Living in the war-ravaged realm of Eberron, assassin-turned-priest Diran Bastiaan and his half-orc sidekick, Ghaji, make an unlikely pair. One looks like the stuff of nightmares, while the other is "a conduit through which the holy force of Good could work its will in the physical world." Together, they have traveled throughout the archipelagic Lhazaar Principalities sharing numerous wild adventures, but none were as dangerous as the one they currently face. When a gang of bloodthirsty pirates kidnaps Diran's former lover (a beautiful ex-mercenary killer named Makala), the priest of the Silver Flame and his half-breed wingman vow to get her -- and countless other abductees -- back no matter what the cost. But the seafaring raiders are no ordinary criminals; they're led by the infamous vampire Onkar, who in turn serves a being unfathomably more evil than himself….
Forge of the Mindslayers: The Blade of the Flame, Book 2
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I write fantasy and horror for both adults and young readers. I also teach creative writing at Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good Characters, shaky foundation,
By
This review is from: Forge of the Mind Slayers: The Blade of the Flame, Book 2 (Mass Market Paperback)
Forge of the Mindlsayers by Tim Wagonner is the second of the Blade of the Flame series set in the world of Eberron. This installment picks up with the ex Assassin turned Priest of the Silver Flame Diran Bastiaan, and his half Orc companion Ghaji after they have defeated the ignominious Vampire Onkar (covered in the first book Thieves of blood). The pair are also joined by new companions Hinto, the halfling and Tresslar the aged Artificer.
The story begins with the group following Diran's calling to wipe out evil wherever they may find it. However, it is not long before they stir up the malicious interest of an ancient evil Lich. Diran and Ghaji also find themselves reacquainted with some old adversaries with whom they have some unfinished business. The writing in this story is fairy tight. Events and places are fairly well articulated (although if I read the word "lupine" one more time I would have screamed) and his characters are fairly well fleshed out. Some may feel that the story wandered as in this series, unlike most Eberron trilogies, each story somewhat stands on its own. Second novels tend to be mere placeholders, and I found it refreshing that this novel was mostly a story unto itself. This book also spent a fair amount of time filling in backstory on Diran and Ghaji. These stories not only embellished their characters a bit, but were also directly relevant to the ongoing story. This served character development well for Ghaji and Diran but at the expense of the additional companions (Hinto, tresslar), who remained fairly one dimensional. The novel is paced well and the multiple antogonists was a nice touch. I also liked the inclusion of Diran's lover turned Vampire, Makala, as an interesting twist that certainly adds more to the story arc present and future. I wasn't too enthusiastic about the actual premise of the story, with the Kalashtar and the Forge. The Kalashtar character's motivations for an alliance didn't ring very true to me, and neither did the alliance of the three itself. On a side note, I am also getting a little weary of the Kalashtar, which are seemingly thrown into every eberron storyline at this point. This was a decent novel, with its greatest strength being that it does stand alone, although there are certainly some things left for the last novel. I would have liked to see more character development for the other companions, though Diran and Ghaji are well defined, and they are worthwhile characters to follow in future novels. While the multiple plotlines were nice, they were not as ultimately compelling as they should have been.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Forge of the Mindslayers by Tim Waggoner,
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This review is from: Forge of the Mind Slayers: The Blade of the Flame, Book 2 (Mass Market Paperback)
Forge of the Mindslayers by Tim Waggoner
Forge of the Mindslayers is the second book in the Blade of the Flame trilogy. The first book is Thieves of Blood and the third book is Sea of Death. The Blade of the Flame trilogy is set in the Eberron setting of Dungeons and Dragons. Tim Waggoner has written one other Eberron novel titled Lady Ruin. He has written a vast amount of other novels. His work includes; a Hyperswarm novel titled Defender, the Godfire series (The Orchard of Dreams and Heart's Wound), the Nekropolis series (Nekropolis, Dead Streets, and Dark War), Last of the Lycans series (Monarch of the Moon), Dying for It, The Harmony of Society, a Dark Ages: Vampire book called Gangrel, Necropolis, an Exalted novel titled A Shadow Over Heaven, Like Death, Darkness Wakes, Pandora Drive, Cross Country, two novels in the Dragonlance: New Adventures series (Temple of the Dragonslayer and Return of the Sorceress), a novel based on Nightmare on Elm Street called Protegé, and a Stargate SG-1 novel titled Valhalla. He has written a vast amount of short stories for various anthologies and magazines, and has two story-collections title All Too Surreal and Broken Shadows. Forge of the Mindslayers was released in March 2007 and was published by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. The former assassin turned priest Diran Bastiaan and his half-orc companion Ghaji are on the hunt to take down a lich. The duo are accompanied by a halfling pirate, Hinto, and an old artificer named Tresslar, who have been with the duo since the fateful events that happened in Grimwall. After seemingly dispatching the lich, the group returns to the city of Perhata, and meet up with Yvka, an elf who works for the mysterious organization called the Shadow Network. She brings news to Diran about a man named Cathmore, a man from his past. However, trouble finds Diran and Ghaji and before they know it, they are captured and on their way to certain death. Luckily, someone else from Diran's past comes to his aid, but it's someone he'd rather have never seen again. Criticisms: 1) Flashbacks. The biggest problem with Forge of the Mindslayers is the usage of flashbacks. The flashbacks happened all at one time, instead of over the entire novel. This caused the flashbacks to feel like they were forced into the novel, instead of a natural inclusion. Because of this, these flashbacks take the reader out of the main plot and places them in something extra. Something almost unnecessary. The flashbacks did have a connection to the overall story, but they still felt unneeded. There is another side effect of the flashbacks. Diran and Ghaji were interesting in the first book of the trilogy, but as the mysteries of their past become unraveled, they become less interesting and more generic. They still are interesting character, but they did loss some of their appeal due to the revealing their pasts. The main issue with the flashbacks is that they happen in a clump, and causes you to be taken out of the story. 2) Characters. The characters in Forge of the Mindslayers were decent, but there was one problem. We are introduced to a number of new characters. While that number isn't a lot, it still causes problems. The antagonists never felt like they mattered. They just felt like stock villains. They weren't very memorable nor did they give off a feeling of menace. The reason for this is because there are two groups of them. The first, the main antagonists, never felt like they made an impact. This group was just generic characters. They didn't really have anything interesting about them other than the fact that Diran and Ghaji knew two of them. The second group, more like a duo, also didn't have any impact but were interesting. However, this group never did anything in the story and only appeared for maybe thirty pages out of the whole novel. They were a let-down. However, the main group that suffered the most is the protagonists. The main characters, Diran and Ghaji, issues aren't due to the added characters, but instead due to what I mentioned before. However, they were still decent and likable. Who suffered is the minor characters. Yvka, Tresslar, and Hinto were one-dimensional and that's it. They were tossed aside for newer additions and because of that their character development greatly suffered. All in all, the characters weren't as good, mostly because of the amount of new characters that were added. More characters meant less development for the older characters. Praises: 1) Side Stories. Forge of the Mindslayers did have a pretty interesting story, but the side plots that were introduced was far more interesting. The main storyline was fairly straightforward like the previous story was, but now there are some interesting side plots that are introduced. At first, the side plots did feel kind of unnecessary, but in the long run they really piqued my interest. The novel could have taken some interesting and different turns, so I was left guessing on what the group was going to do. This just opened up so many interesting places to go. Aside from that, the ending was really great. It was exciting and very unique in how things happened. I didn't expect it to be like that, but I was still very impressed. All and all, the main story was straightforward, but it leaves a lot open to what could come next. 2) Makala. Makala was the best character in the novel, by far. What made her interesting is her internal struggle with what she's become and who she was. You could almost feel and understand her struggle. It added a lot of depth to the character and made you feel for her. She was very well written and she was the most three-dimensional character out of the group. Even with the amount of time that she was given, which wasn't a lot, she still was the more developed and interesting character. Even in the scenes that she was in with others, she stole a lot of those scenes. Makala was the best character in the novel, and the most sympathetic. Side Notes: 1) Kalashtar. I don't really understand who these beings are. They seem human, yet not. I don't really get the difference between Kalashtar's and humans with psionic abilities. 2) Demothi Island. Is it just me, or did this issue seemed to be resolved too easily after all that build up? 3) Cover Art. Forge of the Mindslayers cover art is decent. It's not bad, but when compared to the first novel's it's not as good. It relays heavily on action, which the art work does reflect very well. Other than that it seems very generic, but still good. Diran looks okay, but not great. Cathmore, the guy grabbing Diran, looks really good. He looks intense and dangerous. The background looks decent. The colors are dark, but the background doesn't seem to work right. All in all, it's just decent. Overall: 3/5 Final Thoughts: Forge of the Mindslayers is a decent novel, but feels slightly disappointing. The flashbacks that occur throughout the story felt misplaced and forced in. They did serve a purpose, but they went on for far too long. There were too many characters added in as well. This caused a severe lack of character development in the older characters. The new characters were interesting, but I would rather have spent more time focused on the older ones who needed some more development. On the other hand, the best character in the novel was Makala. Her problems felt more developed and interesting compared to every one else. She came across as three-dimensional and you really felt her struggle. The story was decent and it did open up some interesting side plots, but it felt far too linear. I would have liked to seen the story go with one of the side plots instead of the straightforward story. Overall, Forge of the Mindslayers was a decent read, but left me wishing for more out of this sequel.
3.0 out of 5 stars
A bit of a let down from book 1,
By
This review is from: Forge of the Mind Slayers: The Blade of the Flame, Book 2 (Mass Market Paperback)
Forge of the Mindslayers by Tim Waggoner is the second novel in the Blade of the Flame trilogy. The first book is Thieves of Blood and the third will be titled Sea of Death and is scheduled to be released in February, 2008. Fans of the characters in this book should read the short story by Mr. Waggoner in the anthology called Tales of the Last War. The short story is called The Blade of the Flame and adds more depth to some of the characters.
The plot of this novel picks up where the first novel ended. The main plot of this book is rather linear. The main plot is about the Psi Forge that is discovered and how Diran, Ghaji and Company seek to stop it from coming to life. There are also a couple sub-plots in this book as well - but they are really only hinted at so they lose any significance that they may have. It's quite obvious that Mr. Waggoner is trying to set up events and plot points for the third and final book. The characters in this book seem to be missing something. In the first book, and the short story for that matter, the characters were fantastically written and interesting adding great depth to the story. However, in this book I didn't care about them nearly as much as I did the first go around. Most of the characters seemed `flat' and just there. Some of the dialog seemed forced and unlike what the characters were like in the prior book. In this first book the characters had a few clichés, but largely Mr. Waggoner steered clear of anything major. Yet, in this one there was one cliché after another in terms of how the characters acted and what they said. There is some character development in this book, but it seems that most of the development is by secondary characters and not Diran and Ghaji. I have two criticisms about this book. First, it almost seemed to me that Mr. Waggoner didn't have enough story to fill a book so he threw in chapters and chapters of back story on Diran and Ghaji. While a little back story is good, and expected. The adage of too much of a good thing applies here. It simply made me stop caring about the characters. Where Ghaji was an enigma in the first book - now there is almost no questions about him, thus destroying that mystery and uniqueness. Secondly, I would have liked to know more about the sub-plots that were hinted at in this book. I fully understand hinting at story points, but there needs to be some sort of reveal later in the story too. It seemed as though the sub-plots were building up to something, only to find out at the end that we won't know until the next book. Cliffhangers are certainly a good thing, and an industry standard, but some moderation and explanation still is needed. Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy this book. Yet, after finishing it I didn't feel the same as I did with the first book. It seemed I read a short story in the time it takes to read a novel. There is a solid story here, and one fans of Eberron should read. But, don't expect this to be as good as the first book. Hopefully, book three will finish this trilogy with a bang. All in all, it's a decent book and this is still a trilogy I would recommend.
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