Crypt of the Moaning Diamond: The Dungeons [Mass Market Paperback]

Rosemary Jones (Author)

Book Description

Release date: November 27, 2007 | Series: The Dungeons

Explore the terrifying depths of the dungeons of Faerun with the merriest band of misfits to ever go adventuring with a little white dog!

The Siegebreakers are a tight-knit group of eccentric mercenaries who boast they can safely bring down the walls of any fortress, and will do so for the right amount of coin. But when the walls of their latest job crash down on their heads, trapping them in ruins treacherous with magic, monsters, and ever-rising water, it's all they can do to stay alive. Undaunted, the Siegebreakers are determined to escape and finish the job. If only the camel hadn't eaten their breakfast.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Of all the debut Forgotten Realms authors that have come out in recent years, I think I enjoyed Rosemary's writing the best. She reminds me a lot of Elaine Cunningham in writing technique. Both writers create relationships between their characters, as well as writing sword and sorcery action. - Grasping The Wind

From the Author

Folks have asked exactly when this adventure occurs. It takes place roughly 200 years before the Spell Plague and other major troubles in a far corner of the Realms. Tsurlagol is known as the Realms' most besieged city -- and every siege needs a few sappers to end it. Enter Ivy and her crew to take down the city walls.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 311 pages
• Publisher: Wizards of the Coast; First Edition edition (November 27, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786947144
• ISBN-13: 978-0786947140
• Product Dimensions: 4.3 x 0.9 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #660,982 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Rosemary Jones writes fantasy and collects children's books. Her young adult novel, Wrecker of Engines, explores the superhero haven Cobalt City and pits a modern day hacker versus a steampunk villain. It can be found in the ebook collection Cobalt City Rookies.

Her novels for Wizards of the Coast include City of the Dead (an adventure set in the graveyard of Waterdeep) and Crypt of the Moaning Diamond (underground mayhem complete with sorcery and a small white dog). Her latest Forgotten Realms serial adventure takes place in Neverwinter: Cold Steel & Secrets. All three are now available for Kindle.

Rosemary's short fiction occupies many different anthologies including Cobalt City Dark Carnival (Timid Pirate), When The Hero Comes Home (Dragon Moon), Cobalt City Timeslip (Timid Pirates), Close Encounters of the Urban Kind (Apex), Zero Gravity (Pill Hill), Realms of the Dead (WOTC), and others.

She is the co-author of the Encyclopedia of Collectible Children's Books and the recently released John Carter, Tarzan, and Friends: A Reader's Checklist.

A theater junkie since the age of 4, she now covers the arts in Seattle and has interviewed a truly eclectic and wonderful bunch of creative people over the years. They inspire her to keep typing!

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Review: Crypt of the Moaning Diamond February 26, 2008

By Epheros Aldor

Format:Mass Market Paperback

Crypt of the Moaning Diamond is the fourth book of the Forgotten Realms' stand alone series called The Dungeons; Depths of Madness, The Howling Delve, and Stardeep being the other three. In this book, Rosemary Jones tells an adventurous story about a little group of mercenaries called the Seigebreakers, whose good natured interest lies in tearing down fortifications.

In this novel, a force of orcs and hobgoblins has taken control of the city Tsurlagol, a city that has been built and rebuilt so many times the local history has lost count. Beseeched by Tsurlagol, the nearby king of Procampur has begun a campaign to aid their neighbor and take back the city. The king hires the Seigebreakers to find a way into the city that the Procampur army can use to rout the goblinkin.

Ivy, the leader of the mercenary band, develops a plan to bring down a wall by digging beneath and collapsing it. Her band of mercenaries consists of a half orc warrioress, a Genasi mage (a half water elemental), a Teifling rogue (a devil spawn), a dwarf, and dog named Wiggles. Their plot to take down the wall involves using the Genasi's gift with water magic by flooding the foundation to weaken it. To do this the mage draws water from a nearby underground river and diverts it using her magic. Overseeing the mercenary's work is a Procampur knight who seems to be the paragon of polite society.

Due to the nature of their plan, the ground of the dig site collapses sending the Seigebreakers and knight into the river below. After breaking free of the water and regrouping they find themselves stranded underground with a river fast rising around them and no way to control it. They soon discover that Tsurlagol's history isn't gone, just hidden deep beneath the current city.

Rosemary Jones' tale is more fun adventure than dark horror, as I was assuming the story would be. She still weaves an action filled, exciting story around great dialogue. Interspersed are some comedic moments and several gripping scenes where the characters get into bad to worse situations.

The story was great fun to read. Her mastery of good dialogue is wonderful and is kind of a breath of fresh air. This is definitely a high fantasy, dungeon crawl and does not falter in its delivery. She keeps the story moving between fast and faster as the characters are stuck in a dilemma that presents very little options. Each character has their own little personalities that make for compelling depth and allows the reader to find the one character they identify with.

Negative comments regarding this story are very few. The first being I expected more of a horrific story with very dark undertones. Not so, but I got over it quickly and enjoyed the book after easily getting into the story. The second being that it ended in a manner much different than I expected, like it just suddenly let go of the tension building desperation it gathered. The ending itself was entertaining and even though it was sort of anticlimactic in their escape from the dungeon, Rosemary Jones still told a fantastic story.

I'd recommend this to those who want an easy and fun read and enjoy the more adventure, sword and sorcery type tales. A keeper to be sure, just don't expect to be brought into a scary, dark tale of deadly survival. Entertaining!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Jones' Debut Novel Definitely Didn't Leave Me Moaning! January 10, 2011

By CR Hawk

Format:Mass Market Paperback

"Crypt of the Moaning Diamond: The Dungeons" is Rosemary Jones' debut novel; however, it's not the first book I read by this diverse author.

As you would expect from the title, this story falls within the fantasy realm. But, it includes some nice diversities, including a fun plot with plenty of action and humor mixed in. I think this is a nice read for the entire family.

"Crypt" is a diamond that won't leave you moaning!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid debut July 16, 2008

By E. Vick

Format:Mass Market Paperback

This book ended up surprising me I enjoyed it a lot more then I thought I would, the last couple of Forgotten Realms I've read have been so-so. The book is a stand alone and doesn't assume the reader has any knowledge of the Realms. It centers around a group of mercenaries that specialize in sapping walls and the like rather then actual pitched battle with enemy armies. As the book opens a they've been brought in to help bring a quick end to a siege that's started to drag on. Without giving away too much of the plot they end up discovering ruins the city was built on while digging and have to make their way through them trying to find a way to bring down the walls. All and all the plot was good it wasn't anything new but it was paced well I didn't find myself skipping ahead as I tend to do. My favorite part about the plot was the fact that it was so low key the main characters weren't unstoppable heroes single-handedly winning the war and they weren't on some epic quest that would radically alter the world. They were a small (albeit important) part of a larger army fighting a in relatively minor conflict and to me this was a welcome change from a lot of fantasy novels today.

The main strength of this novel though was definitely the characters they really end up making the novel. The main is Ivy the nominal leader of the Siegebreaker mercenaries and most of the novel follows her occasionally going to others when important to the plot. I found her to be one of the more enjoyable characters I've read lately particular in her interaction with the other characters. For the most part all the conversations and relationships felt real whether it was her easy camaraderie with Mumchance a dwarf with whom she's worked the last ten years or tweaking over proper Sanval the army officer watching over their progress. I can't think of anybody who I was supposed to like that I ended up finding annoying although I thought a few of the other members of the group could have been fleshed out a little more, occasionally it seems like they're making inside jokes the reader doesn't know about. Hopefully at some later point the author will write another novel or short story about them.

All in all it was a great start for a new author and exactly what I wanted a good fun read.