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3.0 out of 5 stars
An average Realms novel, nothing special, January 14, 2009
This review is from: The Fanged Crown: The Wilds (Mass Market Paperback)
The Fanged Crown by Jenna Helland is the first novel in The Wilds series set in the Forgotten Realms. The Wilds are a series of stand alone novels that feature remote parts of Realms. The other three books are; The The Restless Shore: The Wilds by James P. Davis scheduled for release in May, 2009; The Edge of Chaos: The Wilds by Jak Koke scheduled for release in August, 2009; and Wrath of the Blue Lady by Mel Odom scheduled for release in December, 2009. This series follows a trend Wizards of the Coast seems to be doing with stand alone novel series, such as The Citadels, The Fighters, The Wizards, etc. I have said before, I am happy this is continuing as it allows the reader to not have to read previous books to understand the story. Hopefully, Wizards of the Coast keeps this trend going. Here are my thoughts on this novel.
The main plot of this book centers on a small group of adventures hired to find a colony that has lost contact with the mainland. There are a couple subplots mixed in as well such as, the past of several characters makes them more than what they appear, the reason for the colony's existence may be for reasons other than what first thought, and a more far reaching mystery (that I Won't talk about because of spoiler potential). While there seems to be many elements to the plot, in actually reading it, it seems rather lean and linear. At times there is barely enough happening to hold the readers attention. Yet, at other times the pace is frantic and riveting. So, the flow of the book was inconsistent to me. One thing that contributes to this unevenness is attributed to how the chapters are arranged in the first half of the book. There is a mix of present day chapters (1479 DR) and things that occurred in the past (1469 DR). While reading it felt like this was done for no reason and even after I finished the book, I am not sure these dedicated chapters to the past were needed and added anything substantial to the overall story. There is enough substance to the plot that keeps things going, but there is really nothing that is surprising or a must read factor here. It is almost like a short story wrapped up in the body of a full length novel.
The characters in this novel are much like the plot. At times they are interesting, but at other times they are two dimensional and flat. There is a relatively select group of characters that the reader will come to know; Harp, Boult, Kitto, Verran are the main adventurers. Some side characters are Liel and Tresco. Of all those characters I was most interested in Kitto as he seemed to be the fullest most developed character. Verran, at times, is an interesting and complex character - but it seems that he is more often than not relegated to small scenes and then the background. The dialogue in this novel is pretty good. The constant banter between Boult and Harp is well done and makes for a couple of chuckles, but too much of a good things spoils the rest. Towards the end of the book that banter seems to fall short and becomes ordinary. There is also a lack of any real character development aside from one character. The rest of the characters finish the novel pretty much right where they started. While I don't expect each and every character to grow and progress at some exponential rate I still expect characters to grow and change in some way or another. Like the plot, I think these characters may have been better off in a short story than a full length novel.
Some criticisms about this novel:
1 - The time jump between chapters, going back and forth. It just didn't work and was more confusing than anything. If Ms. Helland felt the need to add back story, I would have liked to see it as small flashbacks rather then completely separate chapters.
2 - The linear and simple plot. There are several attempts at adding mystery to the plot, but they never really seemed to be really mysterious. There needed to be an extra element to make things mysterious and it just wasn't there. This book almost read like an adventure module.
3 - There seems to be many missing characters. What I mean by that is there are several instances when there should obviously be more characters present then what are actually written about. Such as the crew of the Crane and the dwarfs of Chult. I wanted to know more about them, and there is nothing there to read about.
Some positives about this book:
1 - Ever since THE RING OF WINTER (Forgotten Realms Novels) by James Lowder, I have always been a fan of Chult. So, I am glad that another author was able to write in the that region. Chult ha s alife of its own and Ms. Helland was able to capture the ruggedness of the region.
2 - I always enjoy witty, snappy dialogue and that is certainly present in this book. Some of the one liners between Boult and Harp and nearly perfect. The bond of friendship is quite evident. It adds a nice, real touch to the characters.
3 - Descriptions are this books strongest point. I never felt I did not know what Ms. Helland wanted me to see. There is a certain vividness in how she writes and describes things. Yet, she never over describes anything, allowing the reader to use their imagination to fill in the gaps and make the vision their own.
When all is said and done, I have mixed feelings about this novel. I don't think it is a bad book by any means, but I also think that there are several things that if done differently, it could have been a much better experience for the reader. As far as I know, this is Ms. Hellands first novel so some of those things are understandable. I think Ms. Helland has some definite talent and some honing of the craft will certainly lead to many outstanding novels. Fans of the Forgotten Realms, and more importantly the region of Chult, will most likely want to pick this novel up. Readers looking at getting into the Realms could also pick this one up, as there is little to no prior knowledge needed to read this novel. In the end, it's a decent book, but a little short of the usual standards I have come to expect from the Forgotten Realms.
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2.0 out of 5 stars
Brick Wall of an Ending, September 5, 2010
This review is from: The Fanged Crown: The Wilds (Mass Market Paperback)
This book had potential. I liked the jungles, the lost city, the serpentine monsters... The cover was too generic but not bad. I liked the WILDS logo design. The banter was at times too drawn out, but, at other moments, I found myself liking it. The protagonist and the his history of his wounds and past relationships was good. The parallel plot of political intrigue in the mainland kingdom was okay; interesting at times. I could almost recommend it as a fun, quick read until I got to the end.
I cannot recall a more abrupt and less satisfying ending to a story in decades of reading. I wish I knew what the author was thinking when she decided to end the story in such a hasty and anticlimactic fashion. Part of me was convinced she had written another 10-20 pages to wrap it up, but it got lost on the way to the print shop or chopped by an overzealous editor. It had promise but in the end I felt like I slammed into a brick wall.
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3.0 out of 5 stars
The Fanged Crown by Jenna Helland, December 15, 2009
This review is from: The Fanged Crown: The Wilds (Mass Market Paperback)
The Fanged Crown by Jenna Helland- This is the first book in The Wilds series of stand alone novels set in the Forgotten Realm universe. The other stand alone novels are The Restless Shore by James P. Davis, The Edge of Chaos by Jak Koke, and Wrath of the Blue Lady by Mel Odom. This is Jenna Helland's first foray into the Forgotten Realms.
The story follows are party of adventures, or more accurately, sailors, as they search for a colony on the jungle island of Chult. The main characters are Harp, Boult, Kitto, and Verran. During the party's search for the lost colony, they come across the jungles horrors, including a giant ant, a huge lizard, and lizard men. Throughout the story, we are given parts of each characters back story. From the back stories, we discover that Harp's one time love is among the missing colonists. As the story progresses, we learn of a plot to take over the kingdom of Tethyr lies within the very jungle our heroes are exploring. Do they find the lost colony and Harp's lost love, and unravel the plot?
Negatives:
1) Time Jumps. Now I understand the need to tell a back story of characters that we will probably never have another chance to see, but having these sudden jumps back and forth through time to tell it really does take the reader out of the moment. It just didn't care for the way that this was used. Having one chapter with our heroes and the next chapter about someone and some event that seems so unrelated to the plot does take away from the experience. However, later on, it doesn't become so dramatic and really does seem to add more to each character.
2) Character Development. Now, the first half of the story this isn't the problem. The second half is an entirely different story. The problem, I think, is that the story really picks up and tries to rush to a finish, and the development of these somewhat interesting characters suffer because of it. There are, however, little sections were some more development is added, but these times are as "fleshed" out as before.
3) Cliffhanger. Now the ending just... ends. It feels like an unfinished story. It doesn't help that it ends on a shocking and almost unexpected note. Such a let down.
Positives:
1) Humor. The dialogue was just funny. This is the first book to really make my laugh out loud. The banter between Boult and Harp was done so well. While the first half's banter seemed natural and flowed really well, the second half's suffered slightly. It was still funny, it just most of the time it seemed forced.
2) Characters. I really enjoyed the characters. Their back stories were interesting and, for the most part, well thought out. Harp's dark and horrible experiences were interesting. Boult's were kind of predictable, yet interesting nonetheless, Kitto's goes hand and hand with Harp's so it isn't as spectacular, and Verran's is really unique. It also helps the most of the dialogue was interesting and comical.
3) Pacing. The story was paced really well. It was fast, yet it didn't feel rushed (until the last 3 chapters). I attribute this to the comical dialogue, it just really helped the "slower parts." It was a good quick read.
Side notes:
1) Editing? Seriously... Editing errors appear almost everywhere. Names are misspelled and people are switched. It just seemed lazy. But then again, a lot of the newer Forgotten Realms novels have been having these same error types.
2) Descriptions of Scenery. It thought that they were really well done. Seeing as the series is called The Wilds, I really was able to picture some of these wilder places.
3) Cover Art. Not all that interesting. Not to mention that it doesn't really seem to have much to do with the story. Sure the water and the vines have a resemblance to a jungle, yet the skeleton and the two "creatures" (really what are they?) didn't seem to appear in the story. Plus it just seems bland and generic.
Overall: 3/5
Final Thoughts:
I really enjoyed the story, it may have been a little simple and not all that "fresh," but I nonetheless enjoyed it. What ruined, so to speak, the story for me is the cliffhanger ending. Seriously, why end a stand alone novel on a cliffhanger? I really do hope that somewhere down the line I find out more on the events and people.
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