“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!”
Tag: Elaine Cunningham
“Buckle up; we can’t talk about this one without first dredging up some ugly TSR history.”
“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.”
“Another year, another anthology! This year’s theme is ‘wizards and magic,’ and it must be quite the well of inspiration indeed, because there are no fewer than seventeen stories this time around plus a prologue and epilogue.”
“There are a million problems with drow society, but Liriel’s only problem with it is that it so often bores her.”
“TSR has finally gotten around to employing several new authors to write Realms material. Do these newcomers bring a fresh set of voices to familiar material, or are they just new line cooks churning out the same old dishes?”
“Has there ever been a Dungeons & Dragons class as maligned as the poor bard? Next to a guy who chops monsters up with a sword as big as he is, or a mage who can drop fiery comets on her foes’ heads, a friendly fellow whose special power is singing songs has always felt pretty weaksauce.”
“The nice thing about a mixed bag like this is that even when you suffer through a badly-written story, you know it’s going to be short and you’ll probably get to a better one soon. Beats slogging through a bad 300-page novel, that’s for sure.”
“It’s good to see elven society finally getting some attention. Despite their thousands of years of culture and history, most authors don’t go any further into characterizing elves than the usual ‘nature-loving hippies’ stereotype.”