Customer Reviews

Beyond the High Road (Forgotten Realms: The Cormyr Saga, Book 2)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Cormyr, Faerūns forest kingdom, steeped in lore and pride. Long has it stood against the shadows of evil, a bastion of hope against the evils of the world. But, how is one to battle a shroud of evil from within, forged by the nation itself over its long and storied history? A year has passed since King Azoun IV lay awaiting death, incapacitated by an assassin's plot. Cormyr has survived the near loss of her king, but untold evils lie awaiting their opportunity to devour the lands unaware of the danger.

"Beyond the High Road" is the second in the, thus far, marvelous Cormyr Saga. The first title, "Cormyr: a Novel" by Greenwood and Grubb, functioned as a stand-alone title, this title does not. In no way does that diminish its value, or its success as a novel. That is not to say it requires you to read the precursor, but doing so will only serve to enhance the plot and the depth to the characters, whereas it will become vitally important to obtain and read the following title. In regards to the author, oft times Mr. Denning has been accused of "not doing his homework" when it came to realms consistency-the prime example being a Shou Embassy in Elversult-nevertheless, he's done his research for this title. His handling of the characters, and their personal voice and ambiance are seamless with previous works. His handling of such renowned characters as: King Azoun IV, both of his daughters, and especially Vangerdahast, is wonderful. This is without a doubt his finest realms work to date, and not to be missed.

Further, Tanalasta the much-maligned crown princess is handled extremely well. I cannot in good truth say I like her in the slightest, or that I wish her upon the Cormyte people; but she is handled with a consistency befitting her personality, and past representations. It is true, as another reviewer stated, I wouldn't mind her death, but she is the least of my worries as I look forward to the third act in this saga, this August's "Death of the Dragon" by Ed Greenwood and Troy Denning. The last chapters of this book leave me with many questions unanswered, but I do not feel jaded, as though the answers are not forthcoming. Moreover, if you have waited until now to read this book I envy you even more. If you are an avid reader of all things Faerūnian, or merely a fan of fantasy fiction, you will enjoy this title (along with the predecessor), I urge you to order them now, you will not regret it.

If you need closure to a book, you might want to wait for the sequel and buy both at the same time. This is just an appetizer, the main course is to come. Tanalasta has improved since Cormyr the novel. She is driven and focused now. The creatures were vivid and chilling. I didn't put it down till the end and can't wait for the sequel!

Troy Denning's "Beyond the High Road" is set in the Forest Kingdom of Cormyr, in the wildly popular Forgotten Realms. This novel continues the saga of Cormyr, and in particular Vangerdahast, Azoun, and the two crown Princess'. Denning shows us his best face in this book. He has obviously done his research into Realms Lore; and his depiction of the characters, following so closely on the heels of "Cormyr: A Novel", both in Realms time and our own is seemless! The story is full of the classic elements, character growth, flawed heroes, the whole showboat. A top notch book, and a must have for any fan of the Realms. The end will leave you thirsting for more (Which you'll get next August in "Death of the Dragon").

Having read many of Troy Denning's other books, I was expecting this book to be far more self contained than it was. In his previous books, even novels that were part of a trilogy stood alone fairly well. Unfortunately, this is not the case with this book. Virtually the whole book is a set-up for the next book in the series. (Which to make matters worse, is a hardcover, forcing the reader to pay quite a bit more money to find out what happens next, or wait another year for the paperback.) I applaud TSR for actually putting out a FR novel where something happens, but I would rather have had a least a partial resolution by the book's end. This book does have good qualities: Denning's plotting and writing style do a good job of keeping the reader's interest. On the other hand, I found that the story seemed to jump around and skip parts too often. Also, many of the characters act rather foolish at times. For example, even after they find that the Ghazneths (the main foes of the book) are largely immune to magic, they keep blasting away at them with spells. All in all I'd recommend waiting for the next book to come out before reading this one.

While Forgotten Realms books are entertaining, over the years I've seen them too frequently become a little predictable and simplistic. BEYOND THE HIGH ROAD mostly (thus 4 stars instead of 5) rises above that, with several twists and turns turns that held my interest, along with good characterizations and solid prose. I've only read a couple of Denning's other novels, but I was impressed with them and I'm impressed with BEYOND THE HIGH ROAD--an intelligent, well-written fantasy novel. I'm looking forward to Denning's additions the the Star Wars: New Jedi Order series!

Troy Denning's "Beyond the High Road" is set in the Forest Kingdom of Cormyr, in the wildly popular Forgotten Realms. This novel continues the saga of Cormyr, and in particular Vangerdahast, Azoun, and the two crown Princess'. Denning shows us his best face in this book. He has obviously done his research into Realms Lore; and his depiction of the characters, following so closely on the heels of "Cormyr: A Novel", both in Realms time and our own is seemless! The story is full of the classic elements, character growth, flawed heroes, the whole showboat. A top notch book, and a must have for any fan of the Realms. The end will leave you thirsting for more (Which you'll get next August in "Death of the Dragon").

Though it seems like tsr is trying to say that this is a sequel to Cormyr: A Novel -- it's really not. This book is not only more interesting, but much more focussed and just more intelligent in every way. Something big is obviously being set up in this book and you shoiuld miss it at your own risk. Troy Denning gets better and better with age and experience and though I've heard that some FR fans don't like him for some reason. This book is exciting, thought-provoking and flat out excellent. Denning is shaping up to be the best (maybe not the most popular) writer in the FR series. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for people with a brain and those over the age of 12.

I have found Mr. Denning to be one of TSR's better authors, particularly when he is given a plot to work with, and he delivers once again with "Beyond the High Road." His protagonists are developed nicely, and the plot moves along at a satisfactory pace. On the other hand, we're given little in the way of background or character development of the mysterious ghazneths, who otherwise make intriguing villains. I can only assume that all will become clear in the next book; as a previous reviewer pointed out, this book is clearly a setup for the hardcover "Death of the Dragon," due out later this year. If you're bothered by a book that leaves you hanging, wait until summer 2000 or so to read this one.

A long time fan of the Forgotten Realms, I've read all the novels to date. Some have been excellent, some average, some bad and some terrible. But this is quite a way above average.

Many of the books in this series have suffered, in my opinion, from irrelevance. Others have been plagued by the reader *knowing* that the author won't kill off the main characters. But "beyond the high road" exhibits neither of these problems. The characters and events are important to the future of the realms, especially the favourite little kingdom of Cormyr. And there is no reason to believe that all the characters, even the royalty, will be alive at the end of the book.

I will admit that for much of the book I thought it was fairly standard. But at the end was a twist that I was not expecting, and upon reflection that changed my whole outlook of the novel.

If you are a fan of the Forgotten Realms, even if you haven't read any other FR novels, I highly recommend this one.

I usually enjoy Troy Denning's Forgotten Realms books, but this one is a mess. First, my copy of the book gives absolutely no indication that it is the second part of a trilogy. A few dozen pages in, I was very confused at the mention of crucial events that I only had vague memories of, having read part one several years ago.

This book starts out slow, then it gets slower. The entire first half of the book is a mind-numbingly boring exploration of Cormyrian politics between King Azoun, various noble families, his 30-something daughter and Vangerdahast, the walking cliche who acts as royal wizard. Nothing happens. Plot elements are introduced willy nilly - some kind of blight is affecting crops throughout the land; the king's other daughter hasn't returned from some kind of quest or mission or something; there's some kind of elaborate intrigue that involves the king and queen, Vangerdahast and trying to get the king's daughter and heir to the throne to marry a noble and produce a heir of her own, but it's so boring and confused that I have no idea who wants what; the daughter humiliates some noble she was supposed to be engaged to, possibly because she had some kind of religious vision and wants to open a temple, and doesn't want to be queen.

Finally, the action starts, but things don't get much better. Everything seems disconnected and confused. The main characters are suddenly off running around the wilderness chasing each other, running into the bad guys (orcs and some kind of demon creatures called Ghazneths). The Ghazneths are cool and are occasionally used to good effect, such as when one of them captures the queen and submits her to his lewd and lurid delusions, and the strange madness that affects anyone in their presence, but Denning fails to exploit them to full effect. Instead of creepy, disturbing creatures, he just uses them as invincible war machines, almost as boring as Cormyrian politics. I think the Ghazneths are all unique, each one with its own physical traits, but I'm not sure because Denning only describes two of them. The rest are just weapons hurling themselves around in pointless battle scenes.

More plot elements are tossed into the mix (meanwhile, many of the previous ones have never been mentioned again). There's some kind of mud fortress that appears in a swamp; Vangerdahast leads an assault on it, though I have no idea why; there's a lame romance subplot complete with a fairly graphic love scene that seemed inappropriate; there's something about ancient elven runes and Cormyrian ancestors turning into Ghazneths; and a foolish ongoing conflict between Vangerdahast and a priest.

I wish I hadn't wasted my time reading this.