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Sage of Shadowdale #1
Elminster Must Die
Elminster Returns!
Elminster Must Die is the debut 4th edition appearance of one of the Forgotten Realms ® world’s most iconic characters, written by the creator of the original Forgotten Realms campaign setting. An instant classic, and a must-read for every Realms fan.
When the goddess of magic was murdered, Elminster’s world shattered. Once the most powerful wizard in the world, immortal, beloved of the goddess of magic, and the bane of villainy, he is now a tired old man. He is powerful but mortal, and with all the enemies a man who makes a habit of saving the world tends to accumulate. To make matters worse, Elminster has needs—feeding powerful magic items to the Simbul, his lover, is the only thing that keeps her sane—but their increasingly risky collection leads his enemies right to him.
Elminster Must Die is the debut 4th edition appearance of one of the Forgotten Realms ® world’s most iconic characters, written by the creator of the original Forgotten Realms campaign setting. An instant classic, and a must-read for every Realms fan.
When the goddess of magic was murdered, Elminster’s world shattered. Once the most powerful wizard in the world, immortal, beloved of the goddess of magic, and the bane of villainy, he is now a tired old man. He is powerful but mortal, and with all the enemies a man who makes a habit of saving the world tends to accumulate. To make matters worse, Elminster has needs—feeding powerful magic items to the Simbul, his lover, is the only thing that keeps her sane—but their increasingly risky collection leads his enemies right to him.
342 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
48 people are currently reading
1306 people want to read
About the author
Ed Greenwood
364 books875 followersEd Greenwood is the creator of the Forgotten Realms fantasy world, which became the setting for his home D&D game in 1975. Play still continues in this long-running campaign, and Ed also keeps busy producing Realmslore for various TSR publications.
Ed has published over two hundred articles in Dragon magazine and Polyhedron newszine, is a lifetime charter member of the Role Playing Game Associaton (RPGA) network, has written over thirty books and modules for TSR, and been Gen Con Game Fair guest of honor several times.
In addition to all these activities, Ed works as a library clerk and has edited over a dozen small press magazines.
Invented the character Elminster from the popular Forgotten Realms RPG series. Currently resides in an old farmhouse in the countryside of Ontario, Canada.
Ed has published over two hundred articles in Dragon magazine and Polyhedron newszine, is a lifetime charter member of the Role Playing Game Associaton (RPGA) network, has written over thirty books and modules for TSR, and been Gen Con Game Fair guest of honor several times.
In addition to all these activities, Ed works as a library clerk and has edited over a dozen small press magazines.
Invented the character Elminster from the popular Forgotten Realms RPG series. Currently resides in an old farmhouse in the countryside of Ontario, Canada.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
March 18, 2016
Ugh.
As a Realms completionist, this is just one of those books that you have to struggle to get through. This one probably wouldn't have been too bad if Greenwood omitted all of the scenes/dialogue where the villains were busy laying out their plans like a diabolical bad-guy from an episode of Scooby Doo.
Thank Ao for skim-reading.
As a Realms completionist, this is just one of those books that you have to struggle to get through. This one probably wouldn't have been too bad if Greenwood omitted all of the scenes/dialogue where the villains were busy laying out their plans like a diabolical bad-guy from an episode of Scooby Doo.
Thank Ao for skim-reading.
February 23, 2012
Ed Greenwood created the Forgotten Realms setting in the early days of D&D. Many of his characters were created all those aeons ago in the far flung 20th century. OK, so it's not all that far off, but this is his world and these are his characters. Elminster Aumar being one of the most memorable of them all. Elminster, a grey old Gandalf character, was the chosen of Mystra the goddess of magic. With the advent of the Spellplague, for those of us in the real world, more or less, that would be the advent of D&D's 4th edition. The rules of magic have changed. Mystra was murdered by her long time rival, Cyric. As a result magic went wild and devoured some and chewed and spit out others. The ravages of the Spellplague have left Elminster unable to use magic without losing his mind, and his lover the Simbul is mad unless she consumes enchanted items, and her periods of lucidity are getting shorter. Weak and weary and less able to cast magic than ever before Elminster hunts magical items to keep his lover sane, until coming to the realization that enough sufficiently powerful items could cure the magical malady that afflicts the former Witch Queen of Aglarond. Of course an old enemy seeks to destroy 'El' and take over the world, as is the way of all evil overlords. So there's a lot of confused running around and a lot of gloating over steepled fingers, but there's also dandified nobles both plotting and assisting, and a "stripper with a heart of gold." Not kidding.
OK, so the problem is that the confused running around is super confusing, because, the heroes are a stealing magical items, and trying to stop someone from stealing magical items. The side story between the noble and the "mask dancer" as our cliched supporting starlet is referred to, drags on and on and on. And of course, Greenwood makes a point of telling everyone how evil and self-serving and evil and bigoted and evil and narcissistic and...did I say evil?, the nobility of the nation are. Question 1, why are we not exposing these worthless nobles and trying to bring them out of the positions of power and, oh, I don't know, put someone in who's actually going to be effectual? Yes, I can guess that his diatribe is the product of our times, but don't just complain about it; suggest a solution. Not to mention that all nobles can't be bad, one of our intrepid supporting cast is a noble. No wait, they are all bad, he even admits to being a bad person. But he's helping someone, without potential gain. He's also doing the right thing. All nobles are bad, but he's not bad, but he is bad, but he's not bad. Seems like that episode of Star Trek: The Original Series with the androids. Aside from my meager attempts to be witty, my point is stop complaining about all nobles everywhere being evil incarnate. After a while it becomes tiresome. Especially when you're reading a fantasy novel looking for a little excitement and derring-do.
Furthermore, the story's just not that exciting. Elminster runs up this corridor and misses the bad guy 'cause he tripped over his robe. The foppish noble goes to a strip club with his buddies. Elminster wanders into a contingent of guards and get's away by yelling "Oh no! What's that?!" The pretty young thing dancing on a stage is impressed in spite of her weeks of cynicism by the young fop's polite manner. All our heroes meet and decide to stand together to fight evil. Oh no! The evil mastermind seems to have triumphed, but wait, there's a twinkling speck of hope, no, not...on your right...no, just down a bit...yes, there! There I just saved you eight bucks.
June 3, 2013
Bit of short and sweet one this review. this is fantasy at its some of its most self indulgent. the character development jumps, the prose literally tells you what you are supposed to think the characters are thinking or feeling and the story is quite frankly inane.
that said, its a bit of a escapism, its fun if you have come from the gaming exposure of things like Baldurs Gate or Icewind Dale to then find out more about the Forgotten Realms and all in all its a quick and easy read.
However, go buy Elminster in Myth Drannor if you want exposure as its more interesting, enertaining and a good introduction to the literary world of the games. Then come back to this if you enjoy, otherwise leave it be.
that said, its a bit of a escapism, its fun if you have come from the gaming exposure of things like Baldurs Gate or Icewind Dale to then find out more about the Forgotten Realms and all in all its a quick and easy read.
However, go buy Elminster in Myth Drannor if you want exposure as its more interesting, enertaining and a good introduction to the literary world of the games. Then come back to this if you enjoy, otherwise leave it be.
February 21, 2016
Elminster didn't fare very well in the shift from D&D 3.5 to D&D 4.0. His patron goddess died, he lost most of his powers, and his main girlfriend went insane. He and his cohorts still have spellfire though, so he periodically sneaks into the royal palace of Cormyr, of all places, to steal magic items for his girlfriend to drain of their enchantments, so that she can have a few hours of sanity and they can bone.
This book was terribly boring, and I'm afraid I don't buy that Elminster has to hit up this one palace for magic items when his former job included hiding magic items all over the world for people to find! He should already know where easier to find items are, is what I'm saying.
This book was terribly boring, and I'm afraid I don't buy that Elminster has to hit up this one palace for magic items when his former job included hiding magic items all over the world for people to find! He should already know where easier to find items are, is what I'm saying.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 6, 2011
Following up George R R Martins Dance with dragons with this was probably the one of the worst literary mistakes I´ve made in a long time. Greenwoods previous books have been a welcome escape from reality and an enjoyable waste of time but here he absolutely loses it in my opinion. Much of this feels like bad soap opera with predictable characters and ridiculous plot holes. One thing that felt particularly bad to me is an especially stupid reliance on switching out swear words for nonsensical garble (darn or damn for instance becomes "stlarn" for some strange reason and farruking replaces another all too familiar f word). All in all I felt very dissappointed by this book.
March 3, 2012
It’s been a while since I’ve read a Forgotten Realms book, but the world comes rushing back like an old friend when you start reading. In this story, Elminster is long past his prime, a mere shadow of his former self, still fighting for the future of the world. But he has a difficult choice: save the world, or save the woman he loves? It’s a rollicking adventure, though I must admit that I got a bit lost by not knowing all the background—remember I said that I hadn’t read a Forgotten Realms book in a while? If you like the Forgotten Realms and have kept up with the stories, then you’ll enjoy Elminster Must Die.
May 12, 2011
I love Ed Greenwood and have read all of his work but sadly this book was a disappointmentto me. I felt like I could have read the first 2 chapters and the last 2 chapters and I still would have know the story. Maybe after a re-read I will feel differently.
March 24, 2023
Sadly, after thinking about it for a day, this book is a one-star. I've never had a one-star before, but this is the first time that this happened-but I have plenty of reasons why this is a one-star. One, it was too long. I felt like it was dragging, and knowing as much as I know about Elminster, I thought he was going to use magic, but sadly he didn't, because if he did, he would go mad. So he had other people use magic for him.
Secondly, the jumping around with the POV. It was so confusing that I didn't know what was going on. All I knew was that Elmister was looking for some magical items to feed to his lover...and then it switched to the villain Manshoon, a beholder who had so many bodies to shift into, and he kept going into people's minds and riding them...then it switched to Amarune Whitewave, who is Elminster's great-grandniece or something like that? She's a dancer and is also known as the Silent Shadow, and she's all curled up with some lord Arclath and the both of them are trying to figure out what the hell is going on in Cormyr.
Then when it came to the other villain, Martlin Stormserpent...I really didn't care at all about him. He got two artifacts of these things called the Nine, and he's trying to summon them and all that? He summoned two, and the third one was someone else, not a fierce warrior. Martlin didn't hold my attention throughout the book, and he was just...boring in my opinion.
It was an okay book, nothing to really come home and tell mama about. If Ed Greenwood would just make the chapters a lot shorter and not all detailed and has a bunch of dialogue, then I think I would've enjoyed this book more than I did, and it certainly would've had more action than a bunch of murders and ghosts and Elminster not doing magic but actually doing some magic, then I would've loved it. Sadly I didn't and I should've DNFed it when I had a chance.
Secondly, the jumping around with the POV. It was so confusing that I didn't know what was going on. All I knew was that Elmister was looking for some magical items to feed to his lover...and then it switched to the villain Manshoon, a beholder who had so many bodies to shift into, and he kept going into people's minds and riding them...then it switched to Amarune Whitewave, who is Elminster's great-grandniece or something like that? She's a dancer and is also known as the Silent Shadow, and she's all curled up with some lord Arclath and the both of them are trying to figure out what the hell is going on in Cormyr.
Then when it came to the other villain, Martlin Stormserpent...I really didn't care at all about him. He got two artifacts of these things called the Nine, and he's trying to summon them and all that? He summoned two, and the third one was someone else, not a fierce warrior. Martlin didn't hold my attention throughout the book, and he was just...boring in my opinion.
It was an okay book, nothing to really come home and tell mama about. If Ed Greenwood would just make the chapters a lot shorter and not all detailed and has a bunch of dialogue, then I think I would've enjoyed this book more than I did, and it certainly would've had more action than a bunch of murders and ghosts and Elminster not doing magic but actually doing some magic, then I would've loved it. Sadly I didn't and I should've DNFed it when I had a chance.
July 2, 2019
Sorry, but the story here was both slow and repetitive. Neither Elminster nor Storm came across well as near helpless characters and there were some serious issues with the plot:-
As others have mentioned, why is Elminster raiding the Palace for Magic Items, when he probably knows where others can be found that are less trouble to get hold of; How did Mirt end up in the magic axe and what was "truth about this Talane". Who was set-up as a Key Character in the beginning, then just disappeared into obscurity after Gaskur.
The story dragged on and then everything suddenly happened in the last few pages.
I have been a Fan of Forgotten Realms for many years and have loved Ed Greenwoods earlier stories, but this one just let the side down.
As others have mentioned, why is Elminster raiding the Palace for Magic Items, when he probably knows where others can be found that are less trouble to get hold of; How did Mirt end up in the magic axe and what was "truth about this Talane". Who was set-up as a Key Character in the beginning, then just disappeared into obscurity after Gaskur.
The story dragged on and then everything suddenly happened in the last few pages.
I have been a Fan of Forgotten Realms for many years and have loved Ed Greenwoods earlier stories, but this one just let the side down.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 8, 2020
Funny the things you come across when cleaning and packing for a move. Something that missed my initial good reads catalogue when I first started. Can't remember specifics but I remember enjoying this one. As much as I enjoyed most of the other Forgotten realms novels.
May 2, 2019
Not as good as the previous novels. Seems to be getting old and repetitive. Too bad because Ed Greenwood is a talented genius.
May 27, 2019
I couldn't really get into this book as much as the others, but it was still fun reading it.
November 18, 2021
I enjoyed reading this but not as much as the other Elminster novels.
April 27, 2024
Another good book by great writer
April 20, 2025
Meh. I'm done with this series. Just a medley of magical ideas.
January 24, 2012
I am doubting between 2 or 3 stars.
I like the story, but Ed has a tendency here to overuse certain style elements, and particularly certain type of characters. The repetition of using loud-mouthed idiots for basically every war wizard that opposes Elminster (generally for good reasons) gets old quick. It makes you wonder how Cormyr has survived this far.
The paranoia that Elminster showcases in this book is also out of the blue and unfunded - since it is obvious that there are people who support him.
These factors play against what is otherwise a good story and an interesting plot. Sure, Mirt is dragged in by the hairs, but I sorta like him so that is forgiven. But other elements are great - the Nine ghosts, the villains (which are generally capable), and the fates of the Chosen (for those we learn of) add to the story and bring huge potential for future stories or sidetracks.
Ed however seems to bring too much of his apparent aversion for authority into his own stories. I would really like to see capable war wizards, reasonable officials, and competent purple dragons, but it appears that the only reason Elminster can survive (well, up to the near end of the book, anyway) is if everyone he meets is a fool (or otherwise needs to be blown up by irresponsible use of magic). And some people that show a modest amount of empathy might not hurt either.
There is also a lot of jumping around, and a few inconsistencies, but there is a lot to tell, and I can understand that this may also have been caused by (too) rigorous editing.
I like the story, but Ed has a tendency here to overuse certain style elements, and particularly certain type of characters. The repetition of using loud-mouthed idiots for basically every war wizard that opposes Elminster (generally for good reasons) gets old quick. It makes you wonder how Cormyr has survived this far.
The paranoia that Elminster showcases in this book is also out of the blue and unfunded - since it is obvious that there are people who support him.
These factors play against what is otherwise a good story and an interesting plot. Sure, Mirt is dragged in by the hairs, but I sorta like him so that is forgiven. But other elements are great - the Nine ghosts, the villains (which are generally capable), and the fates of the Chosen (for those we learn of) add to the story and bring huge potential for future stories or sidetracks.
Ed however seems to bring too much of his apparent aversion for authority into his own stories. I would really like to see capable war wizards, reasonable officials, and competent purple dragons, but it appears that the only reason Elminster can survive (well, up to the near end of the book, anyway) is if everyone he meets is a fool (or otherwise needs to be blown up by irresponsible use of magic). And some people that show a modest amount of empathy might not hurt either.
There is also a lot of jumping around, and a few inconsistencies, but there is a lot to tell, and I can understand that this may also have been caused by (too) rigorous editing.
January 16, 2012
Ed Greenwood is a master storyteller, creator of one of the most detailed and entertaining worlds (the Forgotten Realms), shared among many authors. His characters are funny and engaging, his plots are complex and interesting and the setting... well the setting has produced more novels than any single setting that I am aware of in the history of Fantasy or SF. For a listing of just novels and anthologies (not gaming supplements) check out the wiki here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_...
I only made one mistake in reading this novel, and that is I have not read the previous ones in this series. I recommend that you do. The novel stands alone, but you would enjoy it more, I think, if you start from the beginning. There are only seven before this one...
The tale strikes me as sad in spots, for it delves into the problematical situation of the aging and failing archmage dealing with his own dismal future, and his own inability to perform any real magic whatsoever without devolving into a (literally) barking-mad, drooling idiot. There is pain in his realization that his long life is coming to a close, and his abilities are failing. But there is hope, for he has found a heir to carry on his work, one who might just be as daring, desperate and devilishly clever as he is.
Highest rating for this swords and sorcery romp! Well done, fair bard, well done indeed!
I only made one mistake in reading this novel, and that is I have not read the previous ones in this series. I recommend that you do. The novel stands alone, but you would enjoy it more, I think, if you start from the beginning. There are only seven before this one...
The tale strikes me as sad in spots, for it delves into the problematical situation of the aging and failing archmage dealing with his own dismal future, and his own inability to perform any real magic whatsoever without devolving into a (literally) barking-mad, drooling idiot. There is pain in his realization that his long life is coming to a close, and his abilities are failing. But there is hope, for he has found a heir to carry on his work, one who might just be as daring, desperate and devilishly clever as he is.
Highest rating for this swords and sorcery romp! Well done, fair bard, well done indeed!
June 19, 2014
This was a change of pace for Elminster. In previous books, he has been a very powerful wizard who nonetheless used magic sparingly. He is still that here, but for a different reason... that being that he goes crazy if he uses magic without draining the energy from a magic item to do so. He can be made sane again by Storm Silverhand, who was made young again by, I presume, the Spellplague. The difference is that Elminster in previous books has been rather jovial and hopeful. Here, he is in a rather dark mood (which is understandable, but quite different). Several important Elminster-related characters are carried forward, either through undeath or magical accidents. I have a feeling that some of this book was conceived as a direct sequel to Elminster's Daughter, but had to be moved forward a hundred years because of the release of 4th Edition D&D, so it was changed a bit. It had a lot of the enjoyable Elminster aspects, but lacked the usual raucous humor of the other books. Hopefully, the further books will get some of that back.
October 5, 2010
This is a fantastic, fun read. I had just come off of a lot of Dark Sun material, and it was awesome to be immersed in a land of high fantasy again.
I found the much criticized court intrigue stuff fun, I loved the villains all the way around.
Our cast of heroes is having what in football might be called a growth season--not a lot of strength, but a lot of personality.
Greenwood has moved his main protagonist into the world of 4E with cleverness and grace.
I found the much criticized court intrigue stuff fun, I loved the villains all the way around.
Our cast of heroes is having what in football might be called a growth season--not a lot of strength, but a lot of personality.
Greenwood has moved his main protagonist into the world of 4E with cleverness and grace.
November 28, 2014
Here we see Elminster after the Spellplague. It was sad to see what the Spellplague did to my favorite archmage, but it gives us an idea of what a world changing event it was. As usual there is a lot of action and spell battles, which I enjoyed. Ed Greenwood is a great world builder, and I enjoy his writing, but sometimes it seems like he presents events and characters in a disjointed manner which can be a bit confusing if you're not paying attention.
July 31, 2014
It's always good to have no idea what is going on in a book 300 pages in. I really don't get the purpose. It has some reasonable parts. I don't get why the bad guy was someone I've never heard of if I have supposedly read all there is to know about Elminister but hey whatever. I was looking forward to finding out more about the spellplauge and this book did not deliver
Read
February 8, 2013Not as good as others in the series. A lot of "villain cackling in the background" kind of cliches. It does introduce a couple new characters that might be good in the next book, but this one felt like filler and was very abrupt.
September 29, 2010
not a bad read, classic ed greenwood style, nice reveal at the end again classic ed greenwood style.
November 16, 2011
Too much setup, not enough action. It still gets three stars only because what has been set up sounds like a lot of fun, hopefully the second book doesn't disappoint as much as the first.
May 23, 2013
Good start to the trilogy (continuation of the Elminster novels), a little hard going, but the story and characters are excellent
May 9, 2015
Awesome new beginning
I love the new team and story building around them. El is one of my favorite characters in the forgotten realms and Ed my favorite authors
I love the new team and story building around them. El is one of my favorite characters in the forgotten realms and Ed my favorite authors
February 5, 2025
2.5 stars [Fantasy]
(W 2.88, P 2.54, O 2.57, T 1.25)
Exact rating: 2.31
(W 2.88, P 2.54, O 2.57, T 1.25)
Exact rating: 2.31
November 24, 2020
mishmashed pulp. not that great.
March 13, 2013
eBook Purchase Date: October 27, 2010
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews