By Elaine Cunningham
-I’ll start this off by just saying it right off the bat: This novel gets a perfect score, five Beholders out of five Beholders. In my estimation, when a novel is written, Evermeet: Island of the Elves is the book that it is compared to. And, it is hard to compare to this book, really.
-I’ll start off with the plotline. The book is great, in that it weaves in and out of different plots, which is the plot of the book itself! Confusing for someone who hasn’t read it, maybe, but for those of you who have, I’m sure you understand. And, I’m betting that that’s most of you, as Evermeet: Island of the Elves really is “required reading”. The book’s strength is that it spans so much time, that it spans and illuminates so much history, all while having a fairly strong “metastory” (Danillo’s gift to Arilyn), and a fairly strong contemporary story (the invasion of Evermeet by Kymil Nimesin).
-The characters are all mostly excellent. In theory, there should have been a lot of misses here. I mean, being as that the book jumps around centuries and millennia at a time, one would think that there wouldn’t be a lot of character development. Well, surprisingly, there is. But, at the same time, there wasn’t. It’s paradoxical, and yet, Elaine makes it work. Characters like Ka’Narlist, or Vhoori Durothil get very little actual “air time”, but there is just something about these characters- and a bunch of others- in Evermeet: Island of the Elves, that just blows me away. Indeed, Ka’Narlist and Vhoori Durothil both rank in my top five favorite Forgotten Realms characters. Both are only featured in this novel (Ka’Narlist does get another short story), and yet, there is something about them that transcends the short amount of time they have to be introduced and grow.
-If there is one criticism I have of the book, it is that there aren’t definite dates. For example, there still- believe it or not- is a date in which we have by canon that Amlauril and Zaor were married. The scene is depicted in the novel, but we don’t have any dates to link with it. But, even this one criticism, I do not attribute to Elaine.
-So, in short, if you haven’t read this novel yet, do so as quickly as possible.
Both Amlaruil and Zaor rubbed me the wrong way.Heh, I've told you my opinion about this book before.
-I thought that was more in Silver Shadows, with Queen Amlauril, because of her feelings on Arilyn, and her "duty" coming before her personal feelings.
-I thought that was more in Silver Shadows, with Queen Amlauril, because of her feelings on Arilyn, and her "duty" coming before her personal feelings.
That was partly it, yes...but when I actually read Evermeet, the stories about Amlaruil and Zaor irritated me also. I don't want to start a whole side discussion about that, though.
Besides, I enjoyed the other parts of the books (such as the parts taking place farther back in history).I don't want to start a whole side discussion about that, though.
-Feel free to share. That's the point of this thread.
-Feel free to share. That's the point of this thread.
I know, but in truth it has been awhile since I read the book, so I'm wary about opening up a possible debate on the issue. To make a long story, Amlaruil struck me as a pretty blatant "Mary Sue", which was disappointing for me, because Elaine is usually pretty good at not leaving that impression on me. While I enjoyed the parts not having to do with this character, the novel was kind of "spoiled" for me thanks to the impression Amlaruil (and to a lesser extent, Zaor) left on me.
I know not everyone will agree with me on this, and I'd prefer to just agree to disagree on the matter, rather than debate whether or not Amlaruil actually is a Mary Sue.
My only complaint is that it was not long enough. (I would also like to have seen a little more Corellon later in the book).
Otherwise excellent read.
I know not everyone will agree with me on this, and I'd prefer to just agree to disagree on the matter, rather than debate whether or not Amlaruil actually is a Mary Sue.
-It's fine, don't worry.
-It's fine, don't worry.
I'm not worried.
Well, fwiw I adored this book. It is, in fact, the fourth Realms book I bought ever and I have read it several times.
Amlaruil didn't put me off, quite the opposite in fact. I didn't find her as Sue-ish as Lady Rin did although I did find her all pervading goodness a little saccharine at times, which made her "my hands are tied" dealings with Arilyn more than somewhat welcome.
All in all I consider this to be one of the high-points of Realms fiction. Certainly with respect to the characterisation. As LK said, even the characters that are short-lived (word count wise) evoke interest in the reader. But then I may be predisposed to that seeing as one of my favourite Realmsian characters ever is one that was detailed in all of about 5 pages in a single Ed book in an inhuman or semi-monstrous form... so what do I know? :D
And for such a seminal work, so little discussion about it. Maybe it is the "Elves" in the title. That kind of thing seems to tend to put people off.
-That's a personal problem, then.
-That's a personal problem, then.
Or perhaps a personal opinion, eh? Probably not many problems raised by holding it (though I don't hold it myself).
I disagree with the current policy of the novel writers to abstain from writing about antropomorphic gods, especially if they handle that writing with tact like Elaine and Paul have shown in their novels. I always tore through the sections about the gods, like Aurushnee's plotting or the dialogues with Eilistraee...
Should I get this book? Was ot that good?
No one can decide that for you.
Should I get this book?
-Yes.