Silverfall

Silverfall
by Ed Greenwood
Forgotten Realms

picture courtesy of amazon.com

Disclaimer: My boyfriend is a big Forgotten Realms fan, a series that exists to sell Dungeons & Dragons (this definition is debatable and not meant to be negative). I've only read one other book in the series, and it was not relevant to this one, all they share is a world, not characters or storyline.

At a Glance:

I did in fact like this book. If you're into Forgotten Realms and haven't picked it up yet, you should. From what I can gather, there are lots of fun cameos of fan favorite characters. I have little to no idea who anyone in this book is, my boyfriend spent lots of time telling me, "Oh yeah he's the most uber awesome mage of them all, save for the crazy one maybe." Or something else like that. The plot is interesting, spanning a large chunk of Faerûn, the main continent of the world of Toril. Ed Greenwood, the creator of Forgotten Realms and the author of this book, does a great job of writing women I can believe. His voice is light hearted for most all of the books. The text is descriptive enough without being over wordy, and is for the most part rather entertaining.


However I would like to point out that this is not a book I would pick for myself, not to start my trip into Forgotten Realms anyway. There are too many inside jokes, too many characters that the main cast knows, that I'm told are cameos, that I simply don't know at all. This is a fanservice novel, plain and simple. Hot chicks with swords and magic, seven of them. Each of them of a slightly different model, there's sure to be something here to please any Forgotten Realms fan. 


Extended Musings (Spoiler Warning!)


Unfortunately, I was confused most of the time. When I wasn't, I was annoyed that these 'Seven Sisters, daughters of the great Goddess of Magic, Mystra' all seemed to blur together. All tall, all silver haired. Only the Drow sister seems different in appearance, and that's due to her ebony skin more then anything else. Their personalities are a bit similar too, more so then I would like, though that is not such a big issue. 


The choppiness of the book is one of the large problems for me. As the story is passed from stage to stage, sister to sister, I found myself getting whiplash. It was incredibly hard to keep up with just where the 'mystery' plot was going. I was never given enough information to know who I should suspect. In the end, Greenwood pulls out a big twist and I feel like I should have seen it coming.  Since I don't know the world or his characters I was just left scratching my head.


Character protection and one-up-manship are a bit too prevalent in this book for me. None of his characters take any real harm, nothing they cannot heal in a month or two. This is a great epic story spanning seven powerful mages, a mystery none of them can piece together, and the only people to die are the two dimensional background characters that Greenwood slaps together. It just doesn't seem believable, even in this fantasy world.


All in all I would suggest it to those who love Forgotten Realms, and suggest that others read 'A Song of Ice and Fire.'

The Lunatic Cafe, and the series thus far

The Lunatic Cafe
Book four in the Anita Blake series
Laurell K. Hamilton

picture courtesy of amazon.com

At a glance (spoiler free)

First let me start by saying a few words about the series up to this, the fourth book; great alternate reality series, full of interesting quirks and surprising realism. I have been continually impressed with Hamilton's ability to gauge humanity. Racism takes on a new dimension in a world where we have Lycanthrops of all sorts, Vampires, witches, ect ect. The setting is dark and rich but the writing is light, easy to understand and the plots simple. If I were the mother of a mature teen I would give them this series and have no fear.

On to The Lunatic Cafe . . . .
Here we open on the love triangle fully realized, and it is rather satisfying. I found myself feeling more then a little bit dirty during the first novels when I would lust with Anita after the Master of the City. Richard is a good guy, a teacher, a hiker, a gentlemen, attentive without being suffocating, everything a girl could want right? Lycanthropy is a disease, we should pity them, they're still people, not monsters, right? Anita has to answer for herself, bring her heart and mind into agreement, while dealing with yet another deadly mystery.


This book does a near perfect job of balancing the elements that are the foundation of this series. The mystery of the missing Lycanthrops takes center stage, save for when one of the two heart throbs steals the stage and forces Anita to again dwell on what she really wants. Over all a pleasant read, and a good reason to indulge in near smutty murder mystery yumminess!

Extended Musings (possible spoilers)

What is Hamilton trying to tell us about humanity? I cannot help but belive that the battle for Anita's heart is more then it seems. Anita talks about 'monsters' and 'humans'. What makes someone a monster? Do you have to be a Vampire? Can a Lycanthrop be a monster? Is Anita a monster? She asks herself these questions, and I find myself wondering what she will decide.

For me I think that as with so many things Monsterism is in the eye of the beholder. Anita raises Zombies, carries a gun everywhere, kills Vampires (legal citizens with rights now), and anything else that jumps out at her. We could call her a monster, and Anita herself is not completely sure that we would be wrong.


Further more what in the world was that scene with Jean-Claude, Richard, and Anita in her apartment all about? The energy, the magic, that was bizarre. And though I'm not sure what it is I can give a good guess at what it betokens. Anita is not going to be free of either of her suitors for a very long time. There is something about Anita, about who she is, about the power she holds, that can be unlocked by this odd trinity. We can count on seeing more of it.

I personally hope that Anita picks Richard, Team werewolf all the way! But I don't hate Jean-Claude, I just don't think that he 'loves' Anita or that she really loves him.