Wrota Baldura

Forgotten Realms: Baldur's Gate #1

by Philip Athans, Rafał Gałecki (Translator)

Bhaal Musi Być Powstrzymany!

Ktoś sabotuje kopalnie rudy żelaza na Wybrzeżu Mieczy, popychając dwa potężne królestwa do krwawej wojny, a młodego najemnika na trop niewyobrażalnej tajemnicy.

***
Źli bogowie, olbrzymie pająki, zabójcze sobowtórniaki, odrażające ghule i niegodziwi Zhentarimowe budzą się do życia w tętniącej akcją powieści „Wrota Baldura”, będącej literackim rozwinięciem komputerowej gry firmy BioWare i Interplay.

Genres: Fantasy, Forgotten Realms, Fiction, Dungeons and Dragons, Video Games, Science Fiction Fantasy, Adventure

311 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1998

About the author

I 100% support AUTHORS AGAINST BOOK BANS
https://www.authorsagainstbookbans.com

I give every book 5 stars in protest against the concept of star ratings in general and the ever-unfolding algorithm dystopia!

Philip Athans, an anti-AI, anti-book bans liberal, is the founding partner of Athans & Associates Creative Consulting (www.athansassociates.com), and the New York Times best-selling author of Annihilation and more than a dozen other fantasy and horror books including The Best of Fantasy Authors Handbook Vol. I 2009-2013, The Guide to Writing Fantasy & Science Fiction, and Writing Monsters. Born in Rochester, New York he grew up in suburban Chicago, where he published the literary magazine Alternative Fiction & Poetry. His blog, Fantasy Author’s Handbook, is updated every Tuesday (https://fantasyhandbook.wordpress.com), less regularly on the FAH YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@FantasyAutho...), and you can follow him on Twitter @PhilAthans. He makes his home in the foothills of the Washington Cascades, east of Seattle.

Reviews

[Tim · Rating 1 out of 5]

No, I did not just read this book. This is a book that I forgot existed and then recently noticed it was on my digital bookshelf and a flashback to 20 years ago occurred.

It must have been 2000, I was addicted to a game called Baldur's Gate which was at the time one of the most immersive RPGs on the PC. So many options, so many quests, SO MANY CDS TO THE GAME! It was huge, it was amazing and while the developer Bioware may have gone on to make better games (debatable) it will always be my favorite for nostalgic reasons.

One day while walking in a book store, I see this book sitting there. A novelization of "tHe BeSt GaMe eVeR! mUsT bE ThE BeSt BoOk EvEr!"



Well young me, first you should have checked that page count. You put how many hours into that game? I do not exaggerate that it had to have been over a hundred as it was very much my obsession for quite a while. Did you think a mere 250 pages would tell that epic? How many characters were in the game? How many had detailed story lines? How many frankly had a complex enough plot that even with 20 years I look back at them impressed? Yeah, this book was not what you wanted.

See all those other reviews? See how the majority are one star? Yeah... The book was hilariously bad. Like drinking game worthy bad. Terribly structured, poorly written, poor word choices, and didn't capture a damn thing about the games. This book runs the bad book Olympics and takes all the awards for it. Seriously, I don't know who read the finished product and was like "perfection! Publish it!" but it was an insult to all readers, not just fans of the game.

It's been twenty years, I can say I forgot it and that I was happy with it forgotten... but no longer. The memory returned and with it the rage. I sold my copy long ago, I thought it could no longer hurt me. Obviously I was wrong. It is my hope that no one else will be harmed by this book. Stay away.

Please.

1/5 stars.

[Fonch · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dedicated with affection to Turbiales, Khanach, Eldamihr, Hougort, MyD69, Mr. Galamomd, Frau Anja Schubert, Monkey Monkey, The Master's Screen and all the people who accompanied Turbiales in bioware's R.P.G. Video Game gameplay thanks for making me happy and be my Earendil light in dark times. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list... https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list... https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list... https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list... (unfortunately only for people who understand Spanish. I joined Turbiales in video 16 of Baldur's Gates II specifically the chapter titled the eye you don't see).
Ladies and gentlemen announced that this review is the Christmas review and that it will follow up when I write the review "Baldur's Gates Shadows of Amn" will be the last reviews of this year 2020. In reality, the two reviews have to be read as a single review, and they have only been divided into two, because they are two different books. Ladies and gentlemen announced that this review is the Christmas review and that it will follow up when I write the review "Baldur's Gates Shadows of Amn" will be the last reviews of this year 2020. In reality, the two reviews have to be read as a single review, and they have only been divided into two, because they are two different books. As you can see The Goodreads users didn't like it, however, I don't think it's fair to lynch Philip Athans like we have and call him a bad writer. I've only read you two novels, and I think it's unfair to judge you for that. He already said it in his wonderful book, almost as interesting as his novels the writer Orson Scott Card https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... in addition to countless topics including how to write sci-fi stories, and what a writer should do when he manages to publish, and how he should behave, which to me is almost the most important thing of all. In this book Orson Scott Card talked about the difficulties of fictionalizing or turning a successful film into a novel. Something, which is very beneficial, but that imposes great limitations on the author, and that must deal with two problems, can hardly go beyond the film, and has to please fans, which is almost impossible and you must admit one thing and is that adapting a video game and turning it into a book, or a novel is even more complicated (in fact not always great novels don't always become great novels. Sometimes great films of lousy books have been made), and I know very few writers who have succeeded. I've seen writers, who I'd really liked to crash and fail to play a great video game. In my case I must admit that I am very demanding, and that I hope that the adaptation of the video game did not stay far behind the video game in question and it is not usually the case, because I believe that games have their language, as cinema has. I know of a writer who's made it. Her name is Miyuki Miyabe https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... he writes like angels, and also treats his characters with great humanity by confronting them with great moral dilemmas. That's why I would recommend if you're going to make a Baldur's Gates novel to be commissioned from Miyuki Miyabe, because you have experience such as "Brave Story" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... which to me is the best modern fantasy novel I've ever read, and I've read almost 2200 books and it's heavily influenced by the Dragonquest game saga (in fact my big dream would have been that Square and Bioware, now Larian would have participated in a joint game, but I don't think I see it because they're different companies), he also wrote, but I haven't been able to read it "Icco the Castle in the Fog" in this field.https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9... so he has extensive experience I recommend it, to Larian, TSR https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... , Dungeons and Dragons https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... .Dungeons_Dragons or Wizard of the Coast https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... to novelize Baldur's Gates III, or remake baldur's Gates I and Baldur's Gates 2 Shadows of Amn novels, in fact I would love to have novels like the ones they do in Dragonlance and novel the lives of Baldur's Gates 1 and Baldur's Gates II Shadows of Amn characters. I think, unlike Athans' novel, what has made Baldur's Gates a timeless classic in the great video game it is. It's just that it's a game, that tells a story that comes to our hearts, while Philip Athans' novel is the work of a simple craftsman and that he hasn't proven to be very right-handed in this case. This year, as video game fans will know, the Baldur's Gates III video game was to appear and I wanted to pay a great tribute to the entire saga. I in my youth was a great lover of video games and played some, my favorite being the saga of Baldur's Gates games. I remember that the computer I bought it in 1996, when I was in 1st BUP and when I bought the first baldur's Gates video game I did not have the megas of RAM to play it and I had to wait for my second computer, to play it in conditions. I made a lot of mistakes, but in the end I managed to pass it to me, because I loved this game marked me. We can say that my favorite game was Baldur's Gates II Shadow of Amn, but the game that changed my life and made me a man was Neverwinter Nights, but not the game itself. But the possibility to be able to play the stories themselves with other people on a server. At first this review was going to be dedicated to my friends of Eternam /Rebellion to all the players who preceded me, those who agreed with me, and those who happened to me, but Turbiales has certainly been the one who has allowed me to enjoy these wonderful games again and above all and most importantly to be able to enjoy and share it with him. I must confess one Turbial thing and its gameplays of Bioware games have been one of my few joys this year, which has not been good for me not only because of the coronavirus, but because my parents got sick, an aunt of mine died of an ALS-like illness, my friend Kunniotani's grandmother, my friend Professor Manuel Alfonseca https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... has twice been bullied with hernias, and now she has undergone a cataract operation, nor have the policy news helped that she had been like a mother to him died, my sister, although she approved the opposition as a lab technician did not get a place, and I continue to look for a paid job. So my only consolation has been my family, my religious beliefs, my goodreads friends, and these gameplays. I wasn't the only one. A boy watching the Turbiales videos picked up the coronavirus, and he had a bad prognosis, and the only thing that made him happy were the Turbial videos, so that they can see and appreciate the great human size of Turbiales. In 2007 let's say, something happened to me. You don't have to blame someone, but only myself I did something wrong with the best intention, but it was a bad thing. I forced a person into something I didn't want to do and lost it forever it was my fault and I decided to stop playing video games forever. I knew I wanted to do something special this year because of the appearance of Baldur's Gates 3, but I couldn't do it. So I did like the parents who failed, but realized that their children were more talented than them. I lived someone else's life and dreams. I wanted to enjoy Baldur's Gates I again, and II, but without me playing it. So I started by liking Baldur's cell phone and my cell phone showed me a turbial game at Baldur's Gates I. I think the Durlag tower I couldn't play, because there weren't many copies of Baldur's Gates the Sword Coast expansion and I saw Turbiales at Durlag's Toreon, and I saw that I had dedicated a series of videos to Baldur's Gates and saw that it was my chance. The great thing about Turbinal games is that you can comment on them, and this one was assisted by several players, the most important being Khanach, whose knowledge of the Bioware saga was immense. Initially I stayed out of it during the viewing of his Baldur's Gates 1 games and the Siege of Dragonspear expansion. In fact, I intend to talk about Baldur's Gates 1 and The Siege of Dragonspear expansion, which could not be novelized by Philip Athans, because it appeared this decade, to fill the gap between Baldur's Gates 1 and Baldur's Gates II Shadows of Amn its continuation, because there are so many issues to explain, and things that did not clear up between game and game and took advantage of the void to put in a new adventure covering those gaps. I'll dedicate an annex to Siege of Dragonspear because of how big this review is. . But going back to Turbiales gradually I was affectionate, first for his integrity, and for how well he guided his characters. I thought he was a very honest and honest man. In addition, he is a great roler and an encyclopedia. It's not the same as the game being commented on by someone who has no idea about Dungeons and Dragons (this happened to me with neverwinter Nights videos that the person commenting on them was hateful. He said tacos, profanities, and got angry every two by three, apart from killing for no reason. Turbial in the videos I've seen him, even one in which he went with a group of evil characters, I never act with cruelty or arbitrariness. Well, I admit she got rid of Dynaheir, because if you took her out of the Minsc group, she'd go with her so she had to kill her so she could stay with Minsc and kill Elf Hair to grab her scroll holder but didn't perform any more evil action). (I hang it at first so you can see it all, because this review is long and Goodreads will only allow me to get the first four pages into the review. I initially directed him by sharing work with Khanach from baldur's Gates II 16th video in the eye he doesn't see and I was with him until the last video of Icewind Dale 2 Isair and Madae. Anyway and returning to Baldur's Gates the edition I played was obsolete and another edition called Baldur's Gates Enhanced was created that included graphic improvements, and expansions. Some like Coast of the Sword came in very limited quantities. Another advantage of Enhanced is when collecting items from the ground, they are no longer collected from the corpses, but all the objects are together. In addition, three new characters were introduced, the wild maga elf Neera, the human monk of Selune Raasad and the semi-orque Dorn Il Kahn. These characters were not in the original version of Baldur's Gates and were not in Philip Athans' novel. Baldur's Gates I, Siege of Dragon Spear, Baldur'sw Gates II Shadows of Amn and depending on whether you take the characters can appear in Throne of Bhaal the expansion of Baldur's Gates II Shadows of Amn, which also includes the Watcher's Tower. From Baldur's Gates II Shadows of Amn joins a new character Hexxat which is a vampire thief. Each character will have a quest, which is continued in the following episodes. However, perhaps with the exception of Neera none of the characters, despite the advantages they have been given are interesting enough. Neera has a mission to escape Thay's Red Wizards (an organization of evil wizards) and find her master Adoy. Mission that will be completed in Siege of Dragon Spear so you will be awarded a new mission at Baldur's Gates II Shadows of Amn. Rasaad must find his brother and take revenge on his sustractor Alorgoth and this will keep him busy until Throne of Bhaal and Dorn will take revenge on his band, and in Baldur's Gates II Shadows of Amn will perform a lot of misdeeds. In his favor he is the only character who possesses a force of 19, and a high charisma. Whoever played the Dungeons and Dragons role-playing game will know that there are three types of Good, Neutral, and Evil alignments. you can be legal, true and chaotic. The most beneficial would be the legal good, and the most evil would be Evil Chaotic. In between they would be neutral good, chaotic good, legal neutral, neutral true, chaotic neutral, and then would be legal malignant, neutral evil and chaotic neutral. Once we have counted the alignments we can talk about Baldur's Gates is the story of an orphan raised in a monastery called Candelero, which is very reminiscent of a monastic order. Here the main character whose name is Abdel Adrian (by the way, Abdel Adrian is a character who has been incorporated into the story of Forgotten Realms, I will already hang a link of data from his life in the criticism of Baldur's Gates II Shadows of Amn). There are prophecies that particularly baffle the community that has welcomed you. They are the prophecies of a monk known as Alaundo, who prophesied of the chaos that Bhaal God's sons would cause of murder. As they say in baldur's Gates brilliant prologue you have been raised as an adopted son by a wizard of great power, who has found refuge on the walls of this monastery. Where raised by telling you great stories of heroes, but there's something your own story hasn't told you. The story begins when Gorion proposes to make a long journey to a meson called the Friendly Arm Friend (One of the disadvantages of enhanced is that the wonderful dubbing in Spanish has disappeared and is doubled again in English. You can download the dubbing and spanish translation, if you go to the Clan of the An, but it can have flaws and cause failures in the game, but it is worth hearing the characters in Spanish, because one of the good things that Spain has is that it has the best dubbers in the world). I would strongly advise the President of Larian Swen Vincke (to whom I would like to send this criticism). That allows the user to decide the language. Let the player decide in Spain whether he wants to hear the voices of the characters in Spanish, or in English. I think he does follow this advice, and he chooses some good dubbings, the sales of the game may improve. Sometimes spanish phrases are much better than in English. Turbiales himself read the dialogues, and he had a beautiful voice, and I must confess, that one of my vices is to make voices. Another thing, which I would like to mention is that my friends who are lovers of role-playing games are concerned, because translation rights are running out, and they fear that Dungeons and Dragons modules will not be translated into Spanish. Returning to the plot during the trip Gorion warns you, that if anything happens to him you will promise him that you will go to the reach of Friendly Arm and contact two of his friends named Khalid and Jaheira (two of the canonical characters of the game). With the canonical thing I mean. That you can go with any character, but the official version

[Efka · Rating 1 out of 5]

This one is so bad, that at some moment reading it actually gets funny. You just start wondering, what more "tremendous revelations" will you find in this book, if Mr. Athans knows anything about Baldur's Gate and if he bothered at all. But now I've started remembering this book more and, well, no, it's not funny. It's an utter crap, an insult for all fans of THE Baldur's gate - Original one - and it is so bad, that one star rating is just much too much. Some 0,06 stars would be a fair evaluation. DON'T READ IT. You've been warned.

[Queen of France · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is complete shit. I love it.
It's so bad it's brilliant, so unintentionally hilarious that it makes you cry tears of laughter at the author's attempts at plot, characterization or sentence structure. Read while drunk/high, I guarantee you will lose it.

[Emily · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is, quite possibly, the worst book I've ever read.

I ran across this book in a pre-loved books store. With the Forgotten Realms tag, an author I know from the War of the Spider Queen, toss in the game "Baldur's Gate", I figured I might as well give it a go for two dollars. I wasn't horribly disappointed since I had such low expectations - what book based on a video game has ever been fantastic? It took great effort to get to the last page, and some scenes were more grotesque then I would have preferred to read. Nobody wants to read about giant spiders and what they do to (INSIDE) people, ick. When the plot wasn't confusing, it was so great in its terrible-ness I read outloud to my sister so we could both have a laugh.

Awful book, if I were to pick a "Worst fantasy to recommend", this would be it. Why? Because its THAT terrible, its comical.

[Dave Matney · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is easily the worst book I've ever read. The author takes the amazing plot from the game and absolutely defiles it. Minsc has hair, Jahiera is a ditz, Kahlid dies and gives the arrogant bastard Abdel his blessing to have a relationship with his widowed wife. Major plot points are skipped, Abdel is unbeatable, unlikeable, but somehow still beds one of the hardest characters to keep happy.

If you have played Baldur's Gate, DO NOT READ THIS BOOK. If you haven't, don't read this book, and play the game.

One star isn't low enough for this piece of garbage. I own the second book (I got both for a whopping $0.02 and feel like I got ripped off), but I'll never crack it's cover.

UPDATE (Mar. 4, 2021): Changed some wording.

[Zoe Sommers · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am honestly unsure whether to rate this a one or three. This is a terrible book. This is the second worst book I have ever read. And yet, on some level, I actually kind of enjoy it simply because it is SO HILARIOUSLY BAD.
The characterization of...well, everyone, was a complete 180 degree turn from their canon in-game personalities, not to mention Athans has a bad habit of killing off characters as soon as they are no longer useful for his purposes. The story really doesn't make much sense, it skips around a lot, and there are more plot holes than I can count. It's also just a little too gory for my tastes.
Now I'd be lying if I said it didnt have its moments. Every once in a while, it actually gets good enough to geniunely draw me in for a while, before throwing me off again and just going back to being hilariously bad. I also grudgingly admit that I actually did kind of like Xan as a character, even if he's absolutely nothing like he was in the game. Too bad I never felt anything of the sort for Abdel or Jaheira. Abdel was utterly unlikeable, and Jaheira was reduced to nothing more than a screaming damsel in distress. Don't even get me started on Cardboard Cutout Khalid. The characterizations of Montaron, Xzar, and Yeslick were actually pretty good and I considered them to be fairly interesting characters in the story. Unfortunately, they are only in very short portions of the book. Sarevok did not feel threatening as a villain at all and was more like some generic bad guy. The anticlimactic final battle did nothing to help this impression.
Anyways, if you're a fan of the game, don't read this expecting anything like the game, because it's nothing but a cruel mockery of the source material. But if you like to read really bad fantasy literature from time to time just to laugh at how bad it is, this is the book for you.

[Kaylin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I must say that I picked up this book assuming that it would be bad, but I had hope that maybe, just maybe, it might surprise me. Unfortunately, it didn't.

It's been a little while since I played the game, but this book wasn't even accurate to my memory. This is not really a novelization of Baldur's Gate, but rather a story quite loosely based on the game that we love. Sadly, in telling us this story, it also twists around the personalities of several characters that we love.

I found the main character Abdel boring and Jaheira was struck with damsel in distress syndrome. Other than Jaheira, we only get to see four other companions from the game, all of whom end up killed off when they're no longer needed. Yep, there's no Kivan, no Branwen, no Skie or Shar-teel, no Coran or Garrick or Dynaheir. Imoen, who is a huge part of the story in the second game and the first companion you get, is never even mentioned. Even Minsc, one of the greatest companion characters of all time, doesn't get an appearance.

If you take this book as just an adventure set in the Forgotten Realms, I suppose it might be an enjoyable light read for some. For me, it was just a poorly told summary of the game. If you have the time, I highly recommend that you play the game instead.

[Dave · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found the novel to be a tad scattered and a bit all over the place as Athans in this paperback based on the old Baldur's Gate computer game which I did play back in the day.
Most ( not all ) of the Characters you meet in the video game make their appearances in the book with only Abdel Adrian, the main character who I am guessing is a fighter class, as the only character created by Athans.
The back of the book pretty much relates everything that happens in the novel from the mystery of spoiled iron ore mines, to undead, to giant spiders and so on and so forth. There are a lot of gruesome deaths in this book and more than I first thought before reading it. But after a bit you stop caring for any characters anyway.
A solid 2 star effort in my humble opinion.

[Piotr Suwała · Rating 1 out of 5]

I knew where I was going with this. I read lots of reviews. Yet still I could not believe it was so terrible. I thought many people were just repeating what they'd heard. I was wrong. According to my Kindle I read 51% of this book and was so fed up I could not continue reading and deleted it.

I played the game many times and enjoyed it. The book seemed to be written by some sick-minded child. From the beginning to the point where I stopped reading there's only extremely shallow characters, lots of idiotic slashing and lack of real plot.

The main character is far from the one in the actual game. According to this something, I can't even call a book, the main protagonist is a sellsword whose only ambition is to kill as much as he can and as fast as he can and also is such a great warrior that no one can stand him. That's pathetic because even this book states that all his life he spent at Candlekeep (which is a monastery) among monks and only monks so where would he even learn how to hold a sword?

All the other characters where just appearing to die a moment later. Jaheira did not care that her husband was badly wounded and after he died all she wanted was to go to the main protagonist who actually killed him. Xan was just 'ow I don't like that one. Let's kill him'.

Besides we have gore and unecessary bloodshed everywhere. Idiotic and sick moment when the company encounters some ghouls who dug up Gorion and ate him and of course we have the description of his rotting body parts laying all over. And a moment when the author describes what giant spiders do to people which sickened me so much my stomach started to ache. This is the point where I stopped and decided to write here to warn you against this abomination.

Greetings, friends!

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I wouldn't say that this novel is badly written, the writing style is somewhat juvenile. The author describes decapitations and eviscerations in loving detail, like an immature teenager drooling over porn. (It doesn't help that the actor reading it in the audio version is somewhat melodramatic himself.)

And speaking of porn, how many female characters do we have who aren't either helpless, screaming women in need of constant rescuing or sex toys of the villain? I count...none. Jaheira, unlike her counterpart in the game, is completely useless in a battle and screams constantly. And Tamoko is largely a concubine who could have been interesting as a fighting companion or a villain, but didn't get much opportunity.

Also, Abdel was incredibly difficult to like. He begins by murdering an innocent man in cold blood, forcing his companions to scramble in order to dodge a murder accusation. Then he leers at his companion's wife right in front of the guy. Or maybe it was leering first; murder second. Whatever. He gets better over the course of the book, developing a generic sword & sorcery hero conscience, though his companions aren't particularly likable either.

This isn't to say I didn't enjoy the book. It was entertaining. There was nothing particularly original about the plot, but if you're looking for a fun, fast-paced Dungeons & Dragons style adventure, it's suitable.

[Annalee · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book completely mutilates the original story. I was incredibly excited upon aquiring the book but after around 10 pages I was devastated. The game and it's sequels are incredible, I hoped maybe the book would have more to do with the actual events in game, rather than 'invented' situations, but I was dead wrong. Also, characters in the book all have a personality redesign which is annoying, and the main character is the worst of the lot.

I liked some fight descriptions, and at times the book was (unintentionally) incredibly funny. But it's not enough to rate it even as OK.

[Marta · Rating 1 out of 5]

Śmiem twierdzić, że gdyby tworzyć listę najgorszych powieści wszech czasów, opisywana w tym tekście pozycja niewątpliwie zajęłaby jedno z czołowych miejsc tego zestawienia. Mamy bowiem do czynienia z istnym potworkiem literackim, z tworem, który nigdy nie powinien był ujrzeć światła dziennego. Jeśli zaś już powstać musiał, wykorzystywany winien być jedynie jako materiał dydaktyczny podczas warsztatów „Jak nie należy pisać książek”.

Zacząć powinno się od wspomnienia, iż recenzowany twór to literacka adaptacja jednej z najpopularniejszych gier cRPG – Baldur’s Gate. Nie sądzę jednak, by którykolwiek z czytelników nigdy wcześniej o dziele BioWare nie słyszał, pozwolę więc sobie przejść od razu do książki. Ta koncentruje się na historii najemnika Abdela – w przypadku gry był to bohater kierowany przez gracza, jednakże o dowolnej płci, rasie czy profesji – którego przybrany ojciec zostaje zabity, on zaś kilka stron później dowiaduje się, że tak naprawdę jest synem boga Bhaala, Pana Mordu. Przez pozostałą część książki przemierza w tę i z powrotem Wybrzeże Mieczy, odwiedzając znane z pierwowzoru lokacje, a na swej drodze spotyka towarzyszy podróży i kolejnych przeciwników. Wyłączną rolą tych pierwszych jest makabryczna śmierć, zaś celem istnienia tych drugich – dokładnie to samo. Esencję powieści stanowią zaś opisy walk, które do tejże śmierci prowadzą.

Mniejsze i większe potyczki toczą się bowiem od pierwszej do ostatniej strony. Ich opisy – niestety, niezamierzenie – przekraczają dopuszczalne normy groteski i absurdu, a niewiele rzadziej także dobrego smaku. Przedstawiane z niezwykłym pietyzmem odcinanie członków, łamanie kręgosłupów i patroszenie ciał budzić mogą jedynie niesmak lub zażenowanie, nigdy zaś przejęcie, nawet gdy giną towarzysze głównego bohatera. Postaci pozostają jednakże równie niewzruszone, co czytelnicy. Co prawda, prowadzą między sobą sztuczne dialogi, niekiedy nawiązuje się między nimi nić sympatii bądź antypatii, ale daleko im do pełnowymiarowych charakterów. Ba, daleko im nawet do swych wirtualnych, raczej małomównych odpowiedników, jednakże zdecydowanie bardziej wielobarwnych i ujmujących, choć porównując możliwości obydwu środków przekazu, powinno być wręcz odwrotnie.

Oczywiście, co było do przewidzenia, fabuła jest tak naprawdę streszczeniem głównego wątku przedstawionego w grze. Co więcej, choć imiona i nazwy miejsc się zgadzają, to już w przypadku wydarzeń czy charakterystyk bohaterów autora dość często ponosiła fantazja. Nie byłoby to karygodne, zważywszy na to, że w komputerowym Baldur’s Gate wyborów dokonuje gracz, więc jedyna słuszna wersja przedstawionej historii po prostu nie istnieje, gdyby nie fakt, że z wciągającej fabuły pierwowzoru nic nie zostało – to, co miało zaskakiwać, autor ujawnia na samym początku, a o pamiętnych intrygach i knowaniach Żelaznego Tronu można po prostu zapomnieć – owszem, mamy jakieś wzmianki na ten temat, ale na pierwszy plan wysunięte zostały opisy kolejnych batalii z galaretą musztardową czy innymi potworami.

Na miałką fabułę może dałoby się przymknąć oko – w końcu z założenia nie miała być to ambitna lektura, a jedynie niezobowiązujący czasoumilacz dla miłośników Baldur’s Gate – gdyby nie wołająca o pomstę do nieba warstwa językowa niniejszego dzieła. "Jego odcięta głowa mogła jeszcze żyć, ale on sam był już martwy, zanim głowa i ciało dotknęły ziemi"[1] – nie jest to wyszukiwana z uwagą pojedyncza stylistyczna wpadka, ale wybrane losowo zdanie, zaś podobnych mu na ponad trzystu kartach powieści znajduje się bez liku. W książce roi się także od powtórzeń oraz – tu już swą cegiełkę dołożyli do spółki tłumacz i korekta – literówek i błędów interpunkcyjnych, wśród których znikające przecinki są nagminnym przewinieniem. Trudno więc o czerpanie jakiejkolwiek przyjemności z lektury książki epatującej tak wysokim stężeniem grafomanii.

Zbędnym jest więc chyba dodawanie, iż nikomu tej książki polecić nie można. Miłośnicy Baldur’s Gate załamią ręce nad tym, jak potraktowano ich ulubionych bohaterów, jak wiele istotnych postaci czy wydarzeń wycięto i jak bardzo spłycono ważne wątki, byle zrobić więcej miejsca opisom krwawych starć. Ci, którzy jeszcze się z grą nie zetknęli, tym bardziej nie mają czego szukać w prozie Athansa – w końcu dobrych czy choćby przeciętnych powieści fantasy mamy na rynku zatrzęsienie, a sięganie po opisywane tu dzieło byłoby aktem świadczącym o skrajnym masochizmie i nadmiarowych pokładach wolnego czasu jednocześnie.

[1] Athans, Philip „Wrota Baldura”; 1999: ISA, Wydanie I, str. 14

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Zarówno tę recenzję, jak i wiele innych tekstów znajdziecie na moim blogu: http://oceansoul.byethost22.com/ Serdecznie zapraszam!

[Piluka · Rating 1 out of 5]

Puerta de Baldur es comparable al peor plato de fritanga que te hayas echado en la cara. Eso sí, entra bien, es de fácil lectura y con mucha acción... Pero no deja de ser un gran plato de fritanga mala. Una lástima para todos aquellos que nos encantaron los juegos porque su "escritor" lo ha destrozado todo.

[JP · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable book, dunno why it's getting so much hate to be honest.

[Amanda · Rating 1 out of 5]

I mean did anyone expect this to be good? No, of course not. Did it stop me from writing a huge review detailing literally everything that pissed me off? Again, of course not. I'm just gonna throw everything under a spoiler, but the TL;DR is that it's bad, don't read it, just play the game.

This was one of the worst books I’ve ever read, and I honestly don’t expect much from video game books. It’s just that Baldur’s Gate happens to have one of the most intricate, immersive, and well written stories in any video game, so I guess the author did have a lot to live up for. The problem is it didn’t even look like he tried.

I’m going to start with the characters, at least the ones who had more significance:

Abdel – Possibly my least favorite character in the whole book. Not a good sign, since he is the main character, but there’s only so much male fantasy I can endure. He is the strongest man, with huge arm muscles, and standing at an impressive 7ft.; and his only flaw is that he likes killing people too much. He is also our Bhaalspawn, – a fact that is known to every single person he interacts with but not to him, for some reason – something that could explain why he’s stronger than everyone else but that’s not how that works in the game. He also manages to ruin Khalid and Jaheira’s marriage by falling in love with her almost at first sight. He has no other personality other than being the son of the God of murder. He’s not funny, even when he tries to make jokes, and I definitely did not appreciate how much of his backstory was moved around for no real reason. Why was he already a mercenary with a strained relationship with Gorion before the story started? How was he friends with Scar? Why were these changes made oh my god. Wizards can try all they want, but I will never accept this bitch as the canon Gorion's ward.

Imoen – I’m only including Imoen on my list to say she wasn’t in this book. Like, at all. Imoen, who is just as much a main character as Gorion's ward, is not in the tie-in novel. The only plausible explanation for this is that Imoen was added to the game pretty late into development, and maybe the novel was already being written by then, and there was no incentive to go back and add her. Still, it’s a little outraging she’s not even mentioned.

Khalid – In my tier-list of Baldur’s Gate characters most likely to cheat on their wives, Khalid is easily at the bottom. You’re telling me this guy who can barely even talk to people without stuttering is out there getting with all the other Harpers behind Jaheira’s back? AND THAT JAHEIRA STAYED WITH HIM AFTERWARDS? lmao. You know even if that was a thing Khalid would do, she would have killed him on the spot. The book made him too confident (in a bad way) and so much of an asshole, he treats Jaheira like shit and they scream at each other all the time which??? Makes no sense?? It’s insane to think how this wasn’t the author changing characters’ personalities around to make Abdel seem good by comparison. Speaking of Jaheira…

Jaheira – She also isn’t anything like Jaheira. Can you even imagine the actual Jaheira crying as much as this woman in this book did? And having a husband who just walks all over her? She was reduced to this… thing, like she’s almost not even a person of her own right, she has no agency, she isn’t headstrong at all, and this is so jarring because it’s supposed to be Jaheira. And don’t get me started on that absolutely disgusting spider scene. I can’t believe I had to read that. She falls in love with Abdel. Somehow. I am generally not a fan of this romance, even when it is a possibility I find it a little on the creepy side, but the way it happens here makes it ten times worse. Also, not content on just taking his wife, Abdel straight up kills Khalid. Twice. It’s unbelievable how horrible they all are.

Xan – I was very afraid when I heard Xan was in this book, but out of all the characters he was the one I liked the most. He was the only one who had actual funny lines, and his characterization was better than some of the others. Not good, I still think it was far from what he actually is in the game, but better. But of course, he also dies. And in a gruesome and horrible way too, which I absolutely hated. And though I thought he was okay, I can’t look past certain things like how he felt a little too sure of himself sometimes. The arm wrestling thing is something I expect from Coran, not Xan. I’m not saying he doesn’t trust his own abilities, I’m saying that’s not how Xan would use his charisma. Also, I really disliked the fact he wasn’t a mage or a Moonblade wielder. The Moonblade is the literal reason why he is the way he is, life is pointless because all Moonblade wielders have a destiny set in stone, it doesn’t make sense for him to even mention any of this if he doesn’t have a Moonblade. At least there was an attempt with him.

Xzar and Montaron – Cannot really comment because I’ve never played with them lmao. I’m not a huge fan of them, they always annoy me and I always drop them when I get Khalid and Jaheira (that is, if they don’t die on the way lmao). They sounded pretty similar to how they are in the game, but I didn’t like how they were… working for Sarevok? Again, somehow??

Korak – I’m not sure if he’s supposed to be the same as the ghoul Korax, who is in the game, but I really hated how some random ghoul had more importance to the plot than pretty much anyone else, bar maybe Jaheira. He literally always showed up when characters needed some help on where to go which??? I get that you can’t have as many quest-givers in a book, but this is ridiculous.

Let’s just get into the plot then, as I’m already talking about how this book eliminates the middlemen completely. Abdel just knows what to do and where to go. And when he doesn’t either his companions, or Korak, guide him where he needs to go. The game shows all of this so much better, where you can explore everything, talking to people, hearing bits and pieces from the main story from rumors you hear in the taverns… it’s such a brilliantly crafted story I can’t believe how much this book managed to ruin it.

There is so much information missing. And I’m not saying the book should follow the game exactly as it is – this is a huge game, you can easily go over 100hrs playing it because there’s so much you don’t see in just one run – but some of the things just feel like Abdel stumbled his way into exactly where he needed to go, and it made the pacing of this book feel extremely off. He didn’t rest enough to have the nightmares that gave him Bhaalspawn abilities, so he just doesn’t get them at all. There’s nothing to indicate that there’s a change happening inside him. The fact that he “likes killing”, or “knows how to kill” just makes him sound like a psychopath.

Also, I didn’t like how all of the characters just tell Abdel what he is. It’s not a secret at all, everyone takes one look at him and instantly knows (probably because he’s 7ft tall but the point is that it shouldn’t be immediately obvious to people he’s not fully human). By the time he reads Gorion’s letter, there’s no tension because he already knows what it says.

The book also ends in a really jarring way. Even if it ends in the exact same place as the game, in the game it feels more organic. Here, it feels like an attempt at a cliffhanger that doesn’t work at all. There are so many other things that are strange and out of place, I can’t even list everything.

Again, I really disliked how much this book changed the story, but the one thing that makes no sense is how there is an official canon party in the game. It doesn’t matter who you choose for your party in BG1, when you boot up BG2, it assumes you played with five specific NPCs. Only two of them are in the book, and their story gets so bizarrely fucked up, I do not understand how you can go so wrong when the story is already written, you just have to fill in the blanks, not change everything to suit the character you made up in your head.

Will I read book two? Maybe. I heard Imoen is in it, and I’m curious how it’s going to justify her being gone for the whole of book one. It’s probably just as bad as this one, if not worse, but like I said, sometimes you just need to watch a train wreck, and I like reading books I can rant about every now and then.

I will need several palette cleansers in the meantime, though.

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

När jag upptäckte denna bokserie blev jag överraskad, orolig och nyfiken samtidigt. Första gången jag spelade Baldur's Gate var någon gång kring 1998, och sedan dess har jag med jämna mellanrum rest tillbaka till Sword Coast för att återuppleva Bhaal-sagan. Därför var det med en viss oro som jag började läsa denna första bok i romanserien. Vilken väg skulle författaren välja? Följa spelet till punkt och pricka eller förhålla sig mer fritt till storyn? Sabba min nostalgi eller ge mig en ny upplevelse av samma grundingredienser?

Efter läsningen är jag så glad att jag valde att våga läsa den. Med humor (såväl frivillig som ofrivillig) och genrens ofrånkomliga hänfallande till våld (hallå, om ens pappa är MORDETS GUD måste det bli en hel del blodiga beskrivningar av hur någon slår sin näve genom en doppelganger eller hur en slimevarelse förtär en halvalv) berättas storyn om Gorions fosterbarn och hans resa på ett sätt som både tillfredsställer min nostalgi och ger mig en ny berättelse. Det är bra jobbat med tanke på att det i realiteten gäller en cash in-produkt. Nu måste jag bara läsa de andra två delarna! Hoppas fortfarande på att min favorit Viconia förekommer i andra boken, och saknar faktiskt inte Minsc och Dynaheir alls!

[Corey · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't usually listen to audio books but I did this time because it was free with an audible credit and $100 for a mass market paperback. I know the book is out of print but it is absolutely NOT worth that price point, I don't care what quality it's in because:

This is downright terrible. It was published a year after the game was released, so why does it barely resemble the game it supposedly novelises?

The established characters are completely out of character if not missing entirely. The protagonist who takes the place of your character in the game is an edgy jerk with anger issues and he's stupid.

There's weird amounts of misogyny added to the universe that were largely absent in the game, which again, came out a year earlier.

The opening scene completely negates the possibility of the inclusion the very cool scene from the game in which your character is forced to question their perception of reality. The author seems to recognise this later and tries to fix this issue via zombies. It does not fix the issue.

This book reads more like an original story that's wearing the skin of the video game it shares the title with in hopes of making more sells.

[pani zosia · Rating 2 out of 5]

To była droga przez mękę, nie zapomnę jej nigdy.

Gdybym wymieniała wszystko, co mnie mierziło w tej książce, prawdopodobnie nie starczyłoby mi miejsca i siły. Nie wiem, co najbardziej mnie bolało: błędy językowe (nie wiem ile razy postaci cofały się w tył…), bezsensowne dialogi, opisy tak szczegółowe, że aż niezrozumiałe, postaci bez charakteru (w szczególności te aż! dwie kobiety). Jednak te wszystkie absurdy sprawiły, że czytanie tego „dzieła” mogłam porównać do standupu. Za ten ubaw, jaki miałam zaznaczając tragiczne fragmenty w książce, podniosłam ocenę o jedną gwiazdkę. Jak ktoś siedzi w świecie Dungeons and Dragons bądź w serii Baldur’s Gate i ma wystarczająco mocne nerwy, może spróbować się trochę z tą książką pomęczyć, aczkolwiek przygotujcie się na czyste cierpienie. Dla mnie było to swego rodzaju guilty pleasure i mozliwe, że kiedyś sięgnę po następne części (for the plot).

[Iliyan Iliev · Rating 1 out of 5]

How to make a forgettable book from an unforgettable game.

[Kastarnia Kozal · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is nothing like dark fantasy.

This book give me the whole adventurer D&D trip and I loved every bit of it.

[Lizz Heinrich · Rating 1 out of 5]

Aged like milk

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Do yourself a favor and go play Baldur's Gate 3 instead

[Juho Pohjalainen · Rating 1 out of 5]

On its own it would be hilariously bad, one of those so-bad-it's-good romps, that you could read while drunk - like a literature answer to Plan 9 From Outer Space. I might even have given the sequels a look, if this were the case.

Unfortunately, I also happen to think that the game it's based on is one of the finest roleplaying games ever made. In that context, its defilement of the story and the characters is simply depressing, insulting, and baffling. Couldn't they have at least given it an honest try?

[Nena · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this about 10 years ago, and it has withstood the test of the time as the worst book I've ever read. The main character is boring and unlikable and none of the colorful cast of the game is well realized, the plot is pretty nonsensical even after having played the game, the book just stops at an inappropriate point rather than ending...

Play the game instead.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some very graphic fights that are worthy of the spawn of Bhaal.

[Heiki Eesmaa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Appalling writing. Truly horrible what was done to a great PC game.

[Benjamin Hesdorf · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book follows the game to some extent, but it is a wholly different story. That didn't matter too much to me. I enjoyed the ride.

[Marissa Dobulis · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this after playing BG3. It is confusing, full of too many inconsequential plot points, and poorly written. Oh dear.

Justice for the ghoul, who was my favorite character of all.

[Eliza S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whew, there are a LOT of folks in these reviews upset about how this book didn't live up to the game. As someone who never played the game, and doesn't have that kind of time anymore, I got this book from a seller on Amazon for six bucks, just to get a taste of some D&D/Fantasy reading that was lighter-weight than Lord of the Rings, or the Dragonlance novels. If, like me, you have no attachment to the videogame, then this book is... just... fine. TL;DR at the end.

First off, I gotta say, this novel is dripping with male gaze, because the pro- and antagonist both are, literally, males who spend a lot of the book gazing. Some of the language is actually pretty sensual, but because the party is one of murderers, thieves, and madmen, the sensual language turns sour and ends up more creepy than anything else.

One thing I read about the videogame while I was waiting for the novel to ship, is that the game has many, many NPCs. This novel does have the dynamic of "different NPC party members for different segments of the adventure," but a lot of the NPCs just end up dying, then forgotten. Knowing how expensive and costly it is to rez someone in old-school D&D, I kept thinking "maybe they died in the author's play-through of the game." In the game, perhaps these moments might carry weight with the player behind the screen, but in the novel, these death moments fall flat.

Which brings me to my next thought: reading this book felt more like reading a novelization of the first adventure at a D&D tabletop table, than a novelization of a vast, open-ended videogame. The first characters we meet are the most interesting, and they get progressively less interesting as the setpieces get cooler - almost as though the first-time DM at the table thought that lively NPCs would draw their players in, but learned that they preferred to just go to cool places and fight cool fights. The scene in the Cloak Wood, with the spiders and ettercaps, is maybe the coolest and most evocative part of this book, and for the most part it involves the fewest characters. Or if not the coolest chapter, it's perhaps the truest to a D&D adventure. Sometimes you've gotta travel through a haunting forest and battle the spider queen, because that's the adventure of the day. And at the end of every stop the party makes, they learn juuust enough about what's going on, to travel to the next adventure site. Very, very classic D&D.

But what might work at a D&D table, falls flat in this novel, because we the readers don't have the same level of personal investment in the characters that the player of Baldur's Gate on the PC might, or that players around a D&D 2nd Edition table might. And unfortunately, the page count isn't enough to establish that context more meaningfully. For me, this is a tradeoff I don't mind making at the price I paid for this book. Others might find it a LOT more frustrating.

All this is to come back around to say, if you don't have the memory of the PC game to color your perception, this book is "ehhh, just fine," and it's lightweight so it's an easy read, but it's maybe *too* lightweight.

Finally: A lot of folks in these reviews cite the sentence structure, and frankly this criticism confuses me; there were no points at which I had to stop and parse sentence structure, or laugh at something badly constructed.

TL;DR:

+lightweight read, isn't bogged down with 10-page scene settings before the story gets moving again
+interludes are well-paced; this book doesn't do that thing some novels do where you get really into what's going on with one character, then the narration cuts to a different character you don't care about for a bunch of chapters
+the spider queen chapter and some of the later political scenes were VERY evocative of D&D, and chances to play actual D&D are a bit sparse, so this filled the gap between my own game nights for a while
+feels like reading a record of a D&D adventure, adapted from the notes of one player in the party, with NO gaps filled in by the DM or other players

-too lightweight to get heavily invested in the plot; feels more like "a series of cool scenes and then an ending" than "a novel"
-interesting characters don't get enough characterization, and then they die
-intense male gaze - in other words, a LOT of writing that's trying to sound sensual but comes off kinda creepy
-does NOT feel like reading a novelization of a videogame

=just fine. 2.5 rounded up to 3/5.