1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
City of Torment by Bruce R. Cordell, February 10, 2010
This review is from: City of Torment: Abolethic Sovereignty, Book II (Mass Market Paperback)
City of Torment by Bruce R. Cordell- This is the second book in the Abolethic Sovereignty, with the first book called Plague of Spells and the third and final book called Key of Stars (due out in late 2010), all set in the Forgotten Realms universe. Bruce R. Cordell is the author of other Forgotten Realms novels and has contributed a few short stories to various anthologies. His other Forgotten Realms novels include; Stardeep (which is part of The Dungeon series of stand-alone novels), Darkvision (which is part of The Wizards series of stand-alone novels), and Lady of Poison (which is part of The Priests series of stand-alone novels). Some characters from the novel Stardeep also appear in this trilogy.
The story is continues from where the last book, Plague of Spells. A tenday has passed after the viscous fight against the kraken. We find Japheth taking over a gang of thugs to extort their 'profits' so he can find some way to free Anusha from the Dreamheart. During his efforts, Raidon Kane is hunting down Japheth for stealing the Dreamheart, with the crew of the Green Siren, the same crew as in the first book, helping him. The captain, Thoster, and the mage, Seren, are helping in the search. Then we find Anusha trapped in the aboleth city called Xxiphu in her 'dream-walk' state hoping to find a way out. As Japheth frees Anusha, she returns for a few minutes before being sucked back into Xxiphu, only this time she isn't trapped. Raidon and the others barge in of Japheth, forcing him to flee into the Feywild, where his patron, the Lord of Bats, who granted him is warlock powers, is trapped. Angry at being unable to catch Japheth, Raidon and the others decide to travel down into Xxiphu to stop a being called the Eldest, who is part of the Dreamheart, from reawakening. Japheth meanwhile, decides to free his patron under the promise to not harm him and to save Anusha from the aboleths. Anusha, after being sent back to Xxiphu, finds that another being, who is also an invisible 'dream-walker', became freed from her entrapment and they team up to find a way to leave the city, but will they be able to and how will the duo find a way to return to their bodies? Will Japheth rescue Anusha and fight off the Lord of Bats? Will Raidon, Captain Thoster, and Seren find and kill the Elder before it's to late?
Negatives:
1) Descriptions. I didn't really like the descriptions. They seemed too vague and not really defined. When trying to mentally picture the aboleths, it was hard at first. They are better described later in the story, when we see more and more of them. Also, the characters descriptions seemed a little lacking. I don't really know why but it seems that they are generally faceless characters. Finally, the backgrounds were horribly described. Everything was so alien and vague that what was given didn't make much sense.
2) Abolethic Sovereignty. For the trilogy being named the Abolethic Sovereignty, I still have no idea what exactly it is. What is said about it is horribly mangled in jargon and babble that I have really no idea what's being explained. All I know is that it has to do with the aboleths, the Elder, and the end of the world. That's really everything I could come up with.
Positives:
1) Characters. The characters were just as good, if not better, than they were in Plague of Spells. Japheth had more depth added to him and it just made him a more likable character. Anusha, for all her blandness in lack of personality in the first book, gained a personality. Raidon, for the most part, stayed relatively the same. But the minor characters of the first book, Thoster and Seren, became more major characters. While in Plague of Spells, the two started to gain a bigger role in the last quarter of the book. In here, they become more prominent and are really great, wonderful character. Thoster is really likable with his carefree attitude. Seren is great because of her coldness and her past. Even the minor characters are great. The Lord of Bats is wonderfully vile and the eladrin Malyanna is just as twisted. It really seems that characters really improved greatly.
2) Flow. The story was an amazingly fast read. Due in most part to the characters and the fast paced story line. I just had a hard time putting the story done for to long. It felt almost like Japheth's itching hands when he hasn't taken is Traveler's Dust. I was just glued to everything.
3) Japheth Plot Line. I really enjoyed this plot a lot. The lengths he goes through to save Anusha was fun and exciting to read. I can't really say much about what makes it so great but I can say that (minor spoiler!) seeing him lose his powers and how helpless and useless he really is was really unexpected. It really just was an interesting, fun read.
Side Notes:
1) References. There is some great references to other authors work in here that I really enjoyed. There is talk about The Haunted Lands trilogy written by Richard Lee Byers and how that effects a character was fairly enjoyable.
2) Stars. I'm really interested about the stars mentioned within the story. I can't say much, but it perked my interest and I do hope it's explored further in the next book.
3) Cover Art. I really enjoy this. I like the colors, the purples, black, and yellowish golds really catch you eyes. Also, there is a lot of subtle things in the background, with figures in the purple and the glowing sword the character is wielding. It's just interesting. Plus I know who is on the cover, which is definitely a plus. It's Anusha if you would like to know.
Overall: 5/5
Final Thoughts:
The story is far better than Plague of Spells. There are no odd fitting big words, all the characters are interesting, and everything flowed much smoother. This is a vast improvement. Even the negatives I had weren't that terrible and or all that noticeable. I really enjoyed the story and everybody in it.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Life after Spellplague, November 28, 2009
This review is from: City of Torment: Abolethic Sovereignty, Book II (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
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