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 Siege of Darkness. The face of Matron Baenre, a drow matriarch with a spider tiara, is on the left. On the right is Drizzt, a hooded white-haired dark elf, looking out into the distance.

Siege of Darkness

“Drow names have been getting increasingly ridiculous over the course of these novels. ‘Zeerith Q’Xolarrin’? Seriously? Buddy, you can’t just mash your face around on the keyboard and call it a name.”

The cover of The Chaos Curse. A bearded young man swings a staff to attack a scary dark evil vampire thingy.

The Chaos Curse

The Chaos Curse kicks off by delving into the most exciting type of conflict known to literature: academic politics!”

The cover of The Fallen Fortress. A robed young man with a feathered hat and walking stick gestures at a pair of helmeted dwarves on an icy mountain path.

The Fallen Fortress

“The reason this review is up later than I expected is because I kept putting the book down out of sheer boredom every time I came to another six-page stretch of ‘And then they killed a bunch of goblins.'”

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.”

The cover of The Legacy. On the left is a long-legged spider outlined in purple. In the centre is Drizzt, a long-haired dark elf who looks oddly white-skinned and old here.

The Legacy

“Let’s be honest: Drizzt wouldn’t know what to do with himself if he didn’t have things to kill on a regular basis. I don’t buy this self-pitying pacifist bollocks for one minute.”

The cover of Night Masks. A young woman and a young man are in a rowboat, and a zombie is rising out of the water to attack them. The young woman brandishes a knife at it; the young man is waving a staff.

Night Masks

“Writing tip: when your other characters start lampshading how incredibly annoying it is that your protagonist magically knows everything, maybe, just maybe it’s time to dial the omniscience back a bit.”