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I'm reading the Forgotten Realms Novels- #202 The Howling Delve by Jaleigh Johnson (Dungeons 2)
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<blockquote data-quote="Alzrius" data-source="post: 8080649" data-attributes="member: 8461"><p>I think you meant epilogue, but otherwise yeah. While it's obvious that the final book in the trilogy has to wrap everything up, the smaller stakes are left with the unenviable task of holding up after the explosive ending of the previous book. To my mild surprise, it actually does this fairly well, for the same reason that the first book wasn't too bad: the characters are entertaining in their own right, and the book puts them front and center without going overboard about it. </p><p></p><p>I'll maintain that this trilogy comes across as odd, at least in terms of plot progression, simply because of the tonal shift in the middle of the series. You can't have comparatively low-stakes character-building adventures at the beginning and end while also having an apocalyptic disaster involving the gods themselves in the middle. That sort of contrast works great if you're an Oreo cookie, but not a three-book series. It's to Clayton Emery's credit that this works as well as it does, mostly because he tries to make this "the story of Sunbright and friends" the entire way through, putting the focus on them and how they're reacting and growing to what's happening around them even when Karsus and his wacky pals try to steal the show.</p><p></p><p>The issue with Knucklebones literally being Greenwillow reborn brings up some weird metaphysics, since D&D has always had some issues with reincarnation that doesn't happen as a result of a spell of the same name. In Fifth Edition elves are reincarnated as a matter of course (if I recall <em>Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes</em> correctly), but that wasn't the case back in AD&D. It's doubly weird to remember that the <em>Netheril: Empire of Magic</em> boxed set (linked to in a previous post) flat-out said "use these rules for characters living prior to Netheril's end, then use the AD&D 1E rules, then use Second Edition after the Time of Troubles." Plus the issue of an elven soul being reborn as a half-elf. Did the elven gods (being a racial pantheon and all) sign off on that? If so, you think they'd give a wink and a nudge to those elves who lean into the whole "racial purity" thing that seems to come up now and again.</p><p></p><p>Having said all of that, this book does come to a well-deserved ending for the good guys, especially since not everyone survives. Sunbright and Knucklebones really come across as having <em>earned</em> their happily ever after, which is something I fully appreciate. Those two went through Hell (even if it was a plagiarized version of it), so it was nice to see them come out the other side of it all stronger and wiser for it.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Alzrius, post: 8080649, member: 8461"] I think you meant epilogue, but otherwise yeah. While it's obvious that the final book in the trilogy has to wrap everything up, the smaller stakes are left with the unenviable task of holding up after the explosive ending of the previous book. To my mild surprise, it actually does this fairly well, for the same reason that the first book wasn't too bad: the characters are entertaining in their own right, and the book puts them front and center without going overboard about it. I'll maintain that this trilogy comes across as odd, at least in terms of plot progression, simply because of the tonal shift in the middle of the series. You can't have comparatively low-stakes character-building adventures at the beginning and end while also having an apocalyptic disaster involving the gods themselves in the middle. That sort of contrast works great if you're an Oreo cookie, but not a three-book series. It's to Clayton Emery's credit that this works as well as it does, mostly because he tries to make this "the story of Sunbright and friends" the entire way through, putting the focus on them and how they're reacting and growing to what's happening around them even when Karsus and his wacky pals try to steal the show. The issue with Knucklebones literally being Greenwillow reborn brings up some weird metaphysics, since D&D has always had some issues with reincarnation that doesn't happen as a result of a spell of the same name. In Fifth Edition elves are reincarnated as a matter of course (if I recall [i]Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes[/i] correctly), but that wasn't the case back in AD&D. It's doubly weird to remember that the [i]Netheril: Empire of Magic[/i] boxed set (linked to in a previous post) flat-out said "use these rules for characters living prior to Netheril's end, then use the AD&D 1E rules, then use Second Edition after the Time of Troubles." Plus the issue of an elven soul being reborn as a half-elf. Did the elven gods (being a racial pantheon and all) sign off on that? If so, you think they'd give a wink and a nudge to those elves who lean into the whole "racial purity" thing that seems to come up now and again. Having said all of that, this book does come to a well-deserved ending for the good guys, especially since not everyone survives. Sunbright and Knucklebones really come across as having [i]earned[/i] their happily ever after, which is something I fully appreciate. Those two went through Hell (even if it was a plagiarized version of it), so it was nice to see them come out the other side of it all stronger and wiser for it. [/QUOTE]
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I'm reading the Forgotten Realms Novels- #202 The Howling Delve by Jaleigh Johnson (Dungeons 2)
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