City Under the Sand

D&D: Dark Sun

by Jeffrey J. Mariotte, Jeff Mariotte

Aric, a half-elf with a rare natural ability with the psionic discipline known as “the Way,” must find his place in a world ruled by the tyranny of evil sorcerer kings, and dominated by the savage wilds of the Athasian desert, a world presided over by the unrelenting crimson eye of Dark Sun ®.
 
When Aric is brought into a quest to search for a priceless trove weapons, he would rather keep his head down and live a simple life.  But nothing is simple in the city of Nibenay with it reclusive ruler known as the Shadow King. And in a world where metal is the rarest of commodities, Aric’s “way” with metal is an even rarer talent.
 
Enlisted by the Shadow King himself to seek out this cache of metal weaponry, Aric heads into the desert with a treacherous band of adventurers.  Allegiances are tested and secrets are uncovered. But sometimes the secrets hidden by the sands of time should remain undiscovered.
 
When Aric and his band uncover an evil perhaps greater than the Shadow King himself, it is a race against time to see who will harness its power.

Genres: Fantasy, Dungeons and Dragons, Novels

404 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Also writes as Jeff Mariotte

Jeffrey J. Mariotte is the bestselling, award-winning author of more than 70 novels, including the Cody Cavanaugh western series, historical western epic Blood and Gold: The Legend of Joaquin Murrieta (with Peter Murrieta), thrillers Empty Rooms and The Devil's Bait, supernatural thrillers Season of the Wolf, Missing White Girl, River Runs Red, and Cold Black Hearts, horror epic The Slab, and the Dark Vengeance teen horror quartet. With wife and writing partner Marsheila (Marcy) Rockwell, he wrote the sf/horror/thriller 7 SYKOS and Mafia III: Plain of Jars, the authorized prequel to the bestselling video game. His most recent release is the short story collection Byrd's Luck & Other Stories, comprising five "traditional" Western tales and five horror-Western stories, two of them brand-new for this edition.

He also writes occasional nonfiction, short fiction (some of which is collected in Nine Frights), and comic books, including the long-running horror/Western comic book series Desperadoes and graphic novels Fade to Black and Zombie Cop. With Marsheila Rockwell, he has published several short stories and is working on more. He has worked in virtually every aspect of the book business, as a writer, editor, marketing executive, and bookseller.

Learn more at www.jeffmariotte.com, and follow him at https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyJMari... and @JeffMariotte on Twitter.

Also writes as Jeff Mariotte

Reviews

[Jevhad · Rating 1 out of 5]

Really bad book, in addition to the lack of respect the new WoTC team continues to show for previous works, this book contains several editorial mistakes (noun-pronoun concordance, character's names misplaced in actions) terribly boring flow, nonsensical twists and a laughable resolution. Don't waste your money with this book.

Spoiler warning.

A demon in Athas sounds like a good idea. One can even envision a fight between Nibenay and the demon. Instead the haughty, vain and quite powerful sorcerer king is described by the author as hiding from the demon, really scared of it. The subplots for the escape from the raiders and the elven "jack the ripper" resolve instantly, without tension and no contribution to the character development, nor the plot. A disappointing surprise from an otherwise good author.

[Travis · Rating 2 out of 5]

City Under the Sand by Jeff Mariotte- This is the first book in the relaunched novel line of Dark Sun, a setting of Dungeons and Dragons. Currently, this is a stand-alone novel. This is Jeff Mariotte's first novel that is set in a Dungeons and Dragons shared universe, but he's written a number of other novels. His original works include; Witch Season (Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring), Las Vegas (High Stakes Game and Sleight of Hand), The Slab, Boogeyman, Missing White Girl, River Runs Red, and Cold Black Hearts . He has contributed a number of books to shared universes; Gen 13 (Netherwar with Christopher Golden and Time and Chance with Scott Ciencin), the Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel series co-written with Nancy Holder called Unseen (The Burning, Door to Alternity, and The Long Way Home), Angel series (Close to the Ground, Hollywood Noir, Haunted, Stranger to the Sun, Endangered Species with Nancy Holden, Sanctuary, Solitary Man, and Love and Death), co-wrote two Charmed novels with Constance M. Burge (Mirror Image and Survival of the Fittest), CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (Brass in the Pocket and Blood Quantum), a CSI: Miami novel titled Right to Die, a novel in Star Trek: The Lost Era series called Deny Thy Father, a novel in Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda series titled The Attitude of Silence, an Age of Conan series called Marauders (Ghost of the Wall, Winds of the Wild Sea, and Dawn of the Ice Bear), co-wrote a 30 Days of Night series with Steve Niles (Rumors of the Undead, Immortal Remains, and Eternal Damnation) and wrote by himself Light of Day, he wrote a Supernatural novel called Witch's Canyon, a DC Universe novel called Trial of Time, a Spider-Man novel called Requiem, and he wrote a Criminal Minds novel called Criminal Minds: Serial Killers, Sociopaths & Other Deviants. Jeff Mariotte has worked on a number of graphic novels as well as comic book series. He's also contributed a number of short stories in various anthologies. City Under the Sand was released in October 2010 and published by Wizards of the Coast LLC.

On the sand strewn land that is Athas, metal is a precious thing. After a group of lost mercenaries stumble into a long forgotten city, they discover a huge store of metal and decide to show their find to the Shadow King of Nibenay. However, things don't go as planned, yet the message still reaches the ruler of Nibenay's ears. The Shadow King decides that it would be wise to set out and find this trove, and he knows of a person with a remarkable skill to help find it. Aric, a half-elf, just wants to be a smith and a general nobody. Being a half-elf is hard in Nibenay. The full-blooded elves don't trust you and the humans don't as well. So Aric prefers to not be known. However, do to his gift with metal, the Shadow King sends him out on the trip to recover the metal. However, what Aric finds could more evil than anything Athas has seen for centuries. It doesn't help matters when he and his friends unknowingly release it into the world.

Criticisms:
1) Rushed. The biggest issue that plagued the whole book is how rushed everything felt. There was hardly a time when the story slowed down enough to understand what was happening. It didn't help that the story was just fight after fight. The times that the story slowed down felt unnatural and took way too long to get through. Because the story was basically fight after fight, a lot of things suffered. The characters were poorly developed and easily forgettable and the story felt choppy and unnatural. The characters took the biggest hit due to the rushed pacing. No one was developed or went through a progression other than Aric. So pretty much, everyone else felt unnecessary and unneeded. No one had a distinct enough personality that stood out enough. The characters themselves would have been interesting, if it wasn't for the hurry and finish pace the story went. In fact, there was even times when I felt as though Jeff Mariotte just wanted to stop writing the story. It seemed like he may have realized that he had way too much going on to wrap up neatly in one book. So instead of pacing the story in a more controlled fashion, we have too much happening all at once. This really hurt everything and it killed some of the enjoyment I would have had.
2) Characters. Another major problem with City Under the Sand was the characters. In the main group of characters, I was constantly forgetting who was who, other than Aric. This can be explained with poor character development due to having so many characters in the story. However, towards the middle and end, the main characters did become more prominent and noticeable. There were even times where there was some good development going on and relationships forming within the main group, but this was tossed aside to hurry and finish the story. The other character issue was that there were way too many of them. Most of them never really played an important role, other than being named in a conversation or showing up for a minute to help move the story along. I don't know who these characters were nor did I know why they were need in the overall plot. The characters themselves weren't all that interesting, they weren't engaging, and there was just too many of them.
3) Lack of Exposition. One would think that due to City Under the Sand being the first book under the Dark Sun name, there would be some more descriptions of things and explanations. It's been more than a decade since the last Dark Sun novel was released, and for a new reader, some of the terms, creatures, ideas, beliefs, etc. were hard to follow and understand. It seemed like one would need a good amount of exposure to Dark Sun in order to really know things about the world. This could be a fault of mine, seeing as I have no background in Dark Sun other than a very basic understanding of the world. However, due to this being the first book in a relaunched series meant to gain the interest of new readers, I expected a little more exposition.

Praises:
1) Beginning. The beginning of the novel was surprisingly good. It really helped show what the world of Dark Sun was all about without giving away too much. It was interesting seeing a new world and I was very excited to start tearing through the novel. The characters at the start were interesting enough for me to care about their predicament. The build up of things happening after the mercenaries find this lost city was really suspenseful and, at times, terrifying. In fact, I couldn't remember when I was this excited to jump into a book. However, things quickly changed after we leave the mercenaries and we meet the bland characters that are in the rest of the book.
2) Dark Sun. Dark Sun is a very unique and different kind of setting. When I first picked up this book, all I knew of Dark Sun was that magic wasn't liked and caused the world to turn into a desert. After reading it, I know now a bit more about the world and am more than willing to read more. City Under the Sand really did pique my interest in finding out more about the Dark Sun world.

Side Notes:
1) Editing. It really seems like City Under the Sand never reached an editors pen. There were horrible editing mistakes everywhere, mistakes that a second grader would have caught. There was even a time that a saw a mistake on every other page. Quite frankly, it was more than pathetic.
2) Gates of Madness by James Wyatt. City Under the Sand also contains the third part of an event that is going to spread the worlds of the Dungeons and Dragons novels. The first part is found in the paperback version of R. A. Salvatore's The Ghost King and the second part is found in Bill Slavicsek's The Mark of Nerath. The next part is going to be in Richard Lee Byer's Whisper of Venom, due out in November 2010. This part is titled “Sigil” and it's interesting, but I'm not quite sure what's it's building up to.
3) Cover Art. The cover art that was released with City Under the Sand is boring. It doesn't draw you in nor does look good. The two characters on the cover are, for lack of a better word, disgusting. They don't look good at all. In fact, they look horrible. Their faces look unnatural and sloppy. If they weren't on the cover, I think that the scenery would have been leaps and bounds better. The cover art that was used was just disgusting and very off-putting.


Overall: 2/5
Final Thoughts:
City Under the Sand had a number of problems. The story was rushed to the point that it became frustrating. There was not enough detail in anything due to the frantic pacing. The characters were so poorly developed that they could not have been there and I wouldn't have noticed at all. Aric was the only decent character, but he seemed more like a side character than a lead. Another problem is the lack of exposition, something that a first novel in a relaunch of a setting that's been gone for over a decade needed. There were a few good things but they were hard to come by. The beginning was superb, introducing the reader to the world of Dark Sun and making it exciting and thrilling. Too bad that this would only last for about thirty pages. However, the world of Dark Sun is still a very interesting setting and I wouldn't mind reading more about it. However, I don't feel comfortable recommending this to someone without a good amount of knowledge of Dark Sun lore. That said, it did get me interested in reading other Dark Sun based stories.

[Randal · Rating 2 out of 5]

From the cover alone, I knew this would be bad. But it was also terribly uneven. There were, however, times when I actually found myself enjoying the writing, only to encounter pieces of plot development crudely forced in. Characters were single-dimension at best. And the whole thing needed a feminist makeover. (Female characters aren't even mentioned until chapter 3 or so. And the supposedly powerful templars back stab one another and go around naked.) Look elsewhere for your D&D fix.

[Mphecker · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow. This may have been one of the worst fantasy novels I've read. I think the publisher gave the author a copy of the monster guide, told him to pick some monsters, and write a story that includes them. This book was never looked over by an editor, with obvious errors at least every other page. I'm just glad the later releases in the relaunched Dark Sun line are much better.

[Max · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was entertaining, but it has some problems. There's a lot of typos and grammar issues that even a vaguely competent editor should have caught. More importantly, the pacing is very bad. The first third to half of the novel drags, and while it gets into a good rhythm after a while, it then rushes through the ending in the last 5% or so. While it wasn't horrible, it could've been better, and it could've used some more exposition about the Dark Sun setting for those not familiar with it.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing special about this book. But I do like the world of Dark Sun because it's such a harsh place. This book was a good way to get reacquainted with that world. I look forward to other books as well.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm so glad they brought this series back!! This was an excellent book to start it off with too. I loved the characters and would like to see them again.

[Stingray · Rating 2 out of 5]

City under the sand by Jeffrey Mariotte is a fantasy novel based on a good idea and structure the author sadly does not follow through as the story falls apart as it develops.

Set on the desert world of Athas in the Dungeons & Dragons universe of Dark Sun the setting of the novel is in need of an exposition for readers unfamiliar with it. While especially the creatures of the desert are sometimes hard to imagine from the description in the novel alone, the author does a good job integrating elements of the expositio into the flow of the story.
The prolog of the novel is very well done and introduces the reader to the dangers of the deserts and sets the stage with a mystical city hidden under the sand, a mysterious threat haunting its former inhabitants and a message so important a man turns undead to report it. This is a fantastic base for the story, makes the reader want to learn more and sets a background of adventure, danger and mystery. The introduction of the protagonist and the city he lives in is also well done. The reader is introduced to the climate, city, society and customs and can well imagine the heat, poverty and oppression of the place. From the elves in the market over the noble houses to the wizardking and his intriguing templar wives the exposition stays interesting and part of the story flow. The idea of the interspersed killer describing how he looks for victims and keeping the reader in the dark of how he is related to the story is also good and keeps the reader interested.

The story following five different groups of characters starts to unravel when the story comes back to the haunted city. The possibilities of exploring the city and gleaning more insights into the threat are cut short. The dangerous and endless desert the exposition told us about suddenly looks harmless enough for four people to cross alone. Although the desert seems full of dangerous monsters and perils, the characters seem to view this as so normal they hardly take any precautions and although vast from the number of chance encounters in the book the desert appears to be well traveled and crowded.
From now on the book appears rushed as the characters always move somewhere and new locations and elements are introduced rushing by without being developed or utilized for the story. The long developed mysterious killer and the origin story of the protagonist are wasted and then cut off in a few pages without apparent impact on the story or characters. Having all different characters finally in one party to fight the ancient threat they rush back to the city and here the author ran out of time, pages or interest as the climatic battle against the threat hinted at since the beginning is short and anticlimatic. While the mighty ancient sorcerers were not able to kill the beast but imprisoned it, the protagonist finds a way to kill it by chance in a few minutes and the fight ends. The classic bar scene at the end of the novel resolves what everybody will do after the adventure including a knee jerk romance not even hinted at during the story and suddenly the novel ends.
The reader is left unsatisfied in a really interesting world and a story with a good set up, which sadly the author did not take the time to develop better.

[Sergio Mesa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Podría ser algo más diplomático, pero es que no me apetece... ¡MENUDO MIERDÓN DE LIBRO!

No solo es que el autor tenga unas nociones mínimas del mundo de Dark Sun, que por momentos se parece limitarse a unas cuantas fichas del Manual de Monstruos y tres nociones básicas, no es que encima esté ambientado en la versión del escenario de campaña de la 4e de D&D (goliaths por semi-gigantes... madre mía!), es que para completar el cuadro de comedor que es el libro la trama da vergüenza ajena y la resolución es de cartoon sesentero (Nibenai escondiéndose de un enemigo, ajam...).

Uno ya se enfrenta a una novela de Dark Sun sabiendo que los autores van a hacer lo que puedan y que en la mayoría de los casos va a ser un desastre. Esta cumple perfectamente con esa expectativa.

pd. mención aparte, y muy positiva, a la alta mortalidad de secundarios de la novela. ahí si se nota un esfuerzo por contar una historia en Athas xP

[Laurence · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the first of a series of three books released in the Dark Sun series, fifteen years after the last lot, adding a twenty-first century perspective to the post-apocalyptic fantasy setting. Don't go looking for that cover, by the way - the published version differs, with a scantily clad man and woman standing in a desert.

This book is very bland. Yes, it's based on a D&D setting, but there still seem to be far too many random combat encounters popping up. The monsters in them lack much in the way of description as well, so they don't add much.

Several varied groups of protagonists exchange perspective, but they lack the punchy, absorbing personalities of the nineties heroes, leaving this book just not too exciting.

[Brannigan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun story. It took forever to get to the Climax and then it was over in seconds. The side story wasn’t really necessary and things ended too neatly with several what moments with characters that didn’t seem earned. I still had fun but couldn’t rate it higher with the faults.

[Javier Delfino · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sabor a poco, varias cosas que no terminan de convencer de la historia y como se desenvuelve hasta el final.

[Will · Rating 2 out of 5]

dont bother

[Pedro · Rating 3 out of 5]

This for me was frustrating.

I love D&D, I love psionics, yet this came too short...

I had very high expectations for this books, because it gathered two things I like.

However, this was my first Dark Sun novel.

I am familiar with the setting and all, so there wasn't a whole lot of negative surprises there.

I just think it was very slow paced. It didn't pull me constantly at wanting to know what was going to happen, except in the last third of the book.

I honestly cannot put my finger on what went wrong here, but it was just mildly fun to read.

[Henning Hj · Rating 1 out of 5]

The good first: The beginning showed promise and the end wasn't as bad as the rest. Other than that, it was characters you couldn't believe in, a storyline that seemed to be the result of a D&D DM bound by the table for random encounters and dialogue so far from the tone of the setting that I had to take long pauses to get the energy to continue reading. Only my old principle of never giving up on a book I've started made me finish it, and I believe this book has finally buried that principle for good. Life is too short for books of this quality.

[Eric · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was the worst book I've read in a while. It did not come near to evoking the feel of the older Dark Sun novels. It felt like I was reading something written by a 12 year old gamer that was describing his last D&D campaign. Not immersive at all.

[Weston Ochse · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was wonderful. It brought me back to my days of playing dungeons and dragons and all the good things associated with that. Two of the main characters reminded me of Faffert and the Grey Mouser with their interactions. Just wonderful.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

I run second edition Dark Sun so maybe I'm biased. This book sucked for the most part, and I'm sure as with everything else WoTC has done Dark Sun's relaunch will suck. The story was..ok. It was really just a platform to mention creatures etc for the relaunch.

[Chad]

It is my Kindle book for coffee time after dinner.

[Christopher Green · Rating 2 out of 5]

so far it skips around alot.. from fight scenes to other stuff then to something else

[Bradley Convissar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Way toooo many typos for a "traditionally" published book. Story was fair but did not caprture the magic of the otiginal Dark Sun stories. Tried to cram too much info in one book

[Francisco Becerra · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sloppy storytelling, plain characters, and a straightforward plot. The worst way to help revive one of AD&D's best settings.

[Brandon Matilda]

I rather enjoyed this one as it brought me back to the world of Dark Sun I had read when I was a youth.

[Benjamin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not accurate to Dark sun setting, wizards and templar’s are different.

[Andrea Lybarger]

I love this Book! It was the first time I had read anything on Athas and I fell in love!