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<blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 5667033" data-attributes="member: 27780"><p><strong><u>Dragon Magazine Issue 244: February 1998</u></strong></p><p></p><p></p><p>part 4/8</p><p></p><p></p><p>Wyrms of the north: Another red dragon for us to face this month. And wait a second, is all this talk about being unpredictable and grumpy until he's had a mug or two in the morning an in-joke about Dennis Kauth, one of their art guys? <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> (who's another long absent returnee this month. Wouldn't put it past Ed. Where last month's dragon was of a good race, but had some nasty manipulative tendencies, this one is of an evil race, but performs unpredictable acts of kindness. If you're lucky, anyway. If you're an adventurer hunting him, you really shouldn't bet on it. He still kills liberally and eats baby red dragons to keep himself vigorous and youthful. Plus he has 6 wands strapped to his wings so he can blast you in quite a few ways beyond his breath weapon simultaneously. Once again the Realms has plenty of experimental magic that would probably result in someone blowing up the country if it got into common circulation. Well, at least that's true to his original vision from the early 80's. Once again he shows us how to do engaging writing, and build truly scary high level challenges. Better work on getting those saving throws up. </p><p></p><p></p><p>Bookwyrms: The red wyvern by Katherine Kerr is another book in her Dverry series. It moves between a whole bunch of time periods, featuring characters that are reincarnations of each other. This does make the plot a bit of an effort to follow, as it's not immediately obvious who is who and how much they remember. It all seems like setup for future books filling in the gaps. Which makes sense when you're building an epic. And since of course she's an ex-gaming writer, it's well designed for plundering for your own worldbuilding. </p><p></p><p>Running with the demon by Terry Brooks is a modern day story of cosmic good vs evil, and the people caught in the middle being made to choose sides. Combine this with themes of predestination vs being able to change the future, and you have a recipe for a reasonably complex world and characters that can have moral conflicts despite there being an objective right and wrong. Still, it probably won't net him as much as a new Shanara book would. </p><p></p><p>The Dragon and the Gnarly King by Gordon R Dickson sees the writer say it's the third book in the series, when a little googling says it's the 7th. How do you miss that badly? Anyway, our hero out of time is now settling in quite comfortably to his new life. But it wouldn't be a new book without a new challenge, and he's sent on a quest to rescue a baby and encounters a whole bunch of strange creatures, some friendly, and some not so much. The whole thing remains fairly lighthearted, and they exploit the anachronisms to their advantage. Sounds like it could be fun. </p><p></p><p>War of the gods by Poul Anderson sees him put his own spin on a somewhat less known bit of danish history, giving it the full Arthurian legend treatment with giants, gods, rune magic, and all that norse goodness. With a writing style that echoes their poetic style, and larger than life dialogue, it seems a good choice for those who like mythological epics, but are bored of Arthur, Beowulf, Gilgamesh and the greek guys. </p><p></p><p></p><p>Fiction: Soulkeeper by Michaelene Pendleton. Another bit of fiction, another attempt to give us an internally consistent magic system in just a few pages and still tell a story. And I think they do a reasonable job of both, although the system is better than the story, creating shapeshifters who can pull some pretty neat tricks, but are still limited by conservation of mass and relying on a sidekick to keep them from getting lost in animal form. Given what a powerful ability it can be, that kind of limitation keeps narrative drama going. With the other forms of magic hinted at, but their rules not spelled out in the same way, it leaves room for sequels, while still resolving the plot neatly enough. I wouldn't mind seeing this expanded upon.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="(un)reason, post: 5667033, member: 27780"] [B][U]Dragon Magazine Issue 244: February 1998[/U][/B] part 4/8 Wyrms of the north: Another red dragon for us to face this month. And wait a second, is all this talk about being unpredictable and grumpy until he's had a mug or two in the morning an in-joke about Dennis Kauth, one of their art guys? :) (who's another long absent returnee this month. Wouldn't put it past Ed. Where last month's dragon was of a good race, but had some nasty manipulative tendencies, this one is of an evil race, but performs unpredictable acts of kindness. If you're lucky, anyway. If you're an adventurer hunting him, you really shouldn't bet on it. He still kills liberally and eats baby red dragons to keep himself vigorous and youthful. Plus he has 6 wands strapped to his wings so he can blast you in quite a few ways beyond his breath weapon simultaneously. Once again the Realms has plenty of experimental magic that would probably result in someone blowing up the country if it got into common circulation. Well, at least that's true to his original vision from the early 80's. Once again he shows us how to do engaging writing, and build truly scary high level challenges. Better work on getting those saving throws up. Bookwyrms: The red wyvern by Katherine Kerr is another book in her Dverry series. It moves between a whole bunch of time periods, featuring characters that are reincarnations of each other. This does make the plot a bit of an effort to follow, as it's not immediately obvious who is who and how much they remember. It all seems like setup for future books filling in the gaps. Which makes sense when you're building an epic. And since of course she's an ex-gaming writer, it's well designed for plundering for your own worldbuilding. Running with the demon by Terry Brooks is a modern day story of cosmic good vs evil, and the people caught in the middle being made to choose sides. Combine this with themes of predestination vs being able to change the future, and you have a recipe for a reasonably complex world and characters that can have moral conflicts despite there being an objective right and wrong. Still, it probably won't net him as much as a new Shanara book would. The Dragon and the Gnarly King by Gordon R Dickson sees the writer say it's the third book in the series, when a little googling says it's the 7th. How do you miss that badly? Anyway, our hero out of time is now settling in quite comfortably to his new life. But it wouldn't be a new book without a new challenge, and he's sent on a quest to rescue a baby and encounters a whole bunch of strange creatures, some friendly, and some not so much. The whole thing remains fairly lighthearted, and they exploit the anachronisms to their advantage. Sounds like it could be fun. War of the gods by Poul Anderson sees him put his own spin on a somewhat less known bit of danish history, giving it the full Arthurian legend treatment with giants, gods, rune magic, and all that norse goodness. With a writing style that echoes their poetic style, and larger than life dialogue, it seems a good choice for those who like mythological epics, but are bored of Arthur, Beowulf, Gilgamesh and the greek guys. Fiction: Soulkeeper by Michaelene Pendleton. Another bit of fiction, another attempt to give us an internally consistent magic system in just a few pages and still tell a story. And I think they do a reasonable job of both, although the system is better than the story, creating shapeshifters who can pull some pretty neat tricks, but are still limited by conservation of mass and relying on a sidekick to keep them from getting lost in animal form. Given what a powerful ability it can be, that kind of limitation keeps narrative drama going. With the other forms of magic hinted at, but their rules not spelled out in the same way, it leaves room for sequels, while still resolving the plot neatly enough. I wouldn't mind seeing this expanded upon. [/QUOTE]
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