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Forgotten Realms: The Rogues #3
The Crimson Gold
She wanted out.
She wanted a new life.
She wanted a trophy worthy of a master thief.
She wanted to find the source of the treasured crimson gold.
She wanted to face an undead emperor on his home ground and live to tell the tale.
Careful what you wish for.
"The Crimson Gold" is the third title in this ongoing Forgotten Realms series focusing specifically on the shadowed life of the iconic character class of the rogue. Each novel in the series is a stand-alone adventure, allowing readers an easy entry point into the Forgotten Realms world.
She wanted a new life.
She wanted a trophy worthy of a master thief.
She wanted to find the source of the treasured crimson gold.
She wanted to face an undead emperor on his home ground and live to tell the tale.
Careful what you wish for.
"The Crimson Gold" is the third title in this ongoing Forgotten Realms series focusing specifically on the shadowed life of the iconic character class of the rogue. Each novel in the series is a stand-alone adventure, allowing readers an easy entry point into the Forgotten Realms world.
320 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 19, 2025
This is one of the best Forgotten Realms books I've read in a long time!
I've mentioned in the past that one of the biggest reasons I read these books is for history about the realms and/or to learn about a part of the world I haven't been exposed to yet. And this book did not fail to deliver!
The story starts out fallowing a Duergar through the Underdark. Again, for me, this was fun! While I'm familiar with the race from previous books about the Drow, this hinted that we would be learning a lot more about the Duergar. And this was only the prologue!
Next we get to meet our protagonist, but many of us may have come across this character in the past! Tazi, the only daughter of the Sembian Merchant family form the Scions of Sembia series has come back for another story! As the families secret thief, she fits in this story about rogues swimingly!
Not only that, the story takes place in Thay! Again, I'm familiar with the region from previous books, but this is the first one I have read that actually takes place in the Eastern country. We also get a great and detailed history of how Thay was founded and what took place to make the Red Wizards 'all powerful' in their country. We learn about the culture and laws through Tazi's misfortunes, and we even get to meet Sazz Tam!
Again, this was a fun book! First one I've read by this author, but really enjoyed it! One more FR book under my belt!
I've mentioned in the past that one of the biggest reasons I read these books is for history about the realms and/or to learn about a part of the world I haven't been exposed to yet. And this book did not fail to deliver!
The story starts out fallowing a Duergar through the Underdark. Again, for me, this was fun! While I'm familiar with the race from previous books about the Drow, this hinted that we would be learning a lot more about the Duergar. And this was only the prologue!
Next we get to meet our protagonist, but many of us may have come across this character in the past! Tazi, the only daughter of the Sembian Merchant family form the Scions of Sembia series has come back for another story! As the families secret thief, she fits in this story about rogues swimingly!
Not only that, the story takes place in Thay! Again, I'm familiar with the region from previous books, but this is the first one I have read that actually takes place in the Eastern country. We also get a great and detailed history of how Thay was founded and what took place to make the Red Wizards 'all powerful' in their country. We learn about the culture and laws through Tazi's misfortunes, and we even get to meet Sazz Tam!
Again, this was a fun book! First one I've read by this author, but really enjoyed it! One more FR book under my belt!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 22, 2019
Fools in love...always have a weak spot."
"Only a fool refuses out of pride what he desperately needs."
You always have a choice."
"Only a fool refuses out of pride what he desperately needs."
You always have a choice."
April 23, 2019
fun. an entertaining look into parts of Faerun im unfamiliar with
April 1, 2025
It was alright. Didn't really get exciting until about 80% in and the spelling mistakes were numerous. I'm used to a couple, but this was constant.
Still, the story was decent, in its way.
Still, the story was decent, in its way.
July 10, 2011
I would've given it 2 stars if it wasn't D&D. As a D&D book, it's bad. This isn't the first book the author has written for D&D so it's not just ignorance. And the editor must be blind as well.
The Crimson Gold? It's a sad excuse for a title. The metal in question can be replaced with whatever you wish and it wouldn't change a thing, given how minor and unimportant it was to the plot.
Thazienne the protagonist? This series is about Rogues. But our heroine is a rogue, warrior, military strategist, and general all rolled into one. Not to forget being very smart, fearless, tough, lucky, athletic, beautiful, charismatic, and commanding.
The infamous Red Wizards of Thay? They're portrayed as selfish, stupid, and endlessly bickering politicians, who also happen to be weak-willed, possess little to no magical prowess, and pretty much useless. It was incredibly insulting to the work done on Red Wizards and Thay by TSR and Wizards of the Coast.
D&D? If you're gonna slap on D&D, at least read up on the subject material and get things right. It's sad to see them misrepresented and misused.
On the whole? Lots of plot holes and contradictions, and villains telling the heroes their schemes. For light reading (and ignoring D&D), it's easy to overlook. The build-up was actually decent, but the finale was quite horrid. Even I know that volcanoes and lava flows don't work the way the author described. Blocking lava flows with corpses? How does that work?! Maybe it was meant for a younger audience but somehow, someone decided to force-fit this into the Rogue series.
The Crimson Gold? It's a sad excuse for a title. The metal in question can be replaced with whatever you wish and it wouldn't change a thing, given how minor and unimportant it was to the plot.
Thazienne the protagonist? This series is about Rogues. But our heroine is a rogue, warrior, military strategist, and general all rolled into one. Not to forget being very smart, fearless, tough, lucky, athletic, beautiful, charismatic, and commanding.
The infamous Red Wizards of Thay? They're portrayed as selfish, stupid, and endlessly bickering politicians, who also happen to be weak-willed, possess little to no magical prowess, and pretty much useless. It was incredibly insulting to the work done on Red Wizards and Thay by TSR and Wizards of the Coast.
D&D? If you're gonna slap on D&D, at least read up on the subject material and get things right. It's sad to see them misrepresented and misused.
On the whole? Lots of plot holes and contradictions, and villains telling the heroes their schemes. For light reading (and ignoring D&D), it's easy to overlook. The build-up was actually decent, but the finale was quite horrid. Even I know that volcanoes and lava flows don't work the way the author described. Blocking lava flows with corpses? How does that work?! Maybe it was meant for a younger audience but somehow, someone decided to force-fit this into the Rogue series.
November 16, 2015
At first, I though the main character was going to be a dwarf. This was an exciting concept for me, as I had never read a book with dwarf as the main focus of a story. Then he gets killed in the first chapter.
Tazi is introduced and I really liked her. Then she becomes a slave. Another dwarf is soon introduced and they sort of team up. This was not what I had expected, but I like the unexpected.
The Crimson Gold is an interesting tale about a young female fighter that gets tangled up in another person's war. She has no choice but to be the pawn of the evil wizard. She must not only use her wits to escape the situation, but to also save her new friend.
This story moves along at a good pace, but did not have enough action to suit me. When the story focused on Ythazz, I always felt a little lost and looked forward to it returning to Tazi. Still, it is a good story that does not require you reading the first two books in the series.
Overall, The The Crimson Gold by Voronica Whitney-Robinson is a nice addition to the Forgotten Realms world of books.
I rated this book a 7 out of 10.
Tazi is introduced and I really liked her. Then she becomes a slave. Another dwarf is soon introduced and they sort of team up. This was not what I had expected, but I like the unexpected.
The Crimson Gold is an interesting tale about a young female fighter that gets tangled up in another person's war. She has no choice but to be the pawn of the evil wizard. She must not only use her wits to escape the situation, but to also save her new friend.
This story moves along at a good pace, but did not have enough action to suit me. When the story focused on Ythazz, I always felt a little lost and looked forward to it returning to Tazi. Still, it is a good story that does not require you reading the first two books in the series.
Overall, The The Crimson Gold by Voronica Whitney-Robinson is a nice addition to the Forgotten Realms world of books.
I rated this book a 7 out of 10.
February 3, 2013
The namesake of this book, the Crimson Gold, feels ultimately unimportant to the primary plot. The D&D references feel heavy-handed. The lead protagonist is almost comically sure of herself, while the most powerful wizards of Thay, ancient wizards, are incapable of thwarting their problem.
October 18, 2009
Really light reading. Why 4 stars? Because it was much better than I expected it to be (I had very low expectations, but the book was lying around and I wanted something to read!)
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews