#064 Stormlight by Ed Greenwood (Harpers 14)
Read 3/4/20 to 6/4/20
Book 14- and Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrgghhhh!
I didn't like it, not one bit.
So, Storm Silverhand semi-naked Bard/Fighter/Wizard- Chosen of Mystra heads off to Firefall Keep, home of the Summerstar's (haughty and arrogant nobles- at least at first) to solve the mystery- who or what is killing folk. Vangey the Cormyr Archmage has also sent a batch of War Wizards to go and find out what's going on.
After a bit of nudie aerobics Storm arrives.
Everyone (the Summerstar's/Wizards) hates/dislikes/seeks to embarrass her- save a few of the more 'common' folk.
More deaths follow.
Storm et al discover that the killer is a shapeshifter (Malaugrym)- actually, much later on we discover the killer is and yet isn't a Malaugrym, I'll leave that surprise for you to discover- I dare you.
Storm puts up a barrier around the Keep- the Malaugrym cannot be allowed to escape, it will destroy all the Realms... a bit dramatic, but whatever.
There follows 150+ pages of too and fro, the bad guy haunting the halls and delivering tubs full of destruction, or else invading the mind and controlling Shayna Summerstar (the belle of the Summerstar ball). Shayna attempts to 'nail' every Wizard that walks her way- sexuality, as always, is a big deal here.
Particularly young beautiful ladies seeking to clamber on top of aged (powerful) Wizards- funny that.
While this is going on Storm and friends tell each other (and us) stories, stalk the halls seeking their foe, and die- they die in great numbers, Shayna kills (with a little help from the Hungry Man) twenty Purple Dragons in an afternoon.
Then... we finally get to the end of it.
Everyone except Storm and maybe a handful of others (all either Nobles or Wizards) are dead. Oh, and the head War Wizard gets the girl- Shayna.
So, here's the thing-
1) Why some of the nakedness, what does it enhance- I mean, if it were a film I'd forgive it more- because it'd be a way to sell it to a sexist world, but as it is... I don't get it. It just seems to be semi-exploitative (and very sexist), here you go teenage boy, your high level PC should wear something see-through, or else nothing at all. Oh, and by the way women get what they want not by being smart (et al) but by being good to look at.
2) WTF? Everyone below the rank of Summerstar/Wizard is infinitely expendable- they die in their droves. Didn't the Harpers/Nobles/Wizards/anyone think to clear the common folk out- before Storm puts the barrier down. Or else, after- just to save lives. Likewise scores of Purple Dragons meet their maker (Torm) and yet time and time again they prove ineffective against the enemy.
Why do so many common folk have to die or suffer (needlessly) so that a few nobles can finally learn to behave like grown ups (actually not even- they don't get that far).
3) 99% of the fighting/hunting of the big bad guy is done in the dark- five War Wizards and Storm and no-one has got, or else thinks to fill the castle with LIGHT spells (or similar). This place (Firefall Keep) has hidden panels concealing priceless treasures and magical artefacts (well, at least one- see the Red Dragon's arrival), but no-one can cast LIGHT (or similar).
4) The final shoot out is just a hoot (as in not good). X dies- but they're not dead, they just 'fall'. Then they get up again. Then they're knocked unconscious, or else the 'darkness takes them', or some such. Then they get back up again. Then they fall... Then they get back up again.
If you're a red shirt in this one (and 99% of the castle population have got their red shirts on) then you're a goner, if you're wearing some other colour shirt then you can get knocked down and out twenty times over but I guarantee you'll make it to the epilogue.
JUST GAH!
From page 247, a Purple Dragon talking about Storm-
"Aye," another agreed from beside him. "What odds that if she falls, Mystra reclaims her, and sets her back alive again to wiggle her hips at poor fools in some other realm? Mystra wont come down to succor the likes of us!"
This guy is the smartest person in the book.
How is Storm a hero of the people?
How are the Harpers defending the Realms against tyrants (et al)? This is just Wrestlemania (with, like spells, and that) and screw everybody else- their role is to die.
Once the barrier is up around the Keep, and the bad guy can't get out... well, leave the bastard there and call the Vangey-police, or Big E, or anybody else that specialises in this kind of nonsense.
In the epilogue various high level everythings- Big E, Storm and sisters including Sylune sit around and have scones- WTF? Is there no-way of getting the scone-eaters into the action earlier? Or else demonstrating to the reader that Storm is concerned with the fate of people (any and all people) rather than suffer her hubris.
I hated this one- it's trash. Sorry, that was strong- but there are just lots of odds and ends- the Red Dragon's arrival et al, Princesses love Wizards, Storm just stomping about doing... nothing much while lots of other folk die, everybody (EVERYBODY) learning to love and lust after the semi-naked Storm.
Read.
I lost a bit of hope here, and I'm really not looking forward to the Elminster books.