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Forgotten Realms: The Rogues #4
The Yellow Silk
The fourth in a series of fantasy adventures chronicling the adventures of the rogues follows the exploits of a compulsive liar and storyteller, whose boastful tales and promises lead him into all kinds of unexpected dangers. Original.
320 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published February 1, 2004
4 people are currently reading
375 people want to read
About the author
Don Bassingthwaite
34 books51 followersDon lives with his partner in Toronto, surrounded by gadgets, spice jars, and too many books.
No, I don’t normally refer to myself in the third person. That’s the official author bio from the back of my most recent books. You want some other trivia?
I’m a fan of the serial comma.
I’m a huge fan of breakfast cereal.
I own one (and only one) stuffed animal — a Highland cow from Edinburgh named “Ewan MooGregor.”
I love Edinburgh and London — other large cities visited in the UK include Bath and Plymouth. I’ve also been to Cheddar where I ate a really good cheese sandwich.
I like cheese, especially hard and blue cheeses (Mmmm. Stilton.).
I look terrible in hats with the exception (for unknown reasons) of a few ball caps of particular colour and design.
I look good in rugby shirts, but don’t really own any as I neither play rugby nor follow the sport enough to feel honest buying the shirt of any particular team.
I don’t play or follow soccer either, but that didn’t stop me from choosing a “shirt team” in the last World Cup, wearing their shirt, and cheering for them in pubs. Go Netherlands!
To quote Paul S. Kemp, “Mmm. Beer.”
I have seriously considered buying a kilt. Update March 2008: The kilt has been bought!
Kilt, cow, and fondness for Edinburgh aside, I’m not Scottish.
More to come, I’m sure!
No, I don’t normally refer to myself in the third person. That’s the official author bio from the back of my most recent books. You want some other trivia?
I’m a fan of the serial comma.
I’m a huge fan of breakfast cereal.
I own one (and only one) stuffed animal — a Highland cow from Edinburgh named “Ewan MooGregor.”
I love Edinburgh and London — other large cities visited in the UK include Bath and Plymouth. I’ve also been to Cheddar where I ate a really good cheese sandwich.
I like cheese, especially hard and blue cheeses (Mmmm. Stilton.).
I look terrible in hats with the exception (for unknown reasons) of a few ball caps of particular colour and design.
I look good in rugby shirts, but don’t really own any as I neither play rugby nor follow the sport enough to feel honest buying the shirt of any particular team.
I don’t play or follow soccer either, but that didn’t stop me from choosing a “shirt team” in the last World Cup, wearing their shirt, and cheering for them in pubs. Go Netherlands!
To quote Paul S. Kemp, “Mmm. Beer.”
I have seriously considered buying a kilt. Update March 2008: The kilt has been bought!
Kilt, cow, and fondness for Edinburgh aside, I’m not Scottish.
More to come, I’m sure!
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 9, 2011
The Yellow Silk was one of the first non-Drizzt, non-Drow Forgotten Realms books that I read. Suffice to say, I liked it, and began reading non-Drizzt, non-Drow Forgotten Realms books. Imagine, though- had I not liked it, I wouldn’t be here right now. What a scary alternate reality. Having gone back and read The Yellow Silk again, I can affirm that the book was good. Sadly, though, it wasn’t as good as I remember it being.
First, let me get to the characters. Tychoben Arisaenn was a great bard. He was roguish and cunning, as evidenced by his dealings with organized criminal Brin. He was goodhearted and charming, as evidenced by his living situation with Veseene, his mentor. Kuang Li Chien was a sort of generic, stereotypical “Easterner who knows kung-fu”, but he was a tolerable character. Brin, the Halfling gangster, I liked. I don’t know why, but there is something about Halfling gangsters that I like. I know, in my own setting, there exists at least one very powerful Halfling crime lord, so for all I know, Brin right here might have been the latent inspiration. Veseene, Tycho’s teacher, was another character I liked. A former Bard, who’s now, more or less an invalid. A depiction that you don’t see too often in the heroic fantasy literature that most Forgotten Realms novels are.
Yu Mao was one character I didn’t like. His curse was very unique, and was a major swerve, though. It wasn’t a surprise this time around, since I am re-reading the book, but I remember being very surprised at the revelation the first time reading it, when he transformed from Black Scratch. That said, his motives for doing what he did were very anti-climactic and generic. He was the first-born son of a respected family in Shou Lung who didn’t want the burdens and pressures that came with it. So, what did he do? Become an evil pirate. It felt pretty unrealistic to me. Not wanting to deal with the pressure and propriety that come with being the heir to a semi-important lineage in Shou Lung? That works. Randomly becoming a pirate, and consorting with Faerûnians to escape it? A little less realistic.
Speaking of unrealistic, I found the final battle scene to be just slightly reinforced by plot armor. And, when I mean just slightly, I mean a lot. Tycho and Li against a bunch of Brins thugs, a few more hired thugs for good measure, and two Red Wizards, and the two of them pull it off? Even though they had a plan, and the Yellow Silk artifact on their side, if you ran a percentages program about the likelihood of their victory, the chance that they pull it off would be very, very, slim. And, yet they do, with very little problem.
I liked the city of Spandeliyon, itself, too. Dan Bassingthwaite really captured the essence of the city. Its “grittiness”. Its “seediness” Its “Elf hate”. It was big enough to be a city, but small enough to be an intimate setting for the book.
First, let me get to the characters. Tychoben Arisaenn was a great bard. He was roguish and cunning, as evidenced by his dealings with organized criminal Brin. He was goodhearted and charming, as evidenced by his living situation with Veseene, his mentor. Kuang Li Chien was a sort of generic, stereotypical “Easterner who knows kung-fu”, but he was a tolerable character. Brin, the Halfling gangster, I liked. I don’t know why, but there is something about Halfling gangsters that I like. I know, in my own setting, there exists at least one very powerful Halfling crime lord, so for all I know, Brin right here might have been the latent inspiration. Veseene, Tycho’s teacher, was another character I liked. A former Bard, who’s now, more or less an invalid. A depiction that you don’t see too often in the heroic fantasy literature that most Forgotten Realms novels are.
Yu Mao was one character I didn’t like. His curse was very unique, and was a major swerve, though. It wasn’t a surprise this time around, since I am re-reading the book, but I remember being very surprised at the revelation the first time reading it, when he transformed from Black Scratch. That said, his motives for doing what he did were very anti-climactic and generic. He was the first-born son of a respected family in Shou Lung who didn’t want the burdens and pressures that came with it. So, what did he do? Become an evil pirate. It felt pretty unrealistic to me. Not wanting to deal with the pressure and propriety that come with being the heir to a semi-important lineage in Shou Lung? That works. Randomly becoming a pirate, and consorting with Faerûnians to escape it? A little less realistic.
Speaking of unrealistic, I found the final battle scene to be just slightly reinforced by plot armor. And, when I mean just slightly, I mean a lot. Tycho and Li against a bunch of Brins thugs, a few more hired thugs for good measure, and two Red Wizards, and the two of them pull it off? Even though they had a plan, and the Yellow Silk artifact on their side, if you ran a percentages program about the likelihood of their victory, the chance that they pull it off would be very, very, slim. And, yet they do, with very little problem.
I liked the city of Spandeliyon, itself, too. Dan Bassingthwaite really captured the essence of the city. Its “grittiness”. Its “seediness” Its “Elf hate”. It was big enough to be a city, but small enough to be an intimate setting for the book.
September 10, 2013
Though I enjoyed reading this book, I feel somehow lessened by admitting it. It reads a bit like a Jackie Chan knockoff movie, and I suppose fulfills some guilty pleasure of action adventure while not being particularly grand. The heroes are underdogs you can identify with, the women are vaguely important bit parts and window dressing, and the bad guy is interesting until he's actually revealed.
As a Forgotten Realms book, the city it's based in is well flushed and gives a good description of one of the seedier and less explored areas.
As a Forgotten Realms book, the city it's based in is well flushed and gives a good description of one of the seedier and less explored areas.
December 10, 2017
One of the better Forgotten Realms books - a decent romp through a dirty old seaside town on a mission of vengeance, with a bard and a samurai-analogue as decidedly fallible heroes, and a couple of rather foul villains to be defeated.
April 1, 2024
This is probably the best Forgotten Realms book I've read in years.
I have my favorite authors that write in the Realms, but Bassingthwaite was new to me. He set his story in Altumbel, a part of the Realms that I was unfamiliar with, which is great, but brought along characters from Shou Lung.
Right from the beginning, the story is full of action and an intriguing mystery. This is the first book I've read in the "Rogues" series, but it was fun to have characters that were not considered "good" as the mains.
Bassingthwaite fleshes out the region and city well, which is one of my favorite things about reading books set in Forgotten Realms. He also does a good job with the mystery; I think he had a leg up as FR books are not typically mystery orientated, so I didn't see the twists coming. Which was fun.
Some great antagonists as well, good side characters, loved the ending. A good read!
I have my favorite authors that write in the Realms, but Bassingthwaite was new to me. He set his story in Altumbel, a part of the Realms that I was unfamiliar with, which is great, but brought along characters from Shou Lung.
Right from the beginning, the story is full of action and an intriguing mystery. This is the first book I've read in the "Rogues" series, but it was fun to have characters that were not considered "good" as the mains.
Bassingthwaite fleshes out the region and city well, which is one of my favorite things about reading books set in Forgotten Realms. He also does a good job with the mystery; I think he had a leg up as FR books are not typically mystery orientated, so I didn't see the twists coming. Which was fun.
Some great antagonists as well, good side characters, loved the ending. A good read!
February 28, 2019
"He gulped some more ale - and swallowed his pride with it."
"I don't do favors" (he) said..."They cost too much."
"The young peach tree is beautiful and tender"..."but it bears little fruit."
"Knowledge is its own grace."
"I believe you're piss-desperate liar who has worked himself so far down a dragon's throat that he actually thinks he can get out by going all the way through to the other end."
"I don't do favors" (he) said..."They cost too much."
"The young peach tree is beautiful and tender"..."but it bears little fruit."
"Knowledge is its own grace."
"I believe you're piss-desperate liar who has worked himself so far down a dragon's throat that he actually thinks he can get out by going all the way through to the other end."
October 11, 2024
Excellent. Funny, full of smart dialogue and witty banter with engaging characters. The motivation of the 'revealed villain' was a bit thin though and needed more depth since it felt like his exposition was a little bit rushed. But I loved Veseene and Tycho and Li Chien have a great dynamic. It's a shame they don't, but Tycho and Li Chien deserved a sequel/trilogy, certainly one at least set in Shou Lung.
4 stars.
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Reread. Still good, but the last third was a bit of a slog; a rather protracted sequence of battles. Fight scenes with the eponymous textile reminded me of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and I thought the idea was pretty cool. Still wouldn't mind seeing a sequel novel (or duology) of Li Chien and Tycho headed off to Waterdeep or Shou Lung, as may have been suggested, perhaps stalked by the surviving villain who shall be remain unnamed due to spoilers.
3.5 stars.
4 stars.
---
Reread. Still good, but the last third was a bit of a slog; a rather protracted sequence of battles. Fight scenes with the eponymous textile reminded me of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and I thought the idea was pretty cool. Still wouldn't mind seeing a sequel novel (or duology) of Li Chien and Tycho headed off to Waterdeep or Shou Lung, as may have been suggested, perhaps stalked by the surviving villain who shall be remain unnamed due to spoilers.
3.5 stars.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews