#123 Baldur's Gate II: The Throne of Bhaal by Drew Karpyshyn (Baldur's Gate 3)
Read 22/4/21 to 25/4/21
I think some folk here said that this was the best one, I didn't think so- it was, okay- particularly at the end, for the last fifty or so pages but the rest of it just read like a game, with some odd scenes that seemed to play out offstage.
So, I'll start with the positive, there's a nice twist at the end (sorta) and Balthazar is chop-socky fantastic, and the wise one of the five that has SPOILERS figured it out- although, not all of it. That was a nice surprise but by this point I was kinda fed up with the rage machine that is Abdel the ultimo-Bhaalspawn. There's a bit of building done for each fight- the range of Monks/Mooks that face our hero, and then... carnage. The author even takes the time to let us know that none of the hits Abdel is taking amount to very much- such is his regen.
That sucks a bit of the fun out of it.
I also liked the fact that Abdel gives it all up at the end, and easy as- I don't wanna be a god, I want to get back to Candlekeep and go about my day, and start on with the grieving process, maybe- eventually, build a new life.
You've got to admire that, nice ending.
But some of the other stuff, I just couldn't get my head around.
Oh. But I also liked Gromnir, he was suitably off the wall, bat-naughty word-crazy.
And I liked Melissan for a while, mostly towards the end when she was trying to power up to goddess level. Some nice description of the process, I may steal some of this.
But the death of Jaheira, and the later day dragon- and the fact that a lot of this just seemed to happen elsewhere, I wanted to see more- to witness more of the action.
Likewise the drow assassin, I forget her name, she came across as very child-ish/like, and then after dragging Imoen through hell and back (in the previous novel and the start of this one), well Abdel's Bhaal-sister gets killed in a paragraph.
That's the odd thing- there's two pages (or so) of Imoen trying to figure out if Melissan has tricked her, she spends a good long time explaining to the reader why her present situation is both suspicious, and... explainable (and therefore not suspicious).
Then... she gets killed.
The drow assassin- Sendai, we get two pages of her telling the reader how she got to be the way she is, the trials and tribulations of home-time in Ched Nasad (again from memory), and by doing so we get to (maybe) like her a little more.
Then... Abdel tears her apart, and the fight doesn't even warrant a paragraph.
So, build- build- build, and then... disappointing ending for character.
As stated above, the finale is grand- and Balthazar makes it (not Abdel), by the end I was hoping that Sarevok would get back into it somehow, he seemed much more heroic on the rebound.
Oh, and early doors- when we get to meet the first of the five, sorry Five, Illasera is described as the toughest of the Five, I think from memory- well, she gets killed first. And again, not just killed by torn to shreds.
It's build- build- build, and then...
But you get it.
Read.
At least the first two had a go at making the reader laugh at the fact they were in an end of the world fantasy fiction style event, and they had much better dialogue- this one just seemed really dry.