Farthest Reach: The Last Mythal, Book II [Mass Market Paperback]

Richard Baker (Author)

Book Description

Series: The Last Mythal | Publication Date: June 28, 2005

The second in a trilogy of novels from New York Times best-selling author Richard Baker.

Farthest Reach is the second novel in a trilogy chronicling the tempestuous return of an isolated society of elves to the mainland of the Forgotten Realms world. The events in this trilogy will have a far-reaching impact across the entire setting.

AUTHOR BIO: RICHARD BAKER works as a game designer and Managing Developer for the roleplaying game line at Wizards of the Coast, Inc. A New York Times bestselling author with Condemnation, his additional Forgotten Realms novels include The City of Ravens.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

RICHARD BAKER works as a game designer and Managing Developer for the role-playing game line at Wizards of the Coast, Inc. A New York Times bestselling author with Condemnation, his additional Forgotten Realms novels include The City of Ravens.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Wizards of the Coast (June 28, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786937564
• ISBN-13: 978-0786937561
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #988,264 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Richard Baker is an award-winning game designer and a best-selling author. He's worked on the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS game lines since 1991. Rich traces his D&D experience back to 1979, when he began playing the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS game as a 7th-grader. He spent a significant amount of his high school and college years playing D&D at every opportunity, and after serving as a surface warfare officer in the United States Navy, Rich decided to take a shot at working on the game he grew up playing - and so he joined the staff of TSR, Inc., and became a game designer. Rich's list of D&D design credits numbers over 50 game products, including the Origins Award-winning BIRTHRIGHT Campaign Setting, the ALTERNITY Science Fiction Roleplaying Game (which he co-designed with Bill Slavicsek), and the newest edition of the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS game. He has also served as creative director for the ALTERNITY and FORGOTTEN REALMS game lines. As an author, Rich has published eight fantasy and science fiction novels, including City of Ravens, Forsaken House, and the New York Times bestseller Condemnation. Rich is currently employed as a senior game designer at Wizards of the Coast, Inc., and works every day on new products for the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS game.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Baker continues one of the best recent Realms trilogies., November 26, 2005

By 

J. Stoner "Plants and Books" (Parkville, MO United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Farthest Reach: The Last Mythal, Book II (Mass Market Paperback)

"Farthest Reach" continues right where the first book, "Forsaken House," left off. I give this book five stars because it is one of the best Forgotten Realms books in recent time. It was energetic, exciting, fast-paced, and placed in a rich area of the fantasy world.

I believe the book will be enjoyable for both fantasy lovers and dungeons and dragons lovers. The two main paths follow D&D adventures as if Baker was a real Dungeon Master and there were real players playing his adventure. One of the storylines is a campaign of battle and wars, with intrigue between political leaders. The second main plotline follows a group of adventurers following through dungeons, caves, and towns. Most of the main characters are fairly high-level characters with many impressive high level spells. The battles they are engaged in are exciting and just barely winnable. While reading I could keep imagining the D&D players thinking to themselves, "Wow, this might be the end. How am I going to get out of this one?" The good thing is that unlike other recent FR novels there is no random magic that saves the day - just a little craftiness, and a lot of luck (two things that every D&D player needs in a good session. I also like how the wizards and mages must memorize spells and spend time doing so at night while resting, just like in D&D sessions. These characteristics of the "The Last Mythal" trilogy make the adventure and characters more believable. Many books recently have been to convenient and easily handled by the main characters.

There is lots of information and lore that enriches the general Forgotten Realms land. I eagerly await the final installment of this series (as well as the newly announced anthology, "Realms of Elves"). This book will not disappoint fans of D&D, the Forgotten Realms, and even general fantasy fans. Make sure to pick up "Forsaken House" first, though.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Devour this one, September 28, 2005

By 

Victor Hwang (Leesburg, VA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Farthest Reach: The Last Mythal, Book II (Mass Market Paperback)

In my opinion, this is the best new Forgottem Realms trilogy (though the third one isn't out yet). The Last Mythal is an easy but by no means pedestrian read. A classic Good vs. Evil conflict, the story is simply a continuation of the glorified pitched battles between the Elves of Evermeet and the devils and demonspawn of House Dlardrageth. The reader is shuffled from one huge battle to another, with heroes and villains alike pausing to catch their breath in between. The setting revolves around the ruins of Myth Drannor. If someone has even a passing knowledge of Forgotten Realms, chances are he/she knows of this legendary city.

Overall, an incredibly entertaining and satisfying read. Pick this up, there's no way it disappoints.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic middle book to this trilogy, August 14, 2005

By 

Andrew Gray "Beezer Review" (Minnesota) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Farthest Reach: The Last Mythal, Book II (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the second installment of The Last Mythal trilogy. I must say when I first opened the first book of this trilogy I was a little aprehensive. 20 pages into I was amazed and that amazement carried over tot he second book as well. Baker does a fantastic job yet again with this book.

The thing I really enjoy about this book is the elves seem like elves. They are more concerned with themselves than what is happening to the humans. This book does a great job of touching on the political aspect of the elven societies.

There are countless other things I enjoyed in this book, but if I listed them here I'm afraid I'd post spoilers and I don't want to do that. This is a very good read and I'm looking forward to the final book of this trilogy.