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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: 8479303" data-attributes="member: 8461"><p>I'm not sure why I don't have quite as much enthusiasm for this one as the previous works in the series; I normally love Lisa Smedman's work, something which I've <a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/im-reading-the-forgotten-realms-novels-147-extinction-by-lisa-smedman-war-of-the-spider-queen-4.667899/post-8451815" target="_blank">mentioned before</a>. But for whatever reason, this one didn't leave a strong impression. </p><p></p><p>As much as I suspect that's my fuzzy memory in general, I have a vague sense that this one was a little too all over the place. That this one largely consisted of a series of encounters as the group tried to reach their destination. "Are we there yet?" stories tend to have that effect on me, if for no other reason than they become a travelogue that wants to de-emphasize the destination in favor of the journey, even as the destination remains the most salient motivation for the characters (otherwise, why would they be making the trip in the first place?). </p><p></p><p>Now, we do get some good character drama along the way. I'm trying to recall if it was in this book or the previous one where there was a scene where Quenthel's whip was putting ideas in her head, floating the idea that <em>it</em> was the real puppet master, while she only <em>thought</em> she was in charge. I mention that because there was some interview with the author where that was specifically called out, but it never really got any development, and so seemed like a wasted idea. (On a related note, each of the five heads on Quenthel's whip has its own personality; from what I can tell, this isn't really something you can do under 3.5's rules for <a href="https://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/intelligentItems.htm" target="_blank">intelligent items</a>, much like how you can't apply the <em>flaming</em> enchantment five times over so that a magic weapon does +5d6 fire damage. The best you could do was have a double weapon with each end having its own personality, but even then it wouldn't be much different from any other magic double weapon.)</p><p></p><p>Alas, the ship of chaos here didn't seem like the one in <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/17356/A-Paladin-in-Hell-2e?affiliate_id=820" target="_blank"><em>A Paladin in Hell</em></a>, which was actually an entire layer of the Abyss shaped into the form of a ship. It might have been like one of the ships from <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/17270/In-the-Abyss-2e?affiliate_id=820" target="_blank"><em>In the Abyss</em></a>, but I can't really say, since I don't have that particular module (yet).</p><p></p><p>Eilistraee's depiction here was interesting, simply because I hadn't seen much of her faith in Realms fiction. While there's undoubtedly some that I missed, I suspect the main reason it hasn't gotten much exposure is because it's an open secret that R. A. Salvatore doesn't like it very much. Why I'm not sure; the implication seems to be that he feels it weakens Drizzt's story as a renegade drow if there's an entire religion dedicated to the concept. As it is, most drow deities outside of Lolth tend to get little-to-no exposure in Salvatore's novels; it's no coincidence that the eponymous Starlight Enclave makes no mention of Eilistraee that I'm aware of.</p><p></p><p><em>Please note my use of affiliate links in this post.</em></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Alzrius, post: 8479303, member: 8461"] I'm not sure why I don't have quite as much enthusiasm for this one as the previous works in the series; I normally love Lisa Smedman's work, something which I've [url=https://www.enworld.org/threads/im-reading-the-forgotten-realms-novels-147-extinction-by-lisa-smedman-war-of-the-spider-queen-4.667899/post-8451815]mentioned before[/url]. But for whatever reason, this one didn't leave a strong impression. As much as I suspect that's my fuzzy memory in general, I have a vague sense that this one was a little too all over the place. That this one largely consisted of a series of encounters as the group tried to reach their destination. "Are we there yet?" stories tend to have that effect on me, if for no other reason than they become a travelogue that wants to de-emphasize the destination in favor of the journey, even as the destination remains the most salient motivation for the characters (otherwise, why would they be making the trip in the first place?). Now, we do get some good character drama along the way. I'm trying to recall if it was in this book or the previous one where there was a scene where Quenthel's whip was putting ideas in her head, floating the idea that [i]it[/i] was the real puppet master, while she only [i]thought[/i] she was in charge. I mention that because there was some interview with the author where that was specifically called out, but it never really got any development, and so seemed like a wasted idea. (On a related note, each of the five heads on Quenthel's whip has its own personality; from what I can tell, this isn't really something you can do under 3.5's rules for [url=https://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/intelligentItems.htm]intelligent items[/url], much like how you can't apply the [i]flaming[/i] enchantment five times over so that a magic weapon does +5d6 fire damage. The best you could do was have a double weapon with each end having its own personality, but even then it wouldn't be much different from any other magic double weapon.) Alas, the ship of chaos here didn't seem like the one in [url=https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/17356/A-Paladin-in-Hell-2e?affiliate_id=820][i]A Paladin in Hell[/i][/url], which was actually an entire layer of the Abyss shaped into the form of a ship. It might have been like one of the ships from [url=https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/17270/In-the-Abyss-2e?affiliate_id=820][i]In the Abyss[/i][/url], but I can't really say, since I don't have that particular module (yet). Eilistraee's depiction here was interesting, simply because I hadn't seen much of her faith in Realms fiction. While there's undoubtedly some that I missed, I suspect the main reason it hasn't gotten much exposure is because it's an open secret that R. A. Salvatore doesn't like it very much. Why I'm not sure; the implication seems to be that he feels it weakens Drizzt's story as a renegade drow if there's an entire religion dedicated to the concept. As it is, most drow deities outside of Lolth tend to get little-to-no exposure in Salvatore's novels; it's no coincidence that the eponymous Starlight Enclave makes no mention of Eilistraee that I'm aware of. [i]Please note my use of affiliate links in this post.[/i] [/QUOTE]
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