4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Beware the Plaguewrought Lands, October 12, 2009
This review is from: The Edge of Chaos: The Wilds (Mass Market Paperback)
First off, I would like to welcome Mr. Koke to the Forgotten Realms. The Edge of Chaos is his first novel in the FR setting and the third in the stand alone series called The Wilds. The first was The Fanged Crown by Jenna Helland, the second, The Restless Shore by James P. Davis and the forth, Wrath of the Blue Lady by Mel Odom is due out in December.
The main plot of The Edge of Chaos revolves around the border of The Plaguewrought Land near Ormpetarr. People are talking a pilgrimage to the town in the hopes of becoming spellscarred and thus receiving magical abilities. The only problem is that the chaotic nature of the spell plague lands mostly results in death. There is a better chance of survival here though since an alchemist named Gregor has an elixir to make people immune to the fatal effects. Vraith, the leader of the Order of Blue Fire has plans for the elixir. Then there is the main protagonist, Duvan, who works freelance acquiring things. Mostly he works for Tyrangal who is head of the Copper guard. Duvan is joined by Slanya who journeys with him on a quest. There are subplots of a couple of the characters pasts, and evil ambition, and an eventual love interest.
Like all new FR novels, this one takes place 100 years after the spell plague events. The plot takes a different approach to the spellscarred people. Usually people who have become spellscarred are shunned or prejudiced against, however, in this one the people are looking to become spellscarred. The pacing was done very well. It never bogs down and moved nicely from one scene to the next and kept me interested. The book also flowed quite well even with a few hiccups here and there. I cam across 12 mistakes which could have been taken care of with some good editing. I won't claim to know the ins and outs of creating a book, but I have noticed lately that there are a lot of mistakes in the FR books. More so than before. I still enjoyed the book very much otherwise. Mr. Koke does a really good job of developing the characters. Each one had their own voice and they all had flaws adding to their realism. Vraith was about the only character that I really didn't care for. I just couldn't connect with her and as the main antagonist, she didn't feel that threatening. Aside from a couple, the secondary characters, I felt, could have added a bit more to the story, especially at the end. This story runs in at 278 pages. In order to get it to over the 300 page mark, WotC put in a long excerpt to a forthcoming novel. These pages could have been used to provide some more background of a couple characters or added more the ending battle. Those are just my thoughts.
Some Criticisms
1. I would have liked more about Vraith. I feel a little more depth to her character could have enhanced her and made it easier to connect with her.
2. ]The climax at the end could have had more to it. Also it was mostly predictable. Sometimes I like it when I can predict the outcome of certain events, however, for this one, even though I did not get everything predicted, a different approach to the ending or more expansion may have improved on it.
3. This is minor and most readers may miss them, but the differing mistakes throughout, became annoying, especially at the end. Like I said, I don't know all the processes that go into creating a book, but there have been more mistakes than usual with FR books.
4. To avoid spoilers, I will provide limited info here. There is a place that the characters travel to and I don't know if there could have been monsters there, but a battle or two would have been nice during this section.
Some Positives
1. The main characters had nice depth to them. Even the main protagonist had flaws and seemed more real. The character development was well done and the majority of the main characters were easy to connect with.
2. The pilgrimage plot line was nice and fresh. I really enjoyed the fact that people were going out and trying to receive spell scars. It was a different take on the subject and I liked that angle instead of everyone fearing those that are spellscarred.
3. The spellscars themselves. When a person becomes spellscarred, they can obtain abilities and just about anything can happen. The possibilities for the different abilities are endless. The ones that Mr. Koke uses for certain characters were awesome. They added to the enjoyment of the book very much. They were not over the top and were very believable.
Overall, I was entertained greatly. There were times that I just could not put the book down. If this is just an introduction of the things to be expected my Mr. Koke, then I believe he could have a long and successful career with WotC. I look forward to reading his future FR novels. I believe that veterans and new readers of the Realms will enjoy this book. It can be read, understood, and enjoyed without prior knowledge of the Forgotten Realms. I recommend this this one for all readers of fantasy.
-Dimndbangr
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Edge of Chaos by Jak Koke, January 6, 2010
This review is from: The Edge of Chaos: The Wilds (Mass Market Paperback)
The Edge of Chaos by Jak Koke- This is the third book in The Wilds series of stand-alone novels set in the Forgotten Realms universe. The first novel is The Fanged Crown by Jenna Helland, the second novel is The Restless Shore by James P. Davis, and Wrath of the Blue Lady by Mel Odom is the last. This is Jak Koke's first foray into the Forgotten Realms, he as written other novels in different settings.
The story is about an elixir that could help prevent death from exposure to the Spellplague, a storm that caused magic to go wild and either kills things it touches or scars them, giving the individual powers. We are introduced to a monk named Slanya and a rogue named Duvan, who embark to recover some plaguegrass for the elixir to work. In order to recover the plaguegrass, the duo must travel into the Plaguewrought Lands, a place were the Spellplague is contained. It's almost certain death. However, the elixir as drawn interest from parties that want it to be able to unleash the Spellplague again. Does the duo recover the plaguegrass, come out of the Plaguewrought Land whole, and uncover the plot to release the Spellplague and stops it?
Negatives:
1) Cliché Main Characters. Slanya and Duvan are extremely cliché and it can get bothersome. Duvan is like any other rogue, a mysterious person who is bitter and cynical of everything. He doesn't have many friends (actually he has none), likes to do things on his own, and can be a little headstrong and bitter. Slanya wants to change this mysterious person (am I starting to sound like every movie made about a love story yet?). Then you realize that the two become in "love" (love is used loosely). Seriously sounds like almost every love story doesn't it? While these characters themselves are interesting and engaging, the whole clichéd premise of it does become really distracting and annoying.
2) Errors. I usually won't put something like this in a negative spot, I'd just mention it. However, the whole book is plagued (get it?) with editing overlooks and grammatical errors. I know I may not be the best at grammar, but when a comma is in place of a period and the next word isn't capitalized, the whole sentence becomes drowned in confusion. But that's not the worst part. The editing mistakes are just horrible. There was a sentence in which it reads something like, "change and make and." Now at first glance, that may not be a problem. But then you realize that either "change" or "make" would work in the sentence. So then you come under the understanding that whomever added whichever word meant to take out the first word but forgot to take out the first word. Yes, my previous sentence may be hard to read, but that's what it felt like. It was confusing and just lazy. This has to be the first book that the errors really bothered me. You have an editor for a reason right?
3) Predictable Ending. While the story up until the ending is wonderful and not all that predictable, the ending just gets bogged down in knowing what is going to happen. At least you don't know what is going to happen until a certain person's spellscar is activated, then you pretty much know how it's going to end. Also, you can tell right away what someone is, if you pay attention. I'm not going to give who these people are away, but you can easily figure it out. Even though the ending is a tad bit predictable, the story nevertheless is still interesting.
Positives:
1) Main Characters. While I did say that they were really cliché, the really were still engaging. Duvan's past and what happen to him make him mysterious and interesting. His past is horrible and heartbreaking at the same time. You really do feel sorry for this character and what horrors he'd been through. Slanya's struggle with control and chaos is interesting and well written. You can feel her hatred of disorder and her attitude regarding town life compared to her monastery home. Then you have the way she tries to help Duvan, you begin to see that she does want to be his friend. This aspect of the duo really seems to work. You can believe that they are friends. The end, to see the emotion from the characters about what happened was just beautiful and powerful, sad and heartbreaking.
2) Plot. The plot is fairly interesting, yet basic. It's basic because someone wants to destroy the world (of course!). What makes it different is that it doesn't seem like it's that way. The plot, for me, revolves around the two main characters and how their friendship can change things. But even the basic, everyday plot is engaging. The main characters don't know that what they are doing is going to be for evil. They don't find that out until much later, instead you have pretty much the bulk of the story about these two people changing one another. It's interesting and engaging.
3) Description. Wow. That's all I can say. The way the Plaguewrought Land is described is just breath taking. Now I've read other story that involve plague changed land, but here it's just so chaotic and it's written in a way to make it feel and act chaotic. Honestly, at times you don't know what is even happening, but that's the point. When the duo enter the Plaguewrought Land everything changes so rapidly that it's hard to follow at that you really can't picture this amount of chaos. Now, I may not be sounding like this is a positive, but it is. I really felt so disoriented and confused that I, at times, felt what Slanya or Duvan must be feeling. It's chaos at it's best, and it's written so chaos reigns supreme doing these scenes.
Side Notes:
1) Spellscars. It's about time I find out what these this can do! I've read a few stories involving them, but nothing about them. But here I really understand what they are. And is it me or do they remind me a lot like superhero powers? Or an even better example, they remind me of the television show Heroes.
2) Tyrangal. Duvan's employer (so to speak). Is she really trying to fool anyone? Seriously, from the moment you meet her, it becomes obvious what she is. It was absolutely no shock when you find out.
3) Cover Art. I like it. The other books I didn't really care for (The Fanged Crown and The Restless Shore). Those didn't really seem to have anything to do with the story or were every interesting. Here, however, the vortex that your eye is drawn to appears in the story and the whole wilderness around it really is described like that within the story. Even the two people in the picture are Duvan and Slanya (except Duvan has black leather armor, not green). The only problem is that it's too dark, way too dark.
Overall: 4/5
Final Thoughts:
While I don't really have any major problems except that everything is so cliché, the characters are wonderful, the story is decent, and the descriptions are marvelously chaotic. While The Edge of Chaos isn't the best stand alone novel out there, it is the best one of the previous three (The Fanged Crown and The Restless Shore). I really liked the two main characters and were heart broken at what happens at the end.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Jhaeman's Review, December 28, 2011
This review is from: The Edge of Chaos: The Wilds (Mass Market Paperback)
I've very much enjoyed playing in a Forgotten Realms campaign for several months now, and it recently gave me the craving to read some of the fiction set in that fantasy world (something I hadn't done in several years). The only option at my local library was The Edge of Chaos, but it proved to be a pretty good read. The novel is set in the Faerun of D&D 4th Edition, a hundred years after a massive cataclysm has reshaped the world. The story concerns an adventurer named Duvan who operates in around Ormpetarr, a city on the border of the foreboding Plaguewrought Land--a vast area of the continent inundated by Wild Magic and geologic upheaval which promises almost instant death for all who enter. A nefarious organization in Ormpetarr named the Order of Blue Fire is secretly planning a massive magical ritual to extend the borders of the Plaguewrought Land, and Duvan, along with a monk of Kelemvor named Slanya, are forced to try to stop them.
I'm not familiar with Ormpetarr from my time spent playing and directing games in the Realms, but the description of the Plaguewrought Land was quite evocative and seemed like a great setting for some high-octane campaigns. The description of the faith of Kelemvor was also quite well done, so much so that I could imagine playing a priest or monk of that god sometime. The story itself was entertaining and fast-moving, and held some surprises: more adult content than I had expected (Duvan, for example, visits prostitutes) and a willingness to kill of some major characters. All in all, pretty good stuff.
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