The cover of Murder in Halruaa. A woman and a cloaked man stand near a man's corpse at the base of a tree. The woman is showing off her leg for no apparent reason. and the man is gesturing at the corpse.

Murder in Halruaa

“The author’s obvious enthusiasm for the subject hasn’t saved him from coming up with a convoluted plot where events don’t seem to flow naturally, packed with contrivances and improbable insights.”

The cover of Cormyr: A Novel. A dragon with dark purple scales sits menacingly on a rock. The background is a sky full of brooding dark clouds.

Cormyr: A Novel

“A favourite game of mine, whenever I read a novel by multiple authors, is to try to pick out which bits were written by which authors. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book where the game was so unsatisfyingly easy.”

The cover of Silver Shadows. A black-haired woman with a 1980s perm is holding a sword. A spectral image of an elven woman is issuing from the sword. A big dog or wolf is watching from the corner.

Silver Shadows

“I know what you’re thinking: the Harpers accomplishing something without screwing it up or having it turn into a giant mess? It feels so out of character, and yet so refreshing!”

Cover of The Veiled Dragon. A woman standing on a sailing ship is shooting a skeletal dragon with a ray of magic.

The Veiled Dragon

“If your Western characters all speak fluently and your Eastern characters all sound like ‘Thog discover fire! Cave warm now,’ then you’re implicitly infusing your book with a shitty racist message.”

The cover of Sword Play. A He-Man-esque barbarian is fighting a many-eyed crustacean monster in a cave.

Sword Play

“It’s not often that we see an author take us far afield from the usual Realms fare, and now we’re getting a whole trilogy that has an opportunity to break the mold.”

Delay!

Bad news! Life is remarkably hectic for me right now, so the next review is probably not going to be out for another few weeks. But I love my regular readers, so I figure you deserve an update of sorts to tide you over…

The cover of Tangled Webs. On the left, a dark elf has a ball of light floating above her hands. On the right, a mind flayer (which has breasts for some reason) is shooting lightning at the ball of light.

Tangled Webs

“I wish more of these novels would bother depicting relationships where love is something you have to work at and build, not something that just magically happens when two people are near each other for long enough.”