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Dungeons & Dragons Iconic Series #10
The Death Ray
This title chronicles the latest adventure of various iconic characters from the Dungeons & Dragons core rulebooks. This series of novels is designed to bring readers closer to the feeling of actually playing a D&D adventure. This tenth title in the novel line features the iconic characters of the fighter and the wizards, both of whom appeared in the kickoff title for the line, "The Savage Caves."
192 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 1, 2003
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About the author
T.H. Lain
16 books9 followersT.H. Lain was a collective pseudonym used by nine separate authors writing under Wizards of the Coast's Dungeons & Dragons novels imprint.
According to Peter Archer, WotC's Director of Publishing, the decision to credit the Dungeons & Dragons novels to just one author was made to ensure they would be shelved together, as well as to spark a certain measure of curiosity and speculation as to T.H. Lain's identity. However, it was already obvious to many from the stylistic differences between volumes that Lain's output was the work of many authors rather than one.
In December 2003, WotC formally announced the nine authors whose work was published under the T.H. Lain name.
According to Peter Archer, WotC's Director of Publishing, the decision to credit the Dungeons & Dragons novels to just one author was made to ensure they would be shelved together, as well as to spark a certain measure of curiosity and speculation as to T.H. Lain's identity. However, it was already obvious to many from the stylistic differences between volumes that Lain's output was the work of many authors rather than one.
In December 2003, WotC formally announced the nine authors whose work was published under the T.H. Lain name.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 13, 2010
Having read Oath of Nerull, I kinda tried not to expect too much out of this book - and that turned out better. I didn't realise that Regdar and Naull were featured in an earlier book so there's some not-so-good continuity here, as you're left wondering what happened between Regdar and Naull.
The villain was actually portrayed and orchestrated pretty well, so a good point there. The protagonist, Regdar, he kind of reminds me of Conan. The reader is reminded at certain points on how big Regdar is, but sadly, at other crucial points, his girth is conveniently not mentioned.
The overall writing style was decent, although, as with Oath of Nerull, the author attempts some weak humor at certain points, with some of them turning out to be cliched. I liked some of them action, corny and cliche, but still pretty well told, if you'd overlooked one or two scenes that had obvious problems with it. Still, the storyline is halfway decent - like a D&D adventure - which is smack on the target for this series.
The villain was actually portrayed and orchestrated pretty well, so a good point there. The protagonist, Regdar, he kind of reminds me of Conan. The reader is reminded at certain points on how big Regdar is, but sadly, at other crucial points, his girth is conveniently not mentioned.
The overall writing style was decent, although, as with Oath of Nerull, the author attempts some weak humor at certain points, with some of them turning out to be cliched. I liked some of them action, corny and cliche, but still pretty well told, if you'd overlooked one or two scenes that had obvious problems with it. Still, the storyline is halfway decent - like a D&D adventure - which is smack on the target for this series.
February 20, 2022
"Oh this would make such a great movie!" was what ran through my head as I was reading.
On the lost sleep-o-meter it scores 5 hours.
Was really fun and looked forward to every spare minute of reading it. The characters felt real and the villain had a distinct character. The action scenes were very inventive and I could really see it all happening in my minds eye. They could just write this as a script and shoot it as the new Dungeons and Dragons movie!
T. H. Lain was a collective pseudonym for nine separate authors writing under Wizards of the Coast's Dungeons & Dragons novels.
Some reviewers referring to it as TH Lain's 10th book is amusing. My real question is, what is the TH short for?
Thanks Philip. I escaped reality, if only for a while.
On the lost sleep-o-meter it scores 5 hours.
Was really fun and looked forward to every spare minute of reading it. The characters felt real and the villain had a distinct character. The action scenes were very inventive and I could really see it all happening in my minds eye. They could just write this as a script and shoot it as the new Dungeons and Dragons movie!
T. H. Lain was a collective pseudonym for nine separate authors writing under Wizards of the Coast's Dungeons & Dragons novels.
Some reviewers referring to it as TH Lain's 10th book is amusing. My real question is, what is the TH short for?
Thanks Philip. I escaped reality, if only for a while.
September 23, 2023
Based on the main characters from the D&D Third Edition Handbook, this book features the human fighter Regdar. There is more city politics and a more interesting villain than in the other books of the series.
July 3, 2025
The other books in this series are written like they could be a module players could run. This one feels like a more standard fantasy mystery novel with D&D trappings. It's good enough for what it is, but it's not much.
August 19, 2008
I just don't get it. The storyline is way too simple, the characters are neither lovable nor despicable. They're just... there. Maybe I'm used to more complex plots, yet I feel no connection at all with either the story or characters. I guess I won't be reading any more books concerning Dungeons & Dragons, I'll just stick to my favorites from Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms.
June 5, 2013
sorry to see this excellent series end with this , the 10th novel in T. H. Lain's series.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews