Unclean

Forgotten Realms: The Haunted Lands #1

by Richard Lee Byers

Good.
You understand now.
I am not your beloved anymore.
I am
unclean
Foul, and a slave to creatures fouler still.
Please...
please...
destroy me if you can.

The realm of Thay has long been ruled by the uneasy peace of an alliance of wizards, but all along there has been one who believes he is the true master. And when that one wizard finally moves against his former allies, his homeland could be only the first of his conquests.

Genres: Forgotten Realms, Fantasy, Fiction, Dungeons and Dragons, Horror, Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy

344 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 10, 2007

About the author

A resident of the Tampa Bay area, Richard spends much of his leisure time fencing, playing poker, shooting pool and is a frequent guest at Florida science-fiction conventions. His current projects include new novels set in the Forgotten Realms universe and the eBook post-apocalyptic superhero series The Impostor.

Reviews

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

A somewhat enjoyable, somewhat forgotten beginning to a somewhat unknown FR series.


OK I had to, now I'll move on...

This book (the launching point for what I gather is a thrilogy about the thumultuous thribulations of Thay) features a cast of not-terribly-sympathetic or well-defined characters clubbing together to thwart the schemes of a very Kevin Spacey-esque iteration of the arch Necromancer and lich, Szass Tam, whom you may remember cropping up in the excellent recent D&D film, Honor Among Thieves.


He seems like a reasonable man Undead Dreadlord!

Where this book excels is in the "ick" factor, Undead adversaries abound and they are Gross. Worst of the grody lot is Xingax. I'll spoiler tag what his deal is, honestly you might not want to uncover it. So yeah he's literally an undead aborted fetus scaled up to human size who is such a perversity of nature is make living beings wither and die just being near him unless they have magical protection. He's also a "Mad Scientist"-style necromancer who turns one of Our Heroes' lady love into some kind of a scary AF Super Vampire. Not nice, bro.

I may not love the characters but the setting and creepy world-building is worth my time, I reckon I'll read the next book, Undead, at some point this year to see what comes next.

[Kris43 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first contact with Forgotten Realms novels. I must say that this novel was a good choice to start with. In no time all was explained and i was able to follow with no problems.

I was particularly impressed by the impression of a huge complex world i got from this book. It shows on every step that Forgotten Realms universe is a well established one. By the end of the book i could identify a few places where i read/seen/played/heard something that relates in some way. So i can safely say that if you are a rpg gamer or a general fantasy fan you have already come in contact with Dungeons and Dragons and already know some basics.

This novel deals with the undead, if you are into that you'll be fascinated by the sear size of different sorts of undead creatures. Its a treat for lore lovers. This world if full of non-humans and magic. The characters are original and interesting and the plot is also deep and intriguing. It tells a story about how necromancer Szass Tam starts his rise to power.

I loved this amazing book. It was a treat.

[Brenda Cothern · Rating 4 out of 5]

Please Note: This review is for all three books in this series.

Unclean, Undead, Unholy, The Haunted Lands Trilogy, by Richard Lee Byers
FR Date: 1375 - 1478

Richard Lee Byers, author of Dissolution (War of the Spider Queen Series) and The Year of the Rogue Dragon series, works his magic once again with his new series, The Haunted Lands. This three book trilogy includes Unclean, Undead, and Unholy. The adventure is set in the Forgotten Realms in Thay, land of the Red Wizards who are renowned for the magical might and evil tendencies.

Byers educates readers on Thayan rule and politics by introducing the Zulkirs, the council of wizard rulers of Thay and the Tharchions, the governors of the provinces of Thay as they battle the mysterious invasion of undead that is beginning to plague the land. Readers will meet and follow several characters on their individual quests before they all discover they have a common goal. Bareris Anskuld, is a bard who has returned to Thay, after making his fortune in other lands, to marry his childhood love, Tammith. After discovering she has sold herself into slavery to support her drunken father and idiotic brother, Barris sets off to buy her back. Interestingly, Barris befriends a ghost named Mirror, as they search for Tammith. Malark Springhill, an immortal monk of the Long Death and spymaster for Dmitra Flass has his own agenda and sees opportunity to fulfill it as the undead horde continue to invade Thay. Aoth Fezim, warmage and Griffon Legion scout, and his familiar and mount, Brightwing, are the first to discover the undead horde advancing out of the Sunrise Mountains. Aoth reports to his Tharchion, Dmitra Flass who in turn notifies Szass Tam, Zulkir of Necromancy, and the intrigue begins.

As the story flows from one book to another, Byers explores Thayan politics and the land of Thay itself. Much previously unknown about the Red Wizards of Thay is revealed in this series. Byers also exhibits his usual skill with how knowledgeable he is in regards to the undead. More than just skeletons, zombies, wraiths and vampires compile the undead horde invading Thay. Intuitive readers may guess at some plot turns but Byers ensures there are several surprises by introducing characters that are as creative as they are discussing. Xingax is one such character, a deformed aborted fetus looking monstrosity who rides undead Giants and practices foul necromantic magic’s as he creates unique undead for the horde. Byers, through his character Xingax, creates several exceptionally creative combination of undead that have no names as of yet. Skinkites, animated undead griffons, Dread Knights, and demons are also thown into the undead mix for good measure. One demon, a Blood demon Tsagoth, think the vampire version of a demon, is another interesting character unique to this series.

Each chapter, in each book, begins in the familiar FR style, providing the “Year of…” and the DR date, allowing Faerûn historians to easily place these events into the Forgotten Realms timeline. The Haunted Lands occur during changing times within the pantheon of Faerûn. Fans of the Realms will experience the effect of Mystra’s death as the resulting Blue Flame scours and changes the land as the Weave crumbles. As the Blue Flame swarms over the land of Thay, it morphs both the terrain and living creatures alike into monstrosities that add to the chaos of the undead war the heros are trying to win. Byers does not elaborate on the death of Mysta but instead shares only who killed her and some of the results that her death as caused. More than likely, fans will learn these details when Ed Greenwood releases his upcoming novel Elminster Must Die.

Booklovers who are fans of the undead will find this story is right up their alley as Byers skillfully shares, in his typical style, his knowledge of the undead. Role-Playing fans will want to read this series as it will enhance their gaming knowledge and experience when encountering undead. Fans of the Realms will delight in Byers intrigue, the political scrambling of the rulers of Thay and the changes that Mystra’s death has wrought. Book one, Unclean, and book two, Undead, are not stand alone novels but they do have a natural stopping point in the overall tale. Book three, Unholy, provides the climax and conclusion to the story. All three books should be bought and read in sequence for the best reading experience. Once again, Richard Lee Byers works his magic and readers will not be disappointed with this Forgotten Realms series.

[Kuro_no · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written by Richard Lee Byers, this novel is set in the Forgotten Realms universe based upon the Dungeons and Dragons role playing game, so I'm warning in advance I am judging it as such.

The plot starts of as a murder mystery where in a country of wizards, run by a council with an appointed member from each order of wizardry, one of the ruling members is found dead in his chambers. Thus begins the council to investigate on who may had murdered their dead peer, a very difficult in a country where magic prevails so the can hide both their crimes and their tracks and where duplicity and mistrust prevail. Couple that with the fact the council is divided in two sides, with each side having their own motives and political standing, to make it even more difficult! So, this grows up to be a search for answers as well as political maneuvering for the wizard leaders. The main character who has been away from his country and his betrothed for years, returns to find his land in a state of upheaval and his woman gone, so he seeks her out, trying to find out what's happened. Many more characters are revealing more of the story on their own views of what's transpiring, in a politically complex game of wizards and their subjects.

I like the characters in this one because it's rare to be able to see from the perspective of the "bad guys" and that's what Buyers is doing. I love the zulkirs, their bickering as well as their asshole-ness and scheming. This doesn't mean they are not two dimensional, besides having their motives, but at least they are not written as stereotypes. Szass Tam is a great Machievellian villain, who's trying to manipulate/control everyone to get what he wants, at the same time posing as a gentleman who tries to help. Love how suave he is while I also like his "reasoning" and personal philosophies, which I don't find pretentious. Bareris I get his innocence at the beginning and although not especially complex, I enjoy his slow angsty/grim progression as a character. Besides how many bard characters are there? Aoth is likeable in his simplicity, as he draws sympathy due to his heritage and position in a society like this. Malark is fun as his nihilistic views contradict his nature of being unable to die, unless he's killed in combat. Still I get tired from his monologues/exposition to his would be victims and more could be made for his personality to be more twisted. Tamith I hated until near the ending where she goes from damsel in distress to "dominatrix" with issues. Tsagoth makes another cool villain (demon-vampire). Even Xingax is ok, although the "mad creator" thing is used a lot in other works, here with his creepy/stupid appearance it kinda works.

The best trait of the book is definitely the atmosphere it creates! Never has been Thay explored in such a light and detail! Myself a big fan of dark and horror novels, am disappointed by the lack of this in the Forgotten Realms but Byers, a known writer of such stories, makes a very fine job to adapt this trait to a place like Thay whose history and culture as well as it's evil customs and people makes it an excellent place for such a thing. The tone gets darker and darker as the story goes on, the pacing fits greatly with the mood and the descriptions of the undead and other dark creatures, the places, people and situations described within, fit the dark fantasy gene very well. Also great depictions of sword fighting and other battle in the novel.

[Marian York · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, it's a bit difficult for me to write the best review possible but I'll attempt it.

I love this book. I picked it up on a whim when I was at Chapters. I thought it looked interesting and my instincts were not wrong.

Mr. Byers did an amazing job on creating in depth characters and painting the scenery of Thay with his words. The undead were portrayed impeccably, I love Szass Tam. Also, the insight into the Monks of the Long Death via Malark was ground-shattering for me.

I hope to come back and edit this to be more detailed, but I cannot wait to start the next book in the series.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been meaning to read some of the D&D fiction for decades and now I've finally finished reading my first D&D novel. I had started reading Byers' Brotherhood of the Griffon: The Captive Flame and got halfway through it when I discovered Aoth Fazim's story starts here in Unclean. So I switched gears and started this first trilogy, The Haunted Lands.

I'd long considered media-tie-in-novels a lesser creation than original fantasy fiction. A few years ago I got very into reading Star Trek novels and discovered that many of those stories far exceeded anything I'd viewed on TV or in the movies. Yes, many Star Trek novels are vastly superior. And so my broad opinion of media-tie-in-novels changed.

Byers' Unclean has far exceeded my expectations. It's a page-turner and I had a very difficult time putting it down. The depth of the world-building and the author's wide vocabulary was a surprise. The wide and varied cast of characters was intriguing. The plotting is swift and fierce. The battle scenes are clear and very well orchestrated. In short, I loved this book. Byers is a terrific fantasy writer quite equal to a Joe Abercrombie. I've already started reading the next book in the trilogy, Unholy and I expect I will be reading a great deal of Byers work in the future. If there's any fault to the book is that I didn't find any gay characters in this novel. But the novel's strengths outweighed this one weakness.

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I enjoyed this book, I found the battle scenes a bit tedious. Even while looking at the action on a purly technical level by relating what was happening to how I would run a campaign or even play this situation. Granted this is a trilogy; nevertheless, there should have been more of a hook to compell me to the next book. I'm not quite sure what is missing. The characters are well developed and I have invested emotion into them. Perhaps the plot is lacking or the cause the protagonists are fighting for is lacking.

I had the same reaction to the the Brotherhood of the Griffin trilogy ...

I intend to read the next book as somewhere between this series and the next the spell plague occurs. I'd like to read through that bit of history before I read the Neverwinter trilogy by R. A. Salvidor ...

[Daran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thay has been ruled by an alliance of Red Wizards for ages, but one undead wizard has long considered himself superior to all others, and when he decides that he alone should rule, the land will be torn apart, and everyone must chose between an undead tyrant, and a group of self-centered mages and autocrats who oppose him.

So begins the first book of Richard Lee Byers' The Haunted Lands series, which takes place in the Forgotten Realms universe. That would make this technically a Sword and Sorcery adventure. What sets this book apart from other books that take place in the Realms is that it has a much stronger emphasis on the unnatural elements of the world, especially the undead. The landscape is described with a bleak and corrupted tone which helps give the novel its haunted and foreboding feeling. The book showcases many types of undead creatures from lichs, to zombies, to vampires. Note, they are not always monster or unsympathetic characters. The writing is eloquent and somber, painting pictures of the lives of people who are ruled by oligarchic wizards who summon the undead and demons to do their work or fight their battles. Overall, I got the impression I was reading a fantasy novel into which a horror story was slowly creeping.

The story follows Bareris Anskuld, a bard recently returned from abroad to find his beloved sold into slavery and turned into a vampire; and Aoth Fezim, a Griffon rider who serves as a scout in the service of Thay. Both must fight together as the land is besieged by a mysterious undead horde. Amidst these two stories are the machinations of the archmage Szass Tam, the head of the School of Necromancy who has decided after hundreds of years he will be sole ruler of the nation. He is opposed in this by the heads of the other schools of magic (Abjuration, Conjuration, Enchantment, Divination, Invocation, and Illusion) who assemble an army to stop him. It is on this side that our heroes fight.

The main characters are written very well, in particular Bareris is very compelling as a man bent on revenge against an enemy he can't even harm significantly, let alone defeat. I also particularly liked Szass Tam, an undead megalomaniac, who perpetually sounds like a doting grandfather.

This book is Forgotten Realms, with all that that entails. The magic system in the book matches those of the game, and is described in such a way that seems possible or even practical. Not easy given that Bareris is a bard, and a bards powers are not all that tangible. The action takes place in a land ruled by wizards there is a lot of spell casting, and I think it's handled well. Books from the Realms series can vary from the comically bad to the truly epic, and I was happy to find this book in the latter category. The people and society are explained thoroughly. The internal political structure and conflicts are fully fleshed out, which was good because I had not read much about this area of the realms before.

I recommend this book. I found this book to be well written and interesting. This book is not afraid to take likable characters into situations which test their morality, and sometimes tear it down. The tone is darker than I am used to in Forgotten Realm, both in terms of the environment and the depth of the characters. Honestly, I find it refreshing after the last few years of forgettable series from the Forgotten Realms.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first book of a trilogy on Thay and its Red Wizards, and of Szass Tam and his grab for more power. It's a decent read, but slow at times. I'm ambivalent about the book. The highlights would be the political manoeuvrings and character interactions; really well done.

It's a great overarching plot that the book kicks off, filled with assassinations, manipulations, espionage, backstabbing, blackmailing and even a war with the undead. I can't wait to see how this turns off. What I didn't like, is also because of this overarching plot and how it meshes with sub-plots.

I think the story tried to kick too many things off simultaneously. For the first half, I'm given a platter with a whole bunch of characters and not quite sure who the protagonists are. That would come in another quarter of the book, towards the end. It's not bad, it's just feels a little unfocused I suppose.

But I did enjoy reading it. The characters were excellent, even the minor ones, which was why I had trouble figuring them out. Book one most definitely isn't meant to stand on its own. It's just setting things up for the next book, and from the set up, it should be a really interesting one.

[Lel · Rating 2 out of 5]

For some reason I struggled with this book. The characters didn't seem particularly engaging and the story line a bit boring and predictable.

[RealmsQueen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good read from the Forgotten Realms series. A must for people fascinated or interested in the undead.

Nothing spectacular about it. It had a good solid story, interesting characters, a nifty twist and heart wrenching decision for the lead, and was put together very well.

There was a bit of confusion and muddling as it seemed that Richard Lee Byers wanted viewpoints from everyone and their monkey's uncle, but those moments were few and did not last long.

An enjoyable read altogether.

[Geoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good start to a promising trilogy...

[OldBird · Rating 2 out of 5]

I haven't really visited Thay since that brief stint you get nearby in Neverwinter Nights 2 and/or related modules, nor do I know much about it other than absorbed asides from other Forgotten Realms books, so I was curious to read a series set in the land of dastardly Red Wizards and their undead minions. Unfortunately, I feel like this is one of those very boy-ish books that is by avid fans/for avid fans of D&AD. It reads like a who's who/what's what guide strung together with a somewhat confusing war plot that plays second fiddle to expanding the Forgotten Realms universe. It's clear the focus is on spelling out the campaign setting and world rules more than it is getting across a story that non-fans would find easily accessible.

There are so many characters introduced, so many POVs to follow, and so many string-of-consonants fantasy names that I found it really hard to follow or grow to care for any one character. The "protagonists" I assumed to be Bareris the bard and Aoth the griffon-riding battle mage, as they technically have personal stakes in the events and aren't big hitters in Realms-lore like Szass Tam and the various zulkirs/tharchions ect (yes, Thay has a lot of titles with long names; I gave up trying to remember who was what in the end).

They didn't exactly stand out to me in what they did so much as just get pushed from one event to another by sheer luck. For example, Bareris getting suddenly rescued by gnolls (thus abandoning his lady love yet again, which he does a lot of considering he's supposed to be rescuing her!) I couldn't help but feel a bit disheartened with Tammith as the passive female lead; she doesn't seem to have invested much in her wisdom/intelligence stat (I mean, she waits around for 6 years for her beloved to return with fame and fortune, only to end up selling herself into slavery to get money that she knows her drunkard father will waste rather than spend looking after her disabled brother - who she later scoffs about and calls an imbecile? Her becoming some weird crazy powerful vampire of doom wasn't as epic as I'd hoped) Womenfolk (those young enough to be attractive to our heroes at least) are quite often described as comely or full-lipped; they aren't breasting boobily, but it can feel a bit like a toned down male gaze when that kind of visual attention isn't put on male characters. Aoth seemed to me to be a bit fantasy James Bond: great at everything right at the right moment even if he's been bad at it earlier, girls' clothes just fall off around him... Not my kind of trope.

There are original villains, mostly described in nasty horror terms (I really didn't need all this aborted fetus stuff...) Szass Tam is quite prominent in all his brooding, scheming glory, but with all those POVs and names I couldn't help but feel a little lost in what he was trying to achieve... Beyond the usual quasi-bad guy power-hungry lich-lord sort of thing at least.

I wasn't a fan of the great many battle sequences that showcased undead vs wizards repeatedly either as they seemed a little repetitive in how they played out. The language used is straight out of the D&AD handbook, and I found it distracting in the way characters used skills as if they'd just rolled for them. That and their terrible habit of exposition-heavy dialogue and/or monologuing only took me further out of the story. Both events and conversations feel convenient rather than naturally occurring.

Overall, while I can admire a creator's love-letter to his campaign, I didn't overly enjoy it as a story and felt alienated from events because I didn't understand all the ins and outs of the background.

[Jacob Brewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm giving this 5 stars because it was action pact and kept you entertained and engrossed from start to finish. There was battles or fights in every chapter or every other chapter throughout the book. It's full of mystery, intrigue, plotting and the action (even when you have no clue what's actually going on) makes up for the long string of dialog. There is a lot going on in the book. A lot of places and Characters introduced that it's easy to get confused on who is who and what part of the map is in play.

Points that could improve (In all Forgotten Realms books):

1) List of Characters (I found after finishing the book there was a list in the back that would have been nice to know about as I was reading it)

-There are so many characters introduced up front and fast in the book that it's easy to get confused on who you are reading about till you get to know the character. A list would be helpful at the beginning of the book.

2) Maps

-The map is pretty detailed in this book but this book and every other Forgotten Realm's book needs a second map that is larger to show where this area exist in reference to other parts of the World. You don't know if you are in the north, middle or lower lands other then if you read people or cold or winter last longer.

3) Reference to the Months

Giving you days of the month and the month just lets you know that time has past from one chapter to the next but does nothing for telling the reader anything. If there was something to base it off of it would help. A list of months by what season they fall under and then to add to the stories if you are in the north say Spring but you can still get snow and ice. Or this season is a wet season, or hot season, or cold season. It does little to tell the month if there is no reference to what the month means to the area.

4) An Appendix or Dictionary to give some explanation of the titles held in the book. Explain the hierarchy of the land, church of the area, rulers, spell casters and the rank that makes it up so the reader doesn't have to guess.

Over all the book was pretty action pact. I'm sorta surprised the book gave away the main antagonize so early saying it's the first of a trilogy.

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in just a few days, and for a good reason. The story draws you in from the first pages and doesn't let you go for a moment. Action is happening all the time, without stop, and you have to rush to keep pace with it.

Which is a strength and a weakness. I didn't feel much for the main characters. I liked them all right, but I wasn't wiping tears in the tragic moments, like I would have in other stories. Before I had time to grasp the horror of what had happened, another thing would happen and steal all of my attention.

One last thing to note is that the villain was definitely my favorite part of the story. From the first moment he showed up, he won me over. What main characters, what good guys and their morals, I want to see more of the villain.

[dr_set · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the best D&D books I have read.

The setting, Thay the dominion of the Red Wizards, is very interesting and the author makes the best of it letting us peak into their cities, their customs and their people's day to day lives.

The characters are almost all well developed and memorable. We get to see lots of dark wizards, specially necromancers and clerics of the evil gods like Bane. A large parade of unusual creatures like Nighthaunts, Tanar'ri and Quells make an appearance mostly as the antagonists of the story.

The only shortcomings I see are the constant jumping among too many story arcs at the beginning of the book and the abrupt ending, that makes reading the sequel indispensable.

[Donald Reynolds · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started this series because it features an atropal, which I think are among the most disgusting and fascinating creatures in D&D. I have also sampled the excellent writing of Richard Lee Byers in the War of the Spider Queen series, so that was a bonus.

The story centers around the machinations of Szass Tam and his effort to take over Thay, which was another huge bonus! I didn't realize how pivotal this series was in the history of Forgotten Realms.

There are all kinds of rare and powerful undead featured in this book. It's very cool. I'm looking forward to the Xingax rematch and finding out how a lich conquers the realm of Red Wizards in the rest of the trilogy!

[Steven Wendell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A look into Evil

Before reading this I knew very little about Thay except that bit was an evil land ruled by a Lich and full of undead. This is probably the "darkest" series in the Forgotten Realms I have read. This book is full of undead of all types and has given me some great ideas for my D&D campaigns. The Magocracy of Thay is very interesting and will lead to some excellent displays of power and magecraft in the coming books. Anyone who plays or DMs D&D should read these.

[Andrew McIntyre · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read

I really enjoyed the book by its end, but admit I had trouble getting into the writing style and the audio narration of the book.

This was also my first D&D related novel and felt like I was missing a ton of background information by jumping in here.


However, the portral of the various forms of magic was fantastic, as was how they dealt with spell slots. By the end of the book the story had came together impressively well and made the scattered plots meld together.

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is wildly overwritten. More so than most DnD novels, which is saying something. There are way too many characters, who have similar and confusing names. There is at least one whole arc in here that’s completely unnecessary. Things really don’t even get started until about halfway in. A decent editor could cut this thing down by a third, easy.

But there’s some really good stuff in here, too. The bard’s story is compelling and full of tragedy and surprises reminiscent of some of the best tabletop experiences, and helps forgive the tedium of the main story about Red Wizards.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised wiith this book! For me, the forgotten realms books are kinda hit and miss. This book was dark and filled with lots of ghouls, zombies, vampires and even a lich. The characters were interesting, although I started to get confused at one point, as the author throws a lot of names around. A fun and intriguing beginning of a trilogy, which I will continue shortly. If you like the old Ravenloft stuff from D&D/TSR, then I think you'd enjoy this book as well!

[Iain · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Byers character development in "Dissolution" and hoped to find the same here. I'm happy to say he hasn't disappointed. This tale introduces a diverse cast of intriguing characters and places them in an interesting situation filled with action and suspense. I'm looking forward to the trilogy.

[PickinDavis · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dang.. what a slog. Thought a book on the political intrigue on the Thay would be interesting, and boy was I wrong. Finished just to spite. An 11 hour audio book that took me 60 hours to finish after needing to constantly restart due to boredom.

Probably the second worst Forgotten Realms book I've ever read.

[Pie Pie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good start introducing a bunch of compelling characters in such a strange environment. Thay is essentially a neutral evil society with lawful evil rulers and their interactions work really well to drive the story in unexpected ways compared to standard fantasy.

[Kagan Oztarakci · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whenever things go wrong, you can always find an if, but what's the point of brooding over it?

It wasn't likely to matter but she needed to try. It was better than simply accepting her fate, no matter how inescapable it was.

[D.W. Johnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Confusing. An ok read.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for gamers: Good portrayal of a culture that co-exists with the undead, for better-or-worse.

[Troybf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book read it in two days

[Bernardo Blue · Rating 2 out of 5]

An OK story, which I will probably forget in about a year. Carried by Szass Tam, a D&D Forgotten Realms character, but Bareris was an interesting character as well.

[Rick Worthington · Rating 5 out of 5]

very good for what it is