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Counselors & Kings #1
The Magehound
Some are born with magic.
Some without.
Matteo, un-magical counselor to the mighty of Halruaa, has devoted his life to the truth -- until he finds that he may have a hidden spark of magic after all. Now, with only a street waif for a companion, he's on the run from the mysterious Cabal. In the dismal Swamp of Akhlaur, Matteo will seek his own truth while battling a creature out of his nightmares.
But something even worse is on his trail: a relentless persecutor of magic. The Magehound.
Some without.
Matteo, un-magical counselor to the mighty of Halruaa, has devoted his life to the truth -- until he finds that he may have a hidden spark of magic after all. Now, with only a street waif for a companion, he's on the run from the mysterious Cabal. In the dismal Swamp of Akhlaur, Matteo will seek his own truth while battling a creature out of his nightmares.
But something even worse is on his trail: a relentless persecutor of magic. The Magehound.
312 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published April 1, 2000
16 people are currently reading
818 people want to read
About the author
Elaine Cunningham
153 books530 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Elaine Cunningham is an American fantasy author.
Elaine Cunningham is an American fantasy author.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
April 4, 2012
I almost gave up on this book, glad I didn't. The prologue is great, as is the 2nd books prologue. but the 1st chapter somehow for some reason lost me, good chapter though. Was thinking about other books I'd rather be reading than this, so I read about 4 other books, after each book finished i'd look at the spine of the book on my shelf and read some other book, thinking that 'Magehound' was going to be dreadful.But after a couple more novels I finally gave it another try....where I left off. If I had just read the next chapter I would have never put it down for another book. The book is one of my favorite books in the Forgotten Realms. I'm reading the Forgotten Realms books in order of release date, and to me skipping this trilogy would have been sacriligous to me. Love It.
March 15, 2023
I found this book while googling the worth of a certain piece of metal my players wanted to sell….
The thought process: Yeay a DnD book to deepen my understanding of the word, to maybe steal one or two worldbuilding ideas form y own campaign….yeah.
While some of the worldbuilding is very sound and very fun…. especially the main character Matteo is lacking brain sometimes.
As a jordaine, someone trained in magic theory, battle, war, speech and counseling he constantly acts just…. stupidly. It seems most of the jordaine do so at some point.
Makes me wonder if most of my pen-and-paper adventurers are just very very diplomatic in a world where not often diplomatic counsels are….diplomatic, willing to end a struggle with anything other than a fight.
To be fair, it picked up in the end and I will probably give the second book in the series a chance….at some point.
The thought process: Yeay a DnD book to deepen my understanding of the word, to maybe steal one or two worldbuilding ideas form y own campaign….yeah.
While some of the worldbuilding is very sound and very fun…. especially the main character Matteo is lacking brain sometimes.
As a jordaine, someone trained in magic theory, battle, war, speech and counseling he constantly acts just…. stupidly. It seems most of the jordaine do so at some point.
Makes me wonder if most of my pen-and-paper adventurers are just very very diplomatic in a world where not often diplomatic counsels are….diplomatic, willing to end a struggle with anything other than a fight.
To be fair, it picked up in the end and I will probably give the second book in the series a chance….at some point.
January 7, 2018
"Taking responsibility where none exists is arrogance. A child thinks that all things revolve around him and that his will and his words bring forth wishes upon the first star. You are no child. See that you remember that."
"That’s no failing as long as it is justified. Arrogance is only intolerable in the inept."
"Unlike truth, lies must make sense. They demand an internal logic and attention to detail that truth, in its innocent arrogance, does not always achieve."
"the surest way to hide a tree was to plant a forest around it."
"That’s no failing as long as it is justified. Arrogance is only intolerable in the inept."
"Unlike truth, lies must make sense. They demand an internal logic and attention to detail that truth, in its innocent arrogance, does not always achieve."
"the surest way to hide a tree was to plant a forest around it."
July 2, 2010
Quite good for a simple, D & D-based, fantasy novel. I've always enjoyed Elaine Cunningham's FR work and this one certainly didn't disappoint.
April 6, 2022
100+ pages into it so far, not really grabbing me. It's disheartening to find Cunningham hasn't written anything as compelling and memorable as 'Silver Shadows'.
---
Look, there are questions I want answered having finished the book. There's a suggestion that the Queen and Tzigone are somehow linked; in what way? What's ahead in Matteo's future? Tzigone's?
But, I don't know if I want to continue on, or at least, the 2nd book is not a priority read. The story is so convoluted and a lot of the prose is a little past ornamental. Similies upon similies everywhere. Seriously, not everything has to conjure rich and vivid images and evoke swirling and fantastical emotions; just speak and describe plainly. It just makes for an exhausting trek to wade through, notwithstanding the fact that Halruaa is so unusual and has next to no common reference with the rest of Faerun; no mention of common gods, other cities and lands, a full of weird ass monsters. This uniqueness could've been helped with a map at the front. I hate bubble locations in shared world universes.
Speaking of weird ass monsters, a word about the 'laraken'. I'm Australian, and the word is next to identical to 'larrikin'. So its frankly impossible for me to view a so called 'monster' with awe and intimidation when its name basically mean 'funny fucker'. An unfortunate coincidence, but one that already doesn't lend well to the list of grumbles I had with this book...
Upon which I'm going to add further. Tzigone is so erratic, her personality and her appearances. My god, her appearances. She just pops up out of nowhere so many times, it's jarring. It gives the whole tone of the book a fairy tale feel - read, young adult - which is cringeworthy. Fine, she's meant to be mercurial and all, but it makes it impenetrable as to what she's doing and what's the point of her character other than to annoy Matteo. If so, her appearances are too frequent and her quest to find out her own identity should be a side quest distraction and given less air time.
I still don't intuitively understand Halruaan society and the whole arrangement regarding wizards and counselors/jordaini. If you were a wizard, why would you be served and counseled by someone who has zero measure and talent of what makes you you? Multiple someones. What could you counselors understand about you on an instinctual level - you, who are gifted in magic, and your counselors, are not? Also, If people are so distrustful of wizards, why are there so many of them, and so many of them in high governmental positions? If the answers to these questions are well explained and obvious to you, then you have some idea of how convoluted I felt this book was that the explanation was so muddied up and buried in, quite frankly, too much of an opaque read.
Or maybe I'm too thickheaded.
---
Look, there are questions I want answered having finished the book. There's a suggestion that the Queen and Tzigone are somehow linked; in what way? What's ahead in Matteo's future? Tzigone's?
But, I don't know if I want to continue on, or at least, the 2nd book is not a priority read. The story is so convoluted and a lot of the prose is a little past ornamental. Similies upon similies everywhere. Seriously, not everything has to conjure rich and vivid images and evoke swirling and fantastical emotions; just speak and describe plainly. It just makes for an exhausting trek to wade through, notwithstanding the fact that Halruaa is so unusual and has next to no common reference with the rest of Faerun; no mention of common gods, other cities and lands, a full of weird ass monsters. This uniqueness could've been helped with a map at the front. I hate bubble locations in shared world universes.
Speaking of weird ass monsters, a word about the 'laraken'. I'm Australian, and the word is next to identical to 'larrikin'. So its frankly impossible for me to view a so called 'monster' with awe and intimidation when its name basically mean 'funny fucker'. An unfortunate coincidence, but one that already doesn't lend well to the list of grumbles I had with this book...
Upon which I'm going to add further. Tzigone is so erratic, her personality and her appearances. My god, her appearances. She just pops up out of nowhere so many times, it's jarring. It gives the whole tone of the book a fairy tale feel - read, young adult - which is cringeworthy. Fine, she's meant to be mercurial and all, but it makes it impenetrable as to what she's doing and what's the point of her character other than to annoy Matteo. If so, her appearances are too frequent and her quest to find out her own identity should be a side quest distraction and given less air time.
I still don't intuitively understand Halruaan society and the whole arrangement regarding wizards and counselors/jordaini. If you were a wizard, why would you be served and counseled by someone who has zero measure and talent of what makes you you? Multiple someones. What could you counselors understand about you on an instinctual level - you, who are gifted in magic, and your counselors, are not? Also, If people are so distrustful of wizards, why are there so many of them, and so many of them in high governmental positions? If the answers to these questions are well explained and obvious to you, then you have some idea of how convoluted I felt this book was that the explanation was so muddied up and buried in, quite frankly, too much of an opaque read.
Or maybe I'm too thickheaded.
January 8, 2020
Set in a remote and isolated kingdom in the Forgotten Realms setting of the Dungeons and Dragons universe, the story follows Matteo, a member of House Jordain about to graduate and become counsellor to a Wizard patron. However things go awry when a Magehound, an inquisitor sent to test Jordaini for magic’s taint, finds his best friend Andris wanting, and a stray girl enters his life turning his aspirations upside down. Meanwhile a beast lurks in the swamps of Akhlaur, feeding on the magic of wizards who seek Akhlaur’s secrets for themselves. How will the fate of Matteo, the machinations of a rogue Magehound, and the heritage of spirited young girl change Halruaa forever?
It’s well written and flows well without every trying to trick the reader or come to a grinding halt. The language is comprehensive but not jarring, and even casual readers of fantasy fiction should not find it overwhelming. Elaine Cunningham has a quick style in describing melee combats but doesn’t hold back on descriptions when required.
It’s well written and flows well without every trying to trick the reader or come to a grinding halt. The language is comprehensive but not jarring, and even casual readers of fantasy fiction should not find it overwhelming. Elaine Cunningham has a quick style in describing melee combats but doesn’t hold back on descriptions when required.
January 31, 2025
I recall reading it way back before Goodreads -- and being disappointed by it and rushing through it. It is clearly no Danilo & Arilyn story. The setting is different and more difficult to grasp by its relative strangeness and gamey constructedness, with flying ships and spellresistant warriors and creatures drawn from the more out-of-print appendices of the Monstrous Manual.
Now coming back to it it is way better than I recall. And I think there is a bit of Danilo & Arilyn in Matteo & Tzigone. Cunningham does put couples in her books (I think the same was true for the drow girl sequence) and their flirty banter is pretty enjoyable to follow here again, a variation of the same theme.
So happy I've returned to it. I'm pretty sure I didn't finish the series on my first read.
Now coming back to it it is way better than I recall. And I think there is a bit of Danilo & Arilyn in Matteo & Tzigone. Cunningham does put couples in her books (I think the same was true for the drow girl sequence) and their flirty banter is pretty enjoyable to follow here again, a variation of the same theme.
So happy I've returned to it. I'm pretty sure I didn't finish the series on my first read.
December 20, 2018
Close to 4 1/2 stars. Enjoyed this book very much. There were not too many surprises, but I like the concept of the fool and the Karajan monster. Lotta twists in the plot lines and I look forward to the rest of this series, particularly the exploration of the swamp and what I guess must be the eventual return of the wizard who caused it all (probably in the form of a lich no doubt). What I did not like about the storyline is how the fools become eunuchs after being trained to find truth in all forms. While they may be trained and even bred to be magicless, that doesn’t make them inhuman without feelings. This was not explained well or at all. Onwards!
June 21, 2017
What did I just read? It hasn't even been a minute since I finished the book yet I can't really remember anything of it. It's like I've been sifting through blank pages.
The writing styles is so plain it gives the book no character, it gives the story no flare and the characters are bland puppets. Most of it is just jumbled up sentences to connect Names and Places.
It would be easier to just read a short textbook description of personae, places and systems. Or better yet just roll play the damn book.
The writing styles is so plain it gives the book no character, it gives the story no flare and the characters are bland puppets. Most of it is just jumbled up sentences to connect Names and Places.
It would be easier to just read a short textbook description of personae, places and systems. Or better yet just roll play the damn book.
May 2, 2022
Book felt oddly paced. Too slow in areas that didn't matter and far too rushed in parts that did.
The story also seemed to jump oddly. Matteo has daggers then suddenly has a pike, where did that come from? Things like that.
I did noticed my copy had some errors in it (referring to Tzigone as Kiva, etc) so I'm not 100% sure if the story is that jerky or if some information was actually accidentally omitted in a printing/editing error.
The story also seemed to jump oddly. Matteo has daggers then suddenly has a pike, where did that come from? Things like that.
I did noticed my copy had some errors in it (referring to Tzigone as Kiva, etc) so I'm not 100% sure if the story is that jerky or if some information was actually accidentally omitted in a printing/editing error.
August 2, 2025
Perinteisiä fantasia teemoja, mutta kuitenkin hieman erilaista luettavaa. Tarinoita, joita viedään kirjan perustarinan sisällä itsenäisin eteenpäin on useampia ja se tekeekin tästä mielekästä luettavaa. Forgotten Realm maailmaan sijoittuvat kirjat ovat aina olleet suosiossani ja odotankin innolla jo kahden seuraavan osan lukukokemusta.
May 7, 2018
'He who lives by the sword dies by it. The same could be said of magic.'
Interesting, even captivating book with one small problem: everything is moving too fast for me with some plot holes here and there. All and all, it's entertaining and easy to read. Looking forward to sequels.
Interesting, even captivating book with one small problem: everything is moving too fast for me with some plot holes here and there. All and all, it's entertaining and easy to read. Looking forward to sequels.
January 11, 2020
I love the juxtaposition between magic being everything to the wizards and absolutely forbidden to the Jordain. The characters were compelling. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.
November 23, 2022
Quite enjoyed this one. Probably not 5 stars as it was fairly fast paced but it had a different flavor than other Forgotten Realms books.
April 19, 2010
As someone who hasn't read a Forgotten Realms since the late 80ies (Curse of the Azure Bonds, the story which inspired the SSI game of the same name), it was a bit of an adjustment, if not unexpected, to enter a universe where everything has such a strong AD&D flavour. Classes are stricly defined, mages memorise X number of spells, ... It does constrain the story a bit but the story itself has been engaging so far.
Basically, a Dark Elf with her own plans for the province of Halruaa tricks and coerces people into joining an army to destroy a dangerous beast. And it's up to a counselor to wizards and a street urchin who is much more than meets the eye to stop her...
Basically, a Dark Elf with her own plans for the province of Halruaa tricks and coerces people into joining an army to destroy a dangerous beast. And it's up to a counselor to wizards and a street urchin who is much more than meets the eye to stop her...
October 13, 2014
This was not my favorite book by Cunningham. The plot seemed stunted, and while there were interesting characters, I feel like I never really understood what their goals were...why were they running around doing these things that they were doing?
With that said, I do like the fleshing out of Halruaa. The author creates a great setting with solid atmosphere and tone.
I'm hoping that this first book in the series reads more like an introduction to the series...
I guess I'll have to wait and see...
With that said, I do like the fleshing out of Halruaa. The author creates a great setting with solid atmosphere and tone.
I'm hoping that this first book in the series reads more like an introduction to the series...
I guess I'll have to wait and see...
sold
February 23, 2012Sold to Lewis White on eBay on 7-Jun-11:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI....
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI....
August 2, 2012
Great fantasy novel. Would recommend.
April 29, 2020
This trilogy is quite predictable but the characters are worth it. I expected more from the relationship between the two main ones but... Oh well, a girl can dream.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews