Realms of the Elves

Forgotten Realms: Anthologies #11

by Philip Athans (Editor)

The story of the elves of Faerûn stretches from the dawn of history to the battle for the future of a world in constant upheaval.

Genres: Forgotten Realms, Fantasy, Anthologies, Dungeons and Dragons, Short Stories, Fiction, High Fantasy

340 pages, Paperback

First published February 7, 2006

About the author

I 100% support AUTHORS AGAINST BOOK BANS
https://www.authorsagainstbookbans.com

I give every book 5 stars in protest against the concept of star ratings in general and the ever-unfolding algorithm dystopia!

Philip Athans, an anti-AI, anti-book bans liberal, is the founding partner of Athans & Associates Creative Consulting (www.athansassociates.com), and the New York Times best-selling author of Annihilation and more than a dozen other fantasy and horror books including The Best of Fantasy Authors Handbook Vol. I 2009-2013, The Guide to Writing Fantasy & Science Fiction, and Writing Monsters. Born in Rochester, New York he grew up in suburban Chicago, where he published the literary magazine Alternative Fiction & Poetry. His blog, Fantasy Author’s Handbook, is updated every Tuesday (https://fantasyhandbook.wordpress.com), less regularly on the FAH YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@FantasyAutho...), and you can follow him on Twitter @PhilAthans. He makes his home in the foothills of the Washington Cascades, east of Seattle.

Reviews

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Realms of the Elves Anthology

Realms of the Elves is edited by Philip Athans.  It was released in February 2006 and was published by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. This anthology is based on the Forgotten Realms setting of Dungeons and Dragons. The Realms of the Elves anthology ties into Richard Baker's The Last Mythal trilogy. There are seven stories included in this anthology and are written by Richard Lee Byers, Philip Athans, Lisa Smedman, Erik Scott de Bie, R. A. Salvatore, Ed Greenwood, and Richard Baker. The Realms of the Elves anthology focuses on the elves of Faerûn.

“Traitors” by Richard Lee Byers
Rhespen Ash has been a councilor to the gold dragon Orchtrien for over a hundred years. After barely surviving an ambush by a group of rebellious elves, Rhespen is put in charge of overseeing a hostage named Lady Winterflower. After time passes, Rhespen falls in love with his ward and goes to Orchtrien only to be sent away on a mission to raid enemy land. When he returns, he finds out things he would have rather not known.
Overall: 4/5
Thoughts:
“Traitors” was a good way to start this anthology. It had a great main character in Rhespen. Everything that he goes through develops him into a wonderful protagonist. The story was really good as well. It relied more on the relationships the characters had to carry it along and that added something unique to the experience. However, the whole 'hostage' situation didn't sit right with me. Why would an enemy send their daughter to their enemy? It just seemed too convenient and lessened the overall enjoyment of the story. Also, a quick side note is that “Traitors” ties into Richard Lee Byers' The Year of Rogue Dragons trilogy and the story could have done with less dragons in it. “Traitors” is a fairly entertaining story and is worth the read.

“The Staff of Valmaxian” by Philip Athans
Valmaxian is an apprentice mage who crafts magical equipment and weapons. After countless failures, he goes against his teacher's wishes and warnings to summon a demon. The demon offers him power in exchange for something to be named at a later time. Valmaxian agrees, but is power worth the sacrifice? 
Overall: 2/5
Thoughts:
“The Staff of Valmaxian” is a cliché, basic, and widely known story. The premise has been told countless times in various medias, and with this story, nothing new is added. It's a very formulaic story. The way it was written felt like someones notes and there wasn't much depth to anything. Valmaxian was decent character. He was cold and uncaring, which made him really stand out. This story is readable, but you can skip it.

“Necessary Sacrifices” by Lisa Smedman
Sorrell is seeking revenge. Two years have passed and all that's been on the elf's mind is vengeance. Two years prior, he lost his wife and son to drow and has sworn vengeance against them. He joins the order of Shevarash, whose goal is to eradicate all drow. After a drow scouting party was discovered, he joins in the hunt to prevent the drow from returning to wherever they came from, only to find out that cruelty wears many faces.
Overall: 5/5
Thoughts:
“Necessary Sacrifices” is a fantastic story that everyone would enjoy. The characters are wonderful, the story is just fantastic, and the ending will leave you at a loss for words. Everything about this story is done right. I don't even want to say anything else because this is something you should experience blindly.

“The Greater Treasure” by Erik Scott de Bie
Yldar and Cythara Nathalan arrive in the city of Elversult in search of an ancient relic called the Bracer of Ynloeth. The brother and sister find information in the form of a mysterious moon elf named Fox-at-Twilight. However, their information leads them to a cult of a demon-god and power the cult could give.
Overall: 4/5
Thoughts:
“The Greater Treasure” is a good story but it felt like there should have been more. In fact, this story felt more like a preview chapter for an upcoming book than a short story. It just makes you want more. Twilight is a fantastic character. She's unique and had something that a lot of characters don't have, unpredictability. There were times when I had no idea what she will do next. The tone of the story also was something that I didn't expect. It was darker and more disturbing, but able to blend in some good humor and lightheartedness. This story just left me wanting more.

“Comrades at Odds” by R. A. Salvatore
Drizzt Do'Urden and his friend Innovindil go on a journey to recover the body of Ellifain, who Drizzt mistakenly killed. Along the journey the two friends discover that the orcs who are at war with the dwarves of Mithral Hall are seemingly starting a kingdom. Strange behavior for orcs. On the outskirts of the newly established orc kingdom, a drow named Tos'un Armgo is slaughtering the orcs with the help of the sentient blade, Khazid'hea.
Overall: 3/5
Thoughts:
“Comrades at Odds” is really a mediocre story. The ending made me feel like I was ripped off. It just ended, but there could have been so much more. Also, if you are at all unfamiliar with the Drizzt series, you would be lost. This story will definitely not make you want to check out the previous books. Thankfully, Tos'un is a real highlight. He's interesting and gives the story something very different. It's welcoming to see a new character being focused on, I just wish the story would have just been about him. Also, this story ties in nicely with The Hunter's Blade Trilogy, so it would be worth reading if you've read that trilogy.

“Tears So White” by Ed Greenwood
The Knights of Myth Drannor are sitting around having dinner with Storm Silverhand, until Eliminster arrives. The Old Mage takes a few of the knights and goes to stop something from happening.
Overall: 1/5
Thoughts:
“Tears So White” is a boring, broken, and a pointless story. It doesn't seem to belong in an anthology about elves. It may have tied into elven things, mythals for example, but this story never seemed to focus on that. The dialogue is horrible. Conversations didn't flow and seemed to be broken. When someone talked, it never seemed to make any sense. Finally, the story was just a big fight. There isn't much more than that, and for as long as this story was, it was disappointing. This story put me to sleep.

“The Bladesinger's Lesson” by Richard Baker
During the elves battle against the daemonfey army, a small contingent of elves were tasked to watch for the Sembian army from flanking the elves. The contingent's leader, Daried Selsherryn's families ancient home in the forest of Cormanthor lies in ruins. After investigating his former home, he finds evidence of thieves and sets off to the nearest human settlement, Glen. In Glen he learns that the town's mayor, now dead due to a raid on his house, had a sword that was felt for Daried's family to watch over. As he sets off to find the ancient sword and to take it back, he learns that not all humans are thieves.
Overall: 4/5
Thoughts:
“The Bladesinger's Lesson” is a good short story, but is cliché. It feels like you've seen or read something similar hundreds of times. There things within the story that may make you groan because they are just that cliché. Thankfully this isn't a huge deterrent. It just makes the story not seem that original. Daried does help with the cliché feeling. While his story is something that you may have seen countless times, you really see him develop and that causes the cliché feelings to die down. He's just an interesting character that goes through a natural and realistic change. Another thing that helps the story is the pacing, which is perfect. You don't want to put the story down for too long. I found myself just tearing through half of the story before I even known I was that far in. It's a good and fun story.

OVERALL AVERAGED ANTHOLOGY: 3/5
Final Thoughts:
Realms of the Elves is a decent anthology. Most of the stories are fairly good and entertaining, but there are a few that do ruin the experience. Most of the stories do focus on the elves of the Forgotten Realms, but there times when I felt that the stories could have been more focused on the elves. There were a few that focused on other races, but it didn't really take away from the overall experience. All in all, this was a decent anthology. It may be worth picking for a few stories, but you could also skip it.

Stories Worth Reading:
1) “Necessary Sacrifices” by Lisa Smedman
Stories Best Avoided:
1) “Tears So White” by Ed Greenwood

[Derek Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Traitors - *****
Well done with characters, and the story was compelling and even unexpected in many ways. The realms dealing with the dragons ruling over them and the problem of love when you have a kingdom around you with all its callings and distractions.

The Staff of Valmaxian - ****
Characters were fairly simple and it's got the whole… don't trust a demon plot, but I enjoyed it and could see it growing into something more, especially with the lessons learned and the sacrifices made.

Necessary Sacrifices - ****
This pretty much went the way I expected as I got into it. Felt like the start - or prologue of a book. Getting that dark origin story out of the way to move onto bigger and better things. Though this is just a short story and I'm not sure if these characters are in other placing in the Forgotten Realms.

The Greater Treasure - ***
My least favorite of them. The characters were not as interesting and the story was a bit bland, or rather compared to the others derivative.

Comrades at Odds - *****
A well done Drizzt short. Reminded me of what I enjoyed about those tales. The questioning of morality and the possibility of good in those most known for evil. It also sealed a wound for Drizzt I was glad to read of and it put a smile on my face.

Tears so White - ***
I feel I have been away from the Harper stories too long and honestly was not sure what this was really about, besides killing a whole bunch of Liches.

The Bladesinger's Lesson - ***
This one also vexed me a bit, but I liked the character progression brought in it - and liked the ending.

[Remy G · Rating 4 out of 5]

This anthology of Forgotten Realms short stories edited by Philip Athans opens with the chronologically-earliest narrative in the series timeline, “Traitors” by Richard Lee Byers, which occurs in -25,090 DR (Dalereckoning). The story opens with elven protagonist Rhespen Ash conjuring magic against enemy wizards, accompanied by an attack by the gold dragon Orchtrien. The beautiful elven maiden Winterflower quickly receives her introduction, with Rhespen visiting her residence, and discovering she has a forte for singing. Following this is a tale of romance, betrayal, and so forth, ending with the appearance of a comet known as the King-Killer.

The second story in the collection, the editor’s own “The Staff of Valmaxian,” opens in -7628 DR, the twenty-third Year of the Sapphire, with the titular elven character, five centuries old at the time, and apprentice to Kelærede, summoning a demon from a scroll owned by his mentor. Over half a millennium later, Valmaxian trains his own student, Third Apprentice Yulmanda, Kelærede at this time on his deathbed, and his granddaughter Chasianna visiting. The narrative concludes about two years afterward, with Valmaxian wondering how to augment the eponymous weapon’s power and again encountering the demon he had summoned.

The third story, “Necessary Sacrifices” by Lisa Smedman, opens in 1342 DR, the Year of the Behir, with Corwyn sensing something amiss, and a drow, a dark elf, cursing him. Two years later, Sorrell traverses a snowy forest and finds an elf-populated cavern beneath an oak tree. After six centuries of debate, moreover, the elven High Council agrees to abandon Cormanthor to the humans like Eaerlann before it, with Sorrell joining the Silent Slayers, whose leader Pendaran leads elves through the Underdark, the rest of the story focusing on a battle against a half-spider half-drow drider.

The fourth story, “The Greater Treasure” by Erik Scott de Bie, occurs nearly a score later in Eleasias, the Year of the Helm (1362 DR), with an elven maid and elflord, Yldar Nathalan and his sister Cythara, approaching the city of Elversult, where many black-robed mages meet their ends. In the city the elven siblings visit the Splitskull inn, where Twilight awakes, and she tells the brother and sister she knows the location of a Bracer, in the hands of Deep Coven, a cult of the demon lord Graz’zt. Fighting ends the story, with Yldar ultimately forced to choose between his sister and the Bracer.

The fifth story, R.A. Salvatore’s “Comrades at Odds,” commences a decade afterward, with the rogue drow Tos’un Armgo, a minor noble in the major House Menzoberranzan, having lost several of his comrades during a raid of Mithral Hall, having fought with his sentient weapon Khazid’hea. The elf Drizzt Do’Urden and his companion Innovindil ride pegasi, attempting to avoid orcs in the Haunted Pass. In a rarity for a fantasy story, this one relates the possibility, in Drizzt’s words, of there being “good” orcs, and Tos’un too sees this potential, being reluctant to kill them.

The sixth story, “Tears So White” by Ed Greenwood, opens with Rathan Thentraver, dining in Storm Silverhand’s kitchen, with Storm herself seeing her five friends disappear, reappearing in a white area, the Tshaddarna, the Worlds of the Weave. Storm hears the telepathic voice of the Witch-Queen of Aglarond inquire the whereabouts of Elminster, with a battle with liches erupting. The final story, “The Bladesinger’s Lesson” by Richard Baker, focuses on Daried Selsherryn fighting in the human settlement of Glen. Overall, this was a good selection of stories, although a timeline noting major events in the Forgotten Realms would have been welcome.

[Jesse]

Previous: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

#2 DR -25,090

Traitors by Richard Lee Byers (pp. 1-71)
This story takes places in the Dawn Age, when dragon were in charge all over Faerûn. An elf named Rhespen Ash, a mage and Royal Councilor, works for a dragon named Orchtrien. His main task is to put down a rebellion of elves who dare to defy their dragon king. Over the course of the story an elven woman, Winterflower, is taken as a hostage and, of course, convinces Rhespen that the elves are actually the good guy and dragons are a bunch of manipulate jerk bags who are only interested in domination and treasure (or the other way around depending on your POV). Orchtrien falls in lust with Winterflower, sends Rhespen off to die when he professes love for her, but Rhespen ends up killing a green dragon, an enemy of Orchtrien, instead of dying. Rhespen is welcomed back, but ends up stealing arcane knowledge from the dragons to save Winterflower and help the rebellion. Like death star plans. However, despite the newfound arcane power, Orchtrien track Rhesepn to the rebellion stronghold and obliterate the elves, you know, cause he is an ancient wyrm.

Up to this point, I think this story is quite good. Watching the elves, who will take over after the dragons downfall, and become very much like the dragons, play the role of the honorable rebels is interesting. And who doesn't like a guy realizing that he is actually the baddie. That the elves lost is interesting as well, and seemingly full of story potential. But then, on the penultimate page, Orchtrien just goes crazy and destroy his kingdom, for some reason? I am guessing this all relates to the big dragon event that was happening at the time, in the real world, but this seemingly very random ending ruined an otherwise good story for me. But then again, I am sure it was not made to be read in the order in which I am doing it. 2 Stars.

#3 DR -7,628 to -6,964

The Staff of Valmaxian by Philip Athens (pp. 71-101)

This story takes places during the Age of the Proud Peoples, when elves and dwarves ruled Faerûn, A *** of an elf named Valmaxian, who wasn't getting powerful enough for this taste (an impatient elf is good for no one) summon the demon En'Sel'Diren, who agree to give Valmaxian power for a price to be determined later. Obviously, elf do not have a Faustian tale other this idiot would have said no. Valmaxian then goes on to be a powerful and famed crafter of magic items.

600+ years later Valmaxian's teacher, Kelaerede, is dying. Kelaerede summon his former student, telling him to repent because demons are the worst. Valmaxian says no, but does fall in love with Chasianna, Kelaerede's daughter. Now that Valmaxian has something to live for other than power, he tries to make his masterpiece, the titular staff, which cannot be crated with this selfish magic alone. Lucky, he has Chasianna to help. But, surprise surprise, En'Sel'Diren shows back up, because Valmaxian summoned him again, and demands Chasianna as his price. Valmaxian ends up following En'Sel'Diren to the abyss to rescue his love, and repent when he sacrifices this staff and all the power the demon gave him. I am a sucker for a Faust story. 2 1/2 Stars.

Next, #4 Star of Cursrah
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

[A.C. Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Parts of this book were a bit of a slog to get through, as some of the writers just aren’t that good at wordcrafting. The slogging was worth it, though, as the final story in the book, The Bladesinger’s Lesson, was a refreshing masterpiece of the short story form. Richard Baker is a skilled wordsmith, and I plan on actively seeking out other works by this new-to-me author!

[Bradley Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved almost all the stories in this novel. Lisa Smedman’s story was especially great.

[Ray Yescas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Traitors: (Liked it)
Short story that has a feeling of much magic in the world. I liked the pacing and the story. Haven't read the rest of the stories related to it, but in it's own vacuum it will not be a relevant story by itself. Once I read the Last Mythal stories I can get a better feeling.

The Staff of Valmaxian (it was ok)
Not as interesting as Traitors as it only includes non connected or developed characters and stories, basically you don't feel the world and setting too much. It can be a story in any setting that has magic. It also gave me a feeling that the female character in the story was helpless although they mark her as a decent wizard earlier in the story.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Companion short story anthology to The Last Mythal trilogy. Here is my ranking of the stories within:
1) The Bladesinger’s Lesson. Solid writing all around
2) Necessary Sacrifices. Great look at the old theme of the immorality of the cycle of vengeance
3) Traitors. Cool to get a story taking place in the Realms’ ancient times
4) The Staff of Valmaxian. Learning the value of self-sacrifice for the love of another and overcoming destructive self-absorption
5) The Greater Treasure. Meh.
6) Comrades at Arms. I’ve never liked Drizzt stories nor Salvatore’s writing
7) Tears So White. Unreadable.

[Ebbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short stories about elves, sometimes more elves adjacent than what you would expect. I liked Traitors because of the lore. The Greater Treasure was nice. Salvatore and Greenwood stories are the absolute worst though, were hard to get through. Had to actually restart Salvatore at least 2 times and Greenwood 4 to 5 times (still not sure what those 2 stories were about)

[Andries van Wyk · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a waste of paper. Some of the stories seem like they are going somewhere, or at least building up to something ... and then they simply end bluntly, with no point.

[Stuart Schneider · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now these were some good stories. Again, no such anthology should ever be rated 5 stars, but this one came close

[TC Carter]

Short Stories read:
Traitors;
Staff of Valmaxian

[Ian Gielen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection of short stories, my favourites being Necessary Sacrifices by Lisa Smedman and The Bladeslingers lesson by Philip Athens. Can’t wait to read more Realms stories!

[Iain · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid batch of short stories - some better than others - Greenwood's being absolutely terrible.

[Natalia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, I was expexting somehing more. some stories are just a waste of paper.
Top three are: the Bladesinger's lesson, Necessary Sacrifices, and Traitors.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

-I was rereading one particular story to research something, and I wound up rereading the entire thing. So, here’s my review, having finished the book a lot more recently than the first time I read the entire thing, and a lot more fresh on my mind. Because this is a collection of short stories, I’m going to give a review of each story, and a final rating of the entire book.

-“Traitors”, by Richard Lee Byers, tied in to the Rage of the Dragon, in explaining how it came about. I liked this short story, as it gave an interesting look at what the ancient Dragon Baronies were like. I never liked the concept, I’ll admit, but having read this story a few times, in conjunction with AGHotR (the PDF), it’s grown on me a lot.

-“The Staff of Valmaxian”, by Phil Athans was a decent story. Honestly, though, it didn’t think it was anything great. It wasn’t really good, but at the same time, it wasn’t very bad either. It just was, though it certainly wasn’t “page filler”. It was a good, in-depth display of how much some Wizards will do for power, which was nice. The characters and dates could have all been swapped for Humans, and this is the part that dimishes the story for me, but it was a good one, all around.

-“Necessary Sacrifices”, by Lisa Smedman, tackles the age old “Can I kill an innocent child” debacle. The Shevarashans kill a bunch of Drow, find a child, one has a moral dilemma, that ‘old’ schpiel. While I know a lot of others who liked this story, I didn’t, really. To me, it’s very simple: These individuals are Clerics of Shevarash. They have enough faith in Shevarash and his dogma to go through with killing a Drow, children included. Clerics of Shevarash need not be good. I mean, I look at it like this: Put an incredibly sexy girl in front of a priest. Is he going to cave?

-“The Greater Treasure”, by Eric Scott De Bie, introduced everyone’s favorite Elven rogue, Fox-At-Twilight. While I have nothing against her, I’m not a big fan of hers. But, that’s besides the point. I enjoyed the Cult of Graz’zt- you don’t see Demon Cults taking antagonist roles in Forgotten Realms stories too much, so that was a nice touch. The betrayal of Cythara, at the end, was a very nice touch, though. Yldar was a good Sun Elf protagonist, though. You don’t see too many of those.

-“Comrades at Odds”, by R.A. Salvatore, I didn’t care for. I, like many others, am tiring of Drizzt. The parts with Tos’Un were probably the scenes I enjoyed the most. The scenes with the necromancy, with summoning the spirit of the slain Ellifain, I didn’t like. Elves don’t dabble in Necromancy. Summoning spirits and bringing the dead back, and all of that stuff is only done in the most dire of circumstances. To make poor Drizzt feel better, well, that’s not a dire circumstance.

-“Tears So White”, by Ed Greenwood, is another story that I’ve heard so many people as liking, but I, honestly, didn’t like it too much. I’ve come to realize that, while I like his setting, I don’t really like his writing too much. In this case, I don’t really know why this short story is in this anthology. It’s only tangentially related to Elves, and with Ed Greenwood’s ability to make up things that become canon, write (which he can do, though I don’t always enjoy it), and all of that, I thought that was a bad move, by him or Phil. I don’t like the Knights of Myth Drannor much, either, so that subtracted from my enjoyment of this story as well.

-“The Bladesinger’s Lesson”, by Rich Baker, was another story that I didn’t like too much. The main reason for that, though, is not Rich Baker’s writing, or anything, but my own prejudices. Daried the Bladesinger was a fine character, and the story itself was a good one. But, Half-Elves don’t deserve Moonblades. Arilyn Moonblade? Sure. Being a direct descendant of the Royal Family of Evermeet, however, hers is a different case, as opposed to Nilsa, a no-name farmer girl.

[E J · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Necessary Sacrifices" - Wow! I've always been somewhat of a fan of Smedman's stories, from FR to Shadowrun, and this one's no exception. A story about the motive of cold vengeance and how it blurs the so-called lines of alignment between drow and non-drow. Touching, but also dark and haunting. Great story!

"Bladesinger's Lesson" - Solid story. References Baker's Last Mythal trilogy and moonblades harking back to Elaine Cunningham's Songs and Swords books. An above average tale of an elven bladesinger seeking his family's moonblade heirloom from the man who stole it, only to find the man is dead at the hands of invaders and the man's daughter seeking revenge on said invaders.

"Traitors" - 3.5 stars. The main story was enjoyable. The epilogue felt rushed.

"The Staff of Valmaxian" - 2.5 stars. Athans has a somewhat removed and clipped rhythm to his prose, as I've noticed in other writings. A story about a driven workaholic of a mage who ultimately chooses love over power.

"The Greater Treasure" - Entertaining, quick-firing and thrilling. De Bie has a lyrical style in the intro parts. Really got a sense of the mystical, haughty and glamorous nature of elves. And then Twilight bursts onto the scene, knocks the elves down a peg or two and stole my heart. Or maybe that's just the horny adolescent in me speaking. In any case, I'm interested in seeing what's in "Depths of Madness".

I read a few pages of "Comrades at Odds" and couldn't follow what was going on, DNF. I refuse to read Greenwood's stuff because he just doesn't have a good rep for writing stories properly. All, in all, I enjoyed what I read.

[Jesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

There were some really cool stories in this collection. I think my favorite was the first one, where elves are just starting to resist dragons as their superiors. And theres another one, were surface elves are hunting drow and show themselves to be just as evil as their lower brethern. This is a quick and easy read and I would recomend it to anyone interested in the forgotten realms world.

[L · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the idea of short storied better than I like reading them. I much prefer to sink my teeth into novels. That said, there are times when short stories are just what a person needs and there are authors one would never meet without reading short stores. As with most such collections, some here are better than others.

[Pennies · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful stories for elf lovers like me

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good universe building/backstory/context expanding stories. Enjoyable!!

[Sencer Coşkun · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was really surprising to see the origin of the King-Killer star. One of the best anthologies of the Realms.