Sour pickles, I somehow managed to lose my previous review, I think. Let me hit the highlights.

I enjoyed this book much more than Elminster in Hell. This is much more a normal book, with a better plot and a storyline. I can pick out names and alignments better, though my hold on some relationships are still tentative.

The characterization was an improvement on EIH. Elminster seems more human and approachable here, not just Elminster who bears all torture and wins and recovers. The plot twist at the very end was especially fun.

This is the last Elminster book the library has, except for the Annotated Elminster, which I hope to read but is overdue, probably long overdue.

I am pretty much looking forward to trying Ed Greenwood's other books.

I would be interested in finding a small intimate group that I could learn to play D&D, Forgotten Realms, etc. I would like to see how the FR universe is turned into a game.

Theresa ( )

This book was a real disappointment. I like Ed Greenwood's writing usually, and the Forgotten Realms as a setting, but this book was just plain bad. After reading this, I now know why so many people hate the character of Elminster.
In his early books Ed Greenwood packed in too much action, usually whole chapters went by without a break from combat. At least this book broke from that, but instead, I don't think a page went by without at least one spell being cast, or a mage performing some super powerful act. It also featured what felt like a 10 chapter rooftop chase (maybe it was really only 3 chapters) that dragged on and on and on.
His portrayal of Elminster the mage as a sort of wizardly James Bond combined with more magic than Gandalf ever thought of just makes for a distasteful combination. This book also doesn't really tell you anything you didn't already know about the characters or the Forgotten Realms, so there's really no point in reading it.
I like the Forgotten Realms and used to love reading about Elminster and other characters, but this was just not of the same quality at all.
I barely made it through the book. ( )