Best-selling author Mel Odom returns to the world of Forgotten Realms ® with high-seas adventure!
A treasure hunter discovers a sunken ship beneath the Sea of Fallen Stars . . . and the dark sorceress who sank it. Allying with the vilest monsters of Faerûn, she seeks to expand her empire beneath the waves and overcome the surface.
The Wilds series feature adventures set in iconic Dungeons & Dragons ® settings. Magically distorted landscapes, jungle islands teeming with reptilian monsters, wide frontiers touched by another plane, or deep under the surface of the sea–adventure is waiting.
Mel Odom is a bestselling writer for hire for Wizards of the Coast's Forgotten Realms, Gold Eagle's Mack Bolan, and Pocket's Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel book lines. His debut SF novel Lethal Interface made the Locus recommended list . The Rover was an Alyx Award winner. He has also written a scientific adventure of the high seas set in the 19th century entitled Hunters of the Dark Sea. He lives in Oklahoma.
Wrath of the Blue Lady by Mel Odom- This is the fourth and last book in The Wilds series of stand-alone novels set in the Forgotten Realms universe. The first novel is The Fanged Crown by Jenna Helland, the second novel is The Restless Shore by James P. Davis, and the third novel is The Edge of Chaos by Jak Koke. Mel Odom has written a vast array of novels set in different settings and genres, but his Forgotten Realms work includes; The Threat from the Sea trilogy (Rising Tide, Under the Fallen Stars, and The Sea Devil's Eye, in that order), The Lost Libraries of Cormanthyr, The Jewel of Turmish, and he has short stories in Realms of the Deep and Realms of War anthologies.
The story follows a father and son looking to recover long-lost books containing knowledge that, if in the wrong hands, could wreak havoc. The son, a half-elf monk by the name Shang-Li, and the father, whose name is Kwan Yung, are attempting to find a book that was lost at sea that could tell them where the long-lost books could be. We also learn, that a fey creature referred to the Blue Lady has these books but is unable to translate them. In order to translate them, she seeks out others with the knowledge and ability to do so, at the price of destroying ships. She wants to knowledge of these books so that she can return to her homeland and exact revenge on those who imprisoned her under the Sea of Fallen Stars. She discovers that Shang-Li may have the knowledge and skill to translate these books and slowly lures him into her territory. In order to get the books back and into safe hands, Shang-Li and his father, set out to recover the books.
Negatives: 1) Cliffhanging Chapters. There are times in which having a cliffhanger is wonderful. These times usually are generally separated by another scene or are pick up after a few pages, causing them to build up excitement. Then there is the chapter endings in Wrath of the Blue Lady. It seems that most of the chapter's end in a boring cliffhanger that is directly resumed on the next page. No suspense, no excitement is gain and it gets old fast. I don't know how many times I had to suffer with reading that Shang-Li sees a blade, only to read on the next page that he shifted to his left. It doesn't build up anything and it kind of halts the pacing and flowing nature of the story. 2) Flowing Scenes. Many scenes don't really fit together. Most of the action scenes for examples seem rigid and confusing. Then there is the pointless dialogue inserted here and there, and it causes some scenes to drag on longer than they should have. When you read a scene, you kind of expect it to flow without any random jumps or interruptions. Here however, there is either a time jump or an odd interruption. For example, late in the story, Shang-Li is getting treated for an injury and his father is talking to him. It's a nice conversation when, BAM!, two hours later. Yes the conversation seemed finished but it just was a sudden jump in time. There just were to many things that hampered the flow. 3) “Dragging On.” Towards the end, the chapters really drag on. The focus is on the crew of the ship repairing it, waiting to see what the Blue Lady does. This goes on for the better part of five or more chapters. Just waiting. What makes everything worse is the Blue Lady lets them fix up their ship. She even visits Shang-Li and continually threaten him about how if he doesn't help, his friends and father will die. It just drags on so long with almost no action or suspense. Then later you get the weak excuse that the Blue Lady was waiting for a full moon. It felt slow, and it was boring.
Positives: 1) Shang-Li and Kwan Yung. At first, their dialogue between them didn't really flow to well and felt rigid and forced. As the story progresses, you start to see how their relationship is and you begin to understand certain things about them, which explains the awkward dialogue between them. Their interactions between one another are really well written. 2) Minor Characters. Most of these characters aren't introduced until the middle of the story, which is a shame. You have the friends of Shang-Li and the ship's mage are the interesting. Shang-Li's friends, Thava and Iados, are two very intriguing characters that really worked well off one another when we first meet them. Thava is a dragonborn paladin whose sense of charity really annoys Iados, a tiefling, because of his love of money. Then we meet the ship's mage, Amree, who becomes a 'love interest' to Shang-Li. While she starts to kind of fizzle out towards the end, the scenes featuring her are interesting. While it's a shame that the minor characters get relatively little 'scene time', they did make a great impression on my mind. 3) Concept. The concept itself was interesting. Having a goddess-like being trapped under the sea, having to resort to using 'manlings' to help her live her imprisonment, and the undersea world were pretty different. It was just interesting to see this powerful being forced to wait with her only escape with her, but unable to use it. Then the distorted undersea landscape, with everything a danger, was different, in a good way.
Side Notes: 1) The Blue Lady. She's called the Blue Lady throughout the story but every once and a while her name appears. At first, when I saw this it really confused me, thinking that there is another character that we have yet to meet. But that wasn't the case. I just didn't understand why should we know her name? 2) Blue Ink Stain. Early on, Shang-Li gets a stain that someway connects him to the Blue Lady. However, right after that, we never really hear of it again. Why? 3) Cover Art. I don't really care for the art. It's a little bland and generic, like most of The Wilds art work was like. But a giant squid wrapping around a woman seems like something you'd see on a 50's b-movie poster. It's just boring.
Overall: 3/5 Final Thoughts: The big issues are the problems with the flow and pacing and the dumb cliffhanger chapter endings. It slows the story down and quite honestly, I did get bored with it many times. Things dragged on longer than they should have and that didn't help anything. However, the father-son relationship I really enjoyed, along with Shang-Li's friends, and the concept was interesting.
The Wrath of the Blue Lady (TWotBL) by Mel Odom is the fourth and final book in the stand alone series called The Wilds. The first was The Fanged Crown by Jenna Helland, the second was The Restless Shore by James P. Davis, and the third, The Edge of Chaos by Jak Koke.
TWotBL begins 14 years after the Spellplague to set up the storyline in the first chapter and then jumps to where the majority of the newer realms novels are set in 1479 DR in the second chapter throughout the rest of the book. The main plot is straight forward and follows a father, Kwan Yung, and his son, Shang-Li in their search for ancient books written by Liou Chang who discovered a way to use a series of portals to win his campaign. Being Shou monks, Kwan and Shang-Li only want the books so they can keep them safe in the monastery, but the Blue Lady has other plans for them. There are some subplots with Shang-Li's past, part of it his father wont' let him forget, the mystery of where the Blue Lady came from, and a love interest.
As with typical Mel Odom fashion, the majority of the book is on and under the Sea of Fallen Stars. The story flows along at a nice pace that keeps the pages turning. Even with most of the story centered around the Sea of Falling Stars, the novel moved at a good pace and held my interest very well. There is not a whole lot of character development, but what there is works great with the story.
Some Criticisms:
1. I have noticed this with most of the books in The Wilds series and usually I don't say anything and didn't until I read Jak Koke's Edge of Chaos, which is also a very good book, but the amount of mistakes I found was horrible. It absolutely frustrated me because there were so many. So much so that I kept count and there was 21 of them in a 310 page book. I don't know whit is going on with WotC, but if this continues, they may want to look into it.
2. There were some times when I just couldn't get the visuals clear. Most of the book was fine, until they go underwater. The environment depictions didn't stick and so I really couldn't envision the forest, yes, I said forest, as clearly as I would have liked.
Some Positives:
1. Being a post Spellplague book, I didn't have the feeling that it was such and it felt like any other realms novel. Sure, there are some elements and discussions, but the reader is not overburdened with spellscarred people. In this one, the land was more affected than anything.
2. Mr. Odom really knows how to keep the action flowing and set his characters up for on heck of an adventure. If something can go wrong, it probably will.
3. The banter between father and son is quite funny. Mr. Odom keeps a great dialogue with his characters as well as a run along jab that continues throughout the novel. Each character has their own voice and was easily distinguishable.
Overall, I really enjoyed this one. If it wasn't for the mistakes, I would have put this one as my favorite in the series. I do feel that this one and Edge of Chaos were about even and both are great reads. If you want to check out the FR and can get past the grammatical errors, this is a good one. I don't think you will be disappointed at all. If you would like to try the fantasy genre for the first time, this one would not be a bad place to start either. I almost feel as if Mr. Odom was rushed a bit to put a story together and get it printed. Who knows. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
I read this book as background material for an adventure I was working on. As such, my main worry was whether it contained the references I needed. Luckily, it also turned out to be a compelling story, with an interesting villain (who does not get enough background exposition and therefore stays a mystery), and a few good main characters with Shang-Li and his father (their squabbling is both amusing and aggravating - in a good way), and the (female) ship mage Amree (yes, you can see the romance between these two blooming, but luckily the novel doesn't focus on it). The domain of the Blue Lady, whose real name is Caelynna before I forget it, is an interesting location that I am sure to use - if R&D let's me - as it is quite different from other scenes. An underwater forest, with mutated (plague-changed) creatures and plants, and a graveyard of shipwrecks among the ruins of old eladrin fortresses. What can't happen there? Some monsters are definitely worth statting out. The sea shamblers, the 'tentacle creatures', the great squid, Red Orchid (an animate ship's figurehead), and of course the Blue Lady herself. They add a certain alieness to the story, and give the lady's realm a feeling that is more aberrant than fey. In the end that actually works better, as it creates a hostile environment (which may be harder to achieve with fey elements). There are a few gripes. The two sidekicks (Thava the dragonborn and Iados the tiefling) are fairly stereotypical and don't do much except fight and give cynical comments. The story could easily have done without them. Thava is also unrealmsian in that she worships Bahamut. I yet have to see a dragonborn character that - following the Realmsian dragonborn's lore - hates dragons. At least Thava and Amree are capable women - we need more of those. Some interesting info here on Westgate. Oldtown and Tidetown, and the Edge Tavern - a tavern balanced at the top of a cliff - are good additions. I was also pleased to see a 'Captain Chiang' appear. I am already working to tie him to the Chiang clan I use in Westgate. Don't have a first name though - there is not a whole lot on him or his ship, Swallow. As often with fantasy novels, the end felt a bit rushed and there were a few too many coincidents. No named characters died - even Droust (an old prisoner of the Blue Lady) survives. It does not break the story, but I can't shake the feeling that the protagonists should not really have won so fully. I expected a few deaths. The novel leaves open whether the Blue Lady herself (and a few of her monsters, such as the squid) dies - or maybe that is just my wishful thinking. I can definitely see her getting a write-up for Dungeon at some point. I definitely will use her.
In short, a good story in an interesting setting. Few inconsistencies, with a slightly unlikely happy ending.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Has its ups and downs. Its actually quite a good story about a creature from the Fey Wild imprisoned/ripped from her home in the Sea of Fallen Stars and the Blue Fire twisted her and her realm. She was the terror of the sea, dragging ships down, torturing and enslaving the men aboard for her own amusements.
She is forever seeking escape from her prison, and searches for a book written by a Shou monk with the knowledge within it to open portals to wherever the opener desires. We are then introduced to our hero, another monk in search for the same book and therefore ultimately into the path of the Blue Lady.
Two small problems however. One of the antagonists is a group in the employ of the Blue Lady, a Shou mercenary group called the Nine Golden Swords. Their full name is repeated so often it becomes a bit repetitive and dull. It should have been abbreviated or a shorter name chosen to avoid that.
The other thing is that there seem to be some leaps in logic. Characters are constantly wondering what on earth is going on, where they are, then all of a sudden WHAM!!! Revelation. They figure some things out and the Blue Lady conveniently tells us the rest of her story.
Good story aside from those two flaws, ending a bit of a let down. This powerful creature from the Fey Wild seems to die far to easily.
Overall a great story but lousy writing. It read like the notes that were made in order to complete a thought line, with no effort to go back and clean up and streamline the writing.
There were places where comments were completely out of place, and other places where characters or beasts are brought in with little or no explanation.
Again, faulty writing. I am deliberately not including any specifics.
I did enjoy several of the characters, and felt that the Blue Lady has potential to be a powerful force in the world of Faerun. It would be good to know more about her, why she came (some retrospection on her part?) and also to know more of the groups of characters that get together to retrieve the books they are after. By the end of the story, I really disliked Shang Li and his father, but some of the other characters seemed as if they would be likable if they were given more time to develop.
I did think the reasons for going after the books was well presented, along with information about past attempts and why they failed. Justification is always good.
Overall as stated before, the story is good, and with cleanup should be excellent.
Was...okay. The ending seemed extremely rushed. Actually I think this should have been more than just one book. The characters were interesting, but not enough background to truly understand them.
after a slowish start this is a great book, what the Forgotten Realms novels are about, inrigue, fighting and humour, the best FR novel I've read fora while