The Dragons Return: Tales From The Land Of The Diamond Throne (Monte Cook's Arcana Evovled)
by Monte Cook
The Dragons Return: Tales...
by
Monte Cook
|
|
| published
|
2005
by Sword & Sorcery Studio
|
| binding
| Paperback |
| isbn
|
1588468836
(isbn13: 9781588468833)
|
| pages
| 277 |
| date added
|
01-13-07
|
|
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bookshelves:
fantasy,
gaming-fiction,
short-stories
Gaming fiction always worries me. I read a lot of it as a teenager, but honestly, much of it is not great. There are some exceptions (Salvatore’s original Icewind Dale and Dark Elf trilogies, Stolze’s Demon: The Fallen trilogy, for ex.), but overall, I tend to find it dubious at best.
I grabbed this book at the same time I picked up Arcana Evolved, a “alternate player's handbook” put out by Monte Cook (one of the designers of D&D 3e, among other things), because I thought it might g...more
Gaming fiction always worries me. I read a lot of it as a teenager, but honestly, much of it is not great. There are some exceptions (Salvatore’s original Icewind Dale and Dark Elf trilogies, Stolze’s Demon: The Fallen trilogy, for ex.), but overall, I tend to find it dubious at best.
I grabbed this book at the same time I picked up Arcana Evolved, a “alternate player's handbook” put out by Monte Cook (one of the designers of D&D 3e, among other things), because I thought it might give me a sense of what kind of stories could be told in the Lands of the Diamond Throne (the default setting for Arcana Evolved). And, at the time, someone else was buying. So I figured, hey, what the heck.
As with all anthologies, this one is something of a mixed bag. Stan!’s (yes, that is how the author is credited) “The Land is in Our Blood” is a interesting, and kind of creepy tale that almost manages to stray in Philip Dick territory, but not quite. “Pride” by Wolfgang Bauer is a fairly classic tale of the honorable warrior fighting the good fight, but I enjoy that sort of tale in general, and enjoyed this one as well. “Memories and Ghosts”, “Loresight Legation” and “Oathsworn” were also fairly interesting. Some of the others I found less so. Ed Greenwood’s “Mad Mojh of Onteth” did nothing for me, but I’ve never really liked Greenwood’s writing that much. “The Essence of the Dragon” was ok, but a little clunky.
My only real complaint overall actually has to do with dragons, specifically, the inconsistent way in which they’re portrayed in these stories. In some of the stories, the dragons are the classic D&D model: Chromatic vs. Metallic, coloration determines power, and so on. In other stories, the coloration and such seems to be irrelevant…the dragons are simply dragons, and their external appearance has nothing to do with their abilities. I prefer the latter, personally, but I wish that there had been some consistency within the stories.
Fans of the Arcana Evolved setting ought to enjoy reading this, as might most fans of gaming fiction. Overall, it’s a pretty good read, and it certainly doesn’t require familiarity with the game in order to enjoy it. It also has the advantage of being a quick read, if that’s something you’re seeking....less
book data (includes all editions)
avg rating
(all editions):
3.00 (1 ratings)
number of reviews: 1
