City of Torment: Abolethic Sovereignty, Book II [Mass Market Paperback]

Bruce R. Cordell (Author)

Book Description

Release date: September 1, 2009 | Series: Abolethic Sovereignty (Book 2)

Lovecraftian horror from award-winning Forgotten Realms® game designer Bruce R. Cordell.

Raidon Kane travels to the subterranean fortress of the somnambulant aboleths, bent on killing the Eldest in its sleep. But he isn’t the only one bound for the hidden city. A warlock, an arch fey, a pirate, and a high priestess of the Abolethic Sovereignty all have designs of their own on the Eldest–if they don’t kill each other first.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Wizards of the Coast; First Thus edition (September 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786951842
• ISBN-13: 978-0786951840
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 0.9 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #781,224 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Hi! I'm the author of several Forgotten Realms novels, including Darkvision, Stardeep, the Abolethic Sovereignty trilogy (Plague of Spells, City of Torment, and Key of Stars), and the Sword of the Gods books (Sword of the Gods, and Spinner of Lies).

I'm also an Origins and ENnie award-winning game designer with a sizeable list of professional credits, including the new Gamma World game, Player's Handbook 3 for 4th Edition, and the Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide. Right now, I'm a designer working on D&D Next.

I summarize myself as so: Author, science groupie, martial artist dilettante, stumbler through life's thorny briars.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars His best to date! September 8, 2009

By Todd A. Dail

Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Bruce Cordell has the ability to write characters that are not only electric and exciting but afford the reader the ability to relate on a real and emotional level. Though marketed as a Raidon Kane adventure it is Mr. Cordells brilliant character development in "City of Torment" that, dare I say, rivals even the best Forgotten Realms novels. Each Character in "City of Torment" has so much depth they could have there own novel. I must say that this book only gets better with every page and builds to a fabulous ending as any good fantasy novel should. I highly recomend the "Abolethic Sovereignty" series including "City of Torment" as a must have for your fantasy collection.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Life after Spellplague November 28, 2009

By Robert "Dimndbangr" Hicks VINE™ VOICE

Format:Mass Market Paperback

City of Torment: Abolethic Sovereignty, Book II is the second novel in the Abolethic Sovereignty trilogy by Bruce R. Cordell. The first is Plague of Spells: Abolethic Sovereignty, Book I and the third one, Key of Stars is to be released in November 2010.

City of Torment (CoT) continues about a tenday after the conclusion of Plague of Spells (PoS). The main plot is a bit of the same as PoS except with the events that happened at the end of PoS, CoT takes on a more dangerous venture with a trip to Xxiphu (pronounced Zee-Fu :) There are a few sub plots developing throughout such as Japheth's path to right a wrong no matter the consequences, Raidon's quest to abolish all aberrations, Seren's uncovered past, Thoster's unknown lineage, Anusha's plight, and a couple others that may lead to spoilers.

I will have to say that I was impressed with the depth of Mr. Cordell gave his characters this time around. They all felt more natural and real. Each had their own voice and motivations. Their actions equally moved the plot as well as the plot moved their decisions and actions. For me, I feel that Raidon was the only main character that I really didn't care for as much. He is not a horrible character, but he felt a bit emotionless to me. I did connected much better with Thoster and Seren in this novel. I am really looking forward to delving more into their pasts and seeing how they develop more in the next book. Anusha was also a better character this time. Japheth started out ok. I wasn't as engaged with him at first as I was in PoS, but he did get better along the way and I did end up enjoying his character as much as before. There are also a couple other characters I did not care for, one was Behroun and the other Malyanna. They seemed to just pop in every not and then for no further reason than to move a plot point. Oh yeah, one other character that I enjoyed and continue to do so is Neifion. He adds a wonderful demonic feel to the book. I have a lot of fun reading his scenes.

The book flows rather well. Each chapter gives the reader what is going on with the differing groups of characters and weaves them together nicely towards the end. The pacing is well balanced giving some breathing room before the action. Speaking of action, I feel that Mr. Cordell does for hand-to-hand combat what Mr. Salvatore does for fencing. The depictions are really good and easy to follow. From every flex of the wrist to hop toss to swing kick is easily visualized.

Some criticisms

1. I felt there could have been more feeling given to Raidon's character. I'm not sure if this was done on purpose because of traumatic events that happened in PoS and the influence that is felt with the presence of the sword Angul, but I wanted to care about his character more.

2. The few scenes with Behroun and Malyanna felt like they were just there to add a plot point or move a plot line further. The only thing that was really added to the story, to me, was the twist with one of the other characters, which I did like.

3. For as fearsome as the aboliths are built up to be, they seemed to be treated as just so much fodder in this book. I felt that I was being given the feeling of a group of monsters that were not to be trifled with and yet they seemed way too easy to kill. I would go more into detail with this, but I feel that it would spoil a plot point.

Some positives

1. The characters this time around had a better feel to them. Where PoS was more plot establishment and development with character introductions, CoT was more character driven and so I enjoyed the characters more. Even some of the side characters begged for notice and were not forgotten.

2. The character development was more even and felt right. Anusha's character develops a bit more, but not at the excelled rate that she did in the first book. Most of the characters are more well rounded now.

3. Mr. Cordell still knows how to get his vision out there. He paints the canvas with words of color and vivid detail without over describing everything.

As much as I enjoyed this novel, I would have liked to give it 5 stars, 4 1/2 for sure if that option was available, but I feel that Mr. Cordell has more he can give to shine brighter. PoS lets us know the consequences of the spell plague, and CoT just furthers those consequences. I'm really looking forward to Key of Stars. For people who want to get into the realms post spell plague and get a feel for 4E characters, I would definitely recommend this trilogy. If you are looking into trying the fantasy genre, this also would not be a bad start.

-Dimndbangr

5.0 out of 5 stars good read March 31, 2013

By skot

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Read it! It was slow to start but well worth getting into. A good way to pass the time.
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