The Tales of the Last War

Eberron

by Mark Sehestedt

The war to end all wars – or so it is hoped.
For generations battle broke the once-proud kingdom
of Galifar. As nation fought nation, adventure was never
far away from those eager to find it.

Hunters of evil, seekers of fortune, loyal soldiers,
and those just trying to stay alive. These are their tales.
The Tales of the Last War.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Anthologies, Dungeons and Dragons, Role Playing Games, Short Stories

352 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 11, 2006

About the author

Mark Sehestedt lives in Maine, and is a freelance writer and editor. He was an editor for Wizards of the Coast’s book publishing group for almost ten years.

Reviews

[Benjamin Spurlock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Because this is an anthology of short stories, I'll have to talk about each story individually, rather than just the book in general.

DEATH AT WHITEHEARTH: Reading this story gives me a better idea for what Keith Baker had in mind with the Eberron campaign setting. The story deals with some of the iconic ideas of the setting- the warforged, Cyre, House Cannith, and the pursuit of power leading to atrocity- and Keith does a good job of combining those disparate threads together. Really, my big problem is that, looking at the setting retrospectively, this story just seems... generic. It lacks some of the emotional impact of the other stories, and overall, it just is. Technically there aren't any complaints, but it just doesn't have much impact to make me remember it. That's understandable, though; this story was an introduction to the setting, after all, and so the emphasis was on that introduction, not on anything else.

DEATH BEFORE DAWN: Now this was a story that I loved. Paul Crilley took the King's Citadel and wrote a fantastic mystery story out of it. He managed to, at the same time, create a rollercoaster of a plot that worked well for the limited space he had to work with, while still managing to keep the feel of fantasy. The ending in particular struck me as very good for that, building up the expectation that Col would die and managing the opposite without it seeming like a handwave. More than that, too, the feeling of isolation and mounting desperation really comes off well in this story. I definitely enjoyed it.

THE BLADE OF THE FLAME: I reviewed the first book of the series, but this had to have been the intro short story to it. Just as much as I loved the series, I love this short story. Diran is a fantastic main character, he's got an archetype that I rarely see and that I greatly enjoy, and both he and Ghaji are very well designed. This short story is a fantastic introduction to Diran and to his assassin background, but more than that, it hints at some of the emotional impact that could be had in a fantasy story. Questioning a good deity's benevolence and power, the fear and ignorance that unusual powers can cause, trying to find meaning in life after the goodness in it seems to have gone, how far one can go to fight evil... and I especially like how Diran is written as thinking outside of the box, and having a goal other than killing the enemy. For me, that's a very welcome change of pace, and a real high point of this anthology.

DISTANT FIRES: As much as I love a little mystery in my fantasy, this story doesn't compare well with Death Before Dawn. I didn't feel much connection to the main character, and the conclusion of it just rang hollow to me. While Eberron is a high-magic setting, few wizards could do what is recounted in this story. That power discrepancy is one that I could easily accept in another setting, like Faerun, but not Eberron. However, I will say that I do feel some sympathy for the guy, though- in terms of emotional impact, I will give the author kudos for having the mage's connection to his home city being such a strong factor.

THE VEILED CHARGE: I hate to say it, but of all of the stories of this anthology, this one struck me as the one that is the most generic fantasy of all of them. There's the typical banter from a fairly typical cast of characters, there's the typical escalation of tension and violence, and there's the typical defeat of the Big Bad that isn't actually a real defeat of the Big Bad. A let-down after the other stories in this collection.

THE WEIGHT OF WATER: This was a fascinating story, I really have to say. I wasn't a huge fan of Teron, since the monk archetype doesn't usually do a lot for me, but he was certainly tolerable. What really struck me was that Edward Bolme created a story that not only sharply rejects the usual storyline of Dungeons & Dragons- that is, that any problem can be solved with wanton use of magic and steel- but does so in a believable way. There is also the surprising ability that Edward had in making both sides of the conflict being believable. That really captures the feel of the Last War, and that greatly impressed me.

WAR MACHINES - 992 YK: I would argue that the warforged are probably the most overused 'unique' additions in Eberron, and it's hard to do much of anything new with them. However, this story managed exactly that, capturing the psychological alienness of the warforged and incorporating their backstory and fluff in a way that I've never seen before. This story gave me new ideas not just for the warforged, but also for the Quori and everything that goes on with them. In terms of taking advantage of the setting's unique plotlines, this is one of the best offerings in this anthology.

THE CALL OF THE SILVER FLAME: I'm very torn on this one. Dania isn't the kind of character that I like, but the story does eventually make me tolerate her pretty well. But, despite that... this story is also painfully generic to me. The scarred main character works with other do-gooders to stop the Really Evil Cultists from doing Really Evil Things, and there are vampires that do very vampiric things. And eventually, the Really Really Evil Villain gets away with the Artifact of Evil and there's a very clear hook to go with the sequel bait. Whatever the merits of the story, that close adherence to the typical fantasy storyline just rubs me the wrong way.

FLIGHT OF THE RIGHTEOUS INDIGNATION: The best was saved for last. If someone could only read one story of this anthology, this one beats out The Sword of the Flame- and it very nearly kills me to say that. There's drama in this story, there's some real tension and horror involved. What happens to Saunder will stick out in my mind for a long time about what can happen with mixed-raced crews; when there are no other obvious explanations, some people will leap to the 'obvious' one, and do horrific things to people they otherwise trust, because they're so desperate for a solution. The description of the creature is evocative, and I have never seen a monster described in a way that brings home just how fantastic and dangerous even 'bread and butter' monsters in the setting truly are.

Even more than that, this story takes advantage of the Mournland, the elemental vessels, the magic of Eberron, the kind of feel that Keith Baker was going for... it's a great story, and I'm glad that it was the note that I get to leave this series on.

All in all, I would recommend this book to people who like fantasy, and especially those who like Eberron. It's definitely an enjoyable exploration of the setting, and I think almost anyone will enjoy at least one of the stories in it.

[Steven Wilber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tales of the Last War is a collection of nine short stories set in the world of Eberron. Each story takes place during or shortly after a world-spanning 100 year long war that changed the face of the world forever. The stories in this collection are well-written and provide a nice sample of what Eberron has to offer. Each tale focuses on a different set of characters and together they offer a little something for everyone. The stories range for a gruesome murder mystery, to a tale of possible demonic possession, to a search for meaning by a sentient living construct created for the sole purpose of making war. There is magic and mystery, there is adventure, betrayal and a lot more. The characters are well thought out and interesting. From a monk trained in the art of war, to an ex-assassin searching for peace, to a half-elven adventurer whose search for meaning leads her down the path to becoming a paladin these tales feature a number of interesting conflicts and situations. A number of the stories have a dark and gritty feeling and manage to convey a sense of tension to the reader.

All of the tales in this volume are enjoyable, although (as with any anthology) some were better than others. My personal favourite was "Call of the Silver Flame" by James Wyatt. I would definately recommend this book to any fan of short fantasy fiction. And it is a must for fans of the world of Eberron.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

After years of sitting on my shelf, I finally finished this book. Its a great anthology of Eberron tales. It opened my eyes to what was possible with short fiction.

Though many are apparently lead ins to novels, they stand well on their own. One of my favorites was "Call of the Silver Flame" by James Wyatt. I'm reading one of his novels now and it appears he benefitted from having to be concise in this short story. I like the insight on his female lead, Dania, just slight touches allude to her backstory.

My other favorite was "War Machines - 992 YK" by Ian Burton-Oakes. I tried finding other things he's written, but apparently he's hasn't published anything else. This story analyzed the psyche of the new race, warforged, from two points of view. And a bonus is a clue to the Day of the Mourning.

[Seth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every tale in this anthology managed to catch my attention. Some left me hungering for more adventures with some of the characters. Of particular interest, one story provides background on a character that would appear in Claws of the Tiger.

[Luke Costin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Proof you shouldn’t give up on something you didn’t click with earlier.

I tried to read this a year or so ago and just stopped as it wasn’t grabbing me.
Then after reading some other Eberron stuff earlier this year, I had the urge to pick up this again and im glad I did.

A fun collection of short stories giving a wide variety of the stories on offer in the world of Eberron. All of them mixing that pulp noir tone with classic fantasy.

[Marvin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anthology of stories set in the Eberron Dungeons & Dragons setting. Fair to middling on the whole--it always seems so incredibly hard to work up good fantasy short stories, for some reason--but they do give an all right sampling of some of the different thematic elements of the pulpy, magic-tech influenced game setting.

[Aran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good. this is the fourth Eberron novel I've read and I think it should have been the first. The stories range from ok to excellent, none were bad.

[Christian Juhl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good way to pick what Eberron series you’d want to get into

[Shane Knysh · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this as an introduction to the world of Eberron - and the stories did a good job of introducing Eberrron. Unfortunately I did not grab my attention like I had hoped. That is not to say the stories were bad they just did not appeal to my tastes.

[Mphecker]

I can't give this collection an honest rating, as I only read two of the short stories (Keith Baker's and Tim Waggoner's), but what I DID read was quite enjoyable. A great collection of stories for Eberron fans.

[Andrew]

Honestly, I just bought it for the Tim Waggoner story, which was good. The Keith Baker one was interesting as well. Once I realized the rest were often poorly edited and quite trivial, I realized I had gotten all I could out of this story collection.

[Chad · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this collection of short stories immensely. They are very inspirational in the designing of my gaming adventures. Excellent good time.

[Neala]

Delicious.

[Dustin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great collection of tales from Eberron.

[~Cyanide Latte~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

[REVIEW TO COME LATER UPON RE-READ.]