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Book Review Friday: Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 3e, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Pride and Prejudice, The Odyssey

Nov 182011

This week’s short reviews are a classic campaign setting and three classic novels.

Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (Forgotten Realms) by Ed Greenwood

I have to admit that the Forgotten Realms is my least favorite campaign setting only because I don’t have an opinion about Greyhawk. Now, my experience may be colored by the people who I gamed with at the time I was playing in the Realms, but I did not enjoy the excruciating level of detail that the setting has accumulated over the years. My first foray into Dungeons and Dragons was Game Mastering, and I hadn’t yet developed the GM chops to shut down the irritating players in my group. Having to deal with the one Canon Lawyer picking apart every single plot and description made the game nothing but a chore.

I think the biggest issue that the later era Realms setting has going against it was that TSR decided that all novels became canon to the setting. It filled the setting with all powerful demi-gods that rendered most adventurers moot and filled in way too much of the map.
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Are my perceptions tainted by the jerkbag I used to play with? Yes, but I’m laying half of the blame on the “everything’s canon” policy for making me have to deal with it.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was the beginning of what could be considered a fantasy renaissance. Sorcerer’s Stone (sorry, I’m an American, we didn’t get the proper title on this side of the pond) was the first in a seven book series that, along with the Lord of the Rings movies, made fantasy popular again, and for that alone it’s deserving of four stars.

I love the cast of characters and I personally thing that Rowling does a good job of bringing the setting alive.
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I’m not going to hear any arguments, Harry Potter is one of the new classics and will be read and talked about in centuries to come the same way that the next two books are read and talked about today.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this as part of my “read the classics” project and was fully expecting to hate it. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the dry humor throughout made it a pleasant read.

I don’t think I’m stating clearly enough in my review how much I was surprised I liked the book. I was dreading reading this. I had just finished reading Dracula (which I hated) and wasn’t looking forward to another Victorian snoozer. Imagine my reaction when I finish the damn thing in a day and a half. It wasn’t anything like the books that I usually read (I’m a fan of genre books, not literary stuff like this). I enjoyed it enough that I’m actually not looking forward to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, because I don’t want to see it “ruined forever” in my mind.

The Odyssey by Homer

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Read this as part of my “read the classics” project for justifying an e-reader. It’s a little slow at times but is the grandfather of the fantasy adventure, so it can be forgiven for a few pacing issues.

I’m going to say that this is so much more readable than the Iliad it’s not even funny.

UnderDiscussion 61: Pathfinder Beginner Box

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Nov 142011

This week Kat, Hooligan, Slacker, and Freebird join WDR and myself to discuss, review and play with the new Pathfinder Beginner Box from Paizo. We spend the first fifteen minutes or so is a discussion of the contents of the box, and the adventure starts at around twenty two minutes in. As this is an actual play it’s one of the longer episodes and clocks in at less than two hours.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Book Review Friday: The Orb of Xoriat, Hunt the Space-Witch!, Here Be Demons, and The Library of Shadows

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Nov 112011

This week I brave the mind twisting horrors of Xoriat, the evil machinations of the Space Witch, the boring schemes of demons, and the sinister plans of an evil book club.

The Orb of Xoriat by Edward Bolme

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a fantastic book! It fast paced without feeling rushed and the author did a great job with the fight scenes, vivid descriptions without being unnecessarily gory. I liked the main character, he was a little flat at first but the author developed him well. The book does a good job of explaining only as much as the reader would need without getting bogged down in setting details, but there is alot here for an Eberron fan to make this feel like it couldn’t have taken place in another setting. It was a fun action/adventure and I would gladly recommend it.
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This was the second of the Eberron novels that I read, and it follows up on a short story from Tales of the Last War (The first Eberron novel I read.) It follows Teron, a monk trained for war and little else, trying to prevent the disaster to come if the title relic were to fall into wrong hands while also trying to find his place in a post Last War world. I think it was one of the better book I’ve read this year and I recommend picking it up if you get the chance.

Hunt the Space-Witch!: Seven Adventures in Time and Space by Robert Silverberg

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

It was a little different from what I usually read. I’m not used to the magazine pulp style of Sci-fi stories in the book (as a child of the nineties I’m used to a full length novel). They were interesting tales of adventure and I’d definitively read more from the author if I could find a collection of his stories that were a little more interlinked than the seven in the book.
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It was interesting. I liked the stories that were a little more developed (such as the story that gives this collection it’s name) over the stories that didn’t get a lot of development (like the very first one in the book). I gave it 2 stars because I didn’t hate it, but I also didn’t really like large parts of it.

Here Be Demons by Esther M. Friesner

My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I may be being more harsh on this book than I should be, but I didn’t like this one at all. The point of view shifted without warning, the descriptions got really obtuse in places, I wasn’t able to figure out if the plot was trying to be funny or serious or ironically serious or if it just didn’t care. I would not recommend this one.

This book was slow, none of the characters were likable, and I’m not ashamed to say that I didn’t finish it. I know that it’s sort of a sin to review a book you didn’t complete, but nothing in the first hundred pages led me to believe that the last hundred or so were going to be any better. I’m glad that I only spent $1 on this at half priced books.

The Library of Shadows by Mikkel Birkegaard

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This book had an interesting premise, and it was executed well enough, but it didn’t really grab me. It’s a decent enough urban fantasy, with secret societies and magic book reading powers and it has an interesting gimmick that I’ll most likely use in a future game, but for some reason I can’t bring myself to say that it was more than just ok. The characters were well written but the pacing felt slow in more than a few places and the book was a touch on the verbose side. I could go into more detail, but I don’t want to spoil it other to say that, due to the premise of the novel, the resolution was sort of corny in my opinion.
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Spoiler alert: The book is about people who read so awesomely they get super powers from it. Not cool super powers, like in Inkheart, but lame super powers, like “really making someone enjoy hearing you read a book” super powers. For what it was (the classic dismissal) it was alright. I didn’t hate it and the characters were written well, but the premise did not light my fire.

Book Review Friday: Winter Witch, The Falling Machine, In the Name of Honor, Fable: The Balverine Order

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Nov 042011

This week the reviews are very fantasy heavy without necessarily being RPG centric.
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Winter Witch by Elaine Cunningham

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Winter Witch was enjoyable, but it had a few issues that kept me from rating it higher. The setting felt fleshed out but that’s mostly a given because this novel takes place in an established RPG campaign setting. The main characters were well written and had mostly clear motivations that made sense but almost everyone else (including the main antagonist) just sort of felt like they were to there only to provide precisely enough motivation necessary to keep the main characters on track for the end of the book and nothing more.

The book is a travel story, and can’t really be described as an adventure. I would say that a good three fifths of the story were devoted to getting the main characters to their final destination, and while the setup didn’t feel rushed the ending really did. Once at their destination the events that compelled the main characters from the beginning are quickly and almost laughably easily resolved, leaving the main characters just enough pages to fall in love and wander into the sunset together.
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This was an OK book and I would recommend it if you want to get a good bit of flavor for a couple of regions in the Pathfinder Golarion campaign setting, but frankly the ending sucked. It felt like the author really wanted another 200 pages to finish the book. As it stands the ending feels like it was there to setup a followup novel with the two main characters but needed to end the story so it could stand on its own. There are also a few of the standerd fantasy plot holes that crop up but harping on them could get a bit nit-picky.

The Falling Machine by Andrew Mayer

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It was interesting to read a steampunk novel. Trying to translate what is (in my opinion) an entirely visual style into a written form must be quite a task for an author. I have to admit that, while this book is quite descriptive at times, I feel it still fails to really sell the steampunk.

Other than that I did enjoy this book. It was fun, had a fast pace (that did seem to slow a bit at times) and the main character was generally well developed.

What I disliked about the book (and what ultimately led me to giving it three stars instead of four) is that it ends rather abruptly on a clifhanger. I was hoping that when I picked up the book the “Society of Steam: Book 1″ meant that this was going to be part of a series and that it wasn’t just going to be half a story. Regardless, when I have the time to track down a copy I intend to read the second book.
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The other reason I gave this otherwise decently written book only three stars was because I felt that the author had a great idea that he refused to use. The story essentially takes place at the twilight of a sort of steampunk Justice League. There are hints of a lot of cool backstory and conflict in the team of aging heroes that could make for more interesting reading that what we ended up with in the book. I felt that there is a much more interesting story to be had set about twenty years previous to the one in this book and think that it could make a great idea for a supers campaign.
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In the Name of Honor by Dayton Ward

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the first Star Trek book I’ve picked up in a long time, and I’m glad that I did, as this book is really good! Set between the fifth and sixth books looks at the drive for peace between the Federation and the Klingons while also exploring the way the Klingons changed between the original series and the Next Generation from a Federation viewpoint. I enjoyed the way he dealt with the stark differences in attitude between TOS and TNG Klingons and managed to make the transition between the two believable, and the book presents a good back story for the developments that occoured in The Undiscovered Country.

I’ll have to say that, in my opinion, the author really knows how to write Klingons. It never felt like he was forcing the issue, there was never a “Look, they’re doing Klingon things, look at how Klingon they are” moment, but he also wasn’t shy about using the trappings that have developed for the race when it was appropriate. I also enjoyed the pairing of Kirk and Sulu for the mission (that I won’t spoil in this review), it’s not a standard team up in most TOS crew Trek books and it was good to see.
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This serves as a nice transition between between the TOS era Klingons and the TNG era Klingons that I personally prefer. It touches on the tensions between the two styles of Klingons and that conflick could be great material for an all Klingon Star Trek campaign.

Fable: The Balverine Order by Peter David

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’ll admit, I’ve recently become weary of licensed novels, so under normal circumstances I would have left this book on the shelf at the local book store, but two things persuaded me to pick it up: 1)it was written by Peter David, one of my favorite authors and 2) it was 70% off.

I’m glad that I picked this book up. It had travel without feeling like a “travel adventure” book, it had great characters, an awesome build up, and a satasfying finish that has left me hoping that Peter David gets to write another one of these. It was also kind of nice to see that he managed to use references from the source games without really over using them.

While the Winter Witch was a travel story that didn’t feel like an adventure, this is a travel story that I would have no trouble classifying as an adventure. It was fun, it had a great sense of scope, it felt like the different areas visited were distinct and plan to rip off a few of them (I mean “homage”) for an upcoming game.

Book Review Friday: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2e, World War Hulk, Voyage of the Mourning Dawn, Conspiranoia!

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Oct 282011

This week I review a grim world of perelous adventure, a comic where the writers just don’t care, a novel where the author obviously does care and a guide that may know too much! Let me know what you think in the comments.

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: A Grim World of Perilous Adventure by Green Ronin

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I have mixed feelings about this RPG. On the one hand I hate the setting. I hate the heavy handed grim darkness of all of Games Workshop’s IP, and warhammer fantasy has always felt like someone just took a bunch of fantasy tropes and threw them in a blender with half a gallon of despair and a jar of dirt.

On the other hand I once played through a year long WHFRPG 2e campaign run by a fantastic game master who managed to make the game enjoyable despite the crapsack setting. I have a few fond memories from that campaign that colors this review.

On yet still another hand (we’re up to three) I feel that the mechanics of the RPG itself, seperated from the setting, are easy to use and allow for a variety of character choices that matter (or would if you didn’t have to work against the random career thing) but there are a few issues that keep me from being able to recommend it as a good RPG engine. For example, the way the combat initiative works you might as well not bother rolling to see who goes first as it will be very rare for combat order to deviate from one fight to the next. My dwarf character always and without exception went last in combat. That might have not been an issue were it not for the two archers that were able to end almost every fight before it started, leaving me nothing to do. (I ended up annoying the GM a bit because I resorted to bringing a book to the games to read when combat started, because it would almost always end before it rolled around to my turn to act.) This game is only well loved because the critical hit charts go into gory details describing someone’s death.

If you like random character creation, random character death, and a setting devoid of any hope then this is the game for you.
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I’ve talked about the Warhammer Fantasy campaign I played in on the podcast. The campaign that That Damn Punk ran for the group was one of my favorites, but it was great only because he made it great.

World War Hulk by Greg Pak

My rating: 1 of 5 stars

This book really highlights why I wish they would have left the character on the alien planet of the previous year’s storyline for another year or two.

Short version: hulk was shot into space because Marvel didn’t want to have to deal with him during the Civil War storyline. While on the alien planet Hulk has some really awesome Conan and Spartacus style adventures and ends up in charge of the place (I personally would have stretched the adventure part out for another year before he gained control, but I don’t work at Marvel, so what do I know.) Some spoilery stuff happens, Hulk comes back to Earth, wrecks up New York while making some other heroes fight each other, then the book ends with the Hulk fighting the golden Deus ex Machina know as the sentry and giving up.

I was incredibly disappointed that they took one of my favorite characters from a setting that was perfect for him and brought him back to a place where no change can last longer than the development time for the next movie.
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I seriously hated how this series of issues was basically a hulk sized waste of everyone’s time and had no impact on the Marvel universe.

Voyage of the Mourning Dawn by Rich Wulf

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

So far this is my favorite novel set in Eberron. Most of the characters are well rounded. All of the side characters are developed enough that they don’t feel like they’re there just to dispense plot coupons. A lot of the book is travel from one location to another and the author does a good job of keeping it interesting and of making the different locations feel different. I’ve been really enjoying the action scenes, which for the most part fit into the story without any forcing on the part of the author. My only real complaint is the antagonist and his group aren’t really developed all that much, but I expect that is to keep the central mystery of the trilogy interesting.
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I’m in the process of reading all three novels in the trilogy and I meant it when I said that so far this is my favorite of the Eberron novels that I’ve read.

Conspiranoia!: The Mother of All Conspiracy Theories by Devon Jackson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a fun little book that will have you either laughing, scratching your head, or closing the blinds and huddling in the corner. The author manages to show you how all the biggest conspiracy theory targets are linked in a vast web of evil. The real treat is the flowchart infographic on the first page of every chapter. This is a great reference for any modern game of conspiracy and weirdness.

Running a campaign set in the modern day and want to add a little conspiracy? Look no further than this book. This is like a wikipedia of secrets, each entry is cross refrenced with each other to show the how and why of who and what.