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The Temple of Yellow Skulls (The Abyssal Plague, #1)
by Don Bassingthwaite
by Don Bassingthwaite
Disclaimer-If you read the review and feel there is a spoiler in it, please let me know and I will remove that section. Also, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. Thank you.
The Temple of Yellow Skulls by Don Bassingthwaite is labeled as the first book in The Abyssal Plague trilogy. The Gates of Madness which is divided into 5 parts of different D&D WotC books is considered the Origin and The Mark of Nerath by Bill Slavicsek is considered the prelude. The second book, Oath of Vigilance by James Wyatt is due out in August 2011 and The Eye of the Chained God by Don Bassingthwaite is to be released April 2012.
The Temple of Yellow Skulls continues with less of the same characters from The Mark of Nerath and adds a few others. Warning-from here there will be spoilers of the book The Mark of Nerath. It is recommended that book is read first. TToYS focuses on the eladrin Albanon who meets Kri whom has information about the Voidharrow. With help from Uldane and Shara they set out to determine what the forces that hold the Voidharrow are up to. Some subplots involve another new character, Hakken Raid, and his ambitions, the transformation of a certain dragon, a quest of revenge, and a few other spoiler related dropped in.
This book has a lot of action in it and keeps a fast pace going right up to the end. Though it starts out as a return to the older style of heroic fantasy of adventurers seeking adventure, it develops into much more than that and has a darker feel later on. The book flows nicely from one seen to the next and though there are some chapters which have that cliff hanger end to them, the action is picked up well in the next chapter and keeps things going so as not to disappoint by ending the action within the first paragraph. There is some wonderful character development, though not for all the characters, but what there is, works great. The characters were easy to connect with and even the antagonists were very interesting.
Some criticisms:
1. One more trip to the editor. There are a lot of grammatical mistakes in this book. Thankfully not all grouped together, but this book definitely could have used another closer read by an editor. The main mistakes were missing words making the sentences somewhat hard to read and some misspellings as well.
2. This didn't bother me so much as it may others, but one of the characters has to constantly inform everyone that he, "Will not be denied." I can see readers having a problem with this, but after reading the end I could see Mr. Bassingthwaite did this on purpose.
Some positives:
1. This book has now explained more about the Abyssal Plague and given some background on its origins and I really am enjoying the concept. There is also a real feeling of catastrophe and a world shaking event in it.
2. The characters were great to read. Mr. Bassingthwaite did a great job of keeping true to the characters from The Mark of Nerath as well as introducing new and interesting characters. Uldane actually is my favorite, but I really did like them all.
3. The battles were well detailed and gave me a real sense of danger for the main characters. This was definitely not a novel that had the adventurers meet a foe and defeat it, then on to the next foe and defeat it.
If D&D/WotC had released this book as the first in the new D&D setting, I think they would have built a larger fan base for this world. The story was nice and tight and action pact. Though the book does end on a bit of a cliffhanger, the book in itself is satisfying and leaves the reader looking forward to the next book in the trilogy. For those looking to try out the D&D world setting, this is a great book to get you in, however, I really do recommend you slug your way through The Mark of Nerath to get the main background story. Also find The Gates of Madness at the ends of The Ghost King by R.A. Salvatore, The Mark of Nerath, City Under the Sand by Jeff Mariotte, Whisper of Venom by Richard Lee Byers, and Lady Ruin by Tim Waggoner. You don't have to read those books, and if you don't want to buy them, you can go into the bookstore and read The Gates of Madness section at the end. You can also download it for free for a limited time at http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Feature.as...
If you are looking to read fantasy with a dark feel and some good gore, this one is recommended.
Happy reading
-Dimndbangr
The Temple of Yellow Skulls by Don Bassingthwaite is labeled as the first book in The Abyssal Plague trilogy. The Gates of Madness which is divided into 5 parts of different D&D WotC books is considered the Origin and The Mark of Nerath by Bill Slavicsek is considered the prelude. The second book, Oath of Vigilance by James Wyatt is due out in August 2011 and The Eye of the Chained God by Don Bassingthwaite is to be released April 2012.
The Temple of Yellow Skulls continues with less of the same characters from The Mark of Nerath and adds a few others. Warning-from here there will be spoilers of the book The Mark of Nerath. It is recommended that book is read first. TToYS focuses on the eladrin Albanon who meets Kri whom has information about the Voidharrow. With help from Uldane and Shara they set out to determine what the forces that hold the Voidharrow are up to. Some subplots involve another new character, Hakken Raid, and his ambitions, the transformation of a certain dragon, a quest of revenge, and a few other spoiler related dropped in.
This book has a lot of action in it and keeps a fast pace going right up to the end. Though it starts out as a return to the older style of heroic fantasy of adventurers seeking adventure, it develops into much more than that and has a darker feel later on. The book flows nicely from one seen to the next and though there are some chapters which have that cliff hanger end to them, the action is picked up well in the next chapter and keeps things going so as not to disappoint by ending the action within the first paragraph. There is some wonderful character development, though not for all the characters, but what there is, works great. The characters were easy to connect with and even the antagonists were very interesting.
Some criticisms:
1. One more trip to the editor. There are a lot of grammatical mistakes in this book. Thankfully not all grouped together, but this book definitely could have used another closer read by an editor. The main mistakes were missing words making the sentences somewhat hard to read and some misspellings as well.
2. This didn't bother me so much as it may others, but one of the characters has to constantly inform everyone that he, "Will not be denied." I can see readers having a problem with this, but after reading the end I could see Mr. Bassingthwaite did this on purpose.
Some positives:
1. This book has now explained more about the Abyssal Plague and given some background on its origins and I really am enjoying the concept. There is also a real feeling of catastrophe and a world shaking event in it.
2. The characters were great to read. Mr. Bassingthwaite did a great job of keeping true to the characters from The Mark of Nerath as well as introducing new and interesting characters. Uldane actually is my favorite, but I really did like them all.
3. The battles were well detailed and gave me a real sense of danger for the main characters. This was definitely not a novel that had the adventurers meet a foe and defeat it, then on to the next foe and defeat it.
If D&D/WotC had released this book as the first in the new D&D setting, I think they would have built a larger fan base for this world. The story was nice and tight and action pact. Though the book does end on a bit of a cliffhanger, the book in itself is satisfying and leaves the reader looking forward to the next book in the trilogy. For those looking to try out the D&D world setting, this is a great book to get you in, however, I really do recommend you slug your way through The Mark of Nerath to get the main background story. Also find The Gates of Madness at the ends of The Ghost King by R.A. Salvatore, The Mark of Nerath, City Under the Sand by Jeff Mariotte, Whisper of Venom by Richard Lee Byers, and Lady Ruin by Tim Waggoner. You don't have to read those books, and if you don't want to buy them, you can go into the bookstore and read The Gates of Madness section at the end. You can also download it for free for a limited time at http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Feature.as...
If you are looking to read fantasy with a dark feel and some good gore, this one is recommended.
Happy reading
-Dimndbangr
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Reading Progress
| 04/10/2011 | page 110 |
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34.0% |
