Key of Stars (Forgotten Realms: Abolethic Sovereignty) [Mass Market Paperback]

Disclaimer-If you read the review and feel there is a spoiler in it, please let me know and I will remove that section. Also, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. Thank you.

Key of Stars is the final book in the Abolethic Sovereignty trilogy. The first book is Plague of Spells and the second is City of torment. Another book that has roots in the trilogy is Stardeep which is a part of the Dungeons series.

Key of Stars picks up after the events in City of Torment. The threat of the Abolethic Sovereignty still looms and the main characters have to figure out what move to make next to stop it. The Key of Stars may be the answer. Some subplots involve Raidon overcoming some revelations he experienced, revenge against one of the other main characters, another characters unknown heritage, a love interest, and a few more which would lead to spoilers.

I really enjoyed this novel. For me it was fast paced and moved along nicely. I had a hard time putting this one down. There is a little bit of jumping around, but it didn't detract from the story as a whole. It was nice to see the antagonist's side of things and what they were doing as well as the main character's adventures. Though there are some predictable elements to the story, there were also some nice surprises I was not expecting. Another element in this series of books is based on Lovecraftian horror. If you are not familiar with the Chthulu mythos and Dagon, you may be a little lost in that aspect. You don't need to have a firm understanding of H. P. Lovecraft's works to enjoy this trilogy, but is does help to enhance the enjoyment of it. I also felt the character development was well done and enjoyed seeing the characters dealing with their inner issues and changing as the story progresses. I felt it made sense and added to the overall enjoyment.

Some Criticisms:

1. I have read another review on Goodreads.com where the individual complained about the superhero type vibe to the main characters and I have to say that I can understand and concur with that criticism. It seemed that no matter what happened to them, they were able to heal quickly and get back into the fight. There was no real sense of fallibility to them is this regard, as if there was no real danger to their lives.

2. There were a few mistakes in the editing that hindered the readability of this one though not as bad as I have seen in past FR novels, but it did take a little away from the flow of the book.

3. There was one scene that I can't remember off hand, but it was one of those parts in the book where after you read it, you are like, "Really?" So I just laughed it off and moved on and still enjoyed the rest of the book.

Some Positives:

1. Mr. Cordell has a hobby in learning astrology and he uses his knowledge to create a nice descriptive cosmic/dimensional feel to the latter part of the book. For those who understand the lore of Lovecraft, they will really know what I mean. Also, Mr. Cordell did a better job of keep this one from feeling as Sci-fi compared to other books he has written, Stardeep comes to mind here.

2. The characters were a joy to read and I was able to connect with every one of them. They were re-introduced with just enough information to remind the reader of what happened before without getting too wordy. Their development made sense and followed along nicely with the story. I am one of those readers who love the positive direction of the way characters develop and so that is one of the reasons I enjoyed the development so much.

3. Mr. Cordell did a great job of concluding all the open plot points in this one. He even gave a snippet of letting the characters have an opening for further adventures, albeit in a different book and a different time. Basically, the question of "What are you going to do next?" is answered with the characters plans.

4. Once again, Mr. Cordell's martial arts training is prevalent in this one. The detailed descriptions of the hand to hand combat are as good as R. A. Salvatore's descriptions of fencing. I was really engaged and felt like I was watching some of the old martial arts movies I enjoyed as a kid.

This was a great conclusion to the trilogy and I enjoyed every moment of this one. Aside from the few criticisms, this could have been a 5 star rating for me, but I still am leaning toward wanting to give it a 4.5 but of course that is not an option. If you like fantasy and Lovecraftain horror, you will really enjoy this one. I will say this one is not for everyone judging by some of the reviews. If you would like to have a better understanding of some of the Lovecraft elements, I recommend just researching or reading one of his short stories as H.P. Lovecraft is not an author for everyone. For me, I was very much entertained by Key of Stars and I hope you are too.

Happy reading.

-Dimndbangr

Key of Stars by Bruce R. Cordell- This is the third and final book in the Abolethic Sovereignty trilogy. The first book is Plague of Spells and the second book is City of Torment. The trilogy is set in the Forgotten Realms setting of the role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons. Bruce R. Cordell has written a number of books set in this setting. These include; Lady of Poison (The Priests series), Stardeep (The Dungeons series), and Darkvision (The Wizards series). He's also written a novel under the pen name T. H. Lain called Oath of Nerull. He has also contributed to a number of anthologies and written a few short stories, along with writing a few roleplaying adventures and source books. Key of Stars was released September 2010 and published by Wizards of the Coast, LLC.

The story picks up a few days after the events in City of Torment. The city called Xxiphu is now floating above the Sea of Fallen Stars after the heroes barely escaped. Now they are recovering from the ordeal at Anusha's home. Anusha wants the group to try to stop the aboleth's from whatever it is they attend to do to the world. However, the group wants to relax and reflect on what has happened. Japheth, a warlock, is down in the catacombs of the estate tinkering with a golem to be the body of Anusha's friend's, Yeva, soul. Raidon Kane, a monk and the barer of The Cerulean Sign and the sword Angul, is slowly falling into a depression over the loss of his daughter. He turns to the bottle for comfort. We then see Captain Thoster having repairs done to his ship. The mage, Seren, is trying to gather money to repay her debts to Thay. After they all take care of business, they return to Anusha's home, only to find Japheth's old master, Neifion in the catacombs attacking the warlock. The group comes to his aid, but it's Raidon who finally drives the Lord of Bats away. After finally having everyone there, Anusha calls for a meeting to see what their next steps are. The group decides to go after Xxiphu and Malyanna, who is trying to bring about the Abolethic Sovereignty, however, Seren decides to take care of her business instead and departs. After the plans are made, the group sets off to save the world, but are they already too late?

Criticisms:
1) Pacing. The biggest problem with the book is the meandering pacing. The story progresses at such a slow pace that at times I fell asleep while reading. For two-thirds of the story it seems like nothing is really going on. There were some times when the story did pick up, but it quickly became slow and plodding. Some of the blame can be thrown at the disappointing characters, but I'll talk about that in due time. The pacing was so slow that at times I became increasingly frustrated during reading. It just seemed like almost nothing was going on and it was too slow to keep my attention focused on it for long stretches.
2) Characters. The characters have to be the biggest disappointment of the book. They didn't have any real development, aside from Japheth's and Anusha's relationship. The biggest offender is Raidon Kane. For about eighty percent of the book, he came off as little more than an annoying and whiny character. I understand how the loss of his daughter would have affected him, and I was impressed during those times. However, instead of feeling bad about his daughter, he dwells on his long lost mother. All I have to say is why? He barely ever talked about her in the previous two books. He mentioned her once in a while, but he never brought up his feelings about his mother leaving him. That whole character point just came across as poorly planned and sudden. Malyanna is the only character that I couldn't stand. Why? Because she was little more than a horribly cliché James Bond villain, hell-bent on destroying the world. In City of Torment she had an interesting personality, but in Key of Stars she has nothing. She's little more than a generic villain. I didn't feel anything towards her. She didn't evoke anything out of me. Captain Thoster is a decent character that needed more time to explain things with. His hidden past/ background needed to be explored a little more for someone to understand what is going on with him. Instead, everything is left unexplained and unsaid. Yeva is just, well, there. She doesn't do much of anything so I can't really say much about her other than why was she even included? Taal, Malyanna's assistant, was really hard to pin down. He had some good moments, but overall he was little more than what Yeva was. He had a bigger part, but ultimately I just didn't care about him enough. Neifion, the Lord of Bats, is wasted. His total scene time is about twenty pages at best and he just shows up and leaves. He didn't add anything and didn't have that menacing presence he had in the previous books. Overall the characters were underwhelming, underdeveloped, and were extremely disappointing.
3) Confusing. Even with the slow pacing, I had trouble trying to understand what was happening. I still have no idea what the Abolethic Sovereignty is, what the Far Manifold is, or the whole point of the story was. This is where the frustration comes in. Nothing was explained, or if it was I don't remember the explanation because it was either forgettable or poorly explained. I had no idea why the events were so important other than it could destroy the world. Which in itself, isn't a good way to explain things. I can't even accurately explain what was so confusing, because I was that confused.

Praises:
1) Japheth and Anusha. The relationship between Japheth and Anusha was the only real good thing with the characters. Japheth had a very different personality then he did in the previous books, but you understood why and what caused it. You could almost feel the way Japheth loves Anusha, and that love improves as the story progresses. Anusha has the most development as the story goes on. You started to see her grow as a character in City of Torment and it only improves here. Now she acts almost like the leader of the group, taking charge of things. However, the story is almost yanked away from these two in favor of Raidon, which I think was a mistake. For me, Japheth and Anusha carried the story.
2) Climax. The climax of the story was very exciting and was a pretty epic moment, aside from the cheesy moment at the end. I really can't go into too much detail, but this pay-off was worth the wait. The final battle was written extremely well with each person playing a specific role. However, the ending was very predictable, but it still was nail-bitingly good.

Side Notes:
1) Seren. What happened to Seren? She was an amazing secondary character, and I sorely missed her witty humor and presence. I just hope that somewhere down the line we see what happened with her and if she dealt with her problems. I almost think that if Seren stayed with the group, the story would have been better.
2) Stardeep. You may need to read Stardeep to understand some of the things that happen in the story. I have yet to read Stardeep so I may have missed out on some of the background of who the Traitor is. It shouldn't be required to read however.
3) Cover Art. The artwork itself is pretty good. Seeing Raidon jumping through a sea of tentacles is pretty exciting. However, it's too small. Way too small. The banner across the top is an eyesore and always seems to steal the focus. Also, the title on the bottom takes up too much space. Why couldn't we just have a full-page of the artwork?

Overall: 2/5
Final Thoughts:
Key of Stars was disappointing. The previous book, City of Torment, was amazing, and I've been eagerly awaiting for the release of Key of Stars. However, Key of Stars never really improved on what the previous book did. In fact it seemed to have taken two giant steps backward. The story unfolds at a snail's pace and almost seems like nothing is happening. It didn't help that it was hard to understand the importance of everything and having almost nothing really explained. The characters, for the most part, were disappointments. Raidon was little more than a whiny annoyance, Malyanna was a generic Bond villain with little motivation, and the rest were shells of their former selves. However, Japheth and Anusha were great. You really do see the change in them. I have to ask again, what happened with Seren? I really missed her and her witty remarks. Also, the climax was very exciting and nail-biting. When all is said and done, is Key of Stars worth picking up? I'd have to say no, unless you want to finish the trilogy or are a fan of the Forgotten Realms. Otherwise, you may be as disappointed as I am.

Bought this for my husband to add to his collection. This book was not in new condition but, it was the only one available.I wish I had realized the book was in this condition before I purchased it. Next time I'll purchase through an Amazon Prime Dealer.