Customer Reviews

The Best of the Realms, Book 2: The Stories of Ed Greenwood (Forgotten Realms Anthology)

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While Best of the Realms Book II contains some interesting tales, it is mostly for fans of both the Forgotten Realms and Ed Greenwood's writing. Where the stories themselves are intriguing, a casual reader may quickly and easily find themselves lost due to Realms concepts and terminologies which are not explained. This is compounded by Greenwood's writing style which is excessively fanciful, with adjectives and adverbs used recklessly with every turn of phrase. While Greenwood is far from a bad author, neither is he easy to digest.

Authoring aside, the short stories themselves differ greatly in theme and genre. This is refreshing and is exactly what I like in an anthology. Sadly, as is Greenwood's penchant, several stories seem written solely to spotlight the characters he created, most notably Elminster and Storm. Other than examples in character study, these particular tales fall deathly short on substance. Luckily, Ed Greenwood has the whole of the Realms to write about and this is where his stories truly shine.

The best reason of all to read this book is Ed Greenwood's new tale 'The Long Road Home' which gives us a glimpse at the rough times the kingdom of Cormyr went through after the fall of it's beloved King Azoun IV. As a fan of the Realms, I found the subject inticing and the story was one of the few I felt real satisfaction after having read. It is also one of the more accessible stories for readers fairly new to the Realms.

The Best of the Realms Book II contains both exhilerating and exasperating stories. While some felt as if they were drifting aimlessly (and at times very slowly) towards a lacklustre finish, several had me truly entwined in the telling until the end. I only wish every end was fulfilling.

This book contains a nice selection of short stories written by Ed Greenwood, the creator of the Forgotten Realms. This is a curious collection of shorts. Some of his best short stories are included in this collection, while others are but strange and wondrous oddities. This is an eclectic but satisfying mix. The short story seems to be the ideal fit for Greenwood's writing style. These are excellent stories that paint a beautiful picture of the Forgotten Realms, and the folk who call it home.