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The Worlds of Dungeons & Dragons #2
The Worlds of Dungeons & Dragons Volume 2
In "Elminster at the Magefair," a mysterious and dangerous errand takes the Sage of Shadowdale and the lovely Storm Silverhand to a gathering of the Forgotten Realms' mightiest wizards, while "The Rigor of the Game" pits a gambler in the nightmare-haunted domains of Ravenloft against the infamous death knight, Lord Soth.
144 pages, Paperback
First published October 29, 2008
About the author
James Lowder
89 books106 followersaka Richard Awlinson, J D Lowder, Jim Lowder
James Lowder has worked extensively in fantasy and horror fiction on both sides of the editorial blotter. He's authored several best-selling dark fantasy novels, including Prince of Lies and Knight of the Black Rose, and has had short fiction appear in such anthologies as Shadows Over Baker Street and Genius Loci. He's penned comic book scripts for several companies and the city of Boston. His book and film reviews, feature articles, and role-playing game design work can be found in such diverse publications as Amazing Stories, Milwaukee Magazine, and The New England Journal of History. As an editor, he's directed lines or series for TSR, Green Knight Publishing, Chaosium, and CDS Books. He's helmed more than twenty anthologies, including Hobby Games: The 100 Best and Curse of the Full Moon. In the media, he is a regular contributor to the Public Radio show "Lake Effect" in Milwaukee, provided werewolf lore on the TV show Weird or What? and tabletop game industry lore for the documentary The Dreams in Gary's Basement, and served as a puppeteer on the indie film Misfit Heights.
James Lowder has worked extensively in fantasy and horror fiction on both sides of the editorial blotter. He's authored several best-selling dark fantasy novels, including Prince of Lies and Knight of the Black Rose, and has had short fiction appear in such anthologies as Shadows Over Baker Street and Genius Loci. He's penned comic book scripts for several companies and the city of Boston. His book and film reviews, feature articles, and role-playing game design work can be found in such diverse publications as Amazing Stories, Milwaukee Magazine, and The New England Journal of History. As an editor, he's directed lines or series for TSR, Green Knight Publishing, Chaosium, and CDS Books. He's helmed more than twenty anthologies, including Hobby Games: The 100 Best and Curse of the Full Moon. In the media, he is a regular contributor to the Public Radio show "Lake Effect" in Milwaukee, provided werewolf lore on the TV show Weird or What? and tabletop game industry lore for the documentary The Dreams in Gary's Basement, and served as a puppeteer on the indie film Misfit Heights.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 25, 2020
This volume is supposed to group comics issues #3 - 5 together, minus the Eberron tale which got pushed together in the first volume. This one varies things up a bit more and brings us stories from Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, and Ravenloft. Okay... maybe it doesn't vary much up at all. But at least the Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance tales don't seem to be completely rehashed stories, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're good.
Forgotten Realms: Elminster at the Magefair
So, right off the bat, I am elated to see them dealing with a different character outside of the Drizzt tales, so even if the Elminster story isn't amazing at least it's pretty different. Now, I own the Elminster novels written by Ed Greenwood, but I just haven't gotten around to reading them. There's just hundreds of books in these settings and I own most of them, but have only read a fraction of these tales.
This story is about a fair for mages, as you can guess from the title. And it's more of a tale of treachery and smart-aleck ways that Elminster engages in. The one thing that is tiresome in these tales is that the overused trope of the old doddering mage casting the impressive fireball spell. This is a constant aspect in Dragonlance with Fizban and, apparently, it's an Elminster thing as well. I'm sorry... it's boring. Find another spell. It was really nice to travel to other lands outside the realm of ten towns though, I will say that much. It was an okay story at the end of the day.
Dragonlance: A Stone's Throw Away
Even though this story involves Tasslehoff Burrfoot, I don't believe this story ties back to any story in the novels like the Dragonlance tale in the first volume. I think it was a true to Tasslehoff story, but at the same time it was also very forgettable. Basically, Tasslehoff finds himself engaged in something involving a dark mage. It's pretty old hat Dragonlance, but whatever. Oh well, it's pretty hard to write an epic tale in a mere two issues of comic books.
Ravenloft: The Rigor of the Game
Ravenloft is a setting that I never really got into. I have some of the novels, but never read them. I think the setting is supposed to be more of a gothic horror type thing, but it has all the usual fantasy magic that we all know from D&D. The story was okay. I don't know if this ties back to a story, but James Lowder did write quite a few of the original Ravenloft novels. This is just a quick one shot, but it was an okay tale involving some type of high stakes gambling. I don't know how much it brings you an introduction into the setting. Then Lord Soth from Dragonlance shows up at the end, which I thought was kind of random. But he is in Ravenloft outside of this as well, so that character seems to show up in random places.
Forgotten Realms: Elminster at the Magefair
So, right off the bat, I am elated to see them dealing with a different character outside of the Drizzt tales, so even if the Elminster story isn't amazing at least it's pretty different. Now, I own the Elminster novels written by Ed Greenwood, but I just haven't gotten around to reading them. There's just hundreds of books in these settings and I own most of them, but have only read a fraction of these tales.
This story is about a fair for mages, as you can guess from the title. And it's more of a tale of treachery and smart-aleck ways that Elminster engages in. The one thing that is tiresome in these tales is that the overused trope of the old doddering mage casting the impressive fireball spell. This is a constant aspect in Dragonlance with Fizban and, apparently, it's an Elminster thing as well. I'm sorry... it's boring. Find another spell. It was really nice to travel to other lands outside the realm of ten towns though, I will say that much. It was an okay story at the end of the day.
Dragonlance: A Stone's Throw Away
Even though this story involves Tasslehoff Burrfoot, I don't believe this story ties back to any story in the novels like the Dragonlance tale in the first volume. I think it was a true to Tasslehoff story, but at the same time it was also very forgettable. Basically, Tasslehoff finds himself engaged in something involving a dark mage. It's pretty old hat Dragonlance, but whatever. Oh well, it's pretty hard to write an epic tale in a mere two issues of comic books.
Ravenloft: The Rigor of the Game
Ravenloft is a setting that I never really got into. I have some of the novels, but never read them. I think the setting is supposed to be more of a gothic horror type thing, but it has all the usual fantasy magic that we all know from D&D. The story was okay. I don't know if this ties back to a story, but James Lowder did write quite a few of the original Ravenloft novels. This is just a quick one shot, but it was an okay tale involving some type of high stakes gambling. I don't know how much it brings you an introduction into the setting. Then Lord Soth from Dragonlance shows up at the end, which I thought was kind of random. But he is in Ravenloft outside of this as well, so that character seems to show up in random places.
March 25, 2021
"Forgotten Realms: Elminster at the Magefair": story 5/5, art 2/5. I wouldn't call the story great, but it is just as it should be - very tight with sparkly dialogue - great fit for the format. Hats off to Jeff Grubb. Art is, at the most, serviceable.
"Dragonlance: A Stone's Throw Away": story 4/5, art 5/5. Surprisingly enough, a good one from Dragonlance. Not everybody will like a kender-focused story, but, at least, it's true illustration for their core concept and the art nicely complements it.
"Ravenloft: The Rigor of the Game": story 4/5, art 5/5. The high point of the series in terms of the art (by Tim Seeley). The story could also be considered such, but, unfortunately, being so short, it can only be considered an intriguing and never finished beginning of a greater tale.
Total: 4.15/5. Not bad, not bad at all.
"Dragonlance: A Stone's Throw Away": story 4/5, art 5/5. Surprisingly enough, a good one from Dragonlance. Not everybody will like a kender-focused story, but, at least, it's true illustration for their core concept and the art nicely complements it.
"Ravenloft: The Rigor of the Game": story 4/5, art 5/5. The high point of the series in terms of the art (by Tim Seeley). The story could also be considered such, but, unfortunately, being so short, it can only be considered an intriguing and never finished beginning of a greater tale.
Total: 4.15/5. Not bad, not bad at all.
November 20, 2008
Another fun graphic novel created from other short stories and novels from the D&D world.
September 12, 2013
A lot better than the first one
September 2, 2015
Another decent selection of D&D comic stories, set in the Forgotten Realms, Ravenloft, Dragonlance, and Eberron. My favorite is the Ravenloft story, although the others are also good. (B)
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews