Frostfell by Mark Sehestedt

Frostfell by Mark Sehestedt- This is the final book in a stand-alone series called The Wizards. The first book is Blackstaff by Steven E. Schend, the second is Bloodwalk by James P. Davis, and the third book is Darkvision by Bruce R. Cordell. With this series, each book is a separate entity and can be read out-of-order. The only theme to mention is that each novel revolves around wizards and magic. Frostfell is set in the Forgotten Realms universe of the role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons. Mark Sehestedt has written a number of books set in the Dungeons and Dragons universe, however, all his author credits are solely in the Forgotten Realms. He was the editor for the anthology Tales of the Last War which is set in the Eberron setting of Dungeons and Dragons. His Forgotten Realms works include; Sentinelspire (The Citadels series) and is working on the Chose of Nendawen trilogy; The Fall of Highwatch, Hand of the Hunter (due out in late 2010), andCry of the Ghost Wolf (due out in 2011). Frostfell was released in 2006 and published by Wizards of the Coast, Inc.


Amira is in a world of trouble. After her son and her were captured by slavers, they were able to escape, but not for long. The slavers are hot on her trail and Amira decides that, in order to save her son, she'll have to confront those chasing her. Telling Jalan, her son, to run towards a lake in the hope of the slavers losing the scent, Amira finds herself facing a group of slavers. After being recaptured, she still refuses to tell him where Jalan is. After two strangers interfere with the slavers, Amira gets stabbed, only to awaken in a cave having her wounds tended to by an old elf that goes by the title of belkangen (a priestly wizardly druid). But Jalan isn't with them, and she learns that the two strangers who confronted the slavers are out looking for him. As one of the strangers, a human by the name of Gyaidun, returns to the belkangen's camp, the other stranger, an elf named Lendri, locates Jalan. However, things don't go as planned and Gyaidun finds Lendri seriously wounded and learns that a monstrous sorcerer that seems to command the cold took Jalan. After learning this, Amira and Gyaidun set off to try to rescue Jalan, while Lendri (all healed up) goes in search of help towards their cause. Why does this sorcerer want Jalan? Why does Gyaidun, Lendri, and the belkangen willingly help Amira? Is Amira able to save Jalan from an unknown and icy fate?


Criticisms:
1) Amira. She seemed to be a typical, one-dimensional character and came across as boring. She just felt too typical. It seemed like I've seen her character in so many other things and that nothing really new was added to the archetype of the determined mother. Quite frankly, she was boring. I've seen this character too much and I couldn't get excited about her. However, that being said, she still could have worked. It was an interesting touch to see her so passionate about find her son that I almost started to care about if she would find and save him. However, she seemed to stray from her goal and at times didn't seem to really care about finding her son. It almost felt like I was reading about two different characters sometimes. Granted, I know she couldn't solely spend the whole novel in the mindset of searching for her son. With that said, the scenes where she was focused on something else never felt quite right. They seemed more like a total character change. Gone was the need to find her son and instead it was replaced with something trivial like talking around a fire. Now, this does move the plot along, but after her desperation she had, it didn't feel right. Not only that but there was almost nothing else about her character. She never really developed into much more than a mother worrying about her son. She was one-dimensional.


Praises:
1) Plot. While simple, it still felt fun and exciting. I'm not really going to go into too much more detail because there isn't much else to tell and if I tell too much, I'd spoil a lot. At no time did I feel like things felt forced or awkward, everything moved in a logical way. For one thing, there is really no multiple plots meshing together. There is just Amira getting Jalan back, with a little back story and side character development added. It's not deep, it's just simple and maybe it was a little too simple.
2) Mystery. I really did like that nothing was really given to you upfront and that things slowly start to unravel the further you get into the story. Now the plot was really simple to guess what was going to happen, that's not what I'm focusing on. Instead, the characters and events all had a mystery to them. I'm not going to spoil anything about what these mysteries are, but I will comment on them. The whole reason as to why Gyaidun is willing to help Amira is predictable, but still how it was revealed was interesting. How and what exactly Lendri and the belkangen are was a nice mystery. I would never have guessed that right off the bat. Finally, why these sorcerers want Jalan and exactly who they are is probably the best mystery. At no time are we given any real motivation to these sorcerers other than they want Jalan, and as it unfolds, you start to really hate the sorcerers.
3) Side Characters. I really enjoyed Lendri, Gyaidun, and the belkangen. However, due to the story being so straightforward, I can't really elaborate without giving a lot away. Lendri was the weakest side character, but he still had something to make him enjoyable and that was his mysterious nature. I'm not just talking about what he really is, more along the lines of wanting to know more about him. Gyaidun and the belkangen had that same sense of mystery, but they were just fleshed out more. With the belkangen, you had the 'wise old man' archetype going on but it never really felt like he was guiding the heroes. To me it felt more like he was trying to calm and reason with them. Gyaidun on the other hand felt more developed and multifaceted, more so than Amira. He had and interesting back story and the arch the character takes is certainly one of the highlights.


Side Notes:
1) Magic. I loved the magic that was used in this book. It really felt like what a book about wizards should feel like. It didn't rely too much on brute strength (although that was present), but it seemed to rely more on the mystical and magical side of things. It just felt right.
2) The Endless Wastes. I really liked the setting. I don't think many (if any at all) really take place in this part of the Realms. It seems rough and harsh, and the people who live there come across the same way.
3) Cover Art. I have to say this, I'm not a fan. The previous two entries (Bloodwalk and Darkvision) used certain colors to highlight the book, and it worked really well. With Frostfell, it uses blues, but it doesn't convey the same feeling as the previous two. Not to mention the wolf and sorcerer seem to be generic looking stock images. They just don't have the same effect. The poses look boring and doesn't really keep my eye glued to them. It's just not as interesting.


Overall: 4/5
Final Thoughts:
Frostfell is the first book in The Wizard series that really worked. Blackstaff was a horrible and confusing mess,Bloodwalk was slow and plodding, and Darkvision read oddly and seemed to lacking. Frostfell seemed to get things right. While the main character was one-dimensional and boring, the side characters were fantastic. They were unique and developed. Frostfell also had a wonderful sense of mystery, which worked great. Instead of leaving the reader lost in things that never were explained, the things that were explained had a nice unraveling. They weren't rushed and they weren't vague, the mysteries were just perfect. The plot was also very good, albeit a little too straightforward. While it help keep the story in focus, it always felt predictable at some points. Would a casual fantasy reader like this book? I'd have to say yes, this is definitely worth a pick up.

Darkvision by Bruce R. Cordell

Darkvision by Bruce R. Cordell- This is the third book in a stand-alone series called The Wizards. The first book is Blackstaff by Steven E. Schend, the second is Bloodwalk by James P. Davis, and the final book is Frostfell by Mark Sehestedt. With this series, each book is a separate entity and can be read out-of-order. The only theme to mention is that each novel revolves around wizards and magic. Darkvision is set in the Forgotten Realms universe of the role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons. Bruce R. Cordell has written a number of book site in the Forgotten Realm setting, however, he's written a novel under the pen name of T. H. Lain called Oath of Nerull. His Forgotten Realm novels include Lady of Poison (The Priests series), Stardeep (The Dungeons series), and is currently finishingThe Abolethic Sovereignty trilogy (Plague of Spells, City of Torment, and Key of Stars[due out 9/2010]). He has also contributed a number of short stories to various anthologies. Darkvision was released in 2006 and published by Wizards of the Coast.


Ususi defied her people in order to discover relics and secrets that spelled doom for her ancestors. After studying her people history, she knows the dangers the lurk in the hidden and lost portals she seeks. But when her people send out a vengeance taker to bring her back, she's learns that she's her peoples only hope. At the same time, a geomancer named Thormud begins sensing that the earth is troubled and sets out to go investigate, taking along his grumpy, foul-mouthed elven bodyguard Kiril Dustmourn. As the geomancer starts to discover more about the disturbance, a sickness strikes at Thormud, leaving Kiril to try to take care of the mess and save Thormud's life. We are also introduced to a self-imposed exile by the name of Warian Datharathi, as he discovers that his crystal prosthesis is more than it appears. Returning to the city, family, and family business he abandoned, he is shocked to see others with similar crystal prosthesis' that decorate people bodies. After talking with his family, he realizes that something doesn't seem quite right about the crystal the family mines and augments they create, and decides to investigate. Can Ususi save her people? Can Kiril stop drinking long enough to stop the taint that is afflicting the geomancer? Why is Warian's arm acting oddly and why is his family acting weirdly?


Criticisms:
1) Exposition. This was a real problem throughout the novel. At first, the reader is thrown into a world that seems very foreign and different from normal Forgotten Realms books. There are times when the novel seems to slip into Eberron (the Dungeons and Dragons version of a steam punk fantasy setting) territory. It's not awful, just awkward. I know that the Realms have some 'skyships', but they are fairly rare and not widely known. The big problem I had is with the golem-like prosthesis' that were described. It seemed really 'out there' and didn't quite feel right. Well, at least its still better than a split-in-half golem-human. The other problem with exposition was that there barely was any. I was extremely confused and lost for the first fifty pages. I had no real background in the history of Imaskar and whenever Ususi's chapters came up, I couldn't follow anything. The final problem is the random bursts of exposition. As the story progressed, you would get almost random bursts that describe what something was. There is one example that really annoyed me. Late in the story, we get some background information in Kiril and her sword Angul, that just gets inserted between two paragraphs that really had almost no connection to her and the sword other than her touching it's hilt. It was awkward and immediately took me out of the story. Exposition is the key problem in this story.
2) Source Book. For half of the novel, it seemed like I was reading a Dungeons and Dragons source book or module. The worst part is, I've never read a source book or module, but the descriptions felt like it's something that would be in them. Most of the time, paragraphs and sentences read like they were picture captions. Then parts of the story felt like I was reading a transcript from a Dungeons and Dragons game. However, most of these parts were early in the story and were quickly broken. Heck, there even was a scene where we see something being described with the use of parentheses. It was really bothersome.


Praises:
1) Characters. I really, really enjoyed the characters. Each main character was unique and different. They had wonderful development and always made me seem to care about them in some way. The best characters had to be Kiril, Warian, and Zel. Kiril is a very different type of elf. She's rude, curses a lot, and is a blatant alcoholic. I have yet to read an elf portrayed in this way. The best part was that her character really grew as the story progressed. When we first meet her, she's a unlikeable character, but as her journey with Thormud progressed, we started to see a different side of her emerge. Quite frankly she was just amazing. Warian is pretty much the same way, but he started off as a likable character. He had this charm and charisma that you couldn't help but like. Then after some events happen, we start to see a different side of him, a touching and heartfelt side. He was just plain charming. Finally, we have ZelWarian's uncle Zel, we are lead to believe that he doesn't care about Warian and comes off as a villain. I really don't know why I liked Zel so much. He was basically forgotten toward the end of the story, but even then he had this presence you couldn't ignore. He was the story's scene stealer. The other main characters were good, but nothing really can compare to these three.
2) Plot. I have to say that the overall plot is really interesting, when you actually start to understand what was happening. I'm not going to give much away, but it was unique enough to set itself apart. There are three main plots going on and while the start off totally different, they somehow merge wonderfully. Honestly, when I hit page two hundred, I could never have guessed how Kiril and Thormud would meet up with Warian's or Ususi's group. It was a very nice surprise. It does have times it falters, but overall it's good.


Side Notes:
1) Magic. Honestly, for a book about a wizard, there wasn't very much magic happening. Sure there were some spells here and there, but overall I was kind of disappointed by the lack of magical combat. Not to mention the real lack of a 'wizard' (I know that Ususi is one, but she didn't seem to be the main focus and really never felt like a wizard).
2) Eberron. Now I mentioned this before in the Criticisms, but it needs mentioning again. This story felt like it belonged in Eberron. It just did.
3) Cover Art. I really like it but it's flawed. The heroic pose of Ususi is really striking and eye-catching. The color scheme is nice as well with the usage of green. It really caught my eye. However, green IS NOT the crystal's color in the story. In the story, they are more of a purple or violet color. Does that fact take down the coolness of the cover? Kind of. Would violet or purple work in green's place? Probably not.


Overall: 2/5
Final Thoughts:
Darkvision is a decent story with some hampering problems. The major problem is the lack of exposition in the beginning and the random bursts of it. The other problem is that Darkvision felt more like a source book or module. However, the positives do balance out it's faults! It has uniquely different characters that really stand out. Kiril and Zel need to be mentioned again. The plot felt fresh and came together beautifully at the end. Would a new or casual Forgotten Realms reader like this? I'd have to say no, due to the lack of background information on a lot of things in the first fifty pages. However, if you have some background in the Realms, give it a read.

Bloodwalk by James P. Davis

Bloodwalk by James P. Davis- This is the second book in a stand-alone series called The Wizards. The first book is Blackstaff by Steven E. Schend, the third is Darkvision by Bruce R. Cordell, and the final book is Frostfell by Mark Sehestedt. With this series, each book is a separate entity and can be read out-of-order. The only theme to mention is that each novel revolves around wizards and magic. Bloodwalk is set in the Forgotten Realms universe of the role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons. This is James P. Davis very first 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; The Shield of Weeping Ghosts (The Citadels series), The Restless Shore (The Wilds series), and Circle of Skulls (Ed Greenwood Presents Waterdeep series). Bloodwalkwas released in 2006 and published by Wizards of the Coast.

Morgynn died at her own mother's hands, only to be reborn as a power mage called a blood magus. After that fateful day, Morgynn has used anyway possible to increase her magical knowledge. After being forced from numerous cities, she sets her sights on Brookhollow on the edge of the haunted and deadly Qurth Forest. The only thing stopping her is the city's circle of seer's, but that is easily remedied. Creating a false prophecy that a ghostwalker, Quinsareth, will save the city and to not fight back that is shown in a vision to the High Seer, it's up to Quinsareth and a hunter to stop Morgynn's plans. Only Quinsareth doesn't want to be a hero and isn't a the hero type. He only seeks justice for the slain, not to get involved with stopping fate. After the High Seer tells her disciples to not fight back, one of the hunters named Elisandrya defies the edict in order to find the ghostwalker. However, we learn that Elisandrya has other reasons for defying the High Seer. Does Quinsareth and Elisandrya save the people of Brookhollow? Or does Morgynn get a firm hold on the city?

Criticisms:
1) Pacing. This story is insanely slow to read. Honestly, most nights I had to force myself to read two chapters. I even feel asleep reading at some points. But it wasn't necessarily boring, it was just incredibly slow. I do see two things that could be the cause for this. The first is all the build up of the main antagonist, Morgynn. She seems to have a part in each chapter that builds up a certain aspect of her character. This parts add bits and pieces to her back story and her personality. However, I won't delve to deeply into her character at the moment. The other problem for the slow pacing is that every detail or description seems to be repeated over and over. I hate to say it but after page fifty, I got extremely annoyed with Morgynn feeling everyone's pulse and blood. A few times would have been okay, but not once or twice every chapter! Not only that, but other things were being constantly repeated but with slightly different wording. It just became a little tiresome. The slow pacing is definitely the novel's biggest flaw.
2) Morgynn. I don't know why, but I just couldn't like this character. She felt one-dimensional and flat for most of the book. You never really got her motivations down, other than she's the villain. Don't get me wrong, there were times when there were interesting aspects of her character, but they just never developed correctly. I think the biggest flaw with her is that you don't know if your meant to like her, hate her, or just feel for her. Really, she was just a standard villain. Her powers were interesting, but everything else wasn't.

Praises:
1) Setting. I did really enjoy the creepy and dark tone of the story. There were plenty of things that made me shiver. The best part is, this feeling never really dwindles. Almost every chapter gives you something new to experience, be it being ripped open from the inside or a Qurth Forest being a death trap. Then you have some of the imagery. There is one scene early in the book where Quin is walking into a town that felt like something out of a psychological horror movie or a Silent Hill game. The atmosphere is really what's great about this book. 
2) Quinsareth. I don't know why, but I just liked Quinsareth. Maybe it's because I enjoy the idea of ghostwalkers themselves or that Quin is a reluctant hero, but I just thought he dominated every character in the book. Sure, there were times when he seems to disappear into the background, but something always made me look forward to each part he had. There is also the fact that he is a cold, brutal killer that really sets him apart from other protagonists. I really don't know what else to say about him other than I liked him.

Side Notes:
1) Magic. The whole premise of the series is to spotlight mages and wizards. That being said, it was very interesting to see a type of magic never really seen in the Realms.
2) Dues Ex Machina. It seems liked every major problem in the plot was solved by really simple and random solutions. For example, the shield to the druids 'creature'. While the shield is more believable, the 'creature' really did feel a little tacked on and sudden.
3) Cover Art. It's not bad, but it's not good. I do like the use of reds, but Morgynncliché for female characters) or her odd-looking expression (she looks more like a cheesy vampire), but she just rubs me the wrong way. But I do like the dead solider in the foreground, that's a nice touch that is almost missed. But overall, not really great.

Overall: 3/5
Final Thoughts:
Bloodwalk could fall as either a two or a three for a rating. This is my second time reading it and to put it bluntly, I hated it the first time. In fact, I would have called this book one of the worst books I've read. However, after a second read through, I don't really see why I would think that way. It's not a horrible book, but it's not a great one either. It just falls as average. The biggest flaw is the pacing, and that's why I say Bloodwalk could be either a two or a three. There are times when the story is a flat-out two, due to the pacing, but it picks up just enough to get it to the next level. But in reality, the atmosphere really saves it from being a two. I constantly kept getting a creepy feeling throughout the novel and it did help the book out. With the characters, they mostly fall in two categories, good and bad. The worst being Morgynn and the best being Quinsareth. Would I recommend this book to a casual reader? I'd have to say maybe. If you like creepy atmosphere and gore, then yes. If you don't, then no. If you do pick it up and hate it, try to read it again, maybe you'll like it.

Blackstaff by Steven E. Schend

Blackstaff by Steven E. Schend- This is the first book in a stand-alone series called The Wizards. The second book is Bloodwalk by James P. Davis, the third is Darkvision by Bruce R. Cordell, and the final book is Frostfell by Mark Sehestedt. With this series, each book is a separate entity and the only theme to mention is that each novel revolves around wizards and magic. Blackstaff is set in the Forgotten Realms universe of the role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons. This is Steven E. Schend's first full length novel. His second novel is titled Blackstaff Tower and is part of the Ed Greenwood Presents Waterdeep series of stand-alone novels. Steven E. Schend has written a number of short stories and articles in various anthologies and magazines. Blackstaff was released in 2006 and published by Wizards of the Coast.

Khelben “Blackstaff” Arunsun has lived for centuries due to being one of Mystra's (the goddess of magic) Chosen and is one of Faerun's most powerful mages to ever walk the world. He's the archmage of the coastal city of Waterdeep and has protected it for countless centuries. All that's about to change. After an experimental spell goes awry, Khelben finds himself linked with two of his apprentices. His one apprentice's body is destroyed due to the spell while the other can't go to far from Khelben else she dies. What's worse is that this apprentice, Tsarra, gets flashes of Khelben's past, which is something better left alone. As the duo try to find a way to stop this from happening and to save Tsarra's life, an old rival of Khelben's appears and causes havoc that could destroy the Sword Coast. Can Khelben and Tsarra separate their minds and stop the rival from killing thousands, if not millions?

Criticisms:
1) Characters. There are quite a few major problems with the characters in this book. First off, there are just too many of them. It seemed like every other page a new person was introduced who was either never mentioned again or comes back late in the story. There are a few problems with this. The first is that we don't know who these people are. Sure you may recognize a few people here and there, but new readers (who I think would be the target of a stand-alone novel) would be totally lost. Heck, even people familiar with the Realms would be hard pressed to know who is who. The other problem with this is that you don't know who is who. There are so many people with similar looking names that you can easily switch up people. It really ruins the immersion factor. Another problem with the characters is that they are just plain wooden and shallow. There is really only one person that has depth to them and everyone else is just lifeless and boring. Tsarra's only characteristic is her sudden mood changes and that does get old really fast. Raegar, a rogue who is Tsarra's love interest, has times were he is an interesting character but is ruined by the whole love interest aspect, which I'll get into more detail later. Nameless, Tsarra's familiar (wizardly companion), could have been one of the better main characters of the group, other than Khelben. However, that's not saying much. He's a flying cat and is really a one trick pony. I'm not even going to bother with the side characters or the main villain because they were all forgettable and almost pointless. The villain never did feel menacing and he didn't even have a presence. The side characters were just background noise most of the time. All in all, I think the characters are one of the two things that really ruin this story.
2) Plot. The other thing that ruins it is the plot. This book as the distinct honor (or dishonor) of having not enough plot but at the same time having too much of it. What I mean is, there isn't a solid plot and everything just didn't make any sense. First off we have the whole Tsarra and Khelben link issue which I thought would have made a great story, but it seemed like it was mostly forgotten. It was mostly forgotten because of the other main plot about the destruction of the Sword Coast, which really ruined everything that the story had going for it. This plot felt like it was added because someone realized that the whole Khelben/ Tsarra storyline wasn't going to last for a full book. So they decided to add a boring, confusing mess to an already boring and confusing mess. Honestly, I still don't know if I summarized the story correctly from the above summary, and I don't even know what exactly the whole point of the story was. To make matters worse, nothing is explained. Khelben has this lovely habit of not telling anyone what is going on, leaving the story's characters and the reader in the dark about pretty much everything. There was no real chance of using logic to figure out what was going to happen because it was so vague. I can't even accurately describe what I'm trying to get across because the story was just a mess, a very bad mess.
3) Love Interest. I will give the story this little credit before I get into the horrible love interest, Khelben and Laeral (his true love , wife, and a fellow Chosen) had a touching and deeply personal relationship that I did enjoy reading about. That being said, the Tsarra/ RaegarTsarra or Raegar was looking at each other with love in their eyes (or whatever it was) and I just wanted to throw this book into a fire and just let it burn. It was grating and painful to read. It may have been different if the duo knew each other for more than maybe half a day, but that's as long as they knew one another. Honestly, I would rather read a Twilight novel for a better romance story then have to deal with this pointless “romance”.
4) Tears. This is a more personal annoyance I had with the book. Everyone cries at the drop of a pin for almost no reason. The worst example of this is late in the book when someone (I don't know who) looks across and sees someone else and just bursts into tears. Really? Why? They weren't dying or injured (as far as I could tell). Did an epiphany suddenly hit them? Or did this just realize they were in a horrid novel? I'm leaning towards the latter. It was just annoying seeing on almost every third page someone having tears in their eyes. This is what broke me. After this point in the book, I just didn't care and I knew that this book was a huge waste of time.

Praises:
1) Khelben. He was the only character I liked. His relationship with Laeral was just beautiful and you can sense the love between them. He's the only character that went through any sort of real development, yet he didn't let his emotions overcome him too much (like the insipid and overly emotional Tsarra). When we saw some of Khelben's past through visions that Tsarra was given, we got a good look at who Khelben is and how he came to be. Honestly, this book should have centered more around him and his past, while allowing the books real ending to still happen. I just enjoyed Khelben immensely.

Side Notes:
1) Lore. This book was full of Realms lore and terms, but with absolutely no explanation or real clues to what half of these things are or meant. It almost felt like I was reading a guidebook to Dungeons and Dragons.
2) Magic. I have to say that when there was a magical fight it was handled pretty well and was semi exciting. The only problem is that everything felt  overpowered and unstoppable. I don't like that.
3) Cover Art. I really like it. You have Khelben doing an awesome and heroic pose that takes up the cover and you see the nice outline of the Sword Coast and Waterdeep in the background. It's a really interesting and good cover.

Overall: 1/5
Final Thoughts:
Blackstaff can be summed up in three words: boring and confusing. The plot is so confusing and it never seems like it knows where it's going. The characters are boring and almost lifeless and the love interest between Tsarra and Raegar was awful. I still don't understand how someone could tear up for no real reason. Too many references with no explanation is a bad, terrible thing. Not even the Blackstaff, himself, could save this book from being down right terrible. It's one of the worst Forgotten Realms books I've ever read and one of the worst books I've ever wasted my time on. The worst part is, this is my second read through. The first took me about a month and this took about a week and a half. It's just boring. So do I recommend this? What do you think? No. I don't. At all. But if you're interested in Khelben or a huge Forgotten Realms database of knowledge by all means, waste a good day or so of your life on this. If you're not one of those people, stay as far away from this abomination as humanly possible. This sure is a great way to start a series...