Dungeons & Dragons: Mystara: First Quest #1: Rogues to Riches

Oh, there ain’t no rest for the wicked. Money don’t grow on trees. I got bills to pay, I got mouths to feed, there ain’t nothing in this world for free. Let’s enrich Rogues to Riches, by J. Robert King.

Synopsis:

Two thieves steal a rose from two paladins, unaware that there is a curse on the rose, and must complete a dangerous quest in order to escape the curse while attempting to avoid capture by the paladins.

Source: Goodreads [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/671767.Rogues_to_Riches]

SPOILERS BELOW

I learned about the First Quest line of Dungeons & Dragons books as part of my continuing investigation of books mentioned in Dragon magazine. Since I’ve reviewed D&D books from the worlds of Forgotten Realms and Greyhawk, it felt only fair that I should check out Mystara as well. The first in the series, Rogues to Riches, had a synopsis that seemed like it might be a lot of fun: two bungling thieves steal what they think is precious treasure from paladins, only to discover that it’s actually cursed, and now they have to complete the paladins’ quest in order to break the curse while also dodging the long arm of the law along the way. And I recognized the name of the author, J. Robert King, from his work on novels in the Magic the Gathering series. So, I thought this book might be worth picking up.

Now, I was aware that the First Quest series was targeted at “younger readers”. However, that doesn’t necessarily have to mean low quality: I’ve enjoyed plenty of works aimed at younger readers. Unfortunately, this book was juvenile in the sense of relying heavily on humor based on bodily excretions, which completely failed to amuse.

…Wait, which Magic novels did J. Robert King write, again? Oh God, it was the “Onslaught Cycle”, considered by many to be some of the worst in the series, wasn’t it. And he also wrote Apocalypse, where a major character’s death scene is presented as a prolonged fart joke. I, uh, I think I may have made a horrible mistake.

So, the humor didn’t work, for the most part; which is the kiss of death for a book that is mainly a comedy. There were only a few scenes that made me chuckle, and usually only because they reminded me of times that the gag had been executed better in other works – the mix-up with the drugged drinks, for instance, reminding me of the poisoning scene from The Emperor’s New Groove. And as for the serious elements of the plot; well, the by-the-numbers romance plotline did nothing for me. It was exactly what you’d expect – Princess Mara falling in love with Tooles’s fake persona, Tooles wanting to become a better person for real to win her heart, Mara discovering his deception and breaking up with him, Tooles working to win her back – nothing of interest to me. And while it might theoretically have been interesting to see Tooles and Rengie triumph over superior opponents with their wits, too often it was done by making their adversaries so stupid as to strain credibility.

Overall, Rogues to Riches doesn’t hold up to other D&D books I’ve read.

Final Rating: 2/5

Dungeons & Dragons: Forgotten Realms: The Year of Rogue Dragons #3: The Ruin

‘Till everything burns, while everyone screams. Burning their lies, burning my dreams. All of this hate, and all of this pain. I’ll burn it all down as my anger reigns. ‘Till everything burns. Let’s burn down The Ruin, by Richard Lee Byers.

Synopsis:

The climactic conclusion of The Year of Rogue Dragons! Madness takes hold, Sammaster draws closer to victory, and forgotten secrets are revealed at last. Dorn and the rogue dragons will have to find the source of a millennia-old curse, then find some way to destroy it, before the Rage overcomes the world.

Source: Goodreads

SPOILERS BELOW

And so, it’s finally here: the last installment of The Year of Rogue Dragons trilogy, in which our heroes finally confront the evil lich Sammaster face-to-face and put an end to his evil schemes once and for all. And there was much rejoicing.

I can’t help but feel that this book suffers a bit for coming after The Rite, which was definitely the strongest entry in the trilogy. After seeing that book juggle multiple simultaneous storylines with the party split up and having to deal with some mystery and intrigue rather than their usual brute force “kill dragon, look for next dragon” approach, I had my expectations raised for the final installment; only to see it go back to what the series was comfortable with – a largely linear tale where the heroes go fight Sammaster’s random flunky Iraclea, then go fight Sammaster’s random flunky Zethrindor, then come face-to-face with Sammaster only for him to gate in a zillion extra-planar dragons which are countered by all the Metallic Dragons in Faerun teleporting in and the fight just turns into a massive clusterfuck where dragons are ripping each other apart mid-air, people on the ground are trying to dodge out of the way of the falling corpses, and the battle outside turns out be entirely meaningless anyways because Pavel figures out that Sammaster corrupted the Dragon Rage Mythal by adding his phylactery to it. Pavel sacrifices himself to destroy the phylactery and shut down the mythal, and that’s that. He kind of single-handedly permanently ended the Rage, and destroyed Sammaster in the process (who was up until then handling himself quite fine against all the heroes and dragons assaulting his body directly).

Well, to give the book some credit, it did do some things right. Brimstone, for instance, the evil vampiric smoke drake who joined the heroes in their quest to put an end to Sammaster. On so very many occasions, I have seen interesting set-ups like this instantly torpedoed by the evil party member immediately doing Dark Kantian, turning on his own allies for no reason, and getting summarily killed off. I was thus very impressed that Brimstone managed to survive the entire trilogy, due to never turning against the protagonists. He’s evil, not stupid – they’re his allies; and however he may personally feel about them being a bunch of little Lawful Goody two-shoes, helping them succeed at their quest helps him succeed in his revenge, so it’d just be pointlessly stupid and self-sabotaging to betray them just because they happen to have differing alignments. Thumbs up, Brimstone: you were probably the best-written evil character in this trilogy. Also, Pavel sacrificing his life to destroy Sammaster’s phylactery was a pretty powerful note to end his character on: a good example of a death scene done right having an impact on the reader. As compared to plenty of previous scenes where, for instance, the heroes would do something incredibly badass and beat a dragon, but then morosely say that they were still losing the overall war of attrition because of all the Sossrim who died in the effort. Those poor, nameless Sossrim, who we know nothing about, and seem to exist only to be piled up as stacks of corpses for the people with names to point at and go “Victory… but at what cost!?” No matter how many thousands of nameless characters you kill, it will never amount to the impact of killing a single well-developed character that the audience has actually had a chance to get attached to.

The Ruin is a decent book, with a few particular bright spots in the form of Brimstone and Pavel, but ultimately doesn’t measure up to The Rite.

Final Rating: 3/5

Dungeons & Dragons: Forgotten Realms: The Year of Rogue Dragons #2: The Rite

Turn the key, walk through the gate. The great ascent to reach a higher state. A rite of passage. The final stage, a sacred home. Unlock the door and lay the cornerstone. A rite of passage. Let’s research The Rite, by Richard Lee Byers.

Synopsis:

In the sequel to The Rage, the dragons of Faerun continue their rampage across the land, prompted by the soulless lich Sammaster and hunted by the dragonslayer Dorn and his companions, who race against time to prevent a cataclysm.

Source: Goodreads [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/274475.The_Rite]

SPOILERS BELOW

The second book in The Year of Rogue Dragons sees our group of protagonists splitting up in order to simultaneously take on three tasks: first, to investigate a besieged monastery for info previously plundered from it by the lich Sammaster; second, to root out a traitor amongst the wizards researching a cure for the Rage; and third, rescuing King Dragonsbane from a curse so he can defend his country from an invading goblinoid army.

Now, when reviewing the second book of trilogies, I often comment on middle-book syndrome: the first book contains the set up, the third book contains the pay off, and the middle book just wastes time spinning its wheels. However, I am glad to say that The Rite does not fall into this category. None of the three central plotlines felt at all like filler. A major reason for that, I believe, is that all of the conflicts traced back to the actions of the main villain. It wasn’t just any random curse that struck down King Dragonsbane or any random goblin army taking advantage of the situation to invade; Sammaster intentionally incited matters by disguising himself as the Witch-King, and the heroes putting a stop to it is active progress towards them foiling him. The stuff in the first book about the Zhents, now that was filler: some random baddies unconnected to the main villain acting as a temporary roadblock for out protagonists to overcome on their way to deal with the stuff that actually mattered.

Another point in the book’s favor: it’s quite good. Generally, when I talk about “filler”, I’m referring to low-quality writing which pads out a book’s length without actually contributing anything of interest. If material, even digressions not directly related to the main plot, becomes strong enough, it ceases to be regarded as filler and instead becomes the exciting action and compelling character drama which adds meat onto the bones of the central plot arc. Here, we get not only plenty of great fight scenes, but also a side portion of intrigue as our protagonists try to identify which wizard is secretly sabotaging his fellows.

The Rite is a sequel which surpasses its predecessor.

Final Rating: 4/5

Dungeons & Dragons: Forgotten Realms: The Year of Rogue Dragons #1: The Rage

I’ll let it show that I’m not always hiding. Come all the way down and watch me burn. I won’t let it show that I’m not always flying. So on the way down I’ll watch you burn. Let’s ignite The Rage, by Richard Lee Byers.

Synopsis:

Devoting his entire life to destroying every dragon he encounters in revenge for the killing of his entire family, renegade half-golem dragon hunter Dorn is forced into an uneasy alliance when a feral madness threatens to overcome every dragon in Faerun

Source: Goodreads

SPOILERS BELOW

Time to look at another Dungeons & Dragons trilogy. Our main protagonist this time is Dorn Graybrook. Mutilated by a dragon as a child, he was rebuilt as a half-golem, one of the more obscure D&D templates, and dedicated his life to hunting and destroying dragons. Of course, many dragons have the power to shapeshift into human form; so when he and his band of hunters are hired by a mysterious woman who has romantic tension with him but carefully keeps personal details about herself a secret… yeah, you can see where this is going – the classic hunter falls in love with one of the kind he is hunting romance cliche, complete with the big dramatic reveal that Kara is actually the song dragon Karasendrieth. Dorn gets mad that she pretended to love him to only seduce him into agreeing to help her; Kara protests that she wasn’t pretending, she really does love him; Dorn allows that she might be some kind of dragon pervert who has no interest in her fellow lizards but gets hot and bothered by human amputees… and that’s why the Monster Manual has a “Half-Dragon” template. No, wait… I’m getting off topic.

The real problem is that an ancient evil lich named Sammaster plans to rule the world with an army of undead dragons. He has found a way to permanently activate an ancient elven mythal that periodically sends all of dragonkind into uncontrollable rages, and is now peddling transformation into a dracolich as the only alternative to going insane and dying like beasts. Naturally, it falls to Dorn and his band of mercenaries to save the day.

Not that they do, at least not yet; this is, after all, but the first book of a trilogy. In other words, this one is mainly focused on the heroes learning about the problem, vowing to put a stop to Sammaster’s evil, getting into a bunch of fights with various dragons – some evil servants of Sammaster, some just in a mad battle frenzy due to the mounting Rage – and finally, for the big cliffhanger, learning the source of the Rage.

Overall, it’s a competently-told story. We get a mixture of plot scenes to advance the story, character development scenes to get us invested in the cast (well, some of them – Dorn and Kara are obviously the leads, Will and Pavel have this bickering comedy duo routine going, and then Raryn is… just kind of there in the background), and fight scenes to deliver action and keep the tension high.

The Rage gets the Year of Rogue Dragons trilogy off to a decent start.

Final Rating: 3/5

Dungeon & Dragons: Forgotten Realms: Starlight and Shadows #3: Windwalker

Alright, alright; so the first drow song I tried to use ended up being totally nonsensical; and the second one turned out not to be so much a song as a ritual incantation for summoning goat-headed demons. But I’ve finally found a good drow song, I swear. Here’s “A Candle Lights the Darkness”, courtesy of Ill’haress An’jhali Tei’Kaliath: As a candle darkness, as a sapling grows into a tree; the greatest things can have humble beginnings. Untold hopes straining to be set free. Weary travelers, cease your travels; for no longer will you have to roam. Brick by brick, out of ruins; hand in hand, we will make this our home. No one said that this would be simple, no one said this would come without strife. Everyone knows that the struggle is worth it, everyone knows that together we’ll build a new life. ……………Thank you, An’jhali. Let’s take flight with Windwalker, by Elaine Cunningham.

Synopsis:

Liriel has achieved her goal: her drow powers are hers to command wherever she might go. Her companion, Fyodor of Rashemen, has mastered his out-of-control berserker rages. The future seems bright for the companions as they set out to return the Windwalker amulet to the Witches of Rashemen, for Fyodor has reason to believe that Liriel will be welcomed in his homeland.

But Liriel’s enemies follow her still. Chief among them is a drow goddess whom Liriel, whether she knows it or not, continues to serve…

Source: Goodreads

SPOILERS BELOW

Okay, so here we are: the final book in this trilogy. In the first book, Rashemi berserker Fyodor and drow wizard/cleric Liriel teamed up to quest for a magical artifact called the Windwalker, which would allow Fyodor to control his rages and Liriel to keep her Underdark magic on the surface. In the second book, they used the Windwalker to carve a magical rune on Yggdrasil’s Child, thereby accomplishing those two goals. And now, in the grand epic conclusion to the saga, they face the greatest challenge of all: walking home from their adventure.

…Huh. Is that really it? I can’t help but feel that their story arc actually kind of reached its resolution at the climax of the last book, and that this is a really long, really awkward foot-dragging denouement. I mean, stuff is happening, but it doesn’t really center much on our ostensible protagonists so much as tidying up the loose ends left by the subplots of minor characters. Like, hey, remember that illithid from the last book? It was never actually killed on-screen, so let’s have it show up in one scene of this book just to immediately die, tidying up that dangling thread. And hey, didn’t one of the Harpers show up in the first book? Well, can’t miss an opportunity for them to completely steal the spotlight; this book is now about the exploits of Sharrlara Vindrith (aka Vendrith, aka Vendreth); special snowflake star elf thief who is friends with Danilo Thann and apprentice to Lord Blackstaff and Lady Silverhand. Follow her on such thrilling adventures as getting captured by the drow and seeming to die only to be rescued by her mentor at the last minute, and getting captured by mercenaries and seeming to die only to be rescued by a ghost horse at the last minute.

But hey, there is some actual strong character development which leads to the appropriate completion of a personal arc in this book – it just doesn’t belong to the protagonists. No, instead this book provides fitting closure for my favorite character of the trilogy, the antagonist Shakti. Having started as a non-traditional drow – nearsighted, slightly pudgy, more concerned with organizing than climbing the ranks of power – she goes through her lowest moment having been cast into the Abyss by Lolth, but perseveres and returns triumphant to her home with a newly fit form, as well as tokens of Lolth’s favor that secure this former minor rothe-breeder a position near the top of drow society. She has also undergone personal growth, realizing that the drow obsession with revenge is their biggest weakness, and at the climax overcomes her personal animosity towards Liriel to do the mature and sensible thing and let her grudge go rather than insisting on a pointless fight that she would just end up losing anyways due to protagonist plot armor. Good for her! …But I don’t think we’re actually supposed to be rooting for her. Shouldn’t it be our protagonists finding closure?

So, Windwalker was not without its merits. With regards to the protagonists, though, it feels like an unnecessary addendum to a story that was resolved in the previous book, which itself felt like it was stretching the premise of the first book. Thus, on the whole, I rank it as only decent overall, leaving Daughter of the Drow as the strongest book in the trilogy.

Final Rating: 3/5

Dungeon & Dragons: Forgotten Realms: Starlight and Shadows #2: Tangled Webs

Okay, so last time’s opening didn’t go so great; but I’m not going to give up. A book about drow deserves lyrics from a drow song for the opening; and while Kyo’nne turned out not be as good as she claimed, she’s not the only drow musician out there. So, here’s the latest drow hit to rock the underworld, courtesy of Fame’nidea Vel’Vlozress: Nah nah nah nah-hah! Scratch off the scab, bleed out the poison! Goat heads! ……………Damn it, Fame. Let’s tie knots in Tangled Webs, by Elaine Cunningham.

Synopsis:

Exiled from her home, the beautiful dark elf Liriel Baenre wanders the surface world with her companion Fyodor. But even far from the dark haunts of Menzoberranzan, she is not safe from the vengeance of her archenemy. Even as she and her friend sail the dangerous seas of the Sword Coast, a drow priestess plots a terrible fate for them.
And in the depths of the earth, the spider queen Lolth weaves her own webs of terror and treachery.
This rerelease showcases a new look for the Starlight & Shadows series, complete with all new cover art and design. The recover of this title precedes a brand-new concluding title to the series, “Windwalker.”

Source: Goodreads

SPOILERS BELOW

The forces of evil are on the move. An aboleth and an illithid have formed an unholy alliance in order to gain control of a magical portal that will allow them to transport an army. They’ve recruited a navy which is preparing for invasion by seeding kelpies through the coastal waters, and the sahuagin have used malenti to infiltrate the local sea elves. Only one obstacle yet remains in their way: a wicked banshee who refuses to permit any but the undead to make use of the portal. As these monstrous villains approach a final epic confrontation, we are forced to ask: what exactly does any of this have to do with our protagonists?

Well, Fyodor and Liriel are on this island because it coincidentally happens to be the location of the magical tree that they need to inscribe a rune upon for Liriel to keep her Underdark magic on the surface and for Fyodor to control his berserker rages. But that’s all it is: coincidence. And I have to say, the lack of any strong connection between our heroes and the book’s main conflict is kind of a big weakness for me, one that prevents this book from living up to Daughter of the Drow. Oh, Shakti returns to continue pursuing her vendetta against Liriel; but her involvement feels just as out of place as our protagonists’ – these characters have been dropped into a story that clearly isn’t about them.

Also, not to nitpick, but… the name of the spider-goddess Lolth is misspelled throughout as “Lloth”. That’s kind of a big mistake, isn’t it, for a book focusing on the drow? I mean, it was spelled correctly in the first book; so what changed? Remember: it’s Lolth as in LOL.

(Actually, I checked online, and apparently “Lloth” is in fact a legitimate alternate spelling used in some official Wizards publications – but using it for only the middle book of a trilogy, while the first and third employ the more common “Lolth” spelling, seems like bad editing).

Tangled Webs is a decent book, but one with flaws that prevent it to living up to its predecessor in the trilogy.

Final Rating: 3/5

Dungeon & Dragons: Forgotten Realms: Starlight and Shadows #1: Daughter of the Drow

I always like to start off these reviews with a lyrical excerpt from an apropos song. Since this book is about the drow, I thought that it’d only be fitting to introduce it with some traditional drow music. So, here is a popular and beloved drow song, courtesy of Kyo’nne Val’Illhar’dro: Come with me, be wild and free, in a land where unicorns make jelly. Duty be damned, let our love not be jammed, for the sun turtles make yogurt cantaloupes. ……………Damn it, Kyo’nne. Let’s descend to the Underdark with Daughter of the Drow, by Elaine Cunningham.

Synopsis:

Beautiful as she is deadly, Liriel Baenre flits through the shadows of Menzoberranzan, city of the dark elves. Amid treachery and murder that are the drow’s daily fare, she feels something calling to her…something beyond this dusky world far removed from the sun. Yet as she ventures toward the surface and the lands of light, enemies pursue her unceasingly.

And one enemy may offer her the only hope of salvation.

Source: Goodreads

SPOILERS BELOW

I read this book after seeing an excerpt from it in the D&D 5E Player’s Handbook, in the section about how humans are seen by other races. The idea of a drow reading stories of humans with fascination seemed like an interesting take on an often one-dimensional race. (Well, this was first published in 1995, so I suppose Drizzt had already spent a good few years shaking up the perception of dark elves by the time this one came out.)

But the book never mentions him, and so neither should we – we are, after all, here to look at this book on its own merits, irrespective of any trends it may have been following. This book is about Liriel, a young drow who dreams of going on a journey to the surface world…

…No, that’s Liriel from the webcomic Drowtales. I’m not talking about that little diva; this Liriel is totally different. Enraptured by the surface in general and human culture in particular, she sets out on a quest of exploration and discovery which results in her fate becoming entwined with that of Fyodor, a Rashemi berserker who is searching for a powerful magical artifact called the Windwalker. That’s “walker”, with an L, by the way; not to be confused with the Wind Waker, from the Legend of Zelda series.

I have a confession to make, though: Liriel isn’t actually my favorite drow character in the book. No, that honor actually goes to her nemesis, Shakti, who despite being an antagonist won me over with her practicality. While the other drow are partying and raiding and conducting elaborate blood sacrifice rituals, Shakti is hard at work as a rothe-breeder – which, she points out, may be an unglamorous occupation, but is actually necessary to keep the rest of the race from starving to death amidst their debauched revels. It’s a reminder that the other drow would be wise to heed, because their society is here portrayed on the far side of the “chaotic stupid” line that Lolth often straddles. In response to a recent lost war, resulting in the deaths of half their population and most of their slaves, they have decided that the appropriate response is to kill more of their slaves, to increase the backstabbing and politicking between houses, to ramp up the sacrifice of the remaining breeding population. It’s a strategy so bad that Lolth, goddess of chaos, evil, and treachery, has to personally step in and tell them all to take it down a notch lest they drive their whole race to extinction. For standing apart from the rest of these Dark Kantian morons, Shakti won my love.

…Man, this is turning into an image-heavy review, isn’t it? But anyways, this book is just full of things I love: like the “old friends are soon forgotten” tale which Fyodor tells Liriel during their first meeting, or Liriel’s friendship with the mutant deep dragon Zz’Pzora.

That said, I do have a few quibbles with it as well. For instance, in the chapter introducing her, Shakti is said to be near-sighted; but she’s described as having trouble seeing close-up things like stair steps and written text, which makes her sound far-sighted instead. And then there’s the scene where Liriel’s teacher, Kharza-kzad, transforms himself into a lich. I thought turning into a lich was something undertaken by only the most wicked and vile spellcasters (“the process of becoming a lich is unspeakably evil” – D&D 3E Monster Manual), whereas Kharza had until then actually been portrayed as one of the least evil of the drow. Yes, he did have one notable evil act shortly prior, so he wasn’t exactly on the north end of the alignment chart; but in comparison to the other drow in the book, he isn’t one I would have suspected such a thing from.

But those minor quibbles aside, Daughter of the Drow was a deeply enjoyable book, and one I can strongly recommend.

Final Rating: 5/5

Dungeons & Dragons: Greyhawk: Greyhawk Classics #5: Queen of the Demonweb Pits

Caught in a web, removed from the world. Hanging on by a thread, spinning the lies devised in my head. Let’s bow to Queen of the Demonweb Pits by Paul Kidd.

Synopsis:

For one man, fighting in the Greyhawk Wars wasn’t hell.

It was practice.

The Justicar, a ruthless ranger with a haunted past, has dedicated his life to protecting the weak and punishing the guilty. But his past is about to catch up with him.

Lolth, the Demon Queen of Spiders, is out for revenge. She has not forgotten her banishment at the hands of the ranger. Unleashing hordes of monsters and demons, she will stop at nothing to kill the Justicar and his companions.

Her vengeance may be the last mistake she ever makes.

Source: Goodreads

SPOILERS BELOW

The trilogy of books featuring the Justicar comes to a suitably epic conclusion in Queen of the Demonweb Pits. Lolth the Spider Queen, angry at the Justicar for destroying her avatar in a fairly embarrassing fashion during his previous adventure, decides to invade the world of Oerth for revenge. Drow, demons, undead: all her minions in their countless hordes begin launching a full-fledged assault on the material plane. And, just to make it personal, Lolth recruits some individual nemeses for our heroes as well: raising the Justicar’s former teacher as an undead hellbent on tracking down and slaying its former students, and releasing Escalla’s evil sister Trielle from imprisonment to take revenge. The result is a story with stakes both personal and apocalyptic, which manages to really drive home the level of danger our heroes are in and the magnitude of the threat to their entire world – and this in spite of Lolth herself.

Lolth, you see, is not written as a very subtle villain. Quite the opposite, in fact: she is at maximum Dark Kantian levels of cartoonishly over-the-top self-sabotaging villainy for the sake of it. Executing her loyal followers for failing her, or for telling her that her literally impossible orders are in fact literally impossible to follow, or for having perkier breasts than her, or because she’s decided she wants to redecorate her throne room with flayed corpses, or just on a whim; wasting tons of time and resources on pointless tasks meant only to flatter her own vanity; and flat-out refusing to do any planning or logistical preparation for her invasion on the theory that, if she just sets her teeming hordes loose and points them in the right direction, all the other details will just sort of work themselves out? I’d complain that Lolth is being written horribly out of character, but… unfortunately, she isn’t really – Lolth’s official alignment may be Chaotic Evil; but unofficially, she’s the poster child for Stupid Evil.

On the plus side, this does allow for some good interaction between her and Morag, her marilith secretary, who is apparently the one demon under Lolth’s command who actually has an appreciation for order: caring about things like organization and logistics and, you know, actually having a plan. It’s a trait which causes Lolth to mock her as “so… so baatezu!”; which, I’ll admit, I laughed at. In fact, not only was Morag a good addition to the cast of characters, this book was generally all-around good in its characterization. In addition to the Justicar and Escalla each getting their own personal nemesis to act as foils, Enid got to play a larger role – you’ll recall one of my complaints about the last book was that she was just a tag-along who didn’t actually contribute – and there’s a running joke about Escalla trying to teach Cinders to fetch which ends up getting a satisfying dramatic payoff.

Finally, like the first book, this one goes back to providing some sardonic commentary on typical adventuring party attitudes and tactics. Even as the group is embarking on a do-or-die mission to save the world, they’re determined to steal all the treasure in Lolth’s domain, even the obviously trapped stuff; and forget all the hordes of the Abyss, the real greatest danger to their health is the mage who insists on throwing Fireball spells in confined spaces. Remember: friendly fire isn’t! Not to mention Lolth finally being defeated once and for all via that old adventurers’ trick, the portable hole filled with holy water.

Queen of the Demonweb Pits was an excellent story, and a fitting conclusion to the Justicar’s adventures.

Final Rating: 5/5

Dungeons & Dragons: Greyhawk: Greyhawk Classics #3: Descent into the Depths of the Earth

I feel nothing. I am nothing. How deep I descend? Until I reach my end? Let’s begin Descent into the Depths of the Earth, by Paul Kidd.

Synopsis:

The ranger and the faerie are back
Fresh from their encounter at White Plume Mountain, the Justicar and Escalla are on the way to Hommlet. But life around a pixie is never exactly . . . stable. Escalla is drawn into the intrigues of the faerie court. Before he knows it, to save her life the Justicar is on his way into the depts of the earth to fight hobgoblins, drow, and the queen of the demonweb pits.
For an adventurer, it’s all in a day’s work.

Source: Goodreads

SPOILERS BELOW

The second outing of the Justicar and Escalla sees Escalla framed for murder. In order to clear her name, the heroes have to uncover the true culprit – and the trail leads into the Underdark, where drow have been raiding the surface for large numbers of slaves in preparation for a depraved ritual to their dark goddess, Lolth.

As with the previous book in the series, the story managed to deliver a lot of excellent action scenes as well as humorous comedy bits. On the whole, though, I didn’t find it to reach up to quite the level of its predecessor. Whereas White Plume Mountain had an overall subversive tone, taking every opportunity to take the piss out of traditional D&D-style adventures, Descent felt like it told a much more standard story. It didn’t really comment on PC logic or the practical aspects of the world commonly overlooked by adventurers. For instance, this book features appearances by Rust Monsters and Gas Spores – two classic monsters which exist pretty much solely for bastard DMs to use to screw players over – but no real commentary is made on their nature or the way the characters interact with them, unlike the subversive portrayal of guardian monsters like Enid and the kelpies in the previous book.

Speaking of Enid the gynosphinx, I was excited to see her return as a member of the party in this one. They were already a pretty unconventional group, what with the pixie and the sentient hellhound skin – what wacky hijinks would they get up to now that they had a sphinx on the team as well? Unfortunately, however, Enid was pretty quickly sidelined and didn’t end up contributing much. It seemed like kind of a wasted opportunity to me.

So, in the end, this one was still fun, but not quite as great as the first. There’s still one left in the trilogy, so it remains to be seen where it falls on the spectrum.

Final Rating: 4/5

Dungeons & Dragons: Greyhawk: Greyhawk Classics #2: White Plume Mountain

I’m a machine without a switch; I’ve done my best to go without it. Every blue moon I get convinced that I can’t ever make it happen by myself. I’ve been awake to see the day devour the night; I’ve seen decay give way to growth and make the most of nearly nothing. …Why use the lyrics to “Evelyn” for the opening of this review? Oh, no reason in particular. Let’s gear up for an expedition to White Plume Mountain, by Paul Kidd.

Synopsis:

A remorseless ranger.
A sentient hell hound pelt with a penchant for pyromania.
An irksome pixie who sells intrigue and information.
Three companions who find themselves trapped in a city filled with warring priestly factions, devious machinations, and an angry fiend. To save the city, they must find three weapons of power, which lie in the most trap-laden, monster-infested place this side of Acererak’s tomb: White Plume Mountain.

Source: Goodreads

SPOILERS BELOW

Since I’ve recently been reading through books I’ve learned about from reviews in old issues of Dragon magazine, you might naturally assume that this D&D classic was one of them. However, you’d be wrong. I mean, it was mentioned in Dragon when it came out, obviously; but I’d already placed my order for it before reaching that point in the review thread. The actual reason I picked up this book was that some of the characters cameod in the background of this page of Grrl Power. When the comments identified them as coming from a trilogy about a Justicar who wears a cloak made from the still-living skin of a hellhound… well, how could I not check that out?

The Greyhawk Classics series consists of novels based on old published adventure modules; in this case, “S2: White Plume Mountain”. Because hey, if you can turn a D&D campaign into a book, why not do so for some of the classics? The plot follows the Justicar, a mysterious nameless ranger (okay, he does actually have a name, he just doesn’t like it) whose simple assignment to stop bandits preying on supply caravans gets a whole lot more complicated when three magic weapons of immense power are stolen by an evil wizard. Teaming up with Escalla the pixie, Polk the teamster, and a bunch of other backstab-happy spies and miscreants who are foisted upon him by competing local factions, the Justicar is sent to the volcanic lair of Acererak (formerly; now under new management) to get them back.

With interesting characters and a well-told story, I was enjoying White Plume Mountain from the start. What really pushed this book over the top, though, was its snarky and subversive sense of humor. The Justicar may be a champion of justice, but he also believes that fair fights are for suckers and that most paladins are Lawful Stupid assholes who need killing just as much as criminals. The pixie Escalla, a self-proclaimed “lovable icon of forest fun”, is actually kind of a prick. Commentary is made on typical adventurer dungeoneering tactics, such as sending the hirelings down hallways first and the ubiquity of ten-foot poles. Polk hauls around a load of typical adventuring equipment, only for the Justicar to point out that the disadvantage of their encumbrance exceeds the likelihood of any of that stuff being needed. (As it happens, Polk gets the last laugh in this case, since Acererak’s dungeon was specifically designed with adventuring parties in mind). Puzzle rooms are bypassed with the kind of typical PC logic that makes you vividly picture a dungeonmaster sighing as he rips up a page of notes. It’s pointed out that the paladin’s pure white tabard isn’t going to be looking so spotless after a few days of hiking muddy trails – and you know what they used for bleach in ye olde tymes? Urine, that’s what. Also, there’s some pretty good bits involving the hapless monsters stuck in the thankless role of being adventurer speedbumps. Some of those creatures are sentient, you know; summoned by an evil wizard, magically bound to serve, and then a hero comes along and do they even bother to say hello before going straight to the hackity-slash-stab? A little common courtesy costs you nothing, and might go farther than you think.

This book was an absolute delight to read, and I’m definitely picking up the other two in the trilogy.

Final Rating: 5/5