Rosemary Jones
Book IV, The Dungeons
-I know a bunch of people who like this novel. Unfortunately, I am not among the ranks of those individuals. I didn’t like this book very much. Having liked Depths of Madness a lot, and Stadeep, to a degree, I picked up this book in the series next, figuring that this would be another novel that I’d like. Well, I really didn’t enjoy it too much.
-Let’s start with the characters. Of all of the protagonists, I only liked Captain Sanval. I enjoy lawful good characters, and Sanval is one of the few novel protagonists who are certainly lawful good, as opposed to some other alignment. The Dwarf character, Mumchance, was very well written, I’ll mention, but the fact that I don’t particularly enjoy Dwarves makes me like the character less. All of the other protagonists- Ivy, Kid, Zuzzara, Gunderal, they didn’t really do it for me. Ivy was a decent character, but was somewhat bland- the stereotypical “dirty heroine” type of character, very much like Cattie-Brie, from the Drizzt novels. Kid, I simply didn’t enjoy. Zuzzara and Gunderal just annoyed me. Not only do I find the pairing of a Genasi and Half-Orc sisters unlikely, but their personalities (particularly Gunderal) aggravated me, and made me like the two even less.
-The plot was very slow. When I began the book, I was figuring that there was going to be some dungeon delving to penetrate the walls of Tsurlagol. This quickly changed, when the Siegebreakers fell into the “undercity” beneath Tsurlagol. This is where the problem lies. For too long, the protagonists seemed to simply be wandering around, clueless as to what to do, where to go, how to escape, and so on, every so often encountering something that attacked them, or something they didn’t fully understand. While this sort of thing is the staple of a D&D campaign, it really detracts from the novel. For too long, the protagonists were simply wandering around, trying to escape, but not knowing how. This caused me to quickly lose interest in the tedious connection I had to the characters to begin with, as I turned page after page of relative nothingness, waiting for the protagonists to advance the story, to encounter some kind of antagonist.
-Overall, out of a possible Five Beholders, I’d give this novel Two Beholders, and a Chicken.
-I know a bunch of people who like this novel.
I'm sure I'm one of them.
I really enjoyed how light-hearted and optimistic this novel was, especially because I remember being sick when I read it (it was just the type of book I needed at the time, although I enjoy light-heartedness in the best of times, too).
Gunderal was actually one of my favorite characters--my overall impression of her was that she was cute.
I'm sure I'm one of them.
-Yup.
I really enjoyed how light-hearted and optimistic this novel was, especially because I remember being sick when I read it (it was just the type of book I needed at the time, although I enjoy light-heartedness in the best of times, too).
-Well, sorry to hear that. I think I'm lucky, in that I don't remember the last time I was actually sick. I had a sore throat a few days last week, but that just kinda went away quickly, and I think it was mostly a byproduct of sleeping with a fan blowing on my face all night more than anything else.
True, the dungeon-crawling crawled a bit, but then, the series is called The Dungeons.
True, the dungeon-crawling crawled a bit, but then, the series is called The Dungeons.
-Stardeep and Depths of Madness captured the proper "in-between", while Crypt of the Moaning Diamond and The Howling Delve did not. In my opinion, of course.
-Well, sorry to hear that. I think I'm lucky, in that I don't remember the last time I was actually sick. I had a sore throat a few days last week, but that just kinda went away quickly, and I think it was mostly a byproduct of sleeping with a fan blowing on my face all night more than anything else.
It's OK--the time I spoke of is past now, and I haven't been truly sick in a while. Thanks, though.
I liked it. Most other FR novels I've read are usually so serious, humorless, bland and generic. Crypt Of The Moaning Diamond was one of the few that really tried to spice things up, to have fun with the material and the setting, to enjoy itself.
Indeed--I appreciate it when FR books don't take themselves so seriously. After all, I love this setting because I find it fun.