This was a wonderful adventure. Baylee, a ranger, whose companion is a female telepathic bat (Azmyth Bat) named Xuxa, is spurred onto an adventure to discover the Lost Library of Cormanthyr. This is 1 of 4 standalone books in a grouping called the Lost Empires. This journey has dark elves (drow), skeleton warriors, a lich and a festival of rangers! Priests, mages, rangers and magical items. The story flows well but my hero is Xuxa, who keeps eyes out for Baylee so he can take on his adventure! ( )

I enjoyed the pace and balance in this book. Characters were sufficiently developed though not always deeply. The plot was neither linear nor totally scattered. My only criticism would be the rather abrupt ending; With only 30 pages left you are just getting to the finale. This type of ending left me without a good closure. This would make for a great first books in a series but I'm not sure if the author has written any other books continuing the adventures of the protagonist. ( )

A fairly standard Forgotten Realms book but well done ( )