“Alias, the swordswoman whose magical tattoos are the linchpin of the plot, is the first strong female character in the Forgotten Realms novels to date. She’s jam-packed with both strengths and flaws: fiercely independent, cunning, practical, strong, stubborn, prideful, terrible at dealing with emotions and opening up to people.”
“It’s the Michael Bay approach to fantasy writing, where you cram the book as full as possible of dragons, magic, fireballs, heroism, messy deaths, PG-13 sex, and little moral ambiguity.”
“The worst fault of this plot, though, is that just about every major problem in the book is resolved by some manner of deus ex machina rather than action on the protagonists’ part. Who knew that divine intervention could become so… boring?”
“Drizzt became an archetype that’s been parodied, deconstructed, and reconstructed so many times that now it’s like an overchewed piece of bubble gum, flavourless and tacky.”
“Competent, not terrible, but not doing anything that would distinguish it from any of the other million fantasy novels out there where a whitebread prince gets a girl, finds a magic sword, and defeats a great evil according to a prophecy. In short, it feels like paint-by-numbers fantasy.”
“The Forgotten Realms is one of the most successful fictional worlds ever created. It’s by far the most popular Dungeons & Dragons setting, comprising over three hundred books and an uncountable swarm of tabletop supplements and adventures.”