Customer Reviews

Forgotten Realms: Waterdeep Book 3 of The Avatar Triology

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the final installment in the Avatar Trilogy (the previous two being "Shadowdale" and "Tantras.") There's nothing I hate more in a novel (and especially a series of novels) than unresolved questions at the end. This book resolves the issues of the series in a believable and interesting way, which also opens the door to future adventures involving the same characters.

If you've read "Shadowdale" and "Tantras," then you owe it to yourself to finish out the trilogy. If you haven't, then read them first, because the actions of the characters will be much clearer with the background provided by the first two books.

All in all, a fine ending to an outstanding series and some truly unforgetable characters (my personal "favorite" is Cyric, since he's hands-down the most interesting and layered character in the series.) Prepare to be hooked (I last read these books over 5 years ago, and I still find the characters and stories compelling.) if you get started.

The Avatar trilogy is one of those series that starts out pretty bland and gets better as it goes. That said, Waterdeep- the "sort of" conclusion to this tale, is a great story. It's largely assumed you are familiar with the characters, and unlike the previous novels the author (this time 'Awlinson' is Troy Denning) does not try to summarize everything that happened before.

This is fortunate, as it leaves more room for fun stuff. To sum up the gist of the tale, the quest continues to recover the second Tablet of Fate and return order to the Realms. Midnight, Kelemvor, and Adon- the heroes of the story- travel to the City of Splendors in search of the missing artifact. The title is somewhat misleading, as they actually don't spend much time in Waterdeep itself. Most of the time is spent journeying there and dealing with all manner of enemies, including the baddest mortal villain currently in the Realms- Cyric.

A few things go unanswered, and the story's finale leaves a lot unwritten, but this is because the saga doesn't actually end here despite it being the third book in a trilogy. If you were disappointed in the characterization in earlier books, Waterdeep does little to improve upon it. The strength of this story is its plot, and those who aren't familiar with Forgotten Realms household names like Elminster and Khelben will be wondering who these guys are, and why everyone seems to recognize them. Little enough explanation is given for why Cyric spirals down to the bottom end of the alignment spectrum, though I suppose one could just say the guy is nuts.

I won't say anything more about the story, but suffice to say it is good. I wasn't very pleased with Shadowdale, but the authors have clearly gotten things straightened out since writing that first novel. If you've started the series already, it would be a shame to not read Waterdeep as this is where much of the trilogy's value is maintained.

Troy Denning wrote a really good series, containing really good information and a realms shaking event. Wonderful

This book is an excellent finish to a trilogy that started off pretty slow. The author of the first two installments didn't write this one and it shows. The writing was much more mature and involved. While reading the first two books I sometimes got the feeling that they were meant for preteens given the terms and words used, but this last installment was definetly written with adults in mind.

While I didn't get attached to these characters as I have in other FR series, this book definetly got me to interested in how their stories were going to unfold. I knew what was going to happen to most of the main characters by the end of the novel yet I was kept on the edge of my seat reading as to exactly how those ends would be met. I have to say that the very last few pages happened pretty much how I expected them too, and that was a good thing. There was however, a very interesting twist at the very end of the novel.

This book concludes the original trilogy but there are two more books involving these characters that take place after the Time of Troubles that, after reading this book, are definelty on my futre reading list.

Amazing! It's hard to believe how good this book turned out after the rocky start with Shadowdale. This is a great story, a must read for anyone interested in the Realms novels. Can't wait to read prince of lies and the Crucible now :)

*Spoilers if you havent read Shadowdale & Tantras*

Bane and Torm are dead. Having destroyed each other in a battle at the end of tantras.

Cyric is on a murderous rampage following Midnight, Adon, and Kelemvor with hopes of retrieving the Tablet of Fate they hold.

Mykrul sends his men...err Zombies after Midnight, Adon, and Cyric. He has also dispatched Bhaal, god of assassins after them. Hoping to get the tablet they have as well.

Midnight, Cyric, and Adon traverse across the realms trying to get to Waterdeep, Elminster, and hopefully find the last Tablet of Fate so they can restore the order in the realms.

Gods will die, new gods will arise. The Realms will never be the same again.

The Time of Troubles draws to an end!

This book carried the perfect ending for the first three. And the later book Prince of Lies expands more into the ending of the avatar trilogy. This book and the other two books in the avatar trilogy are classic works of art, i was hooked by book one of the avatar trilogy and couldnt help but read the other two. A must read for all Forgotten Realms fans.

I found the Avatar Trilogy to be quite enjoyable. Particularly for gamers of the Forgotten Realms campaign setting this set of books is a must read. Aside from that, I didn't think it was bad at all, in fact I think Kelemvor Lyonsbane is possibly one of the more interesting characters I've read about in FR novels to date. He has some very interesting quirks that I will not mention to those who plan to read the book. It's an easy and quick read, the story flows well, with perhaps one slow point. Descriptive enough to give you a picture of whats going on but not overboad with wordiness and details. Cyric's story could have been done a bit better. It seems like some pages are missing, the reader never gets the full story behind what makes Cyric do what he does. Some shallow references but all in all, if there is a drawback to this series, that would be it. And it is in fact a major flaw. Make sure you read this trilogy in order.

Well, Unable to leave a trilogy once started, I took on the task of reading the third installment of the Avatar Trilogy. I wasn't impressed with the first book, and the second did nothing more than aggravate me, with very little to redeem it by. So I was very surprised to find that the third (and last) book started making sense. I think it had something to do with this installments author, Troy Denning (Once again, I remind you that Richard Awlinson was a pseudonym for various authors). I don't know for how long he contributed to the series, but his style was more noticeable in this book(assuming that he did most of the writing himself, After all, I wasn't there ***Update*** around 2004, Wizards of the Coast started printing new editions of the book with just Troy Denning as author). From the beginning, you see he is more descriptive about almost every aspect. He is mindful of the details of such important characters as Myrkul (God of the dead), and you finally start to see this character as a thing to be feared. His attention to character development was so notable, that I feel if he would have been in charge of the first two books, the trilogy would have been much better. Again, I believe that this trilogy was the first attempt by some of its authors to write novels as opposed to Role-Playing manuals and the like. Mr. Denning might have been the only writer in the group with novel experience, or at least, a gift for descriptive narrative. I also concede that one of the difficulties faced by the writers was the large amount of characters in the story. There were too many secondary characters that got more development than they deserved. Characters like Slater, the female Scorpion band soldier, was written as if she was going to be a major player, then suddenly, she is dropped from the story ( I don't remember if they bothered to say she died). Others, like the three assassins in TANTRAS, were no more intimidating than the three stooges. Again, lack of characterization, probably due to too many characters introduced in the trilogy. In the end, Mr. Denning did a great job of bringing this trilogy home. the end was a surprise and left itself open for further adventures, hopefully with better characterization (hehehe!, guess I've beaten that horse long enough). My rating: 3.5

Also, read the Brothers Majere Trilogy, Good Characterization there.

My review does not concern the book, as my young reader loves the series. It does, however, concern quality assurance relative to the provider. Upon receiving this book, it had a yellow and red clearance sticker indicating the price of $1.00; however, that is certainly not the price I was charged. As a customer, I am less than impressed with the perceived "customer service" I received. (FYI: The provider was super-fly-books.)

Great Service, Had my book in 4 days. I borrow alot of sci-fi-fantacy books from friend and the serials are always missing one book. I will be using your service again and again. Thank you also to Bay City Books, the book was in excellent conditiom.