Frostfell

The Wizards #4

by Mark Sehestedt

Daughter of House Hiloar

War Wizard of Cormyr

Renegade

Only fools find themselves at Winterkeep after the first snowfall. The cold alone can kill, if you live long enough, and dangers far worse haunt the ruined keep in winter.

But slavers stole her son. She would sacrifice everything to get him back. But in the uncaring, frozen north, will it be enough?

Genres: Forgotten Realms, Fantasy, Fiction, Dungeons and Dragons, High Fantasy, Collections, Wizards

309 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published December 5, 2006

About the author

Mark Sehestedt lives in Maine, and is a freelance writer and editor. He was an editor for Wizards of the Coast’s book publishing group for almost ten years.

Reviews

[Julian Spergel · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 - very suspenseful, but not much character interaction

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frostfell by Mark Sehestedt- This is the final book in a stand-alone series called The Wizards. The first book is Blackstaff by Steven E. Schend, the second is Bloodwalk by James P. Davis, and the third book is Darkvision by Bruce R. Cordell. With this series, each book is a separate entity and can be read out-of-order. The only theme to mention is that each novel revolves around wizards and magic. Frostfell is set in the Forgotten Realms universe of the role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons. Mark Sehestedt has written a number of books set in the Dungeons and Dragons universe, however, all his author credits are solely in the Forgotten Realms. He was the editor for the anthology Tales of the Last War which is set in the Eberron setting of Dungeons and Dragons. His Forgotten Realms works include; Sentinelspire (The Citadels series) and is working on the Chose of Nendawen trilogy; The Fall of Highwatch, Hand of the Hunter (due out in late 2010), and Cry of the Ghost Wolf (due out in 2011). Frostfell was released in 2006 and published by Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

Amira is in a world of trouble. After her son and her were captured by slavers, they were able to escape, but not for long. The slavers are hot on her trail and Amira decides that, in order to save her son, she'll have to confront those chasing her. Telling Jalan, her son, to run towards a lake in the hope of the slavers losing the scent, Amira finds herself facing a group of slavers. After being recaptured, she still refuses to tell him where Jalan is. After two strangers interfere with the slavers, Amira gets stabbed, only to awaken in a cave having her wounds tended to by an old elf that goes by the title of belkangen (a priestly wizardly druid). But Jalan isn't with them, and she learns that the two strangers who confronted the slavers are out looking for him. As one of the strangers, a human by the name of Gyaidun, returns to the belkangen's camp, the other stranger, an elf named Lendri, locates Jalan. However, things don't go as planned and Gyaidun finds Lendri seriously wounded and learns that a monstrous sorcerer that seems to command the cold took Jalan. After learning this, Amira and Gyaidun set off to try to rescue Jalan, while Lendri (all healed up) goes in search of help towards their cause. Why does this sorcerer want Jalan? Why does Gyaidun, Lendri, and the belkangen willingly help Amira? Is Amira able to save Jalan from an unknown and icy fate?

Criticisms:
1) Amira. She seemed to be a typical, one-dimensional character and came across as boring. She just felt too typical. It seemed like I've seen her character in so many other things and that nothing really new was added to the archetype of the determined mother. Quite frankly, she was boring. I've seen this character too much and I couldn't get excited about her. However, that being said, she still could have worked. It was an interesting touch to see her so passionate about find her son that I almost started to care about if she would find and save him. However, she seemed to stray from her goal and at times didn't seem to really care about finding her son. It almost felt like I was reading about two different characters sometimes. Granted, I know she couldn't solely spend the whole novel in the mindset of searching for her son. With that said, the scenes where she was focused on something else never felt quite right. They seemed more like a total character change. Gone was the need to find her son and instead it was replaced with something trivial like talking around a fire. Now, this does move the plot along, but after her desperation she had, it didn't feel right. Not only that but there was almost nothing else about her character. She never really developed into much more than a mother worrying about her son. She was one-dimensional.

Praises:
1) Plot. While simple, it still felt fun and exciting. I'm not really going to go into too much more detail because there isn't much else to tell and if I tell too much, I'd spoil a lot. At no time did I feel like things felt forced or awkward, everything moved in a logical way. For one thing, there is really no multiple plots meshing together. There is just Amira getting Jalan back, with a little back story and side character development added. It's not deep, it's just simple and maybe it was a little too simple.
2) Mystery. I really did like that nothing was really given to you upfront and that things slowly start to unravel the further you get into the story. Now the plot was really simple to guess what was going to happen, that's not what I'm focusing on. Instead, the characters and events all had a mystery to them. I'm not going to spoil anything about what these mysteries are, but I will comment on them. The whole reason as to why Gyaidun is willing to help Amira is predictable, but still how it was revealed was interesting. How and what exactly Lendri and the belkangen are was a nice mystery. I would never have guessed that right off the bat. Finally, why these sorcerers want Jalan and exactly who they are is probably the best mystery. At no time are we given any real motivation to these sorcerers other than they want Jalan, and as it unfolds, you start to really hate the sorcerers.
3) Side Characters. I really enjoyed Lendri, Gyaidun, and the belkangen. However, due to the story being so straightforward, I can't really elaborate without giving a lot away. Lendri was the weakest side character, but he still had something to make him enjoyable and that was his mysterious nature. I'm not just talking about what he really is, more along the lines of wanting to know more about him. Gyaidun and the belkangen had that same sense of mystery, but they were just fleshed out more. With the belkangen, you had the 'wise old man' archetype going on but it never really felt like he was guiding the heroes. To me it felt more like he was trying to calm and reason with them. Gyaidun on the other hand felt more developed and multifaceted, more so than Amira. He had and interesting back story and the arch the character takes is certainly one of the highlights.

Side Notes:
1) Magic. I loved the magic that was used in this book. It really felt like what a book about wizards should feel like. It didn't rely too much on brute strength (although that was present), but it seemed to rely more on the mystical and magical side of things. It just felt right.
2) The Endless Wastes. I really liked the setting. I don't think many (if any at all) really take place in this part of the Realms. It seems rough and harsh, and the people who live there come across the same way.
3) Cover Art. I have to say this, I'm not a fan. The previous two entries (Bloodwalk and Darkvision) used certain colors to highlight the book, and it worked really well. With Frostfell, it uses blues, but it doesn't convey the same feeling as the previous two. Not to mention the wolf and sorcerer seem to be generic looking stock images. They just don't have the same effect. The poses look boring and doesn't really keep my eye glued to them. It's just not as interesting.

Overall: 4/5
Final Thoughts:
Frostfell is the first book in The Wizard series that really worked. Blackstaff was a horrible and confusing mess, Bloodwalk was slow and plodding, and Darkvision read oddly and seemed to lacking. Frostfell seemed to get things right. While the main character was one-dimensional and boring, the side characters were fantastic. They were unique and developed. Frostfell also had a wonderful sense of mystery, which worked great. Instead of leaving the reader lost in things that never were explained, the things that were explained had a nice unraveling. They weren't rushed and they weren't vague, the mysteries were just perfect. The plot was also very good, albeit a little too straightforward. While it help keep the story in focus, it always felt predictable at some points. Would a casual fantasy reader like this book? I'd have to say yes, this is definitely worth a pick up.

[E J · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked most of the conversations between Gyaidun and Amira...

That's it. The start wasn't promising. The environment bleak and dull. The book was a protracted, overlong, frightful bore, like listening to someone at a cocktail party talk for what seems like hours about lottery numbers they picked in last night's game, only for them to say they didn't win any jackpot. Unrewarding, unsatisfying. The only other plus I can give it is that at least it adds to the richness of the FR world, with the novelty of the Endless Wastes, historical backdrop of the Nar and Raumathar empires, the elven-werewolf barbarian folk (as seen in Cunningham's Silver Shadows) and the use of frost devils as the baddies.

But... who gives a shit? The story's a mind numbing drag. There are better FR one-offs out there.

[Kagan Oztarakci · Rating 4 out of 5]

"To punish the guilty is not tragedy. That is justice. Tragedy is when two parties are both right but must choose different, even opposing paths."

"...law is not justice. Law is the guide to justice, but in the face of tragedy, law can be an imperfect guide."

"Law is the path to justice, not its end, as the path to the water is not the water itself. Once you have arrived at the river, you d not forsake the path. You have fulfilled it."

"Better to die a flame than live as ashes."

"Hope is for those who seize it."

"...better a cold truth than a warm lie."

[Charles Mitchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

enjoyable stand alone in the Forgotten Realms. plus a good summer read as it's set mostly in the cold so you can trick yourself into feeling chilly lol

[Bradley Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best forgotten realms books I’ve read.

Great story. Great characters.

5 stars baby.

[Joel Flank · Rating 3 out of 5]

Frostfell by Mark Sehestedt is the final book in the Forgotten Realms anthology series, the Wizards. If is about Amira, a War Wizard of Cormyr, on a quest to save her son's life, after he is abducted by mysterious kidnappers. So far, so good - a fantasy adventure story - check. Main character is a distinctive type of wizard from the Forgotten Realms world - check. Unfortunately, despite on the surface matching the promise of the series, this book actually has relatively little to do with these elements. Even though Amira is nominally the main character, in reality, the main character(s) are some native tribesmen of the remote Frostfell region, which has never before in Forgotten Realms products of books been referred to by this name. It's essentially the frozen tundra area north of the Tugian steppe, more commonly called the Endless Wastes, far to the East of what is generally considered to be the Forgotten Realms. Also, while Amira is technically a War Wizard, she's a) outside of the country of Cormyr where the War Wizards are closely tied to, and b) shows absolutely nothing unusual, distinctive, or special about her magic that sets her apart from any other wizard in the Forgotten Realms of other fantasy books.

Luckily, while this book fails to live up to the promise of the series that it is in, it's actually a pretty good and fun read. There's a lot of character development of the primary natives, and their history, and the plot involves the remnants of the ancient empire of Raumathar, which has generally been a poorly developed part of the Realms' history. While there's a certain amount of "destined to defeat the evil" cliches, they're not predominant, and don't give the main character amazing powers. In fact, the protagonists have to fight tooth and nail just to survive and keep up with enemies that they can't really beat. This causes them to have to seek aid from a variety of sources, and convince them to assist.

In summary, while this was not at all the book that it is advertised as, and it wasn't one of the best Forgotten Realms books, it was still entertaining, and I would recommend it to a fan of the Realms - but only if they've read the better choices first.

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another book I really loved. It's the story of a mother whose son was taken by slavers. She desperately wants him back, but she isn't quite sure how to do that. She meets elves who agree to help her rescue her son. But one of the elves has another reason to help her. His son was taken by slaves as well, many years ago and he is still hunting for his son. It's a very good book about the bonds of family and shows how far a mother will go to rescue and protect her son. I definatly recommend this!

[Tony Ramirez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, though predictable plot. This book was a quick and easy read. Once it gets going, there is a lot of well paced action. The characters were nothing new, fitting into many archetypes, and while the dialog was occasionally weak, there was a I felt a certain sympathy towards each.

[Marianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A war wizard and mother, seeking her son in the frozen north. Though the direction the plot takes is often a bit obvious, the ebb and flow worked well, and I enjoyed the reading. Better than many others in these themed series.

[Sencer Coşkun · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have never seen places like Endless Wastes in any book. That was a great oppurtunity to read those places and learn about them. But learning these while reading an amazing story about wizards, sorcerers, shamans and elves? Man, this man rocks!

[Fabio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, even though there's still some shallow/silly sexual innuendo. Seems like FG novels can't get romance/sexuality "right", but have to dumb it down.

Anyways, it's not a big deal. The story is interesting enough.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic!

[Matthew · Rating 2 out of 5]

Often eye-rollingly predictable, with trite characters and weak dialogue.