Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
I'm reading the Forgotten Realms Novels- #202 The Howling Delve by Jaleigh Johnson (Dungeons 2)
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Goonalan" data-source="post: 7986185" data-attributes="member: 16069"><p><strong>#070 Elminster: The Making of a Mage by Ed Greenwood (Elminster 1) </strong></p><p><strong>Read 8/5/20 to 10/5/20</strong></p><p></p><p>[ATTACH]121892[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Book 1- and so it begins, and the oddest thing is 75% of the novel I really liked, the early years- multiclassing the Mage, big El which mostly stands for Elmara. I've got to admit I really enjoyed El's time as a lady, obviously it negates all the weird creepy stuff that he gets up to in the later tomes.</p><p></p><p>The Brigand/Thief chapters (for some reason) took me back to the Gord novels, no- I'm not sure why because I read the Gygax (et al) books oh such a long time ago, i.e. when they came out- I seem to remember devouring the first few of them, and then wanting to read them again almost as soon as I had finished them. Please keep in mind however my in-game campaigns were set mostly in Greyhawk- for maybe 15 to 20 years I kept the big beautiful (cumbersome and hard to fold) Greyhawk map somewhere close to hand. Getting it out every now and then to plot and scheme my Player's demise(s), or else just to stare in wonder at the fantasy domain I called home.</p><p></p><p>But I digress... so, this book- well, Ed Greenwood can tell a story, and as I've already stated the first 75% of the novel just flew by. Don't get me wrong, there are no surprises to be found here- El is a Prince, his mother and father- both wonderful folk, were killed by the forces of evil. In particular 'evil power-mad mages', which, thinking about it- just fits. The various careers along the way are well done, with some really nice delving and other action, lots of insights into how these things come about- all good (useful) for my home table game.</p><p></p><p>The story tails off, for me, when Myrjala makes her appearance- obviously it doesn't help that I guessed that this was the goddess Mystra almost immediately (sorry SPOILERS). Then the everyone loves El kicks in, goddess (singular) swoons. It troubles me greatly that the characters of Elminster is only (seemingly) complete when a deity or two (and a cast of a thousand others) are all sexually attracted to his... whatever it is he's got going for himself. He's such a nice young man here, an outsider with an axe to grind- the long journey to the time and place when he's ready to face his demons (the Mages) and to finally seek revenge. Why does the author feel the need to have women flock to El, surely there's a way of getting this story told without the need for this. Don't get me wrong, I'm not prim and proper, I like a little bit of romance in my fantasy fiction oeuvre, but even with the young (male) El it all seems so one-sided. He goes from naïve wannabe-wastrel (but with a sensible head on his shoulders) to staff wielding archmagi with fawning (if only slightly) goddess at his side. </p><p></p><p>Would it be terrible of me to suggest that this aspect of Elminster's character is a manifestation of the authors own desires. Not an issue you understand, but it just seems a little unnecessary. Just odd, and at times a bit throw-away.</p><p></p><p>So, the final 25%, the battle against the Mages is not terrible at all, in point of fact there's good stuff in here- it's just clouded by the fact that in the background El has got the goddess of Magic at his side, and has already powered up to Archmage levels, and is seemingly a match for anything anyone throws at him. Particularly when the pair of them get into action.</p><p></p><p>When I started this one I had trepidations, and I appreciate the suggestions from posters above- swap in the Nobles series novels, and I may go this way. But for now I'm going to attempt to power on through. My point with this one is for the first 75% I was happy to be here, and then it just seemed to tumble back in to old (new) habits, which for a variety of reasons I don't dig, so it got hard to get through to the last. The ending was never in doubt, along with renouncing his title (sorry SPOILER). I'm glad it all played out the way it did, but the Chosen El, is (for me, sorry) a bit of a pain.</p><p></p><p>Read.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Goonalan, post: 7986185, member: 16069"] [B]#070 Elminster: The Making of a Mage by Ed Greenwood (Elminster 1) Read 8/5/20 to 10/5/20[/B] [ATTACH]121892[/ATTACH] Book 1- and so it begins, and the oddest thing is 75% of the novel I really liked, the early years- multiclassing the Mage, big El which mostly stands for Elmara. I've got to admit I really enjoyed El's time as a lady, obviously it negates all the weird creepy stuff that he gets up to in the later tomes. The Brigand/Thief chapters (for some reason) took me back to the Gord novels, no- I'm not sure why because I read the Gygax (et al) books oh such a long time ago, i.e. when they came out- I seem to remember devouring the first few of them, and then wanting to read them again almost as soon as I had finished them. Please keep in mind however my in-game campaigns were set mostly in Greyhawk- for maybe 15 to 20 years I kept the big beautiful (cumbersome and hard to fold) Greyhawk map somewhere close to hand. Getting it out every now and then to plot and scheme my Player's demise(s), or else just to stare in wonder at the fantasy domain I called home. But I digress... so, this book- well, Ed Greenwood can tell a story, and as I've already stated the first 75% of the novel just flew by. Don't get me wrong, there are no surprises to be found here- El is a Prince, his mother and father- both wonderful folk, were killed by the forces of evil. In particular 'evil power-mad mages', which, thinking about it- just fits. The various careers along the way are well done, with some really nice delving and other action, lots of insights into how these things come about- all good (useful) for my home table game. The story tails off, for me, when Myrjala makes her appearance- obviously it doesn't help that I guessed that this was the goddess Mystra almost immediately (sorry SPOILERS). Then the everyone loves El kicks in, goddess (singular) swoons. It troubles me greatly that the characters of Elminster is only (seemingly) complete when a deity or two (and a cast of a thousand others) are all sexually attracted to his... whatever it is he's got going for himself. He's such a nice young man here, an outsider with an axe to grind- the long journey to the time and place when he's ready to face his demons (the Mages) and to finally seek revenge. Why does the author feel the need to have women flock to El, surely there's a way of getting this story told without the need for this. Don't get me wrong, I'm not prim and proper, I like a little bit of romance in my fantasy fiction oeuvre, but even with the young (male) El it all seems so one-sided. He goes from naïve wannabe-wastrel (but with a sensible head on his shoulders) to staff wielding archmagi with fawning (if only slightly) goddess at his side. Would it be terrible of me to suggest that this aspect of Elminster's character is a manifestation of the authors own desires. Not an issue you understand, but it just seems a little unnecessary. Just odd, and at times a bit throw-away. So, the final 25%, the battle against the Mages is not terrible at all, in point of fact there's good stuff in here- it's just clouded by the fact that in the background El has got the goddess of Magic at his side, and has already powered up to Archmage levels, and is seemingly a match for anything anyone throws at him. Particularly when the pair of them get into action. When I started this one I had trepidations, and I appreciate the suggestions from posters above- swap in the Nobles series novels, and I may go this way. But for now I'm going to attempt to power on through. My point with this one is for the first 75% I was happy to be here, and then it just seemed to tumble back in to old (new) habits, which for a variety of reasons I don't dig, so it got hard to get through to the last. The ending was never in doubt, along with renouncing his title (sorry SPOILER). I'm glad it all played out the way it did, but the Chosen El, is (for me, sorry) a bit of a pain. Read. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
I'm reading the Forgotten Realms Novels- #202 The Howling Delve by Jaleigh Johnson (Dungeons 2)
Top