Realms of Shadow (Forgotten Realms: Return of the Archwizards) (Mass Market Paperback)

Many stories within this book are an imaginative and quite humorous read, the Artemis Entreri and Jarlaxle short making the entire collection worthwhile. 'Realms of Shadow' lets us know more about the return of the City of Shade, the long lost Netheril city, and does much to educate those that need to know more.

All in all a worthwhile buy. Only lacking the 5th star because without the 'Return of the Archwizards' Trilogy, the book wouldn't be worth the money.

For anyone who knows bits about the D&d game (2nd edition) the whole archwizards trilogy is insuffcient. it offers for example, multiple explanations of the infamous "shadow weave," (around which the story revolves)and a different interpretation of it is given in each book, as to what it really is, that by the end of the trilogy, one thinks, is it definition a, b or c, and then when you read realms of shadow, an alternative explanation is invented yet again, given that most of the 4 books were written by one author, i find it incredibly annoying that he can change his mind so much, its so inconsistent.. it gives the impression that the author has written something but didnt actually know what he was writing about in the first place.

also, the trilogy story (on which this anthology is based) seems to stick to some of the AD&D gamne rules way too much, e.g. the silver fire of the chosen, true in the game it is one use per hour, but (oh for crying out loud) be slightly inventive, there are oher uses of it apart from treating it like a one shot laser gun. yes, most of the chosen are mages, but they are made deliberately to look so weak, and just your run of the mill spellcasters, with little imagination on spell use. whilst the shadow weave spells are so strong. The author never seemed to figure out that the chosen are chosen because they are incredibly resourceful and extraordinary characters, they are heroic and larger and life, embodying the virtues achieved with hundreds of years of life. here, their portrayal is nothing more than random people armed with a one hour per use weapon, they could be anyone. in other books these characters have an aura of mystery around them.. here we see none of the depth that makes them special.
They cold be any average person.

since in all interpretations of the weave, the shadow seems to be a mirror of the original, the changes to the original ought to reflect the shadow. of course not though, otherwise there would be no story! slightly unrealistic in the realm of the fantasy aspect of the story.

after reading the book, we get the idea, that the shadow magic is far more powerful than the normal weave magic, and as for the phaerimm, (these magical creatures feared by even the most powerful mages), well they are represented like harmless insects- they dont really put up much of a fight. this inconsistency is not how the dungeons and dragons game is, which makes the story really irrelevant to the game.

i suppose however the books have some literary value, its an interesting story if you ignore the many contradictions and the obvious uncertainty of the author when writing the books.