Customer Reviews

Darkwell: The Moonshae Trilogy, Book Three

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

 

 

This is perhaps one of the best books I know of! It has a touch of everything, from violence to magic to romance and even sadness. It follows the adventure of the young King Tristian Kendrick, the Druid Robyn, whom he is in love with and his best friend Daryth, an assasin by trade. The setting is the Moonshae isles, after the darkwalker wars have passed, yet evil still stirs! An amazing book that shows that the forces of good dont all ways win! Nothing short of Brilliant! There are some scenes you will want to read again and again! Love, betrayl, war, scandal and magic. A massive combination!

Definitely a great fantasy epic and one of my personal favorites, The Moonshae Trilogy- Darkwalker on Moonshae, Black Wizards, and Darkwell, brings to life the little known Moonshae Isles set in the magical world of Toril. The books are so incredibly well written that the reader feels that they have been transported to another plane of existence and are actually present among the characters, seeing what they see, feeling what they feel, sensing what they sense. The author, Douglas Niles, has truly outdone himself and has presented us with a masterpiece of literature the likes of which we have seen only in JRR Tolkien's work and RA Salvatore's The Dark Elf and Icewind Dale trilogies, and in authors Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman's Dragonlance Chronicles and Legends trilogies. Magic, Gods and Heroes are all about. A GREAT book indeed and a must read if you love Fantasy and especially if you love the Forgotten Realms! DON'T MISS IT!!!

I have read this series many times and it is still as good today as it was the first time I read it, almost 15 years ago.
I think the plot is one of the more interesting in the fantasy genre. Tristan and Robyn along with many other interesting characters are trying to defend their Isle/Goddess from the attacks of an evil god and his minions. I enjoyed the fantastic creatures, especially the little Psuedodragon as the comic relief.
I hope they re-issue this series so more people can enjoy this wonderful story filled with werewolves, unicorns, sea creatures, magic and intense battles.
Find it or borrow it! A must read.

Book 1 is good as a stand alone novel. Book 2 really feels like D&D.

Worth a read if only to see how the Forgotten Realms mythos is starting to open up wide. Planes of existence and the vastness of the continent of Faerun are hinted at. Kazgaroth was actually a minion of Bhaal(The God of the act of death) who lives on the plane of Gehenna. The EarthMother is an aspect of Chauntea(Goddess of agriculture and growth). The black wizards Cyndre and Alexei were trained in Thay. The assassins of Calimshan. It will be interesting to read the subsequent changes to the Realms as the game series transitions from v2 to v3. The sahuagin here worship Bhaal. By the time of Mel Odom's Threat from the Sea they all worship Sekolah.

The evil wizards here are truly evil. All parts with them were highlights for me. One is even a sado/nymphomaniac. Hobarth the cleric is pretty bad ass. The zombie/druid battle for the grove is worthy too.

Monsters aplenty! We have a half orc, duergar, zombies, skeletons, ogres, sahuagin, the invisible servant and earth elementals. There's a wood sprite too. Really? Re-really(annoying).

My only real complaint is some of the setup in the book is way too forced or just doesn't make much sense. For example, when the Prince and Daryth lose their weapons at sea only to have them magically returned in Caer Allisynn I face palmed at the lameness of it all. Pontswain was there too btw. Why couldn't he get his weapon back? Then there was "Robin Hood" O'Roarke. Really now?

FINAL THOUGHTS

"The nuts felt warm against her skin." page 192.

This was a great book.

Having enjoyed the first two books in this series, I was looking foward to finishing it up. I was not dissappointed. The plot has fantastic. Douglas Niles finally wrote a book that kept me guessing and being surprised as I turned the page. There are several incidents in the book that just shocked me and disbelieving what was happening. I was totally drawn into the characters and what was happening to them, mainly because what I was expecting to happen wasn't.

If you even somewhat enjoyed the first two books in this series, you will thoroughly enjoy the ending.

This is the BEST, "Forgotten Realms" series that I have read. The story transports you to a world of magic and adventure, entwines you in to the struggles of the heroes, and leaves you feeling fulfilled at the climax. What more can you ask for in a fantasy book?

OVERALL SCORE: (A+)
READABILITY: (A), PLOT: (B), CHARATERS: (A), DIALOGUE: (B+), SETTING: (A+), ACTION/COMBAT: (B+), MONSTERS/ANTAGONISTS: (B+), ROMANCE: (B+), SEX: (n/a), AGE LEVEL: (PG)

This is an alright book. It does a good job of indtroducing a new country in the Forgotten Realms, hte Moonshaes, which resemble Celtic and Welsh mythology. It's an interesting plot, and the descritions and battle scenses are more than half-decent. The characters though need some work. I for one don't like heroes to be overpowered, they are mortals after all. I don't like books with "Against overwhelming odds, everything works out all right and everything is back to normal with no loses and everyone lives happily ever after." Those are mostly children stories. The main character in this book, Tristan, and other characters are quite lacking and need some more depth.

First of all Tristan is one of those stuck-up, everything always works out for him, spoiled, pompous nobles. His character is annoying, and personality definately not deserving of being the chosen hero. Tristan is chosen to be the wielder of this sword that will save the Moonshaes. The prophecy of the chosen one is corny and fits several other characters in the book. The battle desriptions where Tristan fights are some of the worst I've ever seen. Here he makes terrible attacks, like a swing that takes him in a full circle, and just ordinary slashes. Somehow, these pitiful attacks always make critical hits and he survives the fight, being a great swordsman. Any person that has actually fought with a sword before, like me, knows that these attacks couldn'r hold up in a real batle.

The ending of this book was horrible. Baal comes to the Moonshaesby a mystic cord that gets severed by the fairy dragon taking Tristan's sword and dropping it in the well, where Ball is supposed to be. That's not how Forgotten Realms works. The dieties in Forgoteen Realms can take an avatar, or several, any time they wish on any place. And somehow Tristan uses his sword to fight a giant avatar of a god off that much much much bigger than he is. The only swordd that can harm a diety in Forgotten Realms was Godsbane, and now it's destroyed.The ending plot was really bad too, the main villian of the first book is defeated jsut at the right moment even though it could have attacked long ago. The book really isn't as plausible even in the fantasy set, and although there are some good parts, the parts that are poorly written just ruin the book. R.A. Salvatore and Troy Denning are just some authors that write way better than this book.

If you like magic and good fighting evil this is a book to read! Very well written and good depth of characters.