By Troy Denning
Book II, The Empires trilogy
-Dragonwall is the next title in The Empires trilogy, and the immediate sequel to Horselords. The book picks right up immediately after Horselords. Some book sequels, some amount of time has passed between the two, for characters to regroup, or for some change to sink in, or whatever. In this case, the Tuigan have just broken through the Dragonwall, and the military of Shou Lung is just beginning to fight them back.
-In a way, Dragonwall presents the same story of Horselords, but from the opposite perspective. In Horselords, we were told the story from the point of view of the Tuigan, as they siege Khazari. In Dragonwall, we are told the story from the point of view of the Shou, as they defend their lands. I, personally, liked the change in perspective. In Horselords, we were shown how the Tuigan think. In Dragonwall, we were shown how others perceive them.
-Dragonwall had practically everything I want in a Forgotten Realms book. The main protagonists and antagonists are, for the most part, nameless soldiers- most will have names that don’t last the passage of time, anyway. Batu Min Ho, the main character of the book, I didn’t like too much in and of himself. As far as characters go, he wasn’t too dynamic, I didn’t think. His interactions with everyone else, however, I enjoyed. The political machinations by the Mandarins of Shou Lung was an aspect of the novel that I enjoyed as well. I’d say that it could be classified as part war novel, part action novel, and part mystery novel. I liked the scenes midway through the novel dealing with Wu, Batu’s wife, and the plot about a spy in the Summer Palace of the Emperor the most. For the sake of not spoiling it for anyone else, I won’t go into more detail on that matter, other than I liked that story.
-The one complaint I had with Dragonwall was that I don’t really like the “person comes out of obscurity to take over” fantasy theme. Batu was, at the beginning of the novel, a relative nobody, and by midway through, he was a very important figure. Now, to clarify a bit, he was a general of the Imperial Army of Shou Lung, so he wasn’t exactly a nobody. But, he was from Chukei, the far-flung, ‘red headed stepchild’ of Shou Lung. To put it in more modern terms, it’s like the mayor of a small town somewhere suddenly becoming a promoted to the leader of CENTCOM.
-The misfortunes of poor Koja of Khazari continue, as well. Though I felt the same way before I reread this novel, Koja always seems to be getting the short end of the stick. For the second time in so many novels, he gets all of his bodyguards slaughtered, and the unenviable task of having to deliver all of their heads back to Yamun. The poor guy constantly seems to be being dealt bad cards, though he survives through things relatively unscathed. Speaking of misfortunes, other people have registered their dislike for Forgotten Realms novels not really dishing out enough misfortune, that things are too often (more or less) “happily ever after”. I won’t go into much detail, again, as not to spoil what I think is the best part of the novel- though, if someone wants to discuss it, or have it spoiled for them, let me know, and I’ll SBLOCK if necessary- but after putting this novel down, people won’t be disillusioned with the concept of ‘plot armor’ and all of that.
-Overall, out of a possible Five Beholders, I give this novel Five Beholders.
At least for Batu. The novel made me dislike Shou politics VERY much.
Also, the third novel drops him back into obscurity (an important, player, to be sure, but not really much screen-time except for the beginning).
But now I'm jumping ahead... :embarrass
-I didn't like Batu "defecting" to the Tuigan (though I understand his motivations). I would have rather seen him fade into obscurity, never to be seen again, I guess.
He felt he needed to find a commander he could respect, and that would respect him.
He was also awesome at the beginning of Crusade, the next novel, because he out-smarted the Thayans and handed them their arses. I doubt the Tuigan generals would have been so smart.
Kinda like - some FR novel not by Troy Denning where there was this group of half-demon elves that had been imprisoned for five thousand years, and had just escaped - why kill them stupidly at the end? You have a decent villian, you are working within a D&D setting where people would appreciate more lore and more characters being available, and randomly killing the characters adds nothing.. So why close of all possibilities?
That's always been my objection to Troy Denning... no vision with regard to what can be afterward. Doesn't end on a note that you expect great stories to still be on the horizon.
Ambition and ability isn't welcome in some circles...
What DID upset me in the novel was the VERY end, when Yamun was preparing to invade Thay. Although they won the opening gambit, the schemings of Szass Tam essentially turn Yamun into an underling of the lich... and let's be honest, Yamun is a million times cooler than Szass could ever be.
I really like the opening battle scene of this novel.
I liked the ending for Batu. he belonged in the army of Yamun--who recognized his talent and saw him as a man after his own heart. The Emperor, who also realized Batu's skill, would have never given him the positions he deserved for the long term--I'm sure Batu would have gotten a nice knife in his back a few months after the end of the novel if he had not joined Yamun.
-Like I said, I would have rather have him fade off into obscurity somewhere. There's no doubt that he isn't mandarin material, and I see why Batu did what he did, and the though processes behind all of it, but I didn't like the manner in which it all unfurled. It seemed a little forced, in my opinion.
What DID upset me in the novel was the VERY end, when Yamun was preparing to invade Thay. Although they won the opening gambit, the schemings of Szass Tam essentially turn Yamun into an underling of the lich... and let's be honest, Yamun is a million times cooler than Szass could ever be.
-I thought it was fitting. Yamun may be "cooler" than Szass Tam (on this matter, I'm neutral. Yamun is alright, as is Tam), but Tam is certainly more politically astute and scheming than Yamun. It's like the small town lawyer and the city lawyer meeting from the movie My Cousin Vinny. What I didn't like about it is that the Tuigan were so willing to accept Thayvian magical aid and such. In the other books, they've been shown as a fairly insular and magic-weary group.
IIRC, a few mages were assigned to the Tuigan, but that was more of a 'goodwill gesture'.
The fact that Szass Tam was willing to admit that the Tuigan could actually hurt Thay was enough to convince Yamun of his sincerity. Both sides had little to gain (and everything to lose) by throwing their forces at each other.
Normally I consider anything touched by Troy Denning as ruined. He writes decently enough, but there's little depth, and its almost guaranteed that he'll end it in some uninspring way.
Very true - I have often said as much myself.
I really think he gets an idea for a story - and may even begin writing it - and then sumbits it to various publishes to be used in different settings. Then, after he finds out where its going (and perhaps even after a first draft is complete), he goes 'back in' and sprinkles-in setting-specific details for flavor.
Everything the man writes appears to take place in a vacuum - he creates characters and even entire armies and nations out of thin air, and then makes sure to tie-up all the loose-ends so it's as if his stories never even occurrred. Sometimes his choices of lore are so confusing that they show obvious signs of a lack of familiarity with the setting, and cause multiple inconsistencies.
Seriously, if they'd let me imagine up Shade based on what we knew of Netheril, it would have been so much more epic.
... I'm sure LK will agree with me there ;)
I really think he gets an idea for a story - and may even begin writing it - and then sumbits it to various publishes to be used in different settings. Then, after he finds out where its going (and perhaps even after a first drafte is complete), he goes 'back in' and sprinkles-in setting-specific details for flavor.
Everything the man writes appears to take place in a vacuum - he creates characters and even entire armies and nations out of thin air, and then makes sure to tie-up all the loose-ends so it's as if his stories never even occurrred. Sometimes his choices of lore are so confusing that they show obvious signs of a lack of familiarity with the setting, and cause multiple inconsistencies.
I haven't ready anything else by Troy Denning except Faces Of Deception, but that explains the schizophrenic state of the Utter East. In the game it's very European, in the book it became Indian (actually, this is a good change given the area, but awkward to link the two together via the Ffolk and Northmen). Why the kingdom of Edenvale moved. How Bloodforges became linked to prisons of ancient evils.
I felt the characterization of Dragonwall's main cast was inferior to Horselords. Horselords offered one of the better-developed and interesting hero/villains in the Realms fiction I've read (limited as that may be, about a dozen novels so far). Horselords handled its unconventional protagonist well, making for a good duo that had solid and suspenseful interactions woven throughout the book. Dragonwall's characters were just adequate. They got the novel from point A to B, offering nothing outside of what the story absolutely required. They were effective, but hardly as interesting or compelling to read, follow, love or hate as other novels.
Batu was just the generic warrior hero and general, an accomplished military thinker. I would hold back from calling him a tactical genius, which he should have been, given the circumstances, and that skill should have been highlighted. I liked the family man aspect, but that didn't rise to the fore enough to make the ending have as much impact as it could have. His wife, Wu, had the kung-fu bit, but you typically expect most oriental protagonists (even secondary ones) to possess such skills anyway, so that aspect only mildly interested me. The unexpected fate at the end, though you rather saw it coming, was the only thing that made Wu interesting. The support characters were expendable, which Denning made typical use of as plot and emotional fodder.
The villains were underdeveloped; all of them were cookie cutter stock oriental bad guys. There's the aloof emperor who didn't mean to come off as a less-than-stellar person or incompetent leader. There was the Minister of War, typical evil old man bureaucrat with an understated passive magical aspect. Then there was the typical "dragon lady," the beautiful and capable, but evil Minister of Internal Security. There was the full-of-himself and mutinous general from Wu Kan. Finally, we have the faceless Tuigan Horde with only a brief cameo by Yamun and Koja. Between the heroes and villains, everyone was what and where you expected them to be. I'm not against stock characters, but more of an attempt should be made at their portrayal.
Kara-Tur, sometimes considered one of the most powerful empires on Toril really fell flat in that regard. They displayed none of their supposed power. The Tuigan and the Shou armies just clashed mostly in typical frontal assault, hand-to-hand battles. There were a few minor magical elements, but far from what I expected. Heck, towards the end, the Tuigan with their magical bridge/ram during the siege on the Shou noble house armies demonstrated far better magical know-how than the Shou . None of the tactics seemed very interesting or special. I think the book fails as a war story as I found myself skipping the battle aspects for the character interactions and behind the scenes court intrigue parts.
The mundane battles wouldn't be such a big deal if it weren't for the at least minimal magical competency of the Tuigan established in the first book and even in Dragonwall, or the vast difference between the Tuigan and the western crusade armies of Faerun in the third book. The sheer contrast and lopsided inconsistency between the books really makes me wonder how Kara-Tur survived the way it has. This jarring difference in terms of setting design reminded me of the weak integration between Faerun and Kara-Tur as game settings.
About the only thing that blew me away about the book was the ending, or rather the events that lead to the ending. That the book closes on a tragic note is a good change of pace. What I found lacking was Batu's reaction. I agree with others who said it would have been best if he faded into to the sunset. The only realistic reason for him to join up with Yamun would be to help the Tuigan take down the Shou and their useless emperor who failed miserably in pretty much everything.
My impression was that Shou Lung was supposed to be the strong and just dynastic archetype. The weak actions of the emperor (and the poor performance of the Shou Empire as a whole) really fit better with effete and corrupt archetype of Tu Lung. At the end of the novel, Batu held no allegiance to the emperor. If he were a reasonably written character, he shouldn’t even have a modicum of respect for his former liege. There was little holding him back from just switching sides to the Tuigan and renewing the siege on Shou Lung. With Batu's expert help (since he lead the building of fortifications and once commanded the Shou armies), the Tuigan would have swept through the empire. The novel showed Batu as the only capable person in the emperor's service, all the mandarins and other Shou generals were useless anyway.
Between the illogical ending, the generic characters, and the bland, ill-fitting presentation of the Far East, I felt the novel falls quite short in quality from Realms novel I have read. It's still readable, and there were moments that caught my interest, mostly the brief attempt at intrigue, a few decent parts with Batu, and the unexpected fate of several characters. I would rate it second amongst this trilogy, with Horselords undeniably ahead of it. Crusade would fall to a distant third.
I really need to find my copy of Horselords... it appears I'm missing the best of the series.
Anyhow... you brought-up an interesting point about Shou Lung being portrayed more like T'u Lung. I'm wondering now if I can somehow spin all of that so it 'reads better'.
Anyhow... you brought-up an interesting point about Shou Lung being portrayed more like T'u Lung. I'm wondering now if I can somehow spin all of that so it 'reads better'.
-Thinking quickly, the various regional leaders, all the way up to the federal level, realized the power the Tuigan possessed, as as not to totally decimate their own forces, they've been trying to pass the baton along, in terms of who has to actually deal with them, leading to people ignoring an obvious threat, hoping that someone else will deal with it.
The Shou had a much larger force then they deployed. It was along the lines of the first Desert Storm war fought by the US - we sent just our reserves in, and didn't even bother using the 'regular army', which was nothing more then some major 'muscle flexing' and show-of-force by us.
"Nyah-Nyah... we don't even need our real army to beat you up"
None of the provincial armies were deployed (except for the Mai Yuan forces, which already suffered a crushing defeat and was busy fighting a defensive retreat). Those were irregulars called-up from the Imperilal province, along with the personal 'house troops' of dozens of nobles.
The problem Shou faces is the same one Rome had - they have a HUGE army - but its always busy fortifying its borders. You can't move them around without leaving areas vulnerable. It also means despite it's massive size, it's spread pretty thin (because of the size of the Empire itself).
Actually, when I made that comment, I was thinking of spinning it in such a way that it was really T'u Lung portrayed in those novels (which it seemed like). However, thats not really feasable (I had some ideas, but none of them are very believable...)
I might move-up the 'Three Kingdoms' period in T'u Lung to an earlier date, just to have Shou distracted and the Shou Emperor busy elsewhere (so that he found the Tuigan problem very inconvenient). The sourcebooks portray him as a decent and honourable man, and I'm just not seeing that in Dragonwall.
I think the novel stated Shou Lung committing a significant portion its military forces to the fight against the Tuigan, one of the largest in Shou history. A lowly general from a fringe province like Batu being given that many men to lead was unheard of. The court (and likely the emperor) feared that it was placing too much on the shoulders of one commander. If he failed, they were screwed. If he was a turncoat (noting his part Tuigan heritage) they were screwed faster.
The provincial armies were included in the force sent against the Tuigan, whatever they could spare from five provinces (isn't that like half of the empire, counting the decimated armies of the north already engaged or expended). The novel mentioned that to draw any more troops would put them at severe risk to be overrun by Tu Lung or generally not enough to hold the fort.
Another thing about the ending. Yamun agreed to stop his invasion because the Shou handed over his would be assassins and partly since it grounded to a stalemate. He doesn't seem like the kind of person to give up, even if his 'honor' was satisfied. Already the Shou showed themselves to be weak and disorganized. Already he obliterated Shou Lung's northern armies, took out the noble armies, and came dead even with half of the Shou military. His loss rate was well below that of the Shou. The forces in the other provinces can't be mobilized to meet him. So like a game of Risk, all he had to do was overcome one more mild military obstacle and then, at his leisure, knock down the provinces one at a time like dominoes.
He didn't have that many men with him at the time, but it didn't stop him from gathering up another sizable force to invade Faerun with, a force nearly equal to the one he had with him going into Shou Lung. Now that he had Batu with him and the end of Dragonwall took every notable general or person related to commanding the Shou armies out of the picture, Shou Lung had nothing left. The emperor showed himself to be an weak leader who couldn't even keep tabs on his own people and security, which Yamun even noted was something he was superior at (Koja survived Chanar afterall). The novel made it almost too easy to end the current dynasty and usher in a Tuigan dynasty.
Another thing about the ending. Yamun agreed to stop his invasion because the Shou handed over his would be assassins and partly since it grounded to a stalemate. He doesn't seem like the kind of person to give up, even if his 'honor' was satisfied. Already the Shou showed themselves to be weak and disorganized. Already he obliterated Shou Lung's northern armies, took out the noble armies, and came dead even with half of the Shou military. His loss rate was well below that of the Shou. The forces in the other provinces can't be mobilized to meet him. So like a game of Risk, all he had to do was overcome one more mild military obstacle and then, at his leisure, knock down the provinces one at a time like dominoes.
He didn't have that many men with him at the time, but it didn't stop him from gathering up another sizable force to invade Faerun with, a force nearly equal to the one he had with him going into Shou Lung. Now that he had Batu with him and the end of Dragonwall took every notable general or person related to commanding the Shou armies out of the picture, Shou Lung had nothing left. The emperor showed himself to be an weak leader who couldn't even keep tabs on his own people and security, which Yamun even noted was something he was superior at (Koja survived Chanar afterall). The novel made it almost too easy to end the current dynasty and usher in a Tuigan dynasty.
-Yamun declared himself "Emperor of the World", as decreed by Teylas. The Emperor of Shou Lung existing would inherently challenge Yamun's claim to the title. He's a man of his word, and stopped the invasion because he only rode against them in revenge for the attempts on his life, but there's no doubt that he would have eventually attacked again. The truce called ended the conflict based on the assassins sent to kill him by the Mandarins and Mother Baylun. Yamun invading because of the Emperor's challenge of superiority over Yamun by claiming the title 'Emperor' would have been a whole new matter entirely, that the earlier truce would have nothing to do with. That's how I'd see it, anyway.
In the east, there is way more of a chess-game going on then in the west, and at the point in time of the K-T material and the Tuigan War novels there is a precarious balance of power. Most of the nations have enormous armies compared to their Faerûnian counterparts, but none of them can move against another without leaving them defensless from an attack from another quarter.
According to that sourcebook (pg. 21), the tiniest and most insignificant of all eastern nations - Khazari - could field an army of over 75,000 men!!!
Anyway, you even said it yourself in you long post, DW - Shou couldn't deploy more troops without leaving themselves vulnerable elsewhere. The army that was sent against Yamun was mostly cobbled together from the men who were rotated 'off' from the provincial armies, irregulars (the army was about half new conscripts), and the forces of the Lords private armies (and not even all of those - just the ones from the north).
Yamun Kahan's total force numbered near a million, but he cycled his troops to keep them fresh (and hence, why he never used all of them in any particular conflict, until the end). About one third were with him on the move (and often split-up), one third were protecting the various clans (because some clans hadn't joined, and there were also other threats) and spread all over the Hordelands in their home territories, and one third had 'off', and were kept in reserve until called upon. Not sure if that was from Horde Campaign (probable), or form The Horde, but either way, that was the canon break-down.
Yamun also had to leave troops behind to fortify Semphar and Khazari when he marched in Shou-Lung.
I agree he would have taken the capital and had the Emperor executed if the book had been realistic (afterall, the Shou Emperor had shown weakness), but he didn't, so I'll deal with that bit of weirdness when I do the history of the region in the K-T project (there were other 'considerations' never mentioned in the novels). However, had he done so and taken the time to obliterate the provincial armies one-by-one, he would have run into the surprise of his lifetime when he got to the southern border... and met a waiting (and FRESH) T'u Lung army nearly as large as his!
If Shou Lung fell, you can bet the southern Emperor would have made deals with Laothan and Kuong (who would have also been in grave jeopardy if T'u fell) and been able to employ his entire army against the Tuigan, probably bolstered by forces from at least those other two I mentioned, and perhaps have even gotten help from the half-dozen other K-T nations of power.
After all, Shou is the big 'balancing factor' in K-T, and if it fell, all those 'little guys' would have put their differences aside after seeing Shou conquered. When the nation you all fear crumbles beneath somene else's heal, its a bit of a 'wake-up call'.
If Yamun Khahan had continued with his campaign in the East, he would have eventually fallen, and the T'u Emperor probably would have had the only legitimate claim to the Shou throne. In fact, things would have gone quite differently and the west would have had a new threat to fear - the rest of a unified (and beligerant) eastern Empire, allied with the other countries around it... and therefore able to commit an army of well over a million for its own conquest of the west.
THEN Azoun would have had his head handed to him, and Khelben and the Lord's Alliance would have had to get off their lazy butts and finally do something.
I would have to look up the specific line or reference, but I recall that a significant portion of Shou Lung's total number were sent against Yamun (not counting the provincial armies he already crushed in the north). To commit any more would simply invite Tu Lung to come overrun them.
Yamun doesn't have to conquer all of Kara-Tur immediately. He could take the northern provinces and depose the emperor. Leave Tu Lung and the southern Shou provinces scratching their heads so they can skirmish each other for a year or so while he reinforces himself with fresh troops.
While the fall of Shou Lung would raise eyebrows in the rest of Kara-Tur, I'm not sure how effective the others would be to unite against the Tuigan. What we technically have left are several empires and kingdoms not known for their trustworthiness but known for their strife (internal and against neighbors).
Would the other nations actually help Tu Lung claim the rest of Shou Lung or would they squabble over the spoils of once great Shou Lung? Could Tu Lung get it together enough to form a united front against the Tuigan? Remember too that the Tuigan's style of warfare completely blitz traditional warfare tactics of the established Kara-Turan empires. The only reason Batu fought them to a stalemate was that he knew how the Tuigan thought and fought. It is highly unlikely Tu Lung has any commanders with that knowledge.
That is unless Tu Lung is actually the honorable dynastic archetype and they could get their act together...
-Yamun should have slew Azoun...
I don't agree...anyway I still miss Azoun, he was a great man.
Beloved by many other women, too!
Confusing... aren't I? :P
Basically, its like this (and we should really leave this for the next review): Azoun most certainly should be able to kill Yamun Kahan.. proabably fairly easilly. However, Azoun should NOT have gotten anywhere near Yamun Khahan.
The fact is, the Crusade used some pretty cheap anti-cavalry tactics against the Tuigan - tactics the Tuigan should have been aware of and ready for. All of a sudden, they seemed like complete amateurs.
So yeah... Azoun could kick Yamun's ass... but he wouldn't have gotten close-enough to do so.
And Rinon - you just made my day. Azoun is my favorite FR character; I'm glad someone shares the love.
And Rinon - you just made my day. Azoun is my favorite FR character; I'm glad someone shares the love.
Indeed--and I especially love the idea of playing one of his hundreds of children, too.;)