The Book Report

Do you play D&D? Are you looking for a good book? If you answered yes to both of these questions, then you’ve come to the right place.

I read a lot. And I play D&D a lot. So it shouldn’t come as any surprise that the majority of books I read are set in the many Dungeons & Dragons worlds. I’ve been reading D&D novels since the very first Forgotten Realms books were released way back in 1987. Since then I’ve read about 3/4 of all FR books ever released, all of the Eberron novels, about half of the Ravenloft novels and more recently about half of the Dark Sun novels.

We run full book reviews at Dungeon’s Master from time to time, but if I reviewed everything I read this would end up a book blog instead of a D&D blog. As a compromise we’ve created this new page: The Book Report. Every time I start reading something new I’ll post it here. When I’m finished I’ll write a few sentences with my thoughts on the book and score it on a d10. This allows me to share my thoughts on these books and make recommendations on what to read and what to avoid, even if we don’t run a full review.

If there is a particular D&D book that you’d like to recommend or that you suggest I avoid, please leave a comment below. If I’ve already read the book I’ll be sure to share my thoughts and score it accordingly for everyone else.

Click on the cover of any of these books to go directly to Amazon.com where you can purchase the book yourself.

Cover	Details and Review
	Sword of the Gods Forgotten Realms Bruce R. Cordell The Abyssal Plague Reading underway.
	Under the Crimson Sun       Dark Sun Keith R.A. DeCandido The Abyssal Plague Review forthcoming. 8 on a d10
	Gods Behaving Badly Marie Phillips Review forthcoming. 9 on a d10
	The Sleeping Dragon The Guardians of the Flame (Book 1) Joel Rosenberg Review forthcoming. 10 on a d10
	Ender in Exile Orson Scott Card Review forthcoming. 9 on a d10
	Allison Hewitt Is Trapped: A Zombie Novel Madeleine Roux Review forthcoming. 8 on a d10
	WATCH WWW Trilogy (Book 2) Robert J. Sawyer Review forthcoming. 9 on a d10
	WAKE WWW Trilogy (Book 1) Robert J. Sawyer When a blind girl is given the gift of sight thanks to experimental technology she inadvertently helps the emerging consciousness of the World Wide Web gain sentience and independence. One of the best books I’ve read in the past year. Can’t wait to read the rest of the trilogy. 9 on a d10
	THE BOOK OF FATE Brad Meltzer A huge disappointment from an otherwise fantastic author. The events in this story take place before “The Inner Circle” which I already read, so that didn’t help either. The main character is the aide to the former President of the United States and he’s nowhere near as interesting as Charlie from the West Wing. 6 on a d10
	THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS John Wyndham I recently watched the new BBC miniseries based on this classic novel and it inspired me to pick up the book. The miniseries was good, the book was great. It holds up after 50+ years and if you haven’t read it I encourage you to do so. 9 on a d10
	THE LEGEND OF DRIZZT ANTHOLOGY R.A. Salvatore With the exception of the final tale in this book, all of the shot stories collected here appeared previously in other Wizard of the Coast anthologies. The new introductions from Salvatore before every story certainly added a nice touch. Not every story features Drizzt which should make this anthology more appealing to everyone. One of Wizards’ better short story collections. 8 on a d10
	THE TEMPLE OF YELLOW SKULLS The Abyssal Plague (Book 1) Don Bassingthwaite I really wanted to like this novel, but was disappointed. Bassingthwaite’s writing was solid, but I suspect his hands were tied since he had to run with characters that were introduced in Bill Slavicsek’s Mark of Nerath. I felt obligated to read this since since I really want to see where the Abyssal Plague is going next. 7 on a d10
	THE GATES OF MADNESS The Abyssal Plague (Prologue) James Wyatt Considering that this was presented in a serialized format before being released as a collected novella, it was actually a really good introduction to the Abyssal Plague. The characters were interesting and the story gave the reader just enough information to want to know what happens next. 8 on a d10
	THE CAPTIVE FLAME Brotherhood of the Griffon (Book 1) Richard Lee Byres I think Aoth Fezim is a great character, however, I’m a little bit disappointed with how the rest of the Brotherhood of the Griffin is shaping out in this trilogy. Despite my misgivings about the heroes this was still a good story filled with adventure and intrigue. 8 on a d10
	THE INNER CIRCLE Brad Meltzer I’ve been a Meltzer fan since I read his first book, The 10th Justice. When he started writing for DC comics I became even more interested in his work. His latest is good, but regrettably not great. If you’re already a fan then read this, but if you’ve never read Meltzer then this isn’t the best book to start with. 7 on a d10
	UNHOLY The Haunted Lands (Book 3) Richard Lee Byres The thrilling conclusion to The Haunted Lands trilogy. Almost a hundred years have passed since the previous novel (and the Spellplague). Bareris uncovers a plot by Szass Tam to unmake the realms and enlists aid from Aoth and the Brotherhood of the Griffon to stop it. 8 on a d10
	HAND OF THE HUNTER Chosen of Nandawen (Book 2) Mark Sehestedt Hweilan undergoes intense training to truly become the Hand of the Hunter while banished in the Faywild. But her mentors are just as likely to kill her as train her. This second novel is an excellent bridge to this story. Hweilan became a much more interesting character and you really anticipate the battle to come in the final novel. 8 on a d10
	LADY RUIN Tim Waggoner A Karrnathi military unit performs secret experiments to join powerful and dangerous abominations to soldiers. When the project is force to produce results or be shut down the Artificer in charge takes bold steps to prove his technique works. Sabotage leads to disaster and one solder manages to take control of her symbiant and tries to stop the others from unleashing chaos. 8 on a d10
	UNDEAD The Haunted Lands (Book 2) Richard Lee Byres The battle for Thay that began in Unclean has raged on for 10 years. In this book the large-scale battles continue as the living battle the undead. One of the pivotal events of this book is the Spell Plague, which represents the transition from 3.5e to 4e D&D. Byres provides an imaginative in-story explanation for how the lich-lord Szass Tam, Zulkir of necromancy and most powerful of the Red Wizards of Thay, retains his immense power over magic even though the weave is destroyed. An exciting second chapter full of exciting characters and plenty of action. 8 on a d10
	CITY UNDER THE SAND Jeff Mariotte If you discovered Dark Sun through D&D Encounters this summer then City Under the Sand will feel familiar. It’s just a bunch of brutal (yet often exciting) encounters where the heroes fight a wide variety of monsters. I liked the main character and his Way with metal, but the rest of the characters never did it for me. The subplot with the serial killer was absolutely unnecessary and pushed the book 50 more pages than was necessary. 6 on a d10
	MARK OF NERATH Bill Slavicsek If you’re new to D&D novels this is a good starting point. The story is pretty straight forward and easy to follow. It’s a good showcase of the races, classes, powers and monsters you’ll find in a typical D&D adventure. 6 on a d10
	GAUNTLGRYM Neverwinter (Book 1) R.A. Salvatore I’ve read every Salvatore FR novel and this is right up there with his best. My only complaint is that Drizzt isn’t really in it that much, maybe 1/4 of the story. But the parts he is in are pretty awesome. Some familiar characters die in this book reminding you that the FR is a lot more dangerous than it used to be. 9 on a d10
	THE FINDING DREAM Thorn of Breland (Book 3) Keith Baker I’m really enjoying the Thorn of Breland series and find Thorn herself a really interesting and exciting character. Baker provides a great explanation of how and why Eladrin appeared in Eberron. 7 on a d10
	TAINT OF THE BLACK BRIGADE The Chronicles of Abraxis Wren Paul Crilley At its heart, Taint of the Black Brigade is a detective story. Even though it takes place in Eberron and the characters use magic it’s not your typical D&D novel. The focus of this story is a mystery and the lengths that a detective will go to solve it. Read our complete review. 8 on a d10
	ENDER’S GAME Orson Scott Card Phenomenal. If you haven’t read this yet then you should do yourself a favour and read it. If you have read it you should give it another read. This was my second time through Ender’s Game and I read it in two days. I couldn’t put it down. 10 on a d10
	KEY OF STARS Abolethic Soverignty (Book 3) Bruce R. Kordell The Abolethic Soverignty trilogy explains how and why the spell plague affected the Forgotten Realms. All three books in the trilogy were great. The statistics for the two main characters, Raidon Kane and Japhet, are in the classic Character Builder. 8 on a d10
	KEEP ON THE BORDERLANDS Ru Emerson If you’ve ever played the classic adventure of the same name you’re in for a treat. This is a great book with solid characters. My only complaint was that they spent so little time in the Caves of Chaos. 7 on a d10
	BREAKING DAWN Twilight Saga (Book 4) Stephanie Meyer I’ll admit that I’ve read all four books in the Twilight Saga. I really enjoyed the second and third books, but this finale was a snooze-fest. It was a lot of build up for a climax that never came. 6 on a d10
	CIRCLE OF SKULLS Ed Greenwood Presents Waterdeep (Book 6) James P. Davis What a snore fest. It began with such promise, but ended so badly. The Watch is baffled by a series of murders and a local detective decides to get involved, even though his help is not wanted. From there the story to went downhill fast. The characters were boring and you just don’t care about the resolution of this mystery. 5 on a d10
	THE BLACK PRISM Lightbringer (Book 1) Brent Weeks Every bit as good as Week’s previous work, Night Angel trilogy. The magic of this world stems from the colours of the rainbow. Each colour magic has different powers and effects. Only the Prism can use all of them freely and without personal cost. But the current Prism is a man with many secrets including a bastard son he has never met, until now. 10 on a d10
	THE BROKEN BLADE Chronicles of Athas (Book 3) Simon Hawke A changed man after the events in the Tribe of One trilogy, the new Sorak travels along to join the Veiled Alliance and join their fight against the defilers and the Dragon Kings. Sorak has become an even more interesting character now that he is only of one mind and lacks the fantastic psionic powers previously available in the other books. A good final adventure for this character. 8 on a d10
	THE NOMAD Tribe of One (Book 3) Simon Hawke In the conclusion of the Tribe of One trilogy Sorak learns of his origins and finally confronts the Sage he’s sought since his quest began. But his journey is not an easy one as his growing reputation precede him and new enemies block his path. 8 on a d10
	THE SEEKER Tribe of One (Book 2) Simon Hawke After reading book 1 I couldn’t wait to read book 2. The problem was that it was out of print. After a few months of searching I got a copy. It was every bit as good as the first book. Sorak may be a powerful hero, but his naivety lets the reader learn about Dark Sun through his inexperienced eyes. There’s also a lot of great action and adventure thrown in for good measure. 9 on a d10
	THE PASSAGE Justin Cronin If you like post-apocalyptic stories you should check this out. After a medial experiment goes awry, vampire-like creatures begin destroying civilization as we know it. The only survivors live in fortresses where artificial lights run 24/7. Things getting really interesting when the power starts to fade and the safety of the lights begins wavering. 9 on a d10
	THE DARKNESS BEFORE THE DAWN Chronicles of Athas (Book 2) Ryan Hughes One of the worst D&D novels I’ve ever read. Having only limited exposure to Dark Sun (when I read this) I wasn’t sure what to expect, but this was a huge let down. The characters were boring and the story was lame. A whole section at the end was spent in a fantasy world that is basically every other D&D non-Dark Sun setting. Pass on this novel. 4 on a d10
	THE TYRANNY OF GHOSTS Legacy of Dhakaan (Book 3) Don Bassingthwaite This was a fantastic conclusion to the Legacy of Dhakaan trilogy. It’s got plenty of action, intrigue and politics – everything you’d expect in a great Eberron story. After reading this book you’ll never use goblinoids the same way in your campaign. 9 on a d10

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