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Abolethic Sovereignty #3
Key of Stars
Lovecraftian horror from award-winning Forgotten Realms(R)game designer Bruce R. Cordell.
Raidon Kane survived his clash against the eldest aboleth, but came away with his mind shattered. Destiny hands Raidon one last chance to avert the Abolethic Sovereignty's agenda, but only if he can find within himself the strength to care. Raidon, the warlock Japheth, and Anusha, a young woman whose dreams are made real, must find Key of Stars before it is used to open the Far Manifold, and all reality drowns in a tide of horrific insanity.
Raidon Kane survived his clash against the eldest aboleth, but came away with his mind shattered. Destiny hands Raidon one last chance to avert the Abolethic Sovereignty's agenda, but only if he can find within himself the strength to care. Raidon, the warlock Japheth, and Anusha, a young woman whose dreams are made real, must find Key of Stars before it is used to open the Far Manifold, and all reality drowns in a tide of horrific insanity.
337 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
About the author
Bruce R. Cordell
169 books124 followersBruce R. Cordell authored books for Dungeons & Dragons over the course of 4 editions (2nd Edition through 5th Edition D&D). These days, he’s a senior designer for Monte Cook Games, LLC designing Numenera , Gods of the Fall, and The Strange. Also a novel author, his credits include several titles set in the Forgotten Realms. Bruce’s tenth novel, Myth of the Maker, is just out from Angry Robot Books:
http://brucecordell.blogspot.com/2017...
http://brucecordell.blogspot.com/2017...
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
March 9, 2019
A clumsy climax to a series that started out shakily to begin with, Key of Stars has a few memorable twists and turns, but most of its story is flat and emotionless, even by Forgotten Realms standards.
There's a TL;DR of sorts at the bottom, but the one at the top right above this sentence also helps.
Proceed with caution - there be spoilers ahead.
The biggest problem with this book, as with any disappointing conclusion to a series, is all the loose threads it leaves. Gethshemeth acts as the main villain in Book 1, and yet we see no conclusion to its arc after a brief appearance in Book 2, where it is merely wounded.
Behroun apparently just gets away with being a slimeball simply because the author forgot about him.
The Eldest never even woke. He wasn't even defeated either. He just sticks around awkwardly after he's "half-sealed" at the end of book 2, like, hey guys, what's up? I'm still here...
We never find out what Anusha's powers actually are. She's probably psionic, but... psionic what? I shouldn't have to read a D&D handbook to know what class she is.
But the biggest offender here is Seren, whose absence was felt in the climax of Book 3, as she was one of the few characters with a compelling personality to speak of. Morgenthel appears once in Book 2, simply to reveal that Seren is a Red Wizard, and also to give her a reason to leave one book later... why? Why would you introduce a character just for the sole purpose of making another character, especially one of your best characters leave?
With that said, let's get to the characters.
Japheth and Anusha were both so bland I wanted someone to paint a wall near me so I could watch it dry. It would be preferrable to reading their "romance".
Thoster was such a waste of a character. By far the biggest offender of poor characterization in this series. Why try so hard to make a character that should have OBVIOUSLY been a comic-relief pirate-captainy type into more than he was? Thoster always seemed like he was just tagging along because he had to, and probably more accurately because the author needed his ship for the plot. He had no reason to be going with the main characters in any of the shit he did. He was a flippin' pirate who didn't act pirate-y even ONCE in this trilogy.
Seren was fine. I like that she was the one voice of dissent whenever the party wanted to do something stupid and dangerous. It made her feel like a real person, while the other characters felt like they were meta-aware of their own plot armor. I hate that her arc was left unfinished.
Malyanna was actually a decent villain, but she never became anything more than that. She was definitely the best antagonist out of all the baddies in this series. She was crazy enough to be doing what she was doing and that's all that was needed from her character.
Taal was unnecessary. Not unwelcome though, he was fine.
Yeva was unnecessary too. But like Taal, not unwelcome. She just didn't do much, but she was fine.
Which leaves us with Raidon Kane, who was a bland protagonist for most of the series. Surprisingly, however, he held most of the emotionally powerful scenes in the story, probably because he was the only anguished character that wasn't written terribly (see: Japheth). The scene in book 1 where he discovers his daughter is dead, along with his sacrifice in the conclusion of book 3, are definitely two of the very few moments where something worth reading was written. His reunion with his mother fell flat, but whatever - so many things fell flat in this trilogy I didn't even care at that point.
Finally, the action.
A lot of the action in this trilogy, right from the start, was very uninspired. Rather than having meaningful confrontations with the villains Cordell set up, we spent far too much time fighting mooks devoid of personality - the twist being, that they were intentionally devoid of personality, because they were aberrations and thus had no humanity to speak of. But this didn't make them any more compelling to fight. After the first few pages, it also became apparent the author wasn't going to be killing off any of the main characters in any of these sequences, which made them a slog to get through and it guaranteed that only the climax of the third book (this one) would have any real stakes. AND WOULDN'T YOU KNOW IT, Raidon's death was the only thing that packed any real emotional punch.
It also didn't help that every one of the characters had some kind of special power. There was no everyman that the average person could relate to, so that duty fell to Seren, of all people, who's a flippin' wizard prodigy, simply because she was the only one who seemed genuinely daunted by the things they were facing. But even she was equipped to deal with pretty much everything that fell her way. This made the book less a story about characters and more a collection of powers with very little in the way of personality. And when you go THAT route, your action scenes better pack a punch. The action scenes here didn't.
With that said, there were a few things that I liked.
The plot twist with the Key of Stars being the Cerulean Sign was the best moment in the series for me. It was so simple, so elegant. This was a moment out of a much better series that was transplanted into this series.
As already said, I liked Seren and was moderately fond of some of the other characters, even if they weren't really integral to the plot.
I hated Japheth, but he's a warlock, and his powers were very well conveyed. I have played warlocks in 3.5 but it was still so easy for me to SEE how his "class" worked, just by the writer saying a few of the keywords relevant to the class functions. Pact, curses, invocations, that's all that's needed. And it worked very well.
I liked how Neifion had a change of heart near the end and ended up helping the good guys. I get why he had to die, but I was still... sad? That he did so? His attempt to bequeath Japheth everything he had with his dying breath was also very sweet and probably one of the finer moments in the series.
But that's about it.
IN SUMMARY, this was a mediocre series that ended poorly, leaving a lot of loose threads, and in doing so degrading the quality of the series as a whle. It's not the worst thing I've ever read, but I imagine I'll have completely forgotten about it by next week. I would not recommend.
There's a TL;DR of sorts at the bottom, but the one at the top right above this sentence also helps.
Proceed with caution - there be spoilers ahead.
The biggest problem with this book, as with any disappointing conclusion to a series, is all the loose threads it leaves. Gethshemeth acts as the main villain in Book 1, and yet we see no conclusion to its arc after a brief appearance in Book 2, where it is merely wounded.
Behroun apparently just gets away with being a slimeball simply because the author forgot about him.
The Eldest never even woke. He wasn't even defeated either. He just sticks around awkwardly after he's "half-sealed" at the end of book 2, like, hey guys, what's up? I'm still here...
We never find out what Anusha's powers actually are. She's probably psionic, but... psionic what? I shouldn't have to read a D&D handbook to know what class she is.
But the biggest offender here is Seren, whose absence was felt in the climax of Book 3, as she was one of the few characters with a compelling personality to speak of. Morgenthel appears once in Book 2, simply to reveal that Seren is a Red Wizard, and also to give her a reason to leave one book later... why? Why would you introduce a character just for the sole purpose of making another character, especially one of your best characters leave?
With that said, let's get to the characters.
Japheth and Anusha were both so bland I wanted someone to paint a wall near me so I could watch it dry. It would be preferrable to reading their "romance".
Thoster was such a waste of a character. By far the biggest offender of poor characterization in this series. Why try so hard to make a character that should have OBVIOUSLY been a comic-relief pirate-captainy type into more than he was? Thoster always seemed like he was just tagging along because he had to, and probably more accurately because the author needed his ship for the plot. He had no reason to be going with the main characters in any of the shit he did. He was a flippin' pirate who didn't act pirate-y even ONCE in this trilogy.
Seren was fine. I like that she was the one voice of dissent whenever the party wanted to do something stupid and dangerous. It made her feel like a real person, while the other characters felt like they were meta-aware of their own plot armor. I hate that her arc was left unfinished.
Malyanna was actually a decent villain, but she never became anything more than that. She was definitely the best antagonist out of all the baddies in this series. She was crazy enough to be doing what she was doing and that's all that was needed from her character.
Taal was unnecessary. Not unwelcome though, he was fine.
Yeva was unnecessary too. But like Taal, not unwelcome. She just didn't do much, but she was fine.
Which leaves us with Raidon Kane, who was a bland protagonist for most of the series. Surprisingly, however, he held most of the emotionally powerful scenes in the story, probably because he was the only anguished character that wasn't written terribly (see: Japheth). The scene in book 1 where he discovers his daughter is dead, along with his sacrifice in the conclusion of book 3, are definitely two of the very few moments where something worth reading was written. His reunion with his mother fell flat, but whatever - so many things fell flat in this trilogy I didn't even care at that point.
Finally, the action.
A lot of the action in this trilogy, right from the start, was very uninspired. Rather than having meaningful confrontations with the villains Cordell set up, we spent far too much time fighting mooks devoid of personality - the twist being, that they were intentionally devoid of personality, because they were aberrations and thus had no humanity to speak of. But this didn't make them any more compelling to fight. After the first few pages, it also became apparent the author wasn't going to be killing off any of the main characters in any of these sequences, which made them a slog to get through and it guaranteed that only the climax of the third book (this one) would have any real stakes. AND WOULDN'T YOU KNOW IT, Raidon's death was the only thing that packed any real emotional punch.
It also didn't help that every one of the characters had some kind of special power. There was no everyman that the average person could relate to, so that duty fell to Seren, of all people, who's a flippin' wizard prodigy, simply because she was the only one who seemed genuinely daunted by the things they were facing. But even she was equipped to deal with pretty much everything that fell her way. This made the book less a story about characters and more a collection of powers with very little in the way of personality. And when you go THAT route, your action scenes better pack a punch. The action scenes here didn't.
With that said, there were a few things that I liked.
The plot twist with the Key of Stars being the Cerulean Sign was the best moment in the series for me. It was so simple, so elegant. This was a moment out of a much better series that was transplanted into this series.
As already said, I liked Seren and was moderately fond of some of the other characters, even if they weren't really integral to the plot.
I hated Japheth, but he's a warlock, and his powers were very well conveyed. I have played warlocks in 3.5 but it was still so easy for me to SEE how his "class" worked, just by the writer saying a few of the keywords relevant to the class functions. Pact, curses, invocations, that's all that's needed. And it worked very well.
I liked how Neifion had a change of heart near the end and ended up helping the good guys. I get why he had to die, but I was still... sad? That he did so? His attempt to bequeath Japheth everything he had with his dying breath was also very sweet and probably one of the finer moments in the series.
But that's about it.
IN SUMMARY, this was a mediocre series that ended poorly, leaving a lot of loose threads, and in doing so degrading the quality of the series as a whle. It's not the worst thing I've ever read, but I imagine I'll have completely forgotten about it by next week. I would not recommend.
March 11, 2013
I liked this trilogy. I agree with other readers that the history of the gods being killed in the collapse of the weave, and the events that followed should be elucidated more.
other than that, the characters were well written and illustrated as we have come to expect from the Forgotten Realms' authors.
My only complaint is that i'm still unsure how the events leading up to the spell plague have come to pass and how is it that the Ffolk are able to still use magics after the weave collapsed?? c'mon Wizards o The Coast!
other than that, the characters were well written and illustrated as we have come to expect from the Forgotten Realms' authors.
My only complaint is that i'm still unsure how the events leading up to the spell plague have come to pass and how is it that the Ffolk are able to still use magics after the weave collapsed?? c'mon Wizards o The Coast!
September 15, 2010
Key of Stars by Bruce R. Cordell- This is the third and final book in the Abolethic Sovereignty trilogy. The first book is Plague of Spells and the second book is City of Torment. The trilogy is set in the Forgotten Realms setting of the role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons. Bruce R. Cordell has written a number of books set in this setting. These include; Lady of Poison (The Priests series), Stardeep (The Dungeons series), and Darkvision (The Wizards series). He's also written a novel under the pen name T. H. Lain called Oath of Nerull. He has also contributed to a number of anthologies and written a few short stories, along with writing a few roleplaying adventures and source books. Key of Stars was released September 2010 and published by Wizards of the Coast, LLC.
The story picks up a few days after the events in City of Torment. The city called Xxiphu is now floating above the Sea of Fallen Stars after the heroes barely escaped. Now they are recovering from the ordeal at Anusha's home. Anusha wants the group to try to stop the aboleth's from whatever it is they attend to do to the world. However, the group wants to relax and reflect on what has happened. Japheth, a warlock, is down in the catacombs of the estate tinkering with a golem to be the body of Anusha's friend's, Yeva, soul. Raidon Kane, a monk and the barer of The Cerulean Sign and the sword Angul, is slowly falling into a depression over the loss of his daughter. He turns to the bottle for comfort. We then see Captain Thoster having repairs done to his ship. The mage, Seren, is trying to gather money to repay her debts to Thay. After they all take care of business, they return to Anusha's home, only to find Japheth's old master, Neifion in the catacombs attacking the warlock. The group comes to his aid, but it's Raidon who finally drives the Lord of Bats away. After finally having everyone there, Anusha calls for a meeting to see what their next steps are. The group decides to go after Xxiphu and Malyanna, who is trying to bring about the Abolethic Sovereignty, however, Seren decides to take care of her business instead and departs. After the plans are made, the group sets off to save the world, but are they already too late?
Criticisms:
1) Pacing. The biggest problem with the book is the meandering pacing. The story progresses at such a slow pace that at times I fell asleep while reading. For two-thirds of the story it seems like nothing is really going on. There were some times when the story did pick up, but it quickly became slow and plodding. Some of the blame can be thrown at the disappointing characters, but I'll talk about that in due time. The pacing was so slow that at times I became increasingly frustrated during reading. It just seemed like almost nothing was going on and it was too slow to keep my attention focused on it for long stretches.
2) Characters. The characters have to be the biggest disappointment of the book. They didn't have any real development, aside from Japheth's and Anusha's relationship. The biggest offender is Raidon Kane. For about eighty percent of the book, he came off as little more than an annoying and whiny character. I understand how the loss of his daughter would have affected him, and I was impressed during those times. However, instead of feeling bad about his daughter, he dwells on his long lost mother. All I have to say is why? He barely ever talked about her in the previous two books. He mentioned her once in a while, but he never brought up his feelings about his mother leaving him. That whole character point just came across as poorly planned and sudden. Malyanna is the only character that I couldn't stand. Why? Because she was little more than a horribly cliché James Bond villain, hell-bent on destroying the world. In City of Torment she had an interesting personality, but in Key of Stars she has nothing. She's little more than a generic villain. I didn't feel anything towards her. She didn't evoke anything out of me. Captain Thoster is a decent character that needed more time to explain things with. His hidden past/ background needed to be explored a little more for someone to understand what is going on with him. Instead, everything is left unexplained and unsaid. Yeva is just, well, there. She doesn't do much of anything so I can't really say much about her other than why was she even included? Taal, Malyanna's assistant, was really hard to pin down. He had some good moments, but overall he was little more than what Yeva was. He had a bigger part, but ultimately I just didn't care about him enough. Neifion, the Lord of Bats, is wasted. His total scene time is about twenty pages at best and he just shows up and leaves. He didn't add anything and didn't have that menacing presence he had in the previous books. Overall the characters were underwhelming, underdeveloped, and were extremely disappointing.
3) Confusing. Even with the slow pacing, I had trouble trying to understand what was happening. I still have no idea what the Abolethic Sovereignty is, what the Far Manifold is, or the whole point of the story was. This is where the frustration comes in. Nothing was explained, or if it was I don't remember the explanation because it was either forgettable or poorly explained. I had no idea why the events were so important other than it could destroy the world. Which in itself, isn't a good way to explain things. I can't even accurately explain what was so confusing, because I was that confused.
Praises:
1) Japheth and Anusha. The relationship between Japheth and Anusha was the only real good thing with the characters. Japheth had a very different personality then he did in the previous books, but you understood why and what caused it. You could almost feel the way Japheth loves Anusha, and that love improves as the story progresses. Anusha has the most development as the story goes on. You started to see her grow as a character in City of Torment and it only improves here. Now she acts almost like the leader of the group, taking charge of things. However, the story is almost yanked away from these two in favor of Raidon, which I think was a mistake. For me, Japheth and Anusha carried the story.
2) Climax. The climax of the story was very exciting and was a pretty epic moment, aside from the cheesy moment at the end. I really can't go into too much detail, but this pay-off was worth the wait. The final battle was written extremely well with each person playing a specific role. However, the ending was very predictable, but it still was nail-bitingly good.
Side Notes:
1) Seren. What happened to Seren? She was an amazing secondary character, and I sorely missed her witty humor and presence. I just hope that somewhere down the line we see what happened with her and if she dealt with her problems. I almost think that if Seren stayed with the group, the story would have been better.
2) Stardeep. You may need to read Stardeep to understand some of the things that happen in the story. I have yet to read Stardeep so I may have missed out on some of the background of who the Traitor is. It shouldn't be required to read however.
3) Cover Art. The artwork itself is pretty good. Seeing Raidon jumping through a sea of tentacles is pretty exciting. However, it's too small. Way too small. The banner across the top is an eyesore and always seems to steal the focus. Also, the title on the bottom takes up too much space. Why couldn't we just have a full-page of the artwork?
Overall: 2/5
Final Thoughts:
Key of Stars was disappointing. The previous book, City of Torment, was amazing, and I've been eagerly awaiting for the release of Key of Stars. However, Key of Stars never really improved on what the previous book did. In fact it seemed to have taken two giant steps backward. The story unfolds at a snail's pace and almost seems like nothing is happening. It didn't help that it was hard to understand the importance of everything and having almost nothing really explained. The characters, for the most part, were disappointments. Raidon was little more than a whiny annoyance, Malyanna was a generic Bond villain with little motivation, and the rest were shells of their former selves. However, Japheth and Anusha were great. You really do see the change in them. I have to ask again, what happened with Seren? I really missed her and her witty remarks. Also, the climax was very exciting and nail-biting. When all is said and done, is Key of Stars worth picking up? I'd have to say no, unless you want to finish the trilogy or are a fan of the Forgotten Realms. Otherwise, you may be as disappointed as I am.
The story picks up a few days after the events in City of Torment. The city called Xxiphu is now floating above the Sea of Fallen Stars after the heroes barely escaped. Now they are recovering from the ordeal at Anusha's home. Anusha wants the group to try to stop the aboleth's from whatever it is they attend to do to the world. However, the group wants to relax and reflect on what has happened. Japheth, a warlock, is down in the catacombs of the estate tinkering with a golem to be the body of Anusha's friend's, Yeva, soul. Raidon Kane, a monk and the barer of The Cerulean Sign and the sword Angul, is slowly falling into a depression over the loss of his daughter. He turns to the bottle for comfort. We then see Captain Thoster having repairs done to his ship. The mage, Seren, is trying to gather money to repay her debts to Thay. After they all take care of business, they return to Anusha's home, only to find Japheth's old master, Neifion in the catacombs attacking the warlock. The group comes to his aid, but it's Raidon who finally drives the Lord of Bats away. After finally having everyone there, Anusha calls for a meeting to see what their next steps are. The group decides to go after Xxiphu and Malyanna, who is trying to bring about the Abolethic Sovereignty, however, Seren decides to take care of her business instead and departs. After the plans are made, the group sets off to save the world, but are they already too late?
Criticisms:
1) Pacing. The biggest problem with the book is the meandering pacing. The story progresses at such a slow pace that at times I fell asleep while reading. For two-thirds of the story it seems like nothing is really going on. There were some times when the story did pick up, but it quickly became slow and plodding. Some of the blame can be thrown at the disappointing characters, but I'll talk about that in due time. The pacing was so slow that at times I became increasingly frustrated during reading. It just seemed like almost nothing was going on and it was too slow to keep my attention focused on it for long stretches.
2) Characters. The characters have to be the biggest disappointment of the book. They didn't have any real development, aside from Japheth's and Anusha's relationship. The biggest offender is Raidon Kane. For about eighty percent of the book, he came off as little more than an annoying and whiny character. I understand how the loss of his daughter would have affected him, and I was impressed during those times. However, instead of feeling bad about his daughter, he dwells on his long lost mother. All I have to say is why? He barely ever talked about her in the previous two books. He mentioned her once in a while, but he never brought up his feelings about his mother leaving him. That whole character point just came across as poorly planned and sudden. Malyanna is the only character that I couldn't stand. Why? Because she was little more than a horribly cliché James Bond villain, hell-bent on destroying the world. In City of Torment she had an interesting personality, but in Key of Stars she has nothing. She's little more than a generic villain. I didn't feel anything towards her. She didn't evoke anything out of me. Captain Thoster is a decent character that needed more time to explain things with. His hidden past/ background needed to be explored a little more for someone to understand what is going on with him. Instead, everything is left unexplained and unsaid. Yeva is just, well, there. She doesn't do much of anything so I can't really say much about her other than why was she even included? Taal, Malyanna's assistant, was really hard to pin down. He had some good moments, but overall he was little more than what Yeva was. He had a bigger part, but ultimately I just didn't care about him enough. Neifion, the Lord of Bats, is wasted. His total scene time is about twenty pages at best and he just shows up and leaves. He didn't add anything and didn't have that menacing presence he had in the previous books. Overall the characters were underwhelming, underdeveloped, and were extremely disappointing.
3) Confusing. Even with the slow pacing, I had trouble trying to understand what was happening. I still have no idea what the Abolethic Sovereignty is, what the Far Manifold is, or the whole point of the story was. This is where the frustration comes in. Nothing was explained, or if it was I don't remember the explanation because it was either forgettable or poorly explained. I had no idea why the events were so important other than it could destroy the world. Which in itself, isn't a good way to explain things. I can't even accurately explain what was so confusing, because I was that confused.
Praises:
1) Japheth and Anusha. The relationship between Japheth and Anusha was the only real good thing with the characters. Japheth had a very different personality then he did in the previous books, but you understood why and what caused it. You could almost feel the way Japheth loves Anusha, and that love improves as the story progresses. Anusha has the most development as the story goes on. You started to see her grow as a character in City of Torment and it only improves here. Now she acts almost like the leader of the group, taking charge of things. However, the story is almost yanked away from these two in favor of Raidon, which I think was a mistake. For me, Japheth and Anusha carried the story.
2) Climax. The climax of the story was very exciting and was a pretty epic moment, aside from the cheesy moment at the end. I really can't go into too much detail, but this pay-off was worth the wait. The final battle was written extremely well with each person playing a specific role. However, the ending was very predictable, but it still was nail-bitingly good.
Side Notes:
1) Seren. What happened to Seren? She was an amazing secondary character, and I sorely missed her witty humor and presence. I just hope that somewhere down the line we see what happened with her and if she dealt with her problems. I almost think that if Seren stayed with the group, the story would have been better.
2) Stardeep. You may need to read Stardeep to understand some of the things that happen in the story. I have yet to read Stardeep so I may have missed out on some of the background of who the Traitor is. It shouldn't be required to read however.
3) Cover Art. The artwork itself is pretty good. Seeing Raidon jumping through a sea of tentacles is pretty exciting. However, it's too small. Way too small. The banner across the top is an eyesore and always seems to steal the focus. Also, the title on the bottom takes up too much space. Why couldn't we just have a full-page of the artwork?
Overall: 2/5
Final Thoughts:
Key of Stars was disappointing. The previous book, City of Torment, was amazing, and I've been eagerly awaiting for the release of Key of Stars. However, Key of Stars never really improved on what the previous book did. In fact it seemed to have taken two giant steps backward. The story unfolds at a snail's pace and almost seems like nothing is happening. It didn't help that it was hard to understand the importance of everything and having almost nothing really explained. The characters, for the most part, were disappointments. Raidon was little more than a whiny annoyance, Malyanna was a generic Bond villain with little motivation, and the rest were shells of their former selves. However, Japheth and Anusha were great. You really do see the change in them. I have to ask again, what happened with Seren? I really missed her and her witty remarks. Also, the climax was very exciting and nail-biting. When all is said and done, is Key of Stars worth picking up? I'd have to say no, unless you want to finish the trilogy or are a fan of the Forgotten Realms. Otherwise, you may be as disappointed as I am.
September 7, 2021
All in all, I feel that Key of Stars was a good ending to this trilogy. I do wish we could get more of the characters introduced but alas that isn't likely to happen.
I thought the character arcs were pretty neatly tied up. However, I am a little disappointed at Seren leaving very early in the book. I had hoped to see more of her after what we'd gotten in City of Torment. Yeva's continued presence in this book, following her involvement in the last, was nice. The answer to what was afflicting Captain Thoster was something I hadn't seen coming and greatly enjoyed. I feel the ending to Raidon's story was very poetic, and I appreciate that.
I feel what pacing issues I had largely had to do with the stretches of time between reading each, though some topics did seem introduced to be answered right away, which felt strange.
I did greatly enjoy this series as a whole, and wish there was more material concerning the Spellplague in the novels. Oh well, guess I'll have to find a copy of Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide.
I thought the character arcs were pretty neatly tied up. However, I am a little disappointed at Seren leaving very early in the book. I had hoped to see more of her after what we'd gotten in City of Torment. Yeva's continued presence in this book, following her involvement in the last, was nice. The answer to what was afflicting Captain Thoster was something I hadn't seen coming and greatly enjoyed. I feel the ending to Raidon's story was very poetic, and I appreciate that.
I feel what pacing issues I had largely had to do with the stretches of time between reading each, though some topics did seem introduced to be answered right away, which felt strange.
I did greatly enjoy this series as a whole, and wish there was more material concerning the Spellplague in the novels. Oh well, guess I'll have to find a copy of Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide.
February 7, 2026
Final book in the Abolethic Sovereignty.
The ending was coocoo bananas. The series was good overall I guess. Certainly it's the only Forgotten Realms series I liked enough to read more than one book of.
It's not anything I'd necessarily recommend. Is that what "guilty pleasure" feels like?
I really like aboleths. I really like monks. I really like kuo-toas. I really liked how they did the warlock. The first novel is probably the strongest. The second one is really good. The third seemed in a rush to wrap things up and tie things together.
The ending was coocoo bananas. The series was good overall I guess. Certainly it's the only Forgotten Realms series I liked enough to read more than one book of.
It's not anything I'd necessarily recommend. Is that what "guilty pleasure" feels like?
I really like aboleths. I really like monks. I really like kuo-toas. I really liked how they did the warlock. The first novel is probably the strongest. The second one is really good. The third seemed in a rush to wrap things up and tie things together.
February 6, 2020
I thought this book was a great way to end the series. It was a great twist once they realize what the key of stars actually is. Ghosts from the past get dredged up, new friends are made, and alliances are tested, as our heroes find themselves in the depths of aberration hoards so twisted and horrible, the very sight of them is enough to drive some men insane!
June 5, 2017
Amazimg!
If you are a fan of Tolkien, I recommend this series. This is my 3rd read through and it hasn't lost its magical appeal.
If you are a fan of Tolkien, I recommend this series. This is my 3rd read through and it hasn't lost its magical appeal.
September 28, 2018
7/10
Better than expected. A solid Forgotten Realms book storywise with a good ending. Of course it is a Forgotten Realms book so do not expect miracles :)
Better than expected. A solid Forgotten Realms book storywise with a good ending. Of course it is a Forgotten Realms book so do not expect miracles :)
February 19, 2019
Worst Forgotten Realms novel I have read.
December 15, 2019
Great series. Very exciting with many great examples of martial art combat and psionics.
November 26, 2010
Disclaimer-If you read the review and feel there is a spoiler in it, please let me know and I will remove that section. Also, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask. Thank you.
Key of Stars is the final book in the Abolethic Sovereignty trilogy. The first book is Plague of Spells and the second is City of torment. Another book that has roots in the trilogy is Stardeep which is a part of the Dungeons series.
Key of Stars picks up after the events in City of Torment. The threat of the Abolethic Sovereignty still looms and the main characters have to figure out what move to make next to stop it. The Key of Stars may be the answer. Some subplots involve Raidon overcoming some revelations he experienced, revenge against one of the other main characters, another characters unknown heritage, a love interest, and a few more which would lead to spoilers.
I really enjoyed this novel. For me it was fast paced and moved along nicely. I had a hard time putting this one down. There is a little bit of jumping around, but it didn’t detract from the story as a whole. It was nice to see the antagonist’s side of things and what they were doing as well as the main character’s adventures. Though there are some predictable elements to the story, there were also some nice surprises I was not expecting. Another element in this series of books is based on Lovecraftian horror. If you are not familiar with the Chthulu mythos and Dagon, you may be a little lost in that aspect. You don’t need to have a firm understanding of H. P. Lovecraft’s works to enjoy this trilogy, but is does help to enhance the enjoyment of it. I also felt the character development was well done and enjoyed seeing the characters dealing with their inner issues and changing as the story progresses. I felt it made sense and added to the overall enjoyment.
Some Criticisms:
1. I have read another review on Goodreads.com where the individual complained about the superhero type vibe to the main characters and I have to say that I can understand and concur with that criticism. It seemed that no matter what happened to them, they were able to heal quickly and get back into the fight. There was no real sense of fallibility to them is this regard, as if there was no real danger to their lives.
2. There were a few mistakes in the editing that hindered the readability of this one though not as bad as I have seen in past FR novels, but it did take a little away from the flow of the book.
3. There was one scene that I can’t remember off hand, but it was one of those parts in the book where after you read it, you are like, “Really?” So I just laughed it off and moved on and still enjoyed the rest of the book.
Some Positives:
1. Mr. Cordell has a hobby in learning astrology and he uses his knowledge to create a nice descriptive cosmic/dimensional feel to the latter part of the book. For those who understand the lore of Lovecraft, they will really know what I mean. Also, Mr. Cordell did a better job of keep this one from feeling as Sci-fi compared to other books he has written, Stardeep comes to mind here.
2. The characters were a joy to read and I was able to connect with every one of them. They were re-introduced with just enough information to remind the reader of what happened before without getting too wordy. Their development made sense and followed along nicely with the story. I am one of those readers who love the positive direction of the way characters develop and so that is one of the reasons I enjoyed the development so much.
3. Mr. Cordell did a great job of concluding all the open plot points in this one. He even gave a snippet of letting the characters have an opening for further adventures, albeit in a different book and a different time. Basically, the question of “What are you going to do next?” is answered with the characters plans.
4. Once again, Mr. Cordell’s martial arts training is prevalent in this one. The detailed descriptions of the hand to hand combat are as good as R. A. Salvatore’s descriptions of fencing. I was really engaged and felt like I was watching some of the old martial arts movies I enjoyed as a kid.
This was a great conclusion to the trilogy and I enjoyed every moment of this one. Aside from the few criticisms, this could have been a 5 star rating for me, but I still am leaning toward wanting to give it a 4.5 but of course that is not an option. If you like fantasy and Lovecraftain horror, you will really enjoy this one. I will say this one is not for everyone judging by some of the reviews. If you would like to have a better understanding of some of the Lovecraft elements, I recommend just researching or reading one of his short stories as H.P. Lovecraft is not an author for everyone. For me, I was very much entertained by Key of Stars and I hope you are too.
Happy reading.
-Dimndbangr
Key of Stars is the final book in the Abolethic Sovereignty trilogy. The first book is Plague of Spells and the second is City of torment. Another book that has roots in the trilogy is Stardeep which is a part of the Dungeons series.
Key of Stars picks up after the events in City of Torment. The threat of the Abolethic Sovereignty still looms and the main characters have to figure out what move to make next to stop it. The Key of Stars may be the answer. Some subplots involve Raidon overcoming some revelations he experienced, revenge against one of the other main characters, another characters unknown heritage, a love interest, and a few more which would lead to spoilers.
I really enjoyed this novel. For me it was fast paced and moved along nicely. I had a hard time putting this one down. There is a little bit of jumping around, but it didn’t detract from the story as a whole. It was nice to see the antagonist’s side of things and what they were doing as well as the main character’s adventures. Though there are some predictable elements to the story, there were also some nice surprises I was not expecting. Another element in this series of books is based on Lovecraftian horror. If you are not familiar with the Chthulu mythos and Dagon, you may be a little lost in that aspect. You don’t need to have a firm understanding of H. P. Lovecraft’s works to enjoy this trilogy, but is does help to enhance the enjoyment of it. I also felt the character development was well done and enjoyed seeing the characters dealing with their inner issues and changing as the story progresses. I felt it made sense and added to the overall enjoyment.
Some Criticisms:
1. I have read another review on Goodreads.com where the individual complained about the superhero type vibe to the main characters and I have to say that I can understand and concur with that criticism. It seemed that no matter what happened to them, they were able to heal quickly and get back into the fight. There was no real sense of fallibility to them is this regard, as if there was no real danger to their lives.
2. There were a few mistakes in the editing that hindered the readability of this one though not as bad as I have seen in past FR novels, but it did take a little away from the flow of the book.
3. There was one scene that I can’t remember off hand, but it was one of those parts in the book where after you read it, you are like, “Really?” So I just laughed it off and moved on and still enjoyed the rest of the book.
Some Positives:
1. Mr. Cordell has a hobby in learning astrology and he uses his knowledge to create a nice descriptive cosmic/dimensional feel to the latter part of the book. For those who understand the lore of Lovecraft, they will really know what I mean. Also, Mr. Cordell did a better job of keep this one from feeling as Sci-fi compared to other books he has written, Stardeep comes to mind here.
2. The characters were a joy to read and I was able to connect with every one of them. They were re-introduced with just enough information to remind the reader of what happened before without getting too wordy. Their development made sense and followed along nicely with the story. I am one of those readers who love the positive direction of the way characters develop and so that is one of the reasons I enjoyed the development so much.
3. Mr. Cordell did a great job of concluding all the open plot points in this one. He even gave a snippet of letting the characters have an opening for further adventures, albeit in a different book and a different time. Basically, the question of “What are you going to do next?” is answered with the characters plans.
4. Once again, Mr. Cordell’s martial arts training is prevalent in this one. The detailed descriptions of the hand to hand combat are as good as R. A. Salvatore’s descriptions of fencing. I was really engaged and felt like I was watching some of the old martial arts movies I enjoyed as a kid.
This was a great conclusion to the trilogy and I enjoyed every moment of this one. Aside from the few criticisms, this could have been a 5 star rating for me, but I still am leaning toward wanting to give it a 4.5 but of course that is not an option. If you like fantasy and Lovecraftain horror, you will really enjoy this one. I will say this one is not for everyone judging by some of the reviews. If you would like to have a better understanding of some of the Lovecraft elements, I recommend just researching or reading one of his short stories as H.P. Lovecraft is not an author for everyone. For me, I was very much entertained by Key of Stars and I hope you are too.
Happy reading.
-Dimndbangr
May 10, 2019
The final book in this trilogy is both good and bad-good. By good, I mean that the story is well written (as were the first two books), and action/pacing flow well. By bad-good, I mean that it introduces some new elements that are secondary to the main story and leave them unresolved (undetail may be a better word) at the final close of the story. They are good threads, but they are left dangling in a way that leaves a bit of unresolved disappointment in the reader's mind (this reader at least). That being said, I still can recommend the book with a forewarning that you might have an uncontrollable desire to go looking for more.
The characters we've come to know begin with a somewhat flummoxed state of mind. They have the huge threat of the Aboleth Sovereignty and the floating city of aberrations, Xxiphu, literally hanging over their heads, but they are at a loss as to what they should do about it. The big bad(s) (there are multiple, even thought they prevented the biggest bad from waking up in the last book) are a palpable threat, but they have no real idea of how to deal with them. Luckily, the continued leadership growth shown by Anusha pulls them together to deal with the problem, and our adventure begins in earnest.
The plot is excellent, and you can tell that the events of book three were planned from the beginning of book one. Most of the main point are resolved, including a few surprises (which I will not spoil here). There are a few new characters introduced at the last minute that are quite interesting and lead the 'unresolved' feel I mentioned previously. The pacing and action kept me immersed in the story from start to finish. The main characters continue their growth to become people you care about even more. Except for one, that is; I was disappointed not to find out what happened to Seren who does not join the party on its quest. Some aspects of the characters circumstances are not fully explained and others paths seem rushed to a conclusion. Those are the only negatives in the book that prevented me from giving it an additional star.
Ultimate, the story is an excellent one (through the whole series), and I can recommend it quite easily. I give it three stars and call it a Overall Good Read.
The characters we've come to know begin with a somewhat flummoxed state of mind. They have the huge threat of the Aboleth Sovereignty and the floating city of aberrations, Xxiphu, literally hanging over their heads, but they are at a loss as to what they should do about it. The big bad(s) (there are multiple, even thought they prevented the biggest bad from waking up in the last book) are a palpable threat, but they have no real idea of how to deal with them. Luckily, the continued leadership growth shown by Anusha pulls them together to deal with the problem, and our adventure begins in earnest.
The plot is excellent, and you can tell that the events of book three were planned from the beginning of book one. Most of the main point are resolved, including a few surprises (which I will not spoil here). There are a few new characters introduced at the last minute that are quite interesting and lead the 'unresolved' feel I mentioned previously. The pacing and action kept me immersed in the story from start to finish. The main characters continue their growth to become people you care about even more. Except for one, that is; I was disappointed not to find out what happened to Seren who does not join the party on its quest. Some aspects of the characters circumstances are not fully explained and others paths seem rushed to a conclusion. Those are the only negatives in the book that prevented me from giving it an additional star.
Ultimate, the story is an excellent one (through the whole series), and I can recommend it quite easily. I give it three stars and call it a Overall Good Read.
November 29, 2013
This was a fairly good conclusion to this trilogy. It introduced some really cool things to the Realms, especially a system of towers guarding a weak point in reality that abominations are trying to enter through. I would definitely read a whole series set in that area. For that matter, given how the novel ends, I'm hopeful that the protagonists will show up again at some point. In general, all the main characters got some nice development and most of them had at least some closure to their major plot arcs. I'm confused and disappointed by Cordell's decision to have Seren suddenly drop out of the narrative, since it was nice to get a peak at the Red Wizards of Thay, who I haven't read much about in other novels. The plot was generally nicely paced and represented a good blending of Lovecraftian horror with D&D style heroic fantasy, though in some ways the ending felt a little poorly paced. Not rushed, exactly, but more as if its focus was slightly off. Overall, though, I've had a lot of fun with this trilogy and I'll definitely have to check out Stardeep and anything else Cordell might write using these characters.
April 1, 2014
I find it somewhat interesting that I am finally finishing this book that introduced the fourth edition of Dungeons & Dragons when the fourth edition is about to end, but I digress.
Continuing where the previous book left off, this book details the heroes' attempt to address the problem of the floating aboleth city of Xxiphu, and ultimately stop the incursion of the Far Realm into the Forgotten Realms. I quite enjoyed Bruce's description of these things in many ways, with one glaring exception near the end, though I can put that behind me. While the characters are hard to pigeonhole into D&D classes in some cases, they are still fairly interesting (though since it has been a while since I read the most recent book, I had forgotten a few things that happened at the end of the previous one). I liked how it resolved itself, though the final piece of the puzzle was telegraphed so extensively that it was hard to miss. Still, the ending was dealt with the the appropriate grace and gravitas, and it was rather moving. I quite liked the entire trilogy, and this was a fine ending to it.
Continuing where the previous book left off, this book details the heroes' attempt to address the problem of the floating aboleth city of Xxiphu, and ultimately stop the incursion of the Far Realm into the Forgotten Realms. I quite enjoyed Bruce's description of these things in many ways, with one glaring exception near the end, though I can put that behind me. While the characters are hard to pigeonhole into D&D classes in some cases, they are still fairly interesting (though since it has been a while since I read the most recent book, I had forgotten a few things that happened at the end of the previous one). I liked how it resolved itself, though the final piece of the puzzle was telegraphed so extensively that it was hard to miss. Still, the ending was dealt with the the appropriate grace and gravitas, and it was rather moving. I quite liked the entire trilogy, and this was a fine ending to it.
November 12, 2010
While this had a mostly proper 'alien' feel, I felt that some things in this take were just a bit too convenient - to the point of stretching suspension of disbelief.
Of course, part of this already was set up such in the previous books, so it was to expected, but I kept going back to the feelings I had with those other novels: All I want is a simple hero - not a freak of nature (with convenient super powers). However, the only person remotely 'normal' was written out of the story early on...
And there were some conflict with earlier lore, such as the suddenly open nature of Nathlek (which I am going to ignore).
Sp I liked this in general, but I really hope Bruce can get himself to write a story next time that doesn't rely on super heroes.
Of course, part of this already was set up such in the previous books, so it was to expected, but I kept going back to the feelings I had with those other novels: All I want is a simple hero - not a freak of nature (with convenient super powers). However, the only person remotely 'normal' was written out of the story early on...
And there were some conflict with earlier lore, such as the suddenly open nature of Nathlek (which I am going to ignore).
Sp I liked this in general, but I really hope Bruce can get himself to write a story next time that doesn't rely on super heroes.
August 30, 2011
Okay, nothing great. Wizards of the Coast really screwed the pooch with their post-Spellplague world. Two trilogies, one ten years later (Abolethic Sovereignty), one a hundred years later (Blades of the Moonsea), no single defining story to let readers know exactly what happened! I know there is also an Elminster series, but it isn't enough! I wanted to know what happened to The Blackstaff! The Seven Sisters! The main cities and locations! I wanted an epic story introducing us to this new world. And what we get are two trilogies that tread on the edges of the world. I'm sorry, but this sucked! You destroy a beloved world, beloved characters, beloved gods, and give us two fringe stories. Not good enough! Hope 2012 brings us better stories.
July 14, 2015
Just so so hack and slash. The author swings wildly in writing style, occasionally trying to summon literary writing to highlight the 'horror' landscape, but it falls flat for me. I haven't been keeping up with the D&D genre, so the powers and abilities featured in the book are new. I realize reading the Forgotten Realms all these years I have been anchored in the standard rules and feel a certain comfort zone in understanding the world so well. I didn't have that so much in this book which may have caused me to lower the rating, but at the end of the day I walked away from the book not hating it, but not overly liking it either.
March 7, 2011
Though it still lacked the very essence of what attracted me to the series to begin with, there are a couple of new things that I really liked. Cordell's description of fight scenes in this one were definitely more graphic and easier to get sucked in to. The build up of a lot of the characters finally reached the end too. But I felt that some things were just glossed over (such as what happened to the Red Wizard, how did Japheth overcome the addiction, ect.) I do like that it added another flavor to Faerun, and I will never be disappointed when that happens.
July 8, 2011
This series is supposed to be an adventure of Lovecraftian horror in the Forgotten Realms universe. Well, it comes quite close in this final volume of the series, but when it comes right down to it, Lovecraftian fiction is more about atmosphere than monster with tentacles. That being said, this volume is very well done. The action is evenly paced and the stakes are more realized, the end of the world actually seems imminent. This is the best story of the series, even if it does have a bittersweet ending, it's one of the best endings I've seen in a long time.
April 27, 2011
Good ending to the trilogy. Felt a bit "hero's journey" near the end, though, and that took me out of it. Reading the whole series was worth it for that bit of guilty adventuring action. If anything, it did serve for some good basis for a D&D campaign.
September 10, 2013
Over all it was a pretty good book, if you like the good verses evil fantasy stories.
January 23, 2016
Good ending to the trilogy.
January 11, 2017
Slighty better than the first two books at lest the last 1/4 was , had some good twists a the end . overall I would rate the set of books as 2.5 stars
April 20, 2011
Well why wouldn't I read book 3 after just finishing 1 and 2?
September 21, 2014
Won't let me read the book, so i am disappointed..
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