Arch Wizard (Falconfar Saga) [Hardcover]

Ed Greenwood (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 28, 2009 | Series: Falconfar Saga (Book 2)

Having been drawn into a fantasy world of his own creation, Rod Everlar continues his quest to defeat the corruption he has discovered within. He sets off in pursuit of the dark wizard Malraun, only to find that he has raised an army of monsters and mercenaries in order to conquer the world... “Best known as the creator of Forgotten Realms, the Dungeons & Dragons®-based heroic fantasy series, Greenwood continues to give his audience exactly what they want.” — Publishers Weekly “The richly detailed world of Falconfar might just convince you that Ed Greenwood, like the Dark Lord hero of this tale, does not create fantasy realms: he discovers them.” — Elaine Cunningham, New York Times best-selling author.

--This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Best known as the creator of Forgotten Realms, the Dungeons & Dragons®:-based heroic fantasy series, Greenwood continues to give his audience exactly what they want.”
– Publishers Weekly

“The richly detailed world of Falconfar might just convince you that Ed Greenwood, like the Dark Lord hero of this tale, does not create fantasy realms: he discovers them.”
– Elaine Cunningham, New York Times best-selling author.

“A master of fantasy world-building. His magic and wizardry are wondrous to all.”
– Margaret Weis, New York Times best selling author.
--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

About the Author

Ed Greenwood is known for his role in creating the Forgotten Realms setting, part of the world-famous Dungeons and Dragons® franchise. His writings have sold millions of copies worldwide, in more than a dozen languages. Greenwood resides in the Canadian province of Ontario. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Solaris; 1 edition (January 28, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1844165884
• ISBN-13: 978-1844165889
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,540,834 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ed Greenwood, creator of the Forgotten Realms setting, is the best-selling author of hundreds of novels, game products, and articles. His most recent novel for Wizards of the Coast is The City of Splendors, a collaboration with Elaine Cunningham. He is also the author of the Band of Four novels published by Tor Books.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Hoping this whiny hero steps up his game!!, July 22, 2010

By 

John Cunninghan "Mil-history Fanboy" (San Jose, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Arch Wizard (Falconfar Saga) (Mass Market Paperback)

The most glaring thing about this series so far is the fact that the main character, Rod Everlar (probably an anagram for something) is THE WHINIEST "hero" I've read since the Thomas Covenant books. He spends TWO books whining about how he's just a misplaced writer, pity poor me, yadda yadda. The difference is that at least Rod *accepts* he's in a strange new world -- but that hardly changes his behavior. I was expecting that, after the end of the first book "Dark Lord" Rod would be toughed up, possibly even a little nuts. See, Rod is betrayed, captured by a Doom and then tortured for a prolonged period by the evil Doom who dissects bits of Rod to see what will grow back. Nope. In Arch Wizard he's back to his whiny self (puking when he sees people killed) -- say, dude, didn't you spend an indeterminate amount of time being TORTURED in horrible ways after your lady love was stolen by yet another Doom?? Haven't you decided to get serious about this magic stuff you keep being baffled by?

Sheesh! Lots of other side plots, hard to keep interest the way Greenwood bounced back and forth between about 5-6 other character groupings. I hope in book three (which I may buy used this time) our whiny wizard steps it up and gets his butt into gear!!!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Falconfar, Book Two. Another cliff hanger ending., March 12, 2009

By 

Detra Fitch "Always hunting good books." (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Arch Wizard (Falconfar Saga) (Hardcover)

Rod Everlar, successful author of fantasy novels, never knew the fantasy world of Falconfar was real until the night Taeauna fell out of his dreams. Taeauna is one of the few Aumrarr left. They are a race of winged warrior women that once numbered in the hundreds or thousands. Taeauna had lost her wings in battle just prior to meeting Rod. The fantasy writer now dwells in Falconfar. He wants nothing to do with magic, though all call him a wizard. All Rod wants is to rescue Taeauna who was kidnapped by the wizard calling himself Malraun the Matchless.

Malraun has bespelled Taeauna's mind. She is now his bodyguard and minion. Malraun and Narmakoun scheme to kill each other and rule Falconfar. Soon Raurklor, hold of Ironthorn, will become the most important battleground of all.

Narmakoun, Doom of Galath, is a ruthless and manipulative wizard. With his dead female minions and the greatfangs he breeds, Narmakoun seeks the magic of Lorontar, the true Archwizard of Falconfar. Most believe Lorontar to be long dead. Narmakoun believes otherwise.

**** The first few pages tell "The Story Thus Far". This will refresh readers' minds of the events from the previous book (Dark Lord) and picks up where the cliff hanger ending left off. There is no single character the story follows. The cast of characters is large. (Named characters are listed in the back of the book with references as to their role in the saga.) I found the story to be wonderful, as all books I have ever read from this author are. Lots of scheming people, magic, and another cliff hanger ending (of course). Well worth your time and money; however, I suggest waiting until the third Falconfar title is released before beginning to read them. That way the ending of each will not be so disappointing. All-in-all, a brilliant saga! ****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

4.0 out of 5 stars Lots of magic and swordplay and daring do, March 11, 2010

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Arch Wizard (Falconfar Saga) (Mass Market Paperback)

In this sequel to Dark Lord, we return to the world of Falconfar, to find the Dooms of Falconfar locked in a life-and-death struggle. There are plots within plots, and as the Dooms struggle, they are tearing the world apart. And Rod Everlar, the erstwhile fantasy author, he still traverses Falconfar in his quest to find Taeauna, the wingless Aumrarr with whom he has fallen in love. Rod Everlar is determined to rescue Taeauna...if he can stay alive long enough to do it!

Overall, I must say that I enjoyed this book as much as I did the Dark Lord. I like the world of Falconfar, and I liked the nonstop action of the story that moves from crisis to crisis with virtually no letup. Just like in the first book, the sexuality of the story is disturbing and unnecessary - not interesting in an erotic way, and frankly off-putting. Also, another problem with this book is that, being the second book in a series, it has no real beginning and no real end. Some authors succeed in making each book in a series a complete stand-alone story, but sadly Mr. Greenwood did not do that with Arch Wizard.

But, nonetheless, I had a lot of fun with this book, and can't wait to get on to the third (and final?) book of the series. I like a fantasy story with lots of magic and swordplay and daring do, and I got plenty of each with this book. Not everyone likes this story, but I know that I do!