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Forgotten Realms: The Empyrean Odyssey #1
The Gossamer Plain
Ever wonder what could bring a demon to the gates of heaven?
Aliisza and Kaanyr Vhok have returned from their attempted invasion of Menzoberranzan and turned their sights on Sundabar. But before she can complete a mission in that beseiged city, Aliisza finds herself in the one place a demon would never want to go, no matter how sure she is of her wits and the very heart of Celestia!
Join everyone's favorite succubus and her half-fiend boyfriend, introduced in the War of the Spider Queen series, in the first installment of their own exciting new trilogy!
Aliisza and Kaanyr Vhok have returned from their attempted invasion of Menzoberranzan and turned their sights on Sundabar. But before she can complete a mission in that beseiged city, Aliisza finds herself in the one place a demon would never want to go, no matter how sure she is of her wits and the very heart of Celestia!
Join everyone's favorite succubus and her half-fiend boyfriend, introduced in the War of the Spider Queen series, in the first installment of their own exciting new trilogy!
308 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published May 8, 2007
20 people are currently reading
619 people want to read
About the author
Thomas M. Reid
54 books59 followersThomas M. Reid grew up in Dallas, Texas as an enthusiastic Dungeons & Dragons player. He performed at Switzerland's Montreux Jazz Festival with his high school jazz band. After obtaining a degree in history at the University of Texas in 1989, he moved to Wisconsin and began working for TSR, Inc., a Dungeons & Dragons publisher, then moved on to be an editor for Dragon, a Dungeons & Dragons magazine. Not long after, he moved back to Texas to be a freelance roleplaying game writer.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
January 8, 2017
Tyipical Realms book following Kahnyr Vhok and what happens to him and his succubus consort Aliizia after the seige of Menzoberranzan in the War of the Spider Queen series.
Good story, interesting concept, nothing overtly noticeable or outstanding about this book except the fact that I highly suspect that this is the beginning of the end for the Realms world as we know it.
Good story, interesting concept, nothing overtly noticeable or outstanding about this book except the fact that I highly suspect that this is the beginning of the end for the Realms world as we know it.
July 23, 2016
I could feel that it was lacking some in the character development, and often the side characters (Zasian, Tauran) felt more interesting than the main characters (Aliisza, Kaanyr). Still, I think the book has an interesting story and makes an interesting case about what really makes characters good/evil.
July 17, 2020
Talk about cliffhangers! This book was addicting from page one onward. There were times I had to force myself to stop reading so I could sleep at night. This is only the first book in a trilogy, and I'm already rooting for Aliisza and everything she's going through.
I have never been more grateful to receive a handful of 'Forgotten Realms' books, because I'm so excited to delve into the lore and worlds. If you ever need a starting place, This is the best way to get into it.
I have never been more grateful to receive a handful of 'Forgotten Realms' books, because I'm so excited to delve into the lore and worlds. If you ever need a starting place, This is the best way to get into it.
December 21, 2020
"Ask anyone."..."Anyone who has ever loved and lost will tell you it's still worth it. Despite the pain, the vulnerability, the joy that comes with caring cannot be diminished. In truth, you cannot have one without the other."
April 7, 2020
This is a intriguing book, well written and the writing describes scenery well and is good. Sorry for the poor words to describe this book, but is definitely worth a read!
August 5, 2021
It's no Insurrection, but it's good! One heckin' of an ending!
September 15, 2022
If you liked war of the spider queen, this is one of the three spin-offs all three spin-offs seem to be worth a read to me
November 15, 2022
What a ride! I thorougly enjoyed it from the first page to the last. Now I can't wait to read the rest of this trilogy.
January 21, 2022
What does the word 'gossamer' evoke to you? Well, to me, not really angels and the plane of Lawfulness and Goodness. The word's more appropriate for like, fae and wood elves. If celestial is too on-the-nose, then the book should've been titled 'heavenly', 'immortal', 'divine'. Anyway, nit-picking.
I wanted to read this because I liked the cover so much and also just finished the WotS series.
High 3 stars. Aliisza's redemption path was a lot more interesting than Vhok and party's trek through the Elemental Plane of Fire. So much combat engagements that I skipped through. Nice double cross twist at the end. Now the plot can move forward.
I wanted to read this because I liked the cover so much and also just finished the WotS series.
High 3 stars. Aliisza's redemption path was a lot more interesting than Vhok and party's trek through the Elemental Plane of Fire. So much combat engagements that I skipped through. Nice double cross twist at the end. Now the plot can move forward.
July 1, 2009
The Gossamer Plain by Thomas M. Reid takes a different point of view then most FR novels. Usually the major focus is on the heroes with some views from the villians perspective. This is not so with this one. In a sense, Kaanyr Vhok could be viewed as the protagonist in this one since he is the focal character along with Aliisza, both of which are from The War of the Spider Queen series. The main plot revolves around Vhok’s ambitions and the majority of the novel deals with his travels to achieve an objective. A subplot involves Aliisza learning more about herself on a different plain. While there she has dealings with an Angel named Tauran who is doing what he does of the good of all. A couple other characters are Zasian and Myshik who travel with Vhok.
The pacing starts out very slow. I really had a hard time keeping interest with the things that were going on. I really didn’t care much for the characters as much at first, but towards the end, Aliisza’s character became more interesting and more towards how I felt about her in the WofSQ series. She was one of those characters I liked then and even more later in this one. As for the flow of the book, I did like the way this is written. I enjoyed the say Mr. Reid would get to a cliff hanger part and shift focus to the next set of characters and back. That was one of the things that kept me reading. I needed to find out what happened next. Other readers may not like it as much, but I did.
There was only a little bit of character development with this one, except for Aliisza who had more, but for a first book in a trilogy, I don’t have to have major development. The development that was done, I enjoyed very much and made sense. The characters themselves, however, were missing something to me. I really had a hard time connecting with them. Tauran’s character was ‘eh’. He would show up, do a couple things and disappear. I didn’t care for him or what he was trying to do much at all until the very end.
A couple minor criticisms:
1. The way the book dragged on or about the first half was hard to push through. I was having a difficult time getting interested enough to pick it back up after I put it down. I feel a lot of that had to do with all the travel through the plane of fire. There was not much of an “umph” to it to keep things moving. This may have been alleviated a bit if there was a little more action to it.
2. This one seemed more detailed than Mr. Reid’s previous trilogy, The Scions of Arrabar, which I absolutely loved. I believe with the plane of the Triad and the plane of fire, Mr. Reid had to get more detailed to get his vision across and in doing so, at times, it seemed somewhat over detailed to me.
3. Aside from Aliisza, the characters were average at best. I really would have like to connect and care about them and their plight more. I guess it can be hard to connect with characters who normally would be considered antagonists.
Some positives:
1. When he does grab your attention, Mr. Reid can keep a person captivated and then cut them of at the appropriate moment to heighten the suspense making the reader want to see the outcome of each predicament.
2. The character Aliisza. I know, I keep going on about her, but she was the most interesting of all the characters. There are a couple of really awesome twists that are used with this character as well.
3. On top of all the suspense, Mr. Reid adds some really nice twists to the book. A couple I was expecting and able to anticipate, but the others, I was not and especially the one at the end added the perfect moment for the ending.
When all is said and done, The Gossamer Plain was an average book. I was entertained and did eventually enjoy myself, especially at the end. This one ends with a cliff hanger, but not until after everything else is wrapped up. I am looking forward to reading the next book, The Fractured Sky right away. I would recommend this one of course to the die hard FR fans than need to keep their collection up and those that would like to see a story more from the point of view of a villain type character. For realms and fantasy starters, you couldn’t do wrong with this, but I recommend looking to other to get our feet wet first.
-Dimndbangr
The pacing starts out very slow. I really had a hard time keeping interest with the things that were going on. I really didn’t care much for the characters as much at first, but towards the end, Aliisza’s character became more interesting and more towards how I felt about her in the WofSQ series. She was one of those characters I liked then and even more later in this one. As for the flow of the book, I did like the way this is written. I enjoyed the say Mr. Reid would get to a cliff hanger part and shift focus to the next set of characters and back. That was one of the things that kept me reading. I needed to find out what happened next. Other readers may not like it as much, but I did.
There was only a little bit of character development with this one, except for Aliisza who had more, but for a first book in a trilogy, I don’t have to have major development. The development that was done, I enjoyed very much and made sense. The characters themselves, however, were missing something to me. I really had a hard time connecting with them. Tauran’s character was ‘eh’. He would show up, do a couple things and disappear. I didn’t care for him or what he was trying to do much at all until the very end.
A couple minor criticisms:
1. The way the book dragged on or about the first half was hard to push through. I was having a difficult time getting interested enough to pick it back up after I put it down. I feel a lot of that had to do with all the travel through the plane of fire. There was not much of an “umph” to it to keep things moving. This may have been alleviated a bit if there was a little more action to it.
2. This one seemed more detailed than Mr. Reid’s previous trilogy, The Scions of Arrabar, which I absolutely loved. I believe with the plane of the Triad and the plane of fire, Mr. Reid had to get more detailed to get his vision across and in doing so, at times, it seemed somewhat over detailed to me.
3. Aside from Aliisza, the characters were average at best. I really would have like to connect and care about them and their plight more. I guess it can be hard to connect with characters who normally would be considered antagonists.
Some positives:
1. When he does grab your attention, Mr. Reid can keep a person captivated and then cut them of at the appropriate moment to heighten the suspense making the reader want to see the outcome of each predicament.
2. The character Aliisza. I know, I keep going on about her, but she was the most interesting of all the characters. There are a couple of really awesome twists that are used with this character as well.
3. On top of all the suspense, Mr. Reid adds some really nice twists to the book. A couple I was expecting and able to anticipate, but the others, I was not and especially the one at the end added the perfect moment for the ending.
When all is said and done, The Gossamer Plain was an average book. I was entertained and did eventually enjoy myself, especially at the end. This one ends with a cliff hanger, but not until after everything else is wrapped up. I am looking forward to reading the next book, The Fractured Sky right away. I would recommend this one of course to the die hard FR fans than need to keep their collection up and those that would like to see a story more from the point of view of a villain type character. For realms and fantasy starters, you couldn’t do wrong with this, but I recommend looking to other to get our feet wet first.
-Dimndbangr
May 18, 2010
The Gossamer Plain by Thomas M. Reid- This is the first book in The Empyrean Odyssey trilogy. This follows the Alu-fiend, Aliisza, and the cambion, Kaanyr Vhok, after the events in the War of the Spider Queen series. This is my second read through in honor of the last book The Crystal Mountain coming out.
I'll just simply reword what the description says on the back of the book. Still upset with his defeat in Menzoberranzan, Kaanyr Vhok takes his Scoured Legion to bring down the human city of Sundabar. In order to do this, Kaanyr needs to take a trip the elemental plane of fire. While on a simple mission for Vhok, Aliisza stumbles upon something that she wasn't ready to find inside and finds allies she thought she'd never have.
Negatives:
1) The pace. The first 150 pages or so, were just slow and hard to really plow through. Many scenes were just hard to read and at times, I was starting to fall asleep. Most of those scenes were when Vhok and Zasain are traveling the Plane of Fire. At least it picked up a little towards the end.
2) Setting Up. The problem that can explain why the first part dragged on is because it was mostly setting up things to come. The first 100 or so pages just set up things and honestly, could have been really told with in a chapter or two.
3) Tauran. The whole two emotion celestial was just annoying like nothing else. Oh wow, he's has a sad smile (which is annoyingly repeated every other time Aliisza talks to him). He was a robot. He didn't radiate anything other than annoying and boring.
Positives:
1) Plot and the Plot twists. First off, the plot was excellent. After you got around the set-up part, you started to understand what was going on. But just when you think you thought of it all, BOOM a twist. Sure some of these are obvious... Myshik betraying the group (obvious after he's introduction), Aliisza's change and her reverting (obvious after you recall the moments lost to her), and Zasian being more than he appears (Not a typical Banite, as Vhok so cunning figured out early yet didn't worry too much over it).
2) The Cliffhanger Ending. Usually I'm not a fan of cliffhangers because they are well, sloppy. However, this ones ending fairly well and even when I first read it, I wanted to read the next one ASAP. I still do want to read the next one after reading this one again. It still hooked me.
3) Zasian, Aliisza, and Vhok. I liked all these characters for different reasons. With Zasian, he didn't seem like a typical priest of some evil god, hellbent on destroying the world. Plus the way he tricked everyone was just brilliant, you never would have suspecting him being what he was. Aliisza I liked for a few reasons. The first being, I liked her in the War of the Spider Queen series. Even though she was a minor character, see was interesting. In here, she was more so because of the changes she goes though. I wanted her to be changed. Vhok is very different. I didn't like him in the War of the Spider Queen series because he was a very minor character with little to no depth. However, in this story he grows a lot. His anger and humor at times are rewarding. It's also important to mention that Aliisza and Vhok are among my favorite Forgotten Realms characters.
Overall: 3/5
* Although, I do like Vhok and Aliisza, the slowness of the first half the book along with the long set up, just really hurt what could have been an amazing beginning to a great trilogy*
I'll just simply reword what the description says on the back of the book. Still upset with his defeat in Menzoberranzan, Kaanyr Vhok takes his Scoured Legion to bring down the human city of Sundabar. In order to do this, Kaanyr needs to take a trip the elemental plane of fire. While on a simple mission for Vhok, Aliisza stumbles upon something that she wasn't ready to find inside and finds allies she thought she'd never have.
Negatives:
1) The pace. The first 150 pages or so, were just slow and hard to really plow through. Many scenes were just hard to read and at times, I was starting to fall asleep. Most of those scenes were when Vhok and Zasain are traveling the Plane of Fire. At least it picked up a little towards the end.
2) Setting Up. The problem that can explain why the first part dragged on is because it was mostly setting up things to come. The first 100 or so pages just set up things and honestly, could have been really told with in a chapter or two.
3) Tauran. The whole two emotion celestial was just annoying like nothing else. Oh wow, he's has a sad smile (which is annoyingly repeated every other time Aliisza talks to him). He was a robot. He didn't radiate anything other than annoying and boring.
Positives:
1) Plot and the Plot twists. First off, the plot was excellent. After you got around the set-up part, you started to understand what was going on. But just when you think you thought of it all, BOOM a twist. Sure some of these are obvious... Myshik betraying the group (obvious after he's introduction), Aliisza's change and her reverting (obvious after you recall the moments lost to her), and Zasian being more than he appears (Not a typical Banite, as Vhok so cunning figured out early yet didn't worry too much over it).
2) The Cliffhanger Ending. Usually I'm not a fan of cliffhangers because they are well, sloppy. However, this ones ending fairly well and even when I first read it, I wanted to read the next one ASAP. I still do want to read the next one after reading this one again. It still hooked me.
3) Zasian, Aliisza, and Vhok. I liked all these characters for different reasons. With Zasian, he didn't seem like a typical priest of some evil god, hellbent on destroying the world. Plus the way he tricked everyone was just brilliant, you never would have suspecting him being what he was. Aliisza I liked for a few reasons. The first being, I liked her in the War of the Spider Queen series. Even though she was a minor character, see was interesting. In here, she was more so because of the changes she goes though. I wanted her to be changed. Vhok is very different. I didn't like him in the War of the Spider Queen series because he was a very minor character with little to no depth. However, in this story he grows a lot. His anger and humor at times are rewarding. It's also important to mention that Aliisza and Vhok are among my favorite Forgotten Realms characters.
Overall: 3/5
* Although, I do like Vhok and Aliisza, the slowness of the first half the book along with the long set up, just really hurt what could have been an amazing beginning to a great trilogy*
March 10, 2015
This is the start of a new trilogy that follows Kaanyr Vhok and Aliisza, some time after the events that happened the multi-author War of the Spider Queen. Book one is basically a set up and a cliffhanger. Not much gets resolved by the end of it, just lots of twists, manipulations, and betrayals, somewhat typical of evil-oriented books - meaning, not much surprise there.
What I primarily didn't like was how slow it was. The pacing is really for the first half, which only picks up towards the end. I guess this set up was for the entire trilogy, and not just this book. It didn't help that I don't like Kaanyr Vhok here. In War of the Spider Queen, he's this warlord out to expand his territory and influence. But here, he doesn't strike me as particularly charismatic or intimidating enough to be a leader of a powerful, though relatively small, army. I just didn't find him impressive.
Comparatively, Aliisza's viewpoints were the most interesting. She's really coming into her own as a character and I look forward to seeing how that gets developed.
On the side of good, we have a deva who's responsible for Aliisza. And that's about all you can describe of him. Similar to Kaanyr, he's not quite fleshed out and remains one-dimensional.
Plot-wise, it reads like a set up to something big that's coming up, what with that cliffhanger at the end. And that's about what this book is. All the major and minor plot arcs in this book are unresolved. Couple that with the slow build-up, it only mildly piqued my interest. Well, onward to book two to see what happens next.
What I primarily didn't like was how slow it was. The pacing is really for the first half, which only picks up towards the end. I guess this set up was for the entire trilogy, and not just this book. It didn't help that I don't like Kaanyr Vhok here. In War of the Spider Queen, he's this warlord out to expand his territory and influence. But here, he doesn't strike me as particularly charismatic or intimidating enough to be a leader of a powerful, though relatively small, army. I just didn't find him impressive.
Comparatively, Aliisza's viewpoints were the most interesting. She's really coming into her own as a character and I look forward to seeing how that gets developed.
On the side of good, we have a deva who's responsible for Aliisza. And that's about all you can describe of him. Similar to Kaanyr, he's not quite fleshed out and remains one-dimensional.
Plot-wise, it reads like a set up to something big that's coming up, what with that cliffhanger at the end. And that's about what this book is. All the major and minor plot arcs in this book are unresolved. Couple that with the slow build-up, it only mildly piqued my interest. Well, onward to book two to see what happens next.
August 12, 2012
Okay Heaven vs. Hell. My favorite setting for when "Some Shit is about to Go Down." I felt misled by the advertised epic annihilation to ensue by the first few pages. A period of forced interest followed the let down. All I really bought the book for was a simple utter destruction of opposing parties and planes so I felt screwed. Nonetheless I trudged onward to probable condemnation of boring scenes in a story I didn't want to care about anyways. This book pulled me in with a grappling hook through the chest... First book all year that I couldn't put down until I was too tired to go on. Resuming quickly thereafter. Go By This Book!!!I
September 14, 2023
The concept of the trilogy is great. It is focused on characters of evil alignment as well as angelic beings like astral devas and archon hounds. It includes nice descriptions of interesting places like House of the Triad, Sundabar and the City of Brass on the elemental plane of fire. The plot is not well structured and the characters despite their integrating identity (including a banite/cyric's priest and a draconic hobgoblin) are not intriguing. All in all, great idea, mediocre execution.
3.5/5
3.5/5
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 28, 2015
A double dose of dichotomy. This tale is a fanciful exploration of the paradox of morality told from the point of view of a demon trapped in heaven. Can good be evil and vice verse? Find out in this book that sets the stage for one of the most world-shattering events in the Forgotten Realm universe - the Spellplague.
August 14, 2008
An entertaining and well written book from start to end. The only down side being the second book in the series isn't scheduled for release until A YEAR AND A HALF after this was first released..... :(
March 13, 2009
That book was vey good and I just loved it
April 11, 2011
Very enticing read! It was exceptional to see the characters developed when we all know these are the BAD guys. I like it and I am eagerly anticipating the remainder of the trilogy
Want to read
August 24, 2013G
February 6, 2010
Will wait until I finish this whole series before final judgement, but slightly disappointing.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews