I hadn't read any Forgotten Realms books in years, so when I saw this one on the 50 cent cart I thought that I would give it a shot.

While it wasn't bad, I can definitely see why it was only 50 cents. I'll need to re-read some of the older Forgotten Realms novels before I pass judgement on the entire setting of novels, but if this is the track that the newer novels have gone, I'm not thrilled.

My biggest criticisms of the book are that instead of feeling like a novel, a lot of the time it just felt like a Dungeons & Dragons session. There were times throughout the book where I could just picture a group of friends sitting around the table and playing a rousing game. The characters were supposed to be novices just starting out on the path to adventure, yet from the beginning, they were just a bunch of bad-asses and never really struggled to succeed which would have made the book much more entertaining.

On the whole, I thought that this was an average novel which for me was a disappointment. I had higher hopes on my return to the Realm. I will be reading some of my old favorites again and will also give some of the newer offerings a chance. I would also like to look into some of Mr. Greenwood's other works as Spellfire is one that I remember as being a favorite in the Forgotten Realms cannon. ( )