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="Alzrius" data-source="post: 8422681" data-attributes="member: 8461"><p>Reaching back through memory on this one, I recall liking it, though I also recall having the distinct impression that I could have liked it <em>more.</em></p><p></p><p>For one thing, Malik (or rather, Malik el Sami yn Nasser; I really dig his full name) being here just felt sort of like an add-on. Don't get me wrong, I love the little guy to death, but he's not nearly as much fun here as he was back in <em>Crucible: The Trial of Cyric the Mad</em>, where he'd narrate the action. Moreover, he (and Cyric) were central to that story, but here Cyric is barely in the wings at all, and Malik feels like exactly what he is: a character who's been brought into the story because the author really likes him, despite his not having much of a place in the narrative. I mean, Denning did his best, but if Malik wasn't here I feel like it wouldn't have made any difference whatsoever.</p><p></p><p>Also, what's up with Weave magic and Shadow Weave magic reacting so explosively with each other? In the 3.X FR sourcebooks, the two types of magic mostly <em>ignore</em> each other; they basically act the way psionics and magic used to act, with powers of one type not interacting with powers of another. There were even feats that Shadow Weave magic-users could take in order to heighten that lack of interaction. They certainly didn't act like how <em>The Simpsons</em> had acids and bases react when combined:</p><p></p><p>[MEDIA=youtube]Rx8zQfAxtyk[/MEDIA]</p><p></p><p>Also, I think this (as opposed to the next novel) has Galaeron going a little bonkers when he starts using Shadow Magic, which I'm pretty sure was an attempt to showcase how the 3.0 version of the Shadow Weave Magic feat (in the <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/28729/Forgotten-Realms-Campaign-Setting-3e?affiliate_id=820" target="_blank"><em>Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting</em></a>) caused you to lose 2 points of Wisdom unless you worshiped Shar (or switched to worshiping her). That was excised in the 3.5 version of Shadow Weave Magic (in the <em><a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/29520/Players-Guide-to-Faerun-35?affiliate_id=820" target="_blank">Player's Guide to Faerûn</a></em>), when the design philosophy solidified around not giving players penalties for choosing feats, which I think was a bit of a shame, but it's not like the whole "using the Shadow Weave causes mental anguish that only worshiping Shar can soothe" angle ever came up in this series.</p><p></p><p>Also, I personally liked the phaerimm, something I've mentioned before. They strike me as good examples of alien antagonists with whom no coexistence is possible, but care still intelligent and capable of communication, as well as coordination and teamwork on their end. Plus, their alien appearance is just different enough from the usual Lovecraftian-esque abominations (all teeth and eyes and tentacles, they are) that they're visually striking. Aliens <em>should</em> look weird, and maybe even a little ridiculous, since it heightens the juxtaposition of how these things don't conform to human norms or expectations.</p><p></p><p>It felt a bit odd to see someone else writing Elminster, but I mean that in a good way. As I recall, this is where Galaeron goes to meet his mother, and finds her giving El a lap dance; he's naturally horrified, and I like that the scene came across as "who's this creepy old guy and why are the ladies all perving on him?" It highlighted how I think most of us would feel if we saw something like that going on.</p><p></p><p>Wulgreth...yeah, I don't recall him having any lines here. Though to be fair, I do recall that Denning went out of his way to reconcile there being two liches named Wulgreth in the Realms, which was an out-and-out error prior to this. Fixing contradictions in the canon (back when WotC still cared about canon) was always nice for us fans. Even if the demilich Wulgreth seemed to sit around and do nothing while he was destroyed (though I suppose that's not <em>too</em> off-kilter for the classical depiction of demiliches; in older versions of D&D, they have certain things that set them off, but are otherwise quiescent).</p><p></p><p>Other than that, I don't have too much of an impression of this one. That might sound farcical, after saying so much, but while my overall take on this book was positive, it's not one I pull off the shelf to flip through every so often. It's an above-average yarn, but not what I'd call one of the greats.</p><p></p><p><em>Please note my use of affiliate links in this post.</em></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Alzrius, post: 8422681, member: 8461"] Reaching back through memory on this one, I recall liking it, though I also recall having the distinct impression that I could have liked it [I]more.[/I] For one thing, Malik (or rather, Malik el Sami yn Nasser; I really dig his full name) being here just felt sort of like an add-on. Don't get me wrong, I love the little guy to death, but he's not nearly as much fun here as he was back in [I]Crucible: The Trial of Cyric the Mad[/I], where he'd narrate the action. Moreover, he (and Cyric) were central to that story, but here Cyric is barely in the wings at all, and Malik feels like exactly what he is: a character who's been brought into the story because the author really likes him, despite his not having much of a place in the narrative. I mean, Denning did his best, but if Malik wasn't here I feel like it wouldn't have made any difference whatsoever. Also, what's up with Weave magic and Shadow Weave magic reacting so explosively with each other? In the 3.X FR sourcebooks, the two types of magic mostly [I]ignore[/I] each other; they basically act the way psionics and magic used to act, with powers of one type not interacting with powers of another. There were even feats that Shadow Weave magic-users could take in order to heighten that lack of interaction. They certainly didn't act like how [I]The Simpsons[/I] had acids and bases react when combined: [MEDIA=youtube]Rx8zQfAxtyk[/MEDIA] Also, I think this (as opposed to the next novel) has Galaeron going a little bonkers when he starts using Shadow Magic, which I'm pretty sure was an attempt to showcase how the 3.0 version of the Shadow Weave Magic feat (in the [URL='https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/28729/Forgotten-Realms-Campaign-Setting-3e?affiliate_id=820'][I]Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting[/I][/URL]) caused you to lose 2 points of Wisdom unless you worshiped Shar (or switched to worshiping her). That was excised in the 3.5 version of Shadow Weave Magic (in the [I][URL='https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/29520/Players-Guide-to-Faerun-35?affiliate_id=820']Player's Guide to Faerûn[/URL][/I]), when the design philosophy solidified around not giving players penalties for choosing feats, which I think was a bit of a shame, but it's not like the whole "using the Shadow Weave causes mental anguish that only worshiping Shar can soothe" angle ever came up in this series. Also, I personally liked the phaerimm, something I've mentioned before. They strike me as good examples of alien antagonists with whom no coexistence is possible, but care still intelligent and capable of communication, as well as coordination and teamwork on their end. Plus, their alien appearance is just different enough from the usual Lovecraftian-esque abominations (all teeth and eyes and tentacles, they are) that they're visually striking. Aliens [I]should[/I] look weird, and maybe even a little ridiculous, since it heightens the juxtaposition of how these things don't conform to human norms or expectations. It felt a bit odd to see someone else writing Elminster, but I mean that in a good way. As I recall, this is where Galaeron goes to meet his mother, and finds her giving El a lap dance; he's naturally horrified, and I like that the scene came across as "who's this creepy old guy and why are the ladies all perving on him?" It highlighted how I think most of us would feel if we saw something like that going on. Wulgreth...yeah, I don't recall him having any lines here. Though to be fair, I do recall that Denning went out of his way to reconcile there being two liches named Wulgreth in the Realms, which was an out-and-out error prior to this. Fixing contradictions in the canon (back when WotC still cared about canon) was always nice for us fans. Even if the demilich Wulgreth seemed to sit around and do nothing while he was destroyed (though I suppose that's not [I]too[/I] off-kilter for the classical depiction of demiliches; in older versions of D&D, they have certain things that set them off, but are otherwise quiescent). Other than that, I don't have too much of an impression of this one. That might sound farcical, after saying so much, but while my overall take on this book was positive, it's not one I pull off the shelf to flip through every so often. It's an above-average yarn, but not what I'd call one of the greats. [I]Please note my use of affiliate links in this post.[/I] [/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