By Ian Strelec, Staff Reviewer

Available at FRP Games

Forgotten Realms: City of Splendors PB [Novel]
Retail $7.99 Sale $6.39

Initiative Round
City of Splendors is penned by authors Ed Greenwood and Elaine Cunningham reenwood is responsible for many novels, notably the Elminster series set in the Forgotten Realms. He's also...y'know...the creator of the Forgotten Realms. So he's got some pretty high expectations here. The book is published by Wizards of the Coast and is available as a mass market paperback or hardcover.

The book begins with a massive, full-scale attack on Waterdeep by a race of creatures called sahuagin. The Waterdhavian populace fondly refers to Sahuagin as "sea demons". During the attack, a desperate call is sent out for mages to aid them, and one young mage responds. During the fighting, the mage (whose name is Mrelder) meets the Open Lord of Waterdeep, who happens to be the bearer of a piece of armor capable of manipulating the colossal stone statues around the city to serve as soldiers. (For D&D players, these can be best imagined as stone golems on steroids) Mrelder, it just so happens, didn't come to the city for entirely benevolent reasons. He had, it seems, been trying to convince his father to come to the city.

His father, otherwise known as Golskyn of the Gods, is a powerful cleric of the Amalgamation, a priestly order of beastly gods without names that believe the true way to perfection is by hacking off one's own limbs and using magic to graft other, more powerful ones in their place. For example, the ones we get to see Golskyn use include tentacles grafted to his chest, a snake sprouting from his wrist, and a beholder eye put in place of his old one that can shoot a beam of fire from itself on command.

Of course, Mrelder's body had failed to accept the first graft that was attempted, an eye of some sort, and Golskyn continually mistreats and abuses his son. Despite it all, Mrelder desperately wants to earn his father's respect.

Meanwhile, a gang of noble youth with no responsibilities, the kind that are younger sons and will inherit nothing as far as responsibilities go, are running loose in the city. Far more concerned with fashion, honor, and mock battles, the nobles run amok at their leisure, causing rampant destruction for their own amusement and assuming they can make up for it simply by paying.

At the same time, a relatively poor temporary guildmaster of the Stonemasons' Guild named Varandros Dyre is making plans to try and oust the Masked Lords of Waterdeep. The city is ruled by one man who everybody knows named the Open Lord of Waterdeep, and many men that no one knows anything about called the Masked Lords. The Lords choose their own members, make every decision for Waterdeep, and transmit it to the people through the Open Lord. It should be understood that the Waterdhavian populace knows there are Masked Lords, just not who they are.

What happens when you toss this bunch into a pot and stir? Mass chaos of course! But it's up to you to figure out what kind of chaos.

Critical Hit
I have a tough time picking out specific details as to why this was a good book. The characters were intriguing and well-developed in most cases, the story was unique, the villains mildly disturbing, and the intrigues entertaining. It was a book I wanted desperately to keep reading.

Critical Fumble
The only problem that comes to mind is the ending. It is very much unsatisfying, leaving you wanting more and yet having to wonder if this will become a series. Were you to simply read the novel, it might seem like this was the first book in a series like it, but the title suggests this was a one-time thing. Who knows? Maybe that's what Greenwood and Cunningham were aiming for.

Coup de Grace
Overall, City of Splendors was a truly entertaining read. The plots were involving and numerous, the separate subplots and multiple storylines progressing alongside the main one all came together into a satisfying experience with an unsatisfying ending that leaves a great deal to the imagination. The book is solid and interesting and definitely something you should pick up if you have the time. For DMs especially, the incredible amount of ideas just waiting to be tapped within these pages are reason enough!

Final Grade: A