Don’s Comments (group member since Nov 21, 2020)

Don’s comments from the Project Realms Reads group.

"Well met," all. :)

Kevin S McKee wrote: "I am loving the references to people and places that I've read about in the FR sourcebooks. But wow, there is a lot of stuff happening with a lot of names to track. ...Moving really fast."

I find a lot of my interest in this book coming from Forgotten Realms references in game adventures and supplements, too. Knowing these Easter eggs are in the novel is one of the reasons I am re-reading it. And yes, this books moves fast. I think it is one of the book's strengths.

I am a week behind, as I just finished chapter six this evening. But, as this is my second read, please don't worry about spoilers for me. I am going to try to get eleven chapters in this week to catch up with the scheduled reading.

So far I like the fight scenes where magic is on display. I do wish there was more description to these magic confrontations. But, I know the target audience is people who already know or have seen how D&D magic works. I like the characters Torm and Rathan. I identify with their irreverence the most. Shandril's and Narm's young, naive love is a bit silly for me, but fits their age and circumstances. Plus, they drive the whole plpt!

I disliked seeing the involvement of the malaugrym (the shape-shifting tentacled 'people'). Greenwood has a love affair with these stupid things and they pop up in many of his Realms novels. I feel like they foul up a story already bursting at the seams with characters. Spellfire does not need them.

Otherwise, so far so good.

I was finally able to start Spellfire today! I got to chapter three. I'm reading the 'expanded' edition of 2005 that has 416 pages. It has about thirty more pages that editors cut from the original 1988 release.

Things I like: obviously this guy knows the Realms. Reading about the places where this story so far takes place is interesting to me. This may be silly, but I like the names Greenwood has invented for all the characters. They are all solidly fantasy names.

Things I don't like: reading that Shandril was barefoot three or four times in chapter one was two or three times too many. I get it - she's got nothing but the dress on her back. There is a scene where Elminster randomly shows up to save the day. Of course he does...

I missed the group read on this book and its predecessor. I want to read these, so I'll try to play catch up as time allows. I am really curious about this series.

Nikki ~ The Nocturnal Bookworm wrote: "Thanks everyone it really means a lot,"

All right. I see the thread for Spellfire is up. Thank you! I'll get my copy out and get to reading.

Nikki ~ The Nocturnal Bookworm wrote: "Sorry I haven’t gotten it up yet had some personal life stuff that’s been consuming my time."

Hey, Nikki. Hopefully you're doing okay. No need to apologize! We were mostly just checking in and we know Real Life is relentless sometimes.

Let us know if you need any help with this group. You got a couple of us that support ya and care enough to check in.

Raechel wrote: "I was wondering if there's going to be an official thread for this month's book, Spellfire by Ed Greenwood?"

I was gonna post to ask the same thing. I planned on joining the discussion on this book.

Hey, guys and happy New Year!

I've set-up my tentative To Read books for 2021. One of the things I lament is that there are so many books to read and so little time. :(

I've got four Forgotten Realms books on my 2021 list and I will jump in as this group hits them. I hope to add more as the year unfolds. So far I've got:

Azure Bonds : I've never read it and have always been curious. As I write this I realize it's part of a trilogy - Finder's Stone! I see I may already have to adjust to get the other two books in. I never played the adventure module or the video game based on the the book, but I am curious about the module.

Exile and Sojourn are also on my 2021 To Read list. Since I re-read Homeland I'd like to finish the series. And, I love early Drizzt books.

I am going to revisit Spellfire with you guys this month. I was not particularly enamored with it when I read it fifteen years or more ago. Maybe a more mature me can read it 'better.' We shall see.

All the best, guys.

Raechel wrote: "I've read a few of the Ravenloft books and I really liked them ... I recently played a Curse of Strahd campaign and really enjoyed the setting."

Thanks for the welcome, Raechel. I was pretty happy to find this little group.

I love the Ravenloft setting and had a blast running Curse of Strahd for my gaming group. When we finish our Forgotten Realms journey, perhaps we can revisit some Ravenloft novels. I, Strahd: The Memoirs of a Vampire is one of my favorite vampire books ever.

Hey, all.

Thanks for allowing me to semi-lurk in this group. I've been reading books set in the Forgotten Realms since the mid-90s. I started with Salvatore's Drizzt books, like many others. Over the years I've branched out to other Realms writers and series. Outside of early Drizzt novels another Relams favorite of mine is the Last Mythal series by Richard Beyers.

Fantasy is my favorite genre. I also read contemporary fiction, classic fiction, Star Wars, Harry Potter and I'll even mix in some Stephen King once in a while.

I'll follow along here and there if that is okay. Looking forward to reading a few new Realms books as you go along, and rereading a few favorites, too.

The parry is wrong. - Drizzt Do'Urden

Nikki ~ The Nocturnal Bookworm wrote: "The interaction between Errtu and Drizzt was interesting for me personally because most of the forgotten realms books I’ve already read in the past were focused on the drow. The references to “drow lords” and honestly the respect the demon gave Drizzt was kinda weird as the drow are a very much a matriarchal (and often misandrous) society."

I honestly think the author forgot his own drow matriacrchal rules given the interaction between Drizzt and Errtu.

Like Raechel mentioned above, I associated Errtu's attitude toward Drizzt as being predicated on the assumption that a drow priestess was ultimately giving the orders. Certainly not written in the text, but Errtu has in the back of his mind that he must be careful, lest he run afoul of the priestess who gives Drizzt's marching orders. A lot of prosody on my part, but I think it is a reasonable leap.

Hey, guys.

This is an interesting bit of news from the book publishing world. Random House is positioned to buy Simon & Schuster. This would reduce the number of mainstream, large-scale book publishers to four, from five.

At this point it is difficult to now if this is a good thing or a bad thing for book sales, prices, authors and readers. Check out the New York Times article above if you want to read more details.

In the meantime, happy reading!

Raechel wrote: "It sucks when you want to enjoy a series and can't find any representation of yourself in it. I'm sure the books get better about that with time, but I think it's still important that people are aware of these types of issues so they can be avoided in the future. You can enjoy a thing but critique it and its flaws."

You make multiple salient points here that cannot be overstated. I cannot add to what you articulated so well except to say, "yes!"

Nikki ~ The Nocturnal Bookworm wrote: "I’m curious to see how Azure Bonds and Spellfire do since the main character for both of these are female."

Same here. I cannot speak for Azure Bonds as I have not read it, yet. But I am curious about your thoughts on those books, too. I will have to keep my mouth shut on Spellfire until we get them both under our belts.

Nikki, when do Azure Bonds and Spellfire come up in the reading progression? Soon-ish, not so soon-ish?

Great comments, Raechel. Thanks for sharing your thoughts so far.

Raechel wrote: "I like Drizzt way more than I thought I would. He's a cool character and has an interesting backstory right off the bat. The part in the book with him and Wulfgar (and Wulfgar's whole journey) feels so classically D&D player backstory, I love it."

"... classically D&D ..." is the perfect way to say it. This particular trilogy set-off a whirlwind of interest in the game and ignited the imaginations of so many people in and out of gaming. I think this novel and the trilogy as a whole is Salvatore's best work.

Raechel wrote: "I think my biggest pet peeve with this book (and Darkwalker on Moonshae) is that women have played a very, very small role in these stories. They basically have two potential roles: "harem girl" and "potential love interest." I really hope that gets better in future books.

This is a fair criticism and a common thread in RPG-adjacent writing, regrettably. This book was written in 1988 and holds those old perceptions of women. Thankfully it does get better over the years, though it takes time. Male perceptions and worldviews dominate this genre for decades. They were the target audience despite what TSR would say to the contrary.

I enjoyed your comments and I hope you continue to enjoy the book.

William wrote: "[T]his is where i got my start in the realms"

Same to me! The Crystal Shard was my first Forgotten Realms novel, too. I was instantly hooked on the Legend of Drizzt series until the Transitions mess of a trilogy. I've only read The Crystal Shard twice since my first read in the late 1990s. It sounds like I better pick it up again. It is so good. Very happy to see it revisited here.