Grasping for the Wind

Book Review: Obsidian Ridge by Jess Lebow

* Genre: Sword and Sorcery, Media Tie-In, Forgotten Realms
* ISBN: 0786947853
* ISBN-13: 9780786947850
* Format: Mass Market Paperback, 313pp
* Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
* Pub. Date: April 2008
* Series: Forgotten Realms Citadels Series, #2

In a writing style throwback to the adventure stories of Robert Howard and others of his generation of sword and sorcery writers – light on dialogue, big on action - Jess Lebow has brought some of the adventure back to the Forgotten Realms campaign setting in his latest novel, Obsidian Ridge. Foregoing character introspections (except to a limited extent) Lebow allows the action to drive his narrative. It is much like the early Ed Greenwood, when he first began writing media tie in novels for his Forgotten Realms campaign setting.

Obsidian Ridge tells the story of three primary heroes. The Claw is the king’s assassin, whose bladed gauntlets remind me of nothing less than Wolverine. And the Claw uses them to equal effect. Mariko is the king’s daughter, but she is also a budding spellcaster and damsel in distress. Korox, King of Erlkazar - a newly formed nation that broke off from Tethyr - is forced to make a decision about whether or not to give up his daughter to the arch magus Xeries, master of a floating mountain in the sky called the Obsidian Ridge. Twisted in body and mind, Xeries threatens to destroy all of Erlkazar if he does not receive Mariko for his payment. But there are other forces at work. The criminal underworld of Lhorbauth – capital of Erlkazar – has captured Mariko and holds her for ransom from a desperate king. The king and the Claw must find Mariko, all the while wondering whether or not to turn over Mariko to the evil Xeries.

As you can see from the synopsis in the previous paragraph, there is a lot of potential for action in the story, and Lebow leverages it to the hilt. The story is light on dialogue, and instead moves from action sequence to battle scene, from battle scene to fight scene, with a dose of mystery thrown into the mix rather than conversation to move the narrative forward. The identity of the Claw, and the king of the underworld both remain a significant mystery for a large part of the story, although the astute reader will guess their identities quickly.

Although it is action that drives the plot, there is some time given over to introspection. Korox especially wrestles with what it means to be king. But Lebow’s skill is not in getting us to emotionally connect with the characters, rather it is in giving us heroes that we cannot help but cheer for. Reading Obsidian Ridge was like watching a football game in which you know nothing of the players except their names. As you watch, the announcers give you little tidbits of information about the players, and you appreciate them, but that isn’t why you tuned in. You tuned in because you needed something to cheer for, to watch one team beat another. In Obsidian Ridge you want to watch the team of Korox, Mariko, and the Claw beat Xeries and the criminal underworld. What you learn of their characters in the meantime is interesting, but is not why you choose to read the book.

The novel has flaws. It is a simple plot, and Lebow uses deus ex machina a few times. The Claw and Mariko get out of a few scrapes a bit too fortuitously and this can seem a little contrived. When the plot tries to zig or zag, it is usually pretty obvious where the author is going, and when a surprise does occur, it is because the reader had little foreshadowing and so had no reason to expect it.

If you enjoy dialogue as part of the story, Lebow uses only what he must. The story is mostly told through a description of events as they unfold. Characterization is simplified and the motivations of the characters are not in any way complex – except for Korox. He alone really struggles with himself.

I don’t think that this novel makes a good entry point for new Realms readers. It explains little of the Realms mythos, and in fact only has a very few mentions of the standard races and denizens of the realms. Even those are usually part human, part something else. A little prior knowledge of the Realms would stand the reader in good stead for understanding the Realms story Lebow has written. The book could have been placed in another setting other than the Realms and still have been essentially the same story. I do recommend it for all Realms readers to add to their collection. It is not a stand out novel, but neither is it mediocre, and so it fits snuggle into that area of fiction that is best classified as an enjoyable read.

In Obsidian Ridge Jess Lebow took a difficult topic - it is part of the Forgotten Realms The Citadels series, where the writers try to write a story about fortresses and castles - and made an interesting story of it. It has inescapable dungeons, a love story, truly evil villains, battle and fight scenes, and a hero who uses gauntlets as weapons. What more could you ask for from a sword and sorcery novel?

Snippet from Paul Kemp's Shadowrealm

Paul S. Kemp has posted a little scene from his latest Forgotten Realms novel Shadowrealm at his livejournal. Shadowrealm is currently slated for publication in December of 2008, and will conclude the Twilight War trilogy.

Featured on Red Room

My interview with Rosemary Jones, author of the Forgotten Realms novel Crypt of the Moaning Diamond has been featured on the homepage of Red Room.com!

Redroom is:

... the online home of the world’s greatest writers. Through original, author-generated content, we offer a trustworthy and creative social network unlike any other. Here, you can connect with your favorite authors, access current industry news, and comment on engaging features. By fostering true community between authors and readers, Red Room showcases esteemed writers and inspires the next generation. We also give back to the community we aim to nurture with our commitment to the Causes We Support.

Thanks to Rosemary for posting a link to our interview at Red Room, and to Red Room for thinking it worthy enough to put on their homepage!

Sword, Sorcery, and Small White Dogs: An Interview with Rosemary Jones

Rosemary Jones (Myspace, Blog) is the author of the Forgotten Realms novel Crypt of the Moaning Diamond as well as several short stories. she answered a few of my questions about shared world fiction, humor in fantasy, and children's books.

GFTW: How would you describe Crypt of the Moaning Diamond to someone who hasn’t heard of it before?

Rosemary Jones: An old-fashioned swashbuckling sword-and-sorcery story full of monsters, magic, mayhem, and treasure set in the Forgotten Realms that does not fear to make humorous use of a small dog.

GFTW: Why are music and the ability to sing (or lack thereof) so prevalent throughout your novel?

RJ: That’s my day job creeping in. I work for an opera company writing press release, program notes, web content, and other items. I love music. But I’m can’t sing at all! And I’m surrounded by people who are enormously gifted at music. So I started thinking about what would it be like if you were a child of a great singer, as my heroine is, and you couldn’t sing.

GFTW: Since you write in a shared world, I have to ask this question. What is your response to those folks who deride shared worlds as bad fiction?

RJ: I would never make blanket statements about any genre because somebody is going to come along and blow you away with their talent. I think it depends on the writer and the risks that they and their publisher are willing to take. Neil Gaiman took a dopey D.C. comics character, the Sandman, and changed the way people regarded comics and won a World Fantasy Award. J.K. Rowling took the British school series genre, where each book deals with the next year in a boarding school, and turned it into an international phenomenon by tweaking that formula in all sorts of wonderful ways. But in both cases, those writers also worked very hard to make their characters real even though the hero might be an immortal god or a boy wizard. And, quite obviously in both cases, there was somebody at their publishing houses saying “Well this is different but let’s take a chance.”

One thing that can be problematic in writing shared world fiction or any type of genre fiction is the idea that you have to sound a certain way, that there is only one “voice” as it were for that type of fiction. I think that’s when writers can end up sounding forced or awkward, and readers can be very quick to pick up on that. I tried to keep the facts right (the way that the world works), stay in my own voice to tell the story, and make the characters as real as I could. When a friend read this, the first thing she said, “Is it really OK to have your adventurers out trying to raise money to repair the barn? Shouldn’t they be trying to save the world? Isn’t that what they do in fantasy?” And I told her that my characters have much smaller and, to them, more pressing problems than saving the world. Luckily, my editor at Wizards was very supportive of what I tried to do with this story. Which meant that the novel that resulted is, for better or worse, definitely Rosemary Jones’s style of storytelling.

GFTW: Why is humor such an important part of a story?

RJ: That’s just the way I write. And what I like to read. I enjoy fiction where the humor isn’t forced, where it comes more out of the relationships of the characters. Pip Granger does this beautifully in a series of mysteries that starts with Not All Tarts are Apple. Life just is a mixture of funny and serious, and it seems natural to write that way.

Terry Pratchett is another master of mixing funny and serious, especially in his later books. Read Jingo or Small Gods or Feet of Clay. Wonderful characters, terrific humor, and some serious thinking about war, religion, and freedom. Making Money, his latest book and yet another fantasy with humorous use of a small dog, is also a pretty good lesson in real-world economics and the types of speculation that is driving the stock market news today. In fact, I was a bit dismayed when I realized a dog was a major part of his latest book—his writing is so fantastic, I don’t like to go too near a “Pratchett-type” plot or characters. I definitely don’t wax as philosophical as he does either.

But as Elaine Cunningham said in a forum, you eventually do cross paths with other writers when you writing in the high fantasy world. Dwarves are dwarves are dwarves, as it were. Again, it becomes a matter of voice and trying to stay as true to yourself as possible.

GFTW: What would you say is the most difficult part of writing a novel?

RJ: Letting go at the end. I’m never totally satisfied. When you’re working on a deadline, you do reach a moment where you have to print out the pages, burn the CD, and ship it off to the editor. I’ve actually ripped open the box to make another note on the page at the post office. This is also true of nonfiction for me. Shipping it off is the hardest part.

GFTW: You write both short stories and novels. How do you approach writing novels versus writing short fiction?

RJ: Much more detailed outlines. Short stories tend to flow out of a single sentence, the opening or the closing line. Crypt also started with one idea: how would sappers operate in the Forgotten Realms? And that idea really started with me reading about medieval sappers, i.e. the men who had the job of breaking down the walls of a besieged castle. Then a lot of other things from life got layered into the outline, like not being able to get out the door without spilling my breakfast down my shirt or wondering why everyone that I see wandering outside in Seattle is walking a small dog or how family members don’t always look like each other but definitely are similar in underlying ways. My outline for a short story might be just one or two sentences jotted in a notebook. My outline for Crypt was 35 pages!

GFTW: To what extent are you constrained by the pre-existing world of Faerûn in your writing and how and when are you able to forge new territory in the Forgotten Realms setting?

RJ: What constraint? I had a whole huge world to play in and somebody else had already drawn the maps! I find owning complete encyclopedias explaining where stuff is and how it works is a terrific safety net and a great source of ideas. Some shared worlds might be harder to write in, but Faerûn seems to act more like historical fiction. If you’re writing about the Napoleonic wars, you have to put Waterloo in the right place on the right day. But if you’re writing about what’s happening in a corner of Denmark on the same day as Waterloo, you don’t need to worry so much about “the facts that everyone knows.” My story takes place in a year, 1276 DR, and a corner of Faerûn, the ruins of Tsurlagol, that nobody else had written about much. So the story and the characters are all mine but I hope the novel makes sense to somebody who likes this setting as well as to somebody who knows nothing about the Forgotten Realms.

As it was, the constraints came more out of the perimeters I set on myself: the action would all happen underground since the theme of this series was Dungeons and the time period would be less than two days in my characters’ lives. But the constraints also led to some creative solutions (I think) that made it a more interesting story.

GFTW: You have mentioned that you used to play role playing games quite often. What is your favorite role playing game memory?

RJ: In college, I was in one of those long-running D&D campaigns fueled by chips and dip. The kind where everything seems sensible and heroic at 3 a.m. or 4 a.m. in the morning. I wanted to get that rushed, light-headed feeling into the action of this book. And another friend, who works in the gaming industry, was my sounding board. He contributed several ideas based on his campaigns and even the title treasure!

GFTW: Your characters create a great deal of humor through their interpersonal relationships. Are any of these based on personal experiences?

RJ: Partially that college D&D campaign. We were a very creative and slightly silly group. We used to drive our DM nuts because we wouldn’t always act the way that he thought we should. And we were very lucky in our dice rolls. So, more than once, when we really should have been dead, we beat the odds and got out. So I had the idea in the back of my head that the luck would play an important role in this book.

GFTW: In addition to writing fiction, you also write nonfiction, including reference materials for collecting children’s books. Where did your interest in children’s fiction come from?

RJ: A longtime passion is early 20th-century illustrated children’s books. I love the work of illustrators like Kay Nielsen or Edmund Dulac. That’s what I collect. But I also read and acquire a lot of fantasy and science fiction written for children or young adults. Both new books, like Kenneth Oppel or Philip Reeve, and older works, like Alexander Key or Andre Norton or E. Nesbit. As far as fantasy and science fiction are concerned, I find that the line between children’s books and adult books blurs quite quickly. Jules Verne, another favorite author, sold to both audiences from the beginning and his works attract great illustrators. Look at the illustrations that N.C. Wyeth created for Mysterious Island in 1918 or what the Dillons drew for a more recent version of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, you’ll see a wonderful blend of art and fiction.

GFTW: Any plans for a novel or series outside of the Forgotten Realms?

RJ: Right now, I’m playing around with a novel based on Greek mythology. It’s my ten-year project; as in every time I’m between projects, I go back and tweak the ideas or write another scene for a writer’s group that I’m in. And I’ve been fiddling with a short story idea that keeps growing longer and longer about a guy trapped in a rocket in an asteroid field. The latter may turn into a novel outline if I’m not careful.

GFTW: Any parting thoughts for your readers or those who might be considering delving into the Realms?

RJ: Buy a big bookcase! There are a lot of great books out there. And very many different voices. If my style doesn’t suit your tastes, try someone else. Don’t ever judge the whole series like this based on just one author.

Crypt of the Moaning Diamond Bookplate

If you enjoyed my review of Crypt of the Moaning Diamond enough to get you own copy of this debut novel, or if you bought one all on your own, Rosemary Jones has a special offer for you.

With the help of an artist friend, Rosemary Jones has created a bookplate for Crypt of the Moaning Diamond. This sticks nicely to inside cover and it also reassures readers that the fate of the small white dog is less perilous than it may appear. The author, however, does not guarantee the longevity of kobolds, bugbears, or orcs of any size. For your own author-signed bookplate, just e-mail an address to rosemarynovels@aol.com.

Devil's Due to Publish Worlds of D&D

Looks like Devil's Due Publishing is going to anthologize some of the best short stories from Wizards of the Coast role-playing worlds. Eberron, Ravenloft, Dragonlance, and Forgotten Realms will all be included in the 48 page monthly comic.

Said James Lowder, the chief editor:

Each issue of Worlds of Dungeons & Dragons will feature two stories from Wizards of the Coast's bestselling fantasy settings, including the Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, Ravenloft, and Eberron," Lowder said. Issues 1 and 2 will adapt R.A. Salvatore's "Dark Mirror," starring the Forgotten Realms' most famous drow, Drizzt Do'Urden, with a script by Nick Schley (Abiding Perdition, "Red Lotus") and art by Rafael Kayanan (Conan, Star Wars, Spider-Man), and Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman's "The Legacy," featuring the world of Krynn's most infamous wizard, Raistlin Majere, with a script by Neil Kleid (Brownsville, Ninety Candles, X-Men Unlimited), and art by Javier Sanchez Aranda (Hellina).

Future issues of Worlds of Dungeons & Dragons will feature a wide array of iconic characters, including the arch-wizard Elminster, the vampire Strahd von Zarovich, and the death knight Lord Soth," according to Lowder. "Writers will include authors familiar to comics readers, as well as fans of fantasy fiction and role-playing games: Jeff Grubb, Ed Greenwood, Richard Knaak, Elaine Cunningham, P.N. Elrod, Monte Cook, Keith Baker, and Stan Brown, many of them scripting the adaptations of their own short stories.

This is going to be awesome. I hope they put them into TPB's as well, since I don't subscribe to comics usually.

A Year of Reading 2008

This is a continually updated list of all the books I have read in the year 2008. Links are to reviews I have written for some of these books. You can also look at my list for 2007.

January February March April May June
July August September October November December

January

Series 65: Uniform Investment Adviser Law Exam Manual by Kaplan Financial
The Prodigal Troll by Charles Coleman Finlay
Instant Knowledge by the editors at mental_floss
The Somnambulist by Jonathan Barnes
In The Beginning by the editors at mental_floss
Eberron: Bound by Iron by Edward Bolme
Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder
Bash Down the Door and Slice Open the Badguy edited by W. H. Horner
Hunter's Run by George R. R. Martin, Gardner Dozois and Daniel Abraham
A Bit of Madness by Emmanuel Civiello and Thomas Mosdi
Goblin Hero by Jim C. Hines
The Shadow and Night by Chris Walley
Dragon Outcast by E. E. Knight

February

Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse edited by John Joseph Adams
Breach the Hull edited by Mike McPhail
Confessor by Terry Goodkind
Blood Ties by Pamela Freeman
Sojourn Volume 6: The Bezerker's Tale by Ian Edgington and Greg Land
Forgotten Realms: Neversfall by Ed Gentry
Infoquake by David Louis Edelman
The Golden Cord by Paul Genesse
Grimspace by Ann Aguirre

March

The Death of the Necromancer by Martha Wells
Madhouse by Rob Thurman
The Dead Guy Interviews by Michael Stusser
The Hidden City by Michelle West
Klassic Koalas: Ancient Aboriginal Tales in New Retellings by Lee Barwood
Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie
Growingold with B. C. by Johnny Hart

April

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Small Favor by Jim Butcher
Heroes Adrift by Moira J. Moore
Misspelled edited by Jule E. Czerneda
Flash Fiction Online, April 2008 edited by Jake Freivald
Rolling Thunder by John Varley
Empress by Karen Miller
Phytosphere by Scott Mackay
Goblin War by Jim C. Hines
Return of the Sword edited by Jason M. Waltz

May

Shadowmarch by Tad Williams
Forgotten Realms: Obsidian Ridge by Jess Lebow
Iron Man: Beneath the Armor by Andy Mangels

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

January February March April May June
July August September October November December

A Year of Reading 2007

The Year is Done! I hope you had a great one and have high hopes for 2008. Below is a list of all the books I read in 2007 (I like to keep track because I am just that hyper-organized). The final five have reviews written that I just haven't posted because every review deserves a suitable amount of time at the top of the blog. You will see them in January of 2008.

January February March April May June
July August September October November December

January

Tuf Voyaging by George R. R. Martin
Condensed Knowledge by the editors at mental_floss
Crown of Stars by Kate Elliott
In the Ruins by Kate Elliott
Gifts by Ursula K. Le Guin
Changing Planes by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson
The Ladies of Grace Adieu by Susanna Clarke
Monks and Mystics by Mindy and Brandon Withrow
Outposts: Journeys to the Surviving Relics of the British Empire by Simon Winchester
Dying of the Light by George R. R. Martin
Life@Work by John Maxwell
The Children of Men by P.D. James
Forgotten Realms: Frostfell by Mark Sehestedt
The Druids by Peter Berresford Ellis

February

The Magic of Recluce by L.E. Modesitt, Jr.
Forgotten Realms: Sacrifice of the Widow by Lisa Smedman
Dragon Champion by E. E. Knight
Forgotten Realms: Double Diamond Triangle Saga by Various Authors
Outwitting History by Aaron Lansky
Forbidden Knowledge by the editors at mental_floss

March

Three Blind Mice and Other Stories by Agatha Christie
Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories by Agatha Christie
Rome 2006 by Rick Steves
Supplement to the Italian Dictionary by Bruno Munari
Keats and Italy by Various Authors
The Last Sin Eater by Francine Rivers
Teacher Man by Frank McCourt
Night by Elie Wiesel
Dachshunds for Dummies by Eve Adamson
Legend by David Gemmell
Midshipwizard Halcyon Blithe by James M. Ward

April

Forgotten Realms: Depths of Madness by Erik Scott de Bie
The Regatta Mystery and Other Stories by Agatha Christie
The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman
Shakespeare's Kings by John Julius Norwich
On Becoming a Leader by Warren Bennis
The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain
Black Gate: Issue 10 Spring 2007 by John O'Neill (ed.) and Howard Andrew Jones (ed.)
Forgotten Realms - Unclean: The Haunted Lands, Book I by Richard Lee Byers

May

Dragon Avenger by E. E. Knight
Eldest by Christopher Paolini
Scatterbrained by the editors at Mental_Floss
The Prestige by Christopher Priest
Real Estate Finance for Investment Properties by Steve Berges
The Clerk's Tale by Margaret Frazer
The Bastard's Tale by Margaret Frazer
The Hunter's Tale by Margaret Frazer
Forgotten Realms - The Gossamer Plain: The Empyrean Odyssey Book 1 by Thomas M. Reid
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
The King's Buccaneer by Raymond E. Fiest
The King Beyond the Gate by David Gemmell
The Unhandsome Prince by John Moore
A Fate Worse than Dragons by John Moore
Maskerade by Terry Pratchett
The Truth by Terry Pratchett
Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett

June

Interesting Times by Terry Pratchett
The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Night Watch by Terry Pratchett
Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett
A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah
The Restorer by Sharon Hinck
Another Fine Myth/Myth Conceptions by Robert Asprin
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Father of Dragons by L. B. Graham

July

Black History Through Blue Eyes: The Debt the World Owes to Africa by James Seymour
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
Forgotten Realms: Scream of Stone, The Watercourse Trilogy Book III by Philip Athans
The Case of the Missing Books by Ian Sansom
Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees
Dangerous Visions edited by Harlan Ellison
The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
The Widow's Tale by Margaret Frazer
A Rhyming History of Britain by James Muirden, David Eccles (Illustrator)

August

More Than A Hobby by David Green
Real Estate Investment Trusts: Structure, Performance, and Investment Opportunities by Su Han Chan, John Erickson, Ko Wang
Tipperary: A Novel by Frank Delaney
Explorer's House: National Geographic and the World It Made by Robert M. Poole
Forgotten Realms: The Howling Delve by Jaleigh Johnson
A Life Well Spent: The Eternal Rewards of Investing Yourself and Your Money in Your Family by Russ Crosson
Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank
The Telling by Ursula K. Le Guin

September

Black Gate Issue #11 by John O'Neill (ed.)
The Surrogates by Robert Venditti, Brett Weldele
Shadowstorm by Paul S. Kemp
Forgotten Realms: Swords of Dragonfire by Ed Greenwood
Forgotten Realms: Shadowstorm by Paul S. Kemp
The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie
Honored Enemy by Raymond E. Feist and William R. Fortschen
Murder in LaMut by Raymond E. Feist and Joel Rosenberg
Forgotten Realms: Storm of the Dead by Lisa Smedman
The Elephant and the Dragon: The Rise of India and China and What it Means for All of Us by Robyn Meredith
The Innocent Mage by Karen Miller
Union of Renegades by Tracy Falbe
Winterbirth by Brian Ruckley

October

Wind Follower by Carole McDonnell
The Sagittarius Command by R. M. Meluch
The Summoner by Gail Z. Martin
Making Money by Terry Pratchett
Crystal Rain by Tobias Buckell
Goblin Quest by Jim C. Hines

November

Scarlet by Stephen R. Lawhead
The Princes of the Golden Cage by Nathalie Mallet
Green Rider by Kristen Britain
The Phoenix Unchained by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory
Forgotten Realms: Stardeep by Bruce Cordell
The Awakened Mage by Karen Miller
Forgotten Realms: The Orc King by R. A. Salvatore
Ragamuffin by Tobias Buckell
A Prayer for the Damned by Peter Tremayne
The Blue Haired Bombshell by John Zakour
Hedge Hunters by Katherine Burton
Sails and Sorcery: Tales of Nautical Fantasy edited by W. H. Horner
Shimmer, The Pirate Issue edited by John Joseph Adams

December

Eberron: The Orb of Xoriat by Edward Bolme
Sojourn: The Sorcerer's Tale by Ian Edgington and Greg Land
Across the Face of the World by Russell Kirkpatrick
Forgotten Realms: Crypt of the Moaning Diamond by Rosemary Jones
Fellowship Fantastic by Martin H. Greenberg and Kerrie Hughes
Genetopia by Keith Brooke
The Tales of the Last War edited by Mark Sehestedt
Bad A** Faeries edited by Danielle Ackley-McPhail
Robin Hood and the Beasts of Sherwood by Clayton Emery
Tides by Scott Mackay
Auralia's Colors by Jeffrey Overstreet

January February March April May June
July August September October November December

Book Reviews by Title

These are the my book reviews, categorized alphabetically by the title. (Click here for categorization by author.) "The" doesn't count towards the title.

You can also subscribe to an RSS feed of my reviews at librarything.

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

A

A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah
A Rhyming History of Britain by James Muirden (author) and David Eccles (illustrator)
Across the Face of the World by Russell Kirkpatrick
Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank
Are Women Human? by Dorothy Sayers
Auralia's Colors by Jeffrey Overstreet
The Awakened Mage by Karen Miller

B

Bad-A** Faeries edited by Danielle Ackley-McPhail (et al.)
Badger's Moon by Peter Tremayne
Bash Down the Door and Slice Open the Badguy edited by W. H. Horner
Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie
Beyond the Summerland by L. B. Graham
Breach the Hull edited by Mike McPhail
A Bit of Madness by Emmanuel Civiello and Thomas Mosdi
Black Gate: Issue #11 edited by John O'Neill
Black History Through Blue Eyes: The Debt the World Owes to Africa by James Seymour
The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie
Blood Ties by Pamela Freedman
The Blue-Haired Bombshell by John Zakour

C

The Children of Men by P. D. James
The Clerk's Tale by Margaret Frazer
Confessor by Terry Goodkind
The Crown of Stars Series by Kate Elliott
Crystal Rain by Tobias Buckell
Condensed Knowledge by the editors of mental_floss

D

Dangerous Visions edited by Harlan Ellison
The Dead Guy Interviews by Michael Stusser
The Death of the Necromancer by Martha Wells
Dragon Champion by E. E. Knight
Dragon Outcast
The Druids by Peter Berresford Ellis
Dying of the Light by George R. R. Martin

E

Eberron: Bound by Iron by Edward Bolme
Eberron: The Orb of Xoriat by Edward Bolme
Eberron: The Tales of the Last War by Mark Sehestedt
The Elephant and the Dragon: The Rise of India and China and What it Means for All of Us by Robyn Meredith
Empress by Karen Miller
Eragon by Christopher Paolini
Explorer's House: National Geographic and the World It Made by Robert M. Poole

F

Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
Fellowship Fantastic by Martin H. Greenberg and Kerrie Hughes
The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman
Flash Fiction Online, April 2008 edited by Jake Freivald
Forgotten Realms: The City of Splendors by Elaine Cunningham and Ed Greenwood
Forgotten Realms: Crypt of the Moaning Diamond by Rosemary Jones
Forgotten Realms: The Gossamer Plain by Thomas M. Reid
Forgotten Realms: The Howling Delve by Jaleigh Johnson
Forgotten Realms: Obsidian Ridge by Jess Lebow
Forgotten Realms: The Orc King by R. A. Salvatore
Forgotten Realms: Road of the Patriarch by R. A . Salvatore
Forgotten Realms: Shadowstorm by Paul S. Kemp
Forgotten Realms: Stardeep by Bruce Cordell
Forgotten Realms: Swords of Dragonfire by Ed Greenwood
Forgotten Realms: Unclean by Richard Lee Byers

G

Genetopia by Keith Brooke
The Gift of Pain by Paul Brand and Philip Yancey
Glory Road by Robert Heinlein
Green Rider by Kristen Britain
Goblin Hero by Jim C. Hines
Goblin Quest by Jim C. Hines
Goblin War by Jim C. Hines
The Golden Cord by Paul Genesse
Grimspace by Ann Aguirre
Growingold with B.C. by Johnny Hart

H

Hedge Hunters by Katherine Burton
Henry V (Classical Comics Edition) by William Shakespeare
Heroes Adrift by Moira J. Moore
The Hidden City by Michelle West
Honored Enemy by Raymond E. Feist and William R. Fortschen
Hood by Stephen Lawhead
Hunter's Run by George R. R. Martin, Gardner Dozois, and Daniel Abraham

I

Infoquake by David Louis Edelman
The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain
The Innocent Mage by Karen Miller
Iron Man: Beneath the Armor by Andy Mangels

J

J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography by Humphrey Carpenter
The Junior Books by Dave Ramsey

K

Knife of Dreams by Robert Jordan
The Know-It-All by A. J. Jacobs

L

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin
Legend by David Gemmell
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson
Life@Work by John C. Maxwell

M

Madhouse by Rob Thurman
Magician by Raymond E. Feist
The Magic of Recluce by L. E. Moedesitt Jr.
Making Money by Terry Pratchett
Master of Souls by Peter Tremayne
The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
Midshipwizard Halcyon Blithe by James M. Ward
Monks and Mystics by Mindy and Brandon Withrow
Moon Gate by David Weldon and William Proctor
More Than A Hobby by David Green
The Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson
Murder in LaMut by Raymond E. Feist and Joel Rosenberg

N

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Night by Elie Wiesel
The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

O

On Becoming A Leader by Warren Bennis
Outposts: Journeys to the Surviving Relics of the British Empire by Simon Winchester
Outwitting History by Aaron Lansky

P

Phantom by Terry Goodkind
The Pendragon Cycle by Stephen Lawhead
The Phoenix Unchained by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory
Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder
The Prestige by Christopher Priest
The Princes of the Golden Cage by Nathalie Mallet
The Prodigal Troll by Charles Coleman Finlay

Q

R

Ragamuffin by Tobias Buckell
Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers
The Restorer by Sharon Hinck
Return of the Sword edited by Jason M. Waltz
The Rick Steves' Travel Guide Series by Rick Steves
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Robin Hood and the Beasts of Sherwood by Clayton Emery
Rolling Thunder by John Varley

S

The Sagittarius Command by R. M. Meluch
Sails and Sorcery: Tales of Nautical Fantasy edited by W. H. Horner
Scarlet by Stephen Lawhead
Shadow in the Deep by L. B. Graham
The Shadow and Night by Chris Walley
Shakespeare's Kings by John Julius Norwich
Shimmer, The Pirate Issue edited by John Joseph Adams
Small Favor by Jim Butcher
Smoke in the Wind by Peter Tremayne
Sojourn: The Bezerker's Tale by Ian Edgington and Greg Land
Sojourn: The Sorcerer's Tale by Ian Edgington and Greg Land
The Somnambulist by Jonathan Barnes
The Summoner by Gail Z. Martin
The Surrogates, Vol. 1 by Robert Venditti

T

Teacher Man by Frank McCourt
Thud! by Terry Pratchett
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
Tides by Scott Mackay
Tipperary: A Novel by Frank Delaney
The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn
The Truth by Terry Pratchett

U

Union of Renegades by Tracy Falbe

V

W

Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse edited by John Joseph Adams
Wind Follower by Carole McDonnell
Winterbirth by Brian Ruckley

X

Y

Z

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Book Review: Crypt of the Moaning Diamond by Rosemary Jones

* Genre: Fantasy, Shared World Fiction
* ISBN: 0786947144
* ISBN-13: 9780786947140
* Format: Mass Market Paperback, 320pp
* Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
* Pub. Date: November 2007
* Series: Dungeons Series

What happens when an writer who works for an opera company turns to writing fantasy? Does the story take on qualities of the epic? Do people take forever to die? Or does everyone just walk around singing loudly and wearing funny costumes? If these are questions you have asked yourself (or even if they aren’t) you ought to turn your attention to Crypt of the Moaning Diamond by Rosemary Jones. An opera writer and first time novelist, Jones has created a dungeon delving story both humorous and out of the ordinary set in the Forgotten Realms mythos.

Ivy is the leader of the Siegebreakers, a small band of sappers who hire themselves out to armies needing to have walls come a’tumblin down. Ivy’s crew consists of a 300 year old dwarf who loves dogs, the dog Wiggles, two sisters with very different mothers, and a goat footed thief. Additionally, they have a tag along, a Procampurian knight whose rigid sense of honor provides a great deal of humor to the pragmatic Siegebreakers. When the group falls into a vast and ancient crypt during one of their siege breaking attempts, they are forced to find a way out. But it isn’t all that simple. The crypt is vast, and a crazy wizard is down there with them, in search of a treasure with a great deal of power. In the meantime, the water level is rising beneath their feet, even as the heroes move deeper into the ground.

Unlike the other stories in the Dungeons series, Crypt of the Moaning Diamond is humorous rather than serious. In fact, it reminds me a lot of Jim C. Hines’ Goblin Quest in that way. The humor is different though. Where Hines chose a strange character and made him into a hero, thereby providing humor at the ridiculousness of the situation, Jones’ humor is more relational. Ivy and Sanval (the Procampurian gentleman) flirt with each other, albeit unconsciously. Since Ivy chooses to be pragmatic and dresses comfortably, whereas Sanval is all spit and polish with a strong sense of honor, the attraction of polar opposites provides great humor. The two sisters in the Siegebreakers fight like family always does, yet step to the plate when the protection of each other is needed. And then there is Wiggles, the bone loving white ball of fluff, who sees undead as a snack. Add to that love poetry writing bugbears (“a good thump-thump beat is necessary” apparently) and you can’t help but snicker each time you turn the page.

Jones also never lets up on the action. Moving through the crypt, the Siegebreakers encounter enemy after enemy, all with the knowledge that if they don’t hurry, they’ll drown in the rising water. This pacing keeps the novel interesting and never bogging down in detail. Her battle scenes are innovative, often finding unusual or pragmatic solutions where other authors tend to over do it in order to add to the “epic” nature of the narrative. (i.e. it is easier to break a trap than try to solve it.)

Jones would do well to vary her word choices a little bit. In a battle scene where one character is wielding a shovel, she kept repeating the word “shovel” to describe the weapon. If she had tried a little harder, she could have found other words to use in her sentences. In the span of two pages (pages 74 and 75) she used the word “shovel” 8 times when it would have been possible to use “weapon” or “makeshift bludgeon” in its place. In a fight scene, an author ought to use synonyms more often, since the reader’s reading pace often picks up at such points, and the overuse of a word becomes more obvious. This detracted from some of the action scenes.

Since each of the novels in the Forgotten Realms: Dungeons Series is a stand alone novel, it is relatively easy for the reader to pick up this novel. Add to that the fact that Rosemary Jones doesn’t rely heavily on the mythos of the Forgotten Realms, except to give setting and background to her story and any reader can easily enjoy it, even if he or she rarely read novels in shared world fiction. Of all the debut Forgotten Realms authors that have come out in recent years, I think I enjoyed Rosemary’s writing the best. She reminds me a lot of Elaine Cunningham in writing technique. Both writers create relationships between their characters, as well as writing sword and sorcery action, and those relationships make the novels all the more fun to read, as the reader becomes invested in the people he or she is reading about.

So in answer to the opening questions, I would say that yes, a writer with a familiarity with opera has some knowledge of the epic, and that when such a writer turns to fantasy, she is able to bring that knowledge into her story. There was some loud singing in Crypt of the Moaning Diamond but it wasn’t pretty and the characters weren’t wearing funny costumes. But Jones understands narrative, and knows how to make a story interesting, skills she seems to have refined as a writer surrounded by music. I think Rosemary Jones is an excellent addition to the cadre of Wizards of the Coast writers, and I hope she continues to write stories like Crypt of the Moaning Diamond for the Forgotten Realms.

The Tiefling and the Gnome

This is a great little animation on one of the major changes in the Dungeons and Dragons Fourth Edition. Quite funny. Favorite character: The badger.

HT: Bruce Cordell

Book Review: The Orc King by R. A. Salvatore

* Genre: Fantasy, Shared World Fiction, Sword and Sorcery
* ISBN: 0786943408
* ISBN-13: 9780786943401
* Format: Hardcover, 346pp
* Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
* Pub. Date: September 2007
* Series: Forgotten Realms Transitions Series, #1

Picking up where The Two Swords left off, The Orc King continues the adventures of Drizzt Do’Urden and the Companions of the Hall. King Obould Many-arrows seeks to create a kingdom of orcs, at peace with its neighbors, a thing unheard of in Faerun. Tosun Armgo continues to seek to be a new Drizzt, a dark elf of good character while fighting off the advances of Khaizid’hea the evil sentient sword. And Wulfgar, recently widowed sets out to find his lost daughter Colson.

R.A. Salvatore has been writing in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting for 20 years. Widely acclaimed for his creation of the dark elf Drizzt, he brought shared world fiction into the mainstream of genre fiction. (If such a thing can be said, it does seem like an oxymoron in some ways.) His novels are sold all over the world, and Drizzt is almost as recognizable a character as Gollum or Captain Kirk.

But (and remember this but comes from an amateur) for all his accomplishments, it seems that Salvatore cannot get out of a writing rut, when comes to his characters. The Sellswords Trilogy was received poorly, by even his most loyal readers (I among them) as it did little with its potential. With the return to the story of Drizzt, Bruenor, Catti-brie, Wulfgar and Regis, the hope of many of his fans would be that his creativity would sparkle once again. But The Orc King didn’t. Oh, it has the classic Salvatore elements. The Orc King has the great fight scenes both personal and on a larger scale that first drew his fans in. His continues the tradition of Drizzt’s introspections at the beginning of each section, setting up the stage for the following chapters. But what he does not do—and this is where the novel fails—is create a new behaviors for his characters or really make them grow.

In The Orc King, Wulfgar is still the introspective former captive of Errtu. Salvatore had already destroyed all that had made Wulfgar a great character to begin with. His had aged from a brave and intrepid youth into a simpering self-pitying character (for all his protestations otherwise). Wulfgar again leaves the Companions of the Hall, the very people who can help him, and sets off on his own, certain that this is the right course. He was just as certain a few books ago, and that certainty left him a wino that had lost Aegis-fang. I have always been of the opinion that this character development was one of Salvatore’s poorest choices in his writing. The Orc King continu