The cover of Escape from Undermountain. A burly black-haired swordsman strikes a dramatic pose in the foreground. In the background, a huge headless statue shoots lightning from its fingertips.

Escape from Undermountain

“If stripped of all the padding and reduced to only scenes which further the bare “escape from Undermountain, remove curse, get revenge on our betrayer” plot, Escape from Undermountain would be a rather short novella.”

The cover of Realms of Magic. On the left is Khelben Arunsun, a black-haired, black-bearded man holding a black staff. In the middle is Elminster, a white-bearded old man in red robes and a big red hat. On the right is some young man carrying a bunch of scrolls and a book.

Realms of Magic

“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.”

The cover of Realms of Infamy. In the background, a dragon flies amongst rock spires. In the middle, a black-hooded man with a glowing staff and eyes looks menacing. In the foreground is a fancy-dressed man brandishing a sword.

Realms of Infamy

“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?”

The cover of Crypt of the Shadowking. A gaunt humanoid monster is rising out of a glowing sarcophagus in the background. In the foreground, a woman lies prone and a man is blowing into some sort of device. I think it's supposed to be a musical instrument, but it looks more like he's taking a rip off a bong.

Crypt of the Shadowking

“Imagine that someone read The Lord of the Rings, then said to themself, ‘That was cool, but you know what this story really needed? An entire book devoted to the Scouring of the Shire!’ Because that’s pretty much what we have here.”

The cover of Realms of Valor. In the background is Elminster, a white-bearded old man smoking a large pipe. In the middle ground is Arilyn, a half-elf with black curly hair, standing dramatically on a rock gazing into the distance. In the foreground is Drizzt, a hooded dark elf holding two scimitars crossed in front of his chest.

Realms of Valor

“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.”