By Mark Sehestedt
Book IV of The Citadels
-To put it simply, this novel was incredible. I originally picked the novel up, but was a little dubious of it, having come right off of reading Shield of Weeping Ghosts, a novel that I felt so-so on. For the most part, the only reason that I decided to pick it up was because of the fact that the first chapter, that I quickly skimmed in the store, took place in the Yuirwood, and I figured that the story, as a whole would have lore on the Yuirwood.
-I was quite surprised. From about the third or fourth chapter on, I couldn’t put the novel down. The story? At first, I found it a little weak, and as the novel progressed, the plot did not get that much deeper. The plot did get a lot more complex, however, and this is where the novel scored points. The plot followed the stereotypical, “Find something out, go somewhere, kill someone” format, but it was the complexity of the characters, and the twists that are the strength of this novel. The only thing that I thought was fairly easy to guess was actually who the main antagonist at the end was.
-Did I mention the characters? Yes, the characters were definitely the strongest part of the novel. At the beginning of the book, I felt as if the Ranger character, Berun, was going to be a stereotypical “no nonsense, no personality” good guy. That couldn’t be further than the truth. I felt as if Berun’s apprentice, Lewan, was going to be a stereotypical “whiney, hold-you-back” sidekick. He wasn’t. I felt as if Sauk was going to be a stereotypical, “brawn, not brains” bad guy, with no personality to speak pf, but a whole lot of ways to hurt you. He wasn’t. Hell, even Berun’s animal companion, Perch, and Sauk’s animal companion, Taaki, had interesting personalities!
-The novel dealt with a bunch of subjects that I like- the Utter East, Imaskar, the Yuirwood- so that’s en extra, added plus.
-Overall, I’d give this novel, out of a possible Five Beholders, Four Beholders.
-You can borrow my copy, if you like.
Thanks.
I'll let you know when I'm ready to read it.LK what time period does the novel cover?
Bel
it is pre-spell plague(1374 i think) and was released in july
Thanks.
Author? Series?
the author is Ed Gentry. The series is called The Citadels(like The Priests and The Fighters series), which surprisingly, is a very good series considering they are all stand alone novels with different authors.
Again--thanks.
Yeah, I've seen them, but after my experience with the latter two series you mentioned, I wouldn't even touch them.
I saw "The Citadels" and simply ignored them.
the author is Ed Gentry. The series is called The Citadels(like The Priests and The Fighters series), which surprisingly, is a very good series considering they are all stand alone novels with different authors.
Actually it was by Mark Sehestedt
But LK is correct, this was very good
Thanks.
-Great, let me know.
It's not.
LK what time period does the novel cover?
-It takes place in Tarsakh of 1374 DR, Year of the Lightning Storms.
And when did this get published? I've never heard of it.
-According to Amazon.com, July 1st, 2008 is when it came out.
Author? Series?
-As I wrote at the top, Mark Sehestedt. And the series is The Citadels, a group of four stand-alone novels all having to do with a particular citadel in Faerûn. I'll add that information in my original post, for others.
Actually it was by Mark Sehestedt
Yeah, i was wrong. My apologies, for some reason i grabbed Neversfall and throught it was Sentinelspire.
I guess I'm going to definitely check out Sentinelspire now.
Definately do
-Great, let me know.
Will do.
And in the end only haze remains, nothing is forever.
I gave my heart, my blood, nothing is forever (but eternity).
Certainty of fate, fatal emptiness, an empty hope for future, how shapeless fate shows,
I fight for something eternal, time of calm and peace, time to look inside,
Relic pictures of past, black and white deceives uncovers the glance for my grief.
Nothing is forever
I guess I'm going to definitely check out Sentinelspire now.
-It's certainly worth it. Speaking only for myself, I saw the quality* of Forgotten Realms novels diminishing as of late- especially those in the stand-alone series', so it's certainly a diamond in the rough.
*Not so much quality as I would call it "ability to entertain me", maybe.
And the story wasn't half-bad either - its pretty cool when you don't know who to route for, right up until the end, and even then you're still wondering if their were any real 'bad-guys' (even among the assassins!).
It addresses some poignent sociological issues as well - the assassins almost seem to operate under an honorable code, similar to Oriental traditions, or the fictional group that practices Sinanju. They almost see themselves as heroes, but not quite - if an assassination could prevent a war that could cost thousands of lives, then isn't the death of one person acceptable? They still do it for the money, though, so they aren't exactly nice guys, either.
Anyhow, I give it 3½ stars because it hits on all three areas - lore, story, and good character development.
But then it loses a ½ star because of the ridiculous confrontation between the lizard and the Tiger.
Still, 3 stars is worth the read IMHO.