We will take that time machine sitting on the right to go back and make Tolkien avoid ripping off centuries of western material regarding wizards, dwarves, medieval warfare, the journey of the hero, etc. Oh, wait. Then we wouldn't have Middle Earth. I smash the time machine.
There is a Dragon magazine article, All About Elminster, pre-dating the publication of the FR setting that pretty much exalts him as of that point in time. It isn't mentioned in the original FR boxed set, but most people knew about it.
As far as I know, 4e really didn't do much. Salvatore's sequence of Drizzt novels continue unabated. Fans demanded more Drizzt Do'Urden after the Icewind Dale Trilogy. Each Drizzt book has been a best seller. I'm sure if Salvatore killed off Drizzt, that book in which Drizzt died in would be an even greater best seller.
The last couple of books were actually pretty decent. Admittedly, you still have to skip the journal entries, but other than that, they were quite entertaining and not nausea-inducing.
This reminds me of how I wanted to write a review of the first book in the series.
I didn't like it very much, mostly because, despite what seemed like some real effort on the author's part to make Elminster face some real hardship, he still can't help but make him into an overpowered Mary Sue. Elminster at no times loses total moral superiority over his enemies, and can handily justify whatever he does as as being part of the greater good.
This is reinforced by almost all of his enemies being shortsighted, churlish morons who are prone to infighting at the most inopportune moments, allowing Elminster to overcome even staggering disadvantages. Despite being knocked around again and again, Elminster suffers very few setbacks due to the opposition being ethically-bankrupt imbeciles.
I also didn't care for the over-the-top amount of sexuality that the book portrayed. Say what you want about sex being an underdeveloped aspect of D&D, or about it being a realistic motivation for characters...it was simply uncomfortable how often it came up. Virtually every woman in the book acts like a tramp at some point - the Simbul is horny when she comes out of her madness; Storm takes her top off to distract some guards; Amarune (a new character) works as a stripper/thief/prostitute, etc.
The one redeeming feature the book had, at least for me, was that Ed Greenwood honestly seemed to be trying to dial back the damage WotC did to his setting. He reintroduces over half-a-dozen of his characters as the book progresses,
from Mirt to Manshoon to Mystra at the very end of the book,
and I get the distinct impression he's not going to stop there.
As for the whole "magical ash" thing, that's basically right. Basically, what happens is that
after Manshoon kills him, Elminster the "ash-ghost" convinces Amarune, his (great?-)granddaughter, to let him share her body
, so he's still running around, probably to be brought back to life at some point.
It wasn't a good book by any stretch, and I don't expect anything better from the sequel, save to try and turn back the clock on the Realms some more.
Honestly, people who hate Elminster and want to read the Forgotten Realms novels should just move on. It's like being mad that there are novels about Darth Vader or Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars universe, or novels about Spock in Star Trek.
I've read most of the Realms fiction, and there is a lot of good stuff in there. Greenwood is the sole author in that series who makes me cringe when a new book comes out . . . I was obsessive for a while and felt I had to read ALL of the Realms books, and so forced myself to read the first three or four Elminster books and the Swords of Evening Star opener . . . until I came to my senses and just stopped.
Elminster is not, or at least shouldn't be, a star of the setting. He's the mysterious wizard archetype that is supposed to drop in and mysteriously help the heroes occasionally, but largely stay in the background. The focus on his character in Greenwood's novels and older magazine articles turns Elminster from a Gandalf into a Mary Sue.
The use of the character is only one problem for me, like some of the other posters, it doesn't matter WHO Greenwood is writing about, I find his style beyond irritating. It isn't so much oversexed as mis-sexed . . . characters behave in sexual ways that don't translate into real human motivations and actions. And Elminster is only one of a pack of Mary Sues in Greenwood's Realm.
Of course, we wouldn't be getting this and four more Elminster books if there weren't a sizable population of folks who do enjoy both the character and Greenwood's prose. But there are a lot of things on this Earth I have trouble truly understanding . . . .
While the world is full of crap fiction (and movies, games, etc, etc) and it shouldn't get anyone's knickers in a bunch just by its existence . . . for fans of a series or setting, like the Forgotten Realms, it's irritating when a sub-par entry into the canon is released. It's the same reason there is such vitriol regarding the Star Wars prequels, to bring us around full circle.
While the world is full of crap fiction (and movies, games, etc, etc) and it shouldn't get anyone's knickers in a bunch just by its existence . . . for fans of a series or setting, like the Forgotten Realms, it's irritating when a sub-par entry into the canon is released. It's the same reason there is such vitriol regarding the Star Wars prequels, to bring us around full circle.
...which Vader promptly pushes into Cloud City's ventilation shafts with the Dark Side. Jar Jar's remains are then scattered all over Bespin's atmosphere, never to be reunited.
