Blue Moon Rising by Simon R. Green

Blue Moon Rising by Simon R. Green- This is the first book of a series of stand-alone novels under the title of Forest Kingdom. However, each book is an entirely new story with different characters. The second book is called Blood and Honour and the third book is called Down Among the Dead. The two main protagonists are also the main characters in Simon R. Green's Hawk and Fisher series (No Haven for the Guilty, Devil Take the Hindmost, The God Killer, Vengeance for a Lonely Man, Guard Against Dishonour, Two Kings in Haven, and Beyond the Blue Moon). Simon R. Green has written a number of various series; Twilight of the Empire, Deathstalker, Deathstalker Legacy, Nightside, and Secret Histories. His is currently starting a new series calledGhostfinders that has its first book due out in August 2010. He's written two stand-alone novels, Shadows Fall and Drinking Midnight Wine, and has written a number of short stories. Blue Moon Rising was originally released in 1991 and published by Roc.


Prince Rupert knows he was sent on an impossible mission to slay a dragon. He knows his father, King John, sent him to die so that his older brother, Prince Harald, can become the next king. With his unicorn, Rupert journeys deep into the forest and into a place called the Tanglewood, a 'buffer zone' to the evil and corrupt land called the Darkwood. In order to find the dragon, Rupert has to seek the aid of a Night Witch, who tells him that the dragon is found beyond the Darkwood. Rupert and his unicorn travel in and beyond the oppressive darkness and barely make it out alive. After finding the dragon, he learns that the dragon is a peaceful creature who has a princess under his care. A princess who has been tormenting the dragon for a while. After 'saving' Princess Julia from the dragon, and finding out he can't kill so noble a creature, the group travel back to the Forest Kingdom and his father. During the trip back through the Darkwood, things don't go well for the group and they barely makes it out alive. Upon returning to his home, Rupert learns that the demons from the Darkwood are attacking the Forest Lands and the kingdoms only hope lies with an exiled Warlock. To make things worse, Julia finds out that Rupert's brother, Harald, is who she was to marry. As war looms over the land, Rupert is sent out to bring back the Warlock and travel, once again, through the Darkwood. When he returns, things are not looking good.


Criticisms:
1) Cliché. Wow was this story cliché. There barely seemed to be anything that was unique or new. What should I start with? How about the story. I know it's hard to write a new and fresh story, but this was just too basic. How bad is it when a story is just basically about good vs. evil? Sure, there were a few 'twists' but that's the whole premise. This wasn't very horrible, but it grated on my nerves. Speaking of twists, this story had them and guess what? They were terrible. The biggest twist comes after we find out who the Demon Prince is talking to in a scene around the middle of the book. We don't know who they are but it soon becomes obvious, and that's pathetic. I don't want to give it away, but I will say this. Harald would have made a lot more sense and would have felt justified. I will give the story this though, it was hard to believe it wasn't Harald. Even when we do find out who it was, it didn't come as a shock at all. The twists were way to obvious. Finally we have the characters. Each character is a horrible cliché, but I'll get into that next.
2) Characters. Almost all the characters we meet are just basic and stock. There is really nothing unique about them. Rupert is as boring as they come. He does have his moments though, but for the most part, he has to be one of the blandest and annoying main characters I've ever read about. He just isn't likable. The Warlock is the stock old man who has great power but can go a minute without drinking. While this character wasn't totally awful, I just found him annoying. The Champion who accompanies Rupert is probably the worst cliché. He's every stories impossibly strong warrior who is stoic and unmoving. But even with the clichés, the real problem was that every character felt underdeveloped. There just wasn't enough to make me actually care about these people. They were just two-dimensional and unrealistic that I could barely stand them. That being said, I loathed Julia. I absolutely did not like her and because of this I WILL SPOIL things about her. When we first met her, she seemed okay and great. As the story wore on, my opinion barely changed. She was decent and somewhat likable. But all that changed in a blink of an eye. After Rupert leaves to find the Warlock, Julia is left alone at the castle. The whole time we see her there she's thinking about Rupert and missing him. It seems like she might love him. Ever since she found out who Harald was, she would always try to hurt or avoid him. Yet, what happens when Rupert returns? It seems like she totally forgot about him. Going so far as trying to make Rupert jealous with Harald. She turns into this petty person and that the worst thing. She basically becomes a high schooler in how she acts. Sure seven months is a long time, but it seems like she just started to realize that Rupert wouldn't be coming back at about month four or five. Then after a few pages, she's suddenly back with Rupert. Why? Did she suddenly realize that she loves Rupert, well yes she does. But it just seemed so wishy-washy and was just plain poor character development that I can't help but hate her.
3) Relationships. I think the biggest problem with the story is character relationships. They just don't ever seem to form. In the case of Rupert and Julia, we are told that they love each other by page one hundred. There was no building up the relationship, there barely was anything. All we were told is that a few months pass and Julia and Rupert seemed to like each other. That's it. Then we have Rupert and the dragon. It's the same case as Julia, but for friendship. We're just told that they are friends. Yet for about three-quarters of the story, the dragon isn't in it. So when he finally returns, it's suddenly like Rupert and the dragon are buddies. What makes this worse is that on the back of the book it says, “But the dragon turned out to be a better friend than anyone back at the castle.” Huh? Seriously there doesn't seem to be any friendship that developed other than being told that they were. It's lazy.


Praise:
1) Humor. The story was really funny. It reads more like a parody than a serious fantasy novel, and it actually works. The jokes and situations that the characters get into are really humorous. However, it felt like only half the story was a parody while the other half was serious. It didn't help that the humor and seriousness meshed together in the same paragraph. I just felt wrong. But I can forgive that because I really did enjoy most of the humor.
2) John and Harald. These were the only characters that seemed to have some depth to them. King John was by far the best. He was the most complex and interesting. From his friendship with the court Astrologer we see a deep and insightful character. There were times when he came off as swallow and unlikable, but these were times when the story actually needed him to be. As for Harald, he was just plain interesting. The way that Harald teased Rupert was great and the fact that he hides his loyalty to his father and land so well just made him memorable.
3) Last Quarter. I really enjoyed the last quarter. It did have its problems (Julia, obvious twists, and poor showing of relationships), but it was exciting and fun. The action scenes were confusing, but it felt right. The desperation that the characters felt, I felt. I couldn't keep the book down for too long during this time. It was a fun ride to the finish.


Side Notes:
1) Scenes. Why was it that we would have three paragraphs with one persons view-point and suddenly switch to another? It was kind of jarring at first, but easily adaptable.
2) Cover Art. I know that there are a few different versions, but the one I'm going to be talking about is the one above. It's pathetic and boring. Sure the unicorn and dragon look great. Rupert and Julia are laughably bad. But what bothers me is the white. It's just too lazy and boring.


Overall: 3/5
Final Thoughts:
Blue Moon Rising should have stayed being a parody. It would have worked better with it being cliché, but once it turned serious, the cliché things just became unbearable. The characters were pathetic. They were so underdeveloped and unlikable that the only people I enjoyed were the king and Harald. At least they had some substance. The other major problem was that I never believed the relationships between these characters were there. I don't like being told they are friends, I want to see it unfold. It's just lazy otherwise. All in all, I have to say that Blue Moon Rising is a decent read. It's exciting at points, boring at others but it does its job. If you like parodies, definitely pick it up. Otherwise, use your judgment.

State of the Blog for the End of May

I thought it might be time to do yet another quick "State of the Blog". Sure it's only been a little over a week since the last update, but I feel like I need to update. So, what's this update about? Well a few things that will expand on the previous update a little more.

First off, some new business. The new review is going pretty slowly. Blue Moon Rising by Simon R. Green has a lot of problems. It feels like I'm on page 250, yet when I look at the actual number, I'm only on page 182. It feels like it just has too much happening, yet at the same time nothing. As for other quick problems; characters are unlikable, pacing is slow, and characters are so underdeveloped that it's pathetic. But once again, I'm only on page 182 so my thoughts and complaints may change by the ending. More on this later!

Now for the old stuff.

I mentioned how I wanted to start-up a type of review show. It's going to happen, but things are going a little slower than I thought. Still working out ideas and I think I am much closer to figuring out how I want to do this. I'm not going to give much away, but I think as so as I finish up the next trilogy, I'll have the first show out. So look forward to that!

Finally, Let's Play. Yes, I'm still going to do this and I think I found a few good game to use. Hooray! So during the week I'll be running some tests on these games. I'm hoping by the first two weeks of June to actually have a Let's Play going.

Well, maybe it wasn't more information. Also, I might not be able to hold my self-given deadlines, but I will try my best to get these things done.

Okay, that's it for now. Look for the Blue Moon Rising review some time this week.

- Travis

The Captive Flame by Richard Lee Byers

The Captive Flame by Richard Lee Byers This is the first book in The Brotherhood of the Griffon trilogy. The second book is titled Whisper of Venom and is due out in November of 2010. The third book is titled The Spectral Blaze and is due out in June 2011. The Captive Flame is set in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting of Dungeons and Dragons. Richard Lee Byers has written a number of books, mostly focused on the horror genre;Deathward, Fright Line, The Vampire's Apprentice, Dark Fortune, Dead Time, The Tale of Terrible Toys, and The Tale of Gaia and Uktena: Werewolf, 5. He has a collection book titled Dark Kingdoms. He's also contributed a number of stories to other series including;Nightmare Club (Joyride, Warlock Games, and Party Til You Drop), World of Darkness(Caravan of Shadows, Netherworld: Vampire, On a Darkling Plane, and Wraith: The Ebon Mask), X-Men (Soul Killer), and Warhammer (The Enemy Within). He's also written a trilogy for the Scarred Lands called Dead God trilogy (Forsaken, Forsworn, andForbidden). He has written a number of Forgotten Realms novels as well; Sembia: Gateway to the Realms series (a short story in the first book of the series, The Halls of Stormweather, and the third book, The Shattered Mask), R. A. Salvatore's War of the Spider Queen series (Dissolution), The Rogues series (The Black Bouquet), The Year of the Rogue Dragons trilogy (The Rage, The Rite, and The Ruin), The Priest series (Queen of the Depths), and The Haunted Lands trilogy (Unclean, Undead, and Unholy). He's also contributed a vast amount of short stories to various anthologies. The Captive Flame was released in May 2010 by Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

Quick Continuity Point: The Captive Flame has characters that have appeared in The Haunted Lands trilogy as well as referencing events of The Year of the Rogue Dragon trilogy.


Aoth Fezim's mercenary band called The Brotherhood of the Griffon hasn't been in that good of shape since we last saw them in The Haunted Lands trilogy. The Brotherhood has come across a string of bad luck and are fortunate enough to find work in the country of Chessenta, who are notorious in their hatred of magic and mages. That makes things a little difficult for Aoth, a war-mage, and his lieutenant, Jhesrhi, as they encounter distrust and hatred for their magical abilities. It doesn't help that a series of murders have been committed in the capital city of Luthcheq targeting prominent 'wizard haters'. The only clue is the killer leaves behind a green hand print, which singles out the wizards of Chessenta who are forced to have one of their hands tattooed green. But that can't be why the Brotherhood is hired for Chessenta could it? After finding out the who's responsible, the Brotherhood is placed in a town named Soolabax by the border of Threskel to help prevent raids by Threskel into Chessenta, but also are tasked with a secret mission. That mission, lead by Jhesrhi and another of the Brotherhood's lieutenants, Gaedynn, is to find Chessenta's lost ruler, a red dragon named Tchazzar. At the same time, the Brotherhood sent a small group to help accompany a group of dragonborn on their way home to Tymanther. After finding out that Tymanther is being attacked by some ash giants, another of the Brotherhood's lieutenants, a dwarf named Khouryn, decides to stay and help out for a few weeks. But it soon becomes apparent that the ash giants are more organized than the dragonborn thought. However, back in Soolabax, it seems that someone or something is trying to assassinate Aoth. What does Khouryn learn? Are Jhesrhi and Gaedynn able to find Tchazzar? Who was behind those murders in Luthcheq and what connection does it have with Aoth and the town of Soolabax?


Criticisms:
1) Slow. For the most part, the story's pacing was fairly good. For the most part, it was fast, but yet not fast enough to rush everything by to quickly. However, there were parts that really bogged the story down. These scenes really only happened in the first one hundred pages and mostly concerned political matters. I don't know why, but I just felt like they dragged on a little too long. It just wasn't interesting and it felt like padding, even if it actually is relevant to the plot.
2) Rushed. Yes, another pacing problem. There were scenes that were rushed and confusing. There were only two scenes that had this rushed feeling in them. These scenes took place with Khouryn's journey with the dragonborn and could have been interesting, if not for the rushed pace of the dialogue. It felt like something was skipping ahead to the next frame and that caused some dialogue to be lost. These were my least favorite scenes in the story because no matter how many times I read them, I just had no idea what happened or what was even said.
3) Khouryn Scenes. In the middle of the story, Khouryn accompanies a group of dragonborn back to their homeland. There are some great scenes but for some reason, there was a rushed feeling to them. It made me not really care about Khouryn or what was going on for a brief time. The rushed feel of some of the conversations in these scenes made me think that they were last-minute additions to the story. Because of the rush feel of the conversation, I was lost most of the time. They just weren't handled well at all.


Praises:
1) Stories. I really did enjoy the story lines. There are about four or five plots going on at once, yet it never felt like it was too much. Each of them were easy to follow because they rarely crisscrossed and almost always stuck with the same people. Also, each was unique. First you have the murder plot, then you have the Khouryn/ dragonborn plot, then the search for Tchazzar plot, and finally we have Aoth's time in a town defending the border. Each was vastly different, yet they all connected and made sense at the end of the book. It also helps that each part felt like it wrapped up with just the right amount of questions left unanswered.
2) Jhesrhi and Gaedynn. Their adventure to find Tchazzar was great. They had chemistry and were fun to read about, not to mention that their scenes were my favorite parts of the book. The chemistry that they have felt like something akin to what a good sitcom has, you want them to admit they like each other, yet they don't. As the journey progresses, it just gets more and more obvious that there is something there between them. The journey itself was interesting. We learn why Jhesrhi is the way she is. However, I did feel that it came across as kind of sudden and little forced, but still interesting and shocking. I can't give too much away about any of the other trials they faced, but somehow they made even the worst fantasy clichés (imprisonment) enjoyable.
3) The Ending. Once again, I can't spoil it but I really enjoyed it. It wraps a lot up, and yet leaves enough unanswered to keep me interested in the sequel. There is even a few new questions that arise, yet it didn't end on a cliffhanger as most trilogy books do. If this was a single, stand-alone novel it would work. Yet, it has that 'epic' factor that all trilogy books should have. What really impressed me was that by the end, the main plots of the story were wrapped up and it left me wanting more.


Side Notes:
1) Exposition. Wow, was there a lot. Every god, city, and creature mentioned had a brief and wonderful description along with it. If you were coming into the Forgotten Realms blind, I would say is would be a decent book to start with.
2) Red Dragons. I thought chromatic dragons (red, blue, green, black, etc.) were supposed to be evil. Yet, Tchazzar was a beloved leader and from what I gathered, didn't seem all that evil.
3) Cover Art. I like it and yet I don't. I do like having Aoth and his griffon, Jet, on the cover. They look close to perfect. It catches your eye and holds it. However, it's too bland. I feel like there needs to be something else and looking at the bottom of the cover, there seems to be something going on. What that is, I can't tell. Also, the color scheme is muted grays and browns. It looks dark and not very appealing until you see the blue in Aoth's hand and in his eyes, they really make the cover stand out.

Overall: 4/5

Final Thoughts:
The Captive Flame is a really good story, with one huge problem that hampers it. The pacing is all over the place. The story starts off a little too slow, and then goes into a rushed jumble. Sure, the problems only happen in particular scenes, but it's noticeable and annoying. However, everything else just works. The characters are great, the story is wonderful, and it ends just the right way. Even with having five unique stories combined into one, Richard Lee Byers manages to succeed in making everything exciting and understandable. The ending wraps up wonderfully, and leaves just enough unanswered to make you want more.

Circle of Skulls by James P. Davis

Circle of Skulls by James P. Davis- This is the sixth and final book released in the Ed Greenwood Presents Waterdeep series of stand-alone novels. This series contains five other entries, which are all written by different authors. With all stand-alone novel series, any of the other entries can be read out-of-order. The series is set in the Forgotten Realm universe. The other novels in the series includes; Blackstaff Tower by Steven E. Schend,Mistshore by Jaleigh Johnson, Downshadow by Erik Scott de Bie, City of the Dead by Rosemary Jones, and The God Catcher by Erin M. Evans. Circle of Skulls was released in May 2010. This is James P. Davis fourth novel and he has contributed a short story titled “Possessions” to the Realms of the Dragons II anthology. His other full length novels are all set in the Forgotten Realms. These include; Bloodwalk (The Wizards series), The Shield of Weeping Ghosts (The Citadels series), and The Restless Shore (The Wilds series). Circle of Skulls starts off with a brief introduction by Ed Greenwood.

Jinnaoth is looking for revenge. An angel of Asmodeus (a former arch-devil who became an evil god) took Jinn's love, and he wants the angel, Sathariel, dead. The problem is, Jinn hasn't be able to get close enough to the angel. However, when a string of horrendous murders start happening in the city, it seems that Sathariel is connected. Having the angel connected to the murders, Jinn might finally get his chance. Enlisting the help of a night hag, Maranyuss, and an eladrin wizard named Quessahn, Jinn starts to track down the source of the murders and may be able to stop them. But, it seems that the murders are not only connected to Sathariel and Asmodeus, but with a haunted area of Waterdeep referred to as the Circle of Skulls and the nine mysteriously floating skulls. Can the trio find the connection and stop the murders? Does Jinn get his revenge against Sathariel?

Criticisms:
1) Jumping. The scenes seems to jump and it always seemed like some actions where missing. This is a problem that really plagued the book. By 'jumping' I mean when someone is doing a certain thing and in the next instance they are doing something completely different. Here's general example; me sitting in a chair having a conversation and suddenly I appear behind the person I was talking to without having any action explaining that I was getting out of the chair. At first, I thought this may have to do with just the action scenes to add a sense of confusion and 'realism' to them, but it becomes apparent that it's everywhere. The clearest example I have is towards the end of the book when Jinn is talking with Maranyuss about a ritual, and during the whole conversation I don't recall Jinn moving toward the exit. Jinn is just talking with Mara and somehow, someway Jinn is suddenly out of the room and starts talking with Quessahn. This took place between two paragraphs. One paragraph was Jinn and Mara talking, the next he suddenly left the room and is getting ready to leave and starts a conversation with Quess. This wouldn't have been a problem, if there was some description or action mentioning Jinn moving to leave the room where Mara was. It needed something to signify Jinn leaving, but there wasn't anything. This isn't a one time event either. It happens at least three or four times a chapter. It almost seems like these parts could have been lost in the editing process. It made things a little confusing and harder to follow. To top if off, it's the reason behind the next criticism.
2) Slow. The pacing is slow and it made the book a little harder to read. The first reason is the above criticism about jumping. When the story takes a 'jump', it caused me re-read the previous page to see if I missed something. Nine times out of ten, I didn't. It really just bogged the story down. The second reason for this slowness is that there wasn't very many exciting scenes. Sure the fights were pretty good, and I can chalk this reason up to building atmosphere. While the atmosphere was creepy, it just didn't make it an exciting read. The other reason is the next criticism.
3) Little Exposition. There's an unwritten rule of exposition of “show, don't tell”. Well, I'm bending the rule. As a casual Forgotten Realms fan and someone who does know quite a few things about the world, I was utterly lost in what most of these things are. Also, aren't stand-alone novels aimed towards casual readers who might be unfamiliar with the world? So where are the explanations? Who is Asmodeus? What are these Orders? After finishing the book I still could not explain these things. I did figure out that Asmodeus is some sort of god, who was an arch-devil, but that's pretty much all. As for the Vigilant Order, I honestly have no idea. Hence why I'm saying you need to bend the rule of “show, don't tell”. You need some explanations for things, especially in a novel aimed towards new readers and casual ones.

Praises:
1) Creepy. I do have to give some credit to how creepy the story was. The atmosphere that was developed was frightening. The prologue was disturbing. It really did build up the creepy factor. While the whole story doesn't stay as creepy or disturbing, there were some parts that made my skin crawl. The best scene that sticks out in my mind I can't really tell much about except that there is a lot, and I mean a lot of blood involved. That was disturbing and frightening. Overall, I really did think the story did have a creepy factor.
2) Protagonists. I'm going to start by saying they aren't the best characters I've read. They aren't really well-developed, and they don't go through any major changes as the story goes on. However, something about them really stuck to me. Jinn, Mara, and Quess all possessed something unique that I just found fascinating. For Jinn it was his past. I'm really interested in reading more about his past lives and what happened in them. He is just a mystery, and for some reason, I just like the mysterious characters. Mara is kind of the same way, but that's not why I enjoyed reading about her. She was a fairly good anti-heroine, and her greed really made her stick out. I really don't know how I should feel about her, if I should hate or like her. It makes her different. With Quess it's much more like Jinn, her background intrigues me. I wonder about her magic and her pacts she made. So in reality, the protagonists backgrounds really are interesting and I'm willing to read more about them.
3) Ending. I really did enjoy the ending. I'm not going to give much away, and because of that I can't explain too much. But I will say that the final showdowns (yes, more than one) was worth it. They were very climactic and very satisfying. That's all I'm going to say about it.

Side Notes:
1) Quessahn. Quick question: are eladrin's and moon elf's the same? I was under the impression that they both were elves and that eladrin were 'originals' and moon elves were more 'watered down' (for lack of a better word) versions of the eladrin. So it kind of annoyed me that Quessahn was called an eladrin and a moon elf on the same page, when I was under the impression that they were different.
2) Sathariel. Another question: I thought evil gods used demons and devils as minions, so is it 'normal' to have an angel do its bidding? Maybe I'm just ignorant and can only think of angels as being holy and good, but I'm honestly curious.
3) Cover Art. I really like it. It's creepy and really catches your eye. The problem is that it's too small. I'm starting to really not like how these stand-alone novels have such small artwork and have huge titles and borders. I would rather have a full cover of art and not some small space that only take up half the cover. But I do like it, just I want it bigger.

Overall: 4/5 
Final Thoughts:
Circle of Skulls is really a 3.5, but I don't like using decimals. It's not a terrible story by any means, yet it has too many problems to be a great one. While the story's atmosphere is creepy, it bogs down the pacing. The pacing also suffers from sudden jumps. The protagonists have something that makes them interesting and I would to read more about them, but they are just okay overall. It was missing some needed exposition (especially since it is a stand-alone novel). I really enjoyed the ending, it was climactic and exciting. For a new or casual reader, I can't really recommend it. If you're a fan and know a lot about the Forgotten Realms, pick it up. If you like creepy stories, it's worth a read.

Interesting...

So a few days ago, I decided to check out how Blogspot works compared to Wordpress. So I'm going to be messing around with this for the rest of the week. I do like my Wordpress, it just seems like I'm having trouble with it constantly. So I might just change it to be here instead. I'm not sure yet... Well, time to check out things!

Oh and my Wordpress is http://travizzt.wordpress.com so go there and check out the past reviews and a few video game rants.

Off to explore!