy, why didn't the (redacted) take care of it sooner? Funny that Cale kept saying he didn't want to be, nor was he, manipulated by the divine the entire book only to end with obvious manipulation.
April 26, 2018
"...too much work makes a man a dullard."
"Like all dogs born vicious, (he) occasionally had to be reminded of his master's authority."
"little puke"
"The best servants are like old furniture...there when you need them but otherwise not to be noticed."
"Like all dogs born vicious, (he) occasionally had to be reminded of his master's authority."
"little puke"
"The best servants are like old furniture...there when you need them but otherwise not to be noticed."
October 7, 2018
Erevis Cale
The first Erevis Cale full novel is an excellent, fast paced exciting adventure. Cale is truly a unique, complex character and Kemps writing is very prolific and descriptive.
Highly recommended for Forgotten Realms fans or fans of fantasy in general.
The first Erevis Cale full novel is an excellent, fast paced exciting adventure. Cale is truly a unique, complex character and Kemps writing is very prolific and descriptive.
Highly recommended for Forgotten Realms fans or fans of fantasy in general.
March 5, 2020
Kemp does a good job of having a disturbing setting for most of the story, while also making the little time spent in Stormweather very homely. Cale is very likable, and I want to know more about him. My biggest gripe is how easily and quickly it seemed his conversion went, seemed a little rushed.
I will be reading more of Cale.
I will be reading more of Cale.
December 12, 2020
Finished last week. This was good and interesting. The Sembia project is quite ambitious given the many authors and storylines. Having finished 3 and 4, I understand better what was intended. I liked this book and like the series so far.
February 20, 2024
Fun little book about Sembia's assassin butler. I like this one, good use of ghouls and demons, and a great next chapter in the Sembia series. I listened to this during a road trip and finished it in just a couple days! Good times
4 stars exactly
4 stars exactly
Read
June 14, 2019I lost interest about halfway through.
May 6, 2020
If you like a good dungeon-crawl or an adventure with characters that aren't cookie-cutter, read it. It's fun. I liked it a lot. I am reading the second book in the Erevis Cale series now.
November 27, 2020
Wish Riven was in it more and it ended with more of a fizzle pop than a bang. Still was a great read
October 30, 2023
I was distracted while reading this because I was travelling at the time. That might have been the reason I didn't really get into the book.
February 18, 2014
This was an enjoyable adventure story continuing the story of Erevis Cale from the Halls of Stormweather, which will continue for at least seven other books, as well as several other short stories. It focuses on Erevis and his friend, Jak, confronting a gaggle of ghouls lead by some shadows and a shadow demon, as well as Erevis's complex relation with Mask, the god of thieves. If that sounds interesting to you, you will probably really enjoy this book. If that was a bunch of garbled nonsense to you, then it's probably not for you. It's a D&D novel, so it focuses on some things that will make sense if you play the game, but less if you don't. It has an interesting combination of medieval adventure, upstairs/downstairs interplay, and espionage, which really takes things in a different direction than other D&D novels, and it was quite a lot of fun. I hope to continue reading about this character.
January 7, 2015
Another good one from the world of FR.
I've been meaning to read this book(series) for about 4 years, as I read through the first novel in the series back then. But just kept putting it off. I'm glad I finally pulled this on off the bookself, because I really enjoyed it.
One of my favorite things was the pace. The whole story takes place within four days, which gives it a feel of urgency and excitment. I liked the characters, I enjoyed the cliff hanger endding, and I'm intrigued to see where the story (as well as the series, since they may actually be disconnected!), will go from here.
I've been meaning to read this book(series) for about 4 years, as I read through the first novel in the series back then. But just kept putting it off. I'm glad I finally pulled this on off the bookself, because I really enjoyed it.
One of my favorite things was the pace. The whole story takes place within four days, which gives it a feel of urgency and excitment. I liked the characters, I enjoyed the cliff hanger endding, and I'm intrigued to see where the story (as well as the series, since they may actually be disconnected!), will go from here.
December 16, 2021
This book is well-written and exciting. It is based on the Forgotten Realms campaign setting for Dungeons and Dragons, so if you're a fan of the game, you'll really like the book. You don't have to play the game to enjoy the book...but unlike some other FR books, this one you really do enjoy more if you have played or are at least familiar with the game.
December 27, 2012
I enjoyed the majority of this book a great deal. It served to fill in the backstory of Cale's life post Westgate and his work as a "simple" butler in Selgaunt. I am not a huge fan of the fight scenes with demons and so the last few chapters hung for me.
I really enjoy Kemp's grasp of character. He is very strong at drawing you in and getting you emotionally invested.
I really enjoy Kemp's grasp of character. He is very strong at drawing you in and getting you emotionally invested.
April 29, 2014
Not great, not bad. The Cale stories get better the farther in to the series, in my experience. I read this as the start of my "holy crap I have to catch up on everything Erevis Cale has done before I read the Godbord" reading marathon, but sadly the marathon ground to a halt when I wasn't fully engrossed in this story.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews