Customer Reviews

Hand of Fire (Forgotten Realms: Shandril's Saga, Book 3)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

This book is a prime example of an author that has suddenly gotten bored of a character and world he has spent the two previous books building up. Rather than move along the plot line we're forced to endure chapters of random destruction. People, landscape and inconvenient things like a plot are eradicated en masse by spellfire, as is your intelligence and patience as you keep plodding through the book.

The villains are plotting of course, against each other, against Shandriel, against you the reader. Of course none of them have read their Evil Overlord instruction manual [REMOVED WEB ADDRESS] and repeatedly violate Rule #12.

Shandriel's ignominious end is the final insult that Greenwood delivers to the reader. In short it's akin to taking one's ball and leaving the playground because one was picked last for the game. Senseless death in the setting of the book trying to impart greater meaning is allowable. Getting bored with a character that was built up over two prior books is not.

Rather than having this book exist fan-fiction would be much preferred.

This book doesn't even deserve one star. It is the worst Forgotten Realms book I have ever read. Some of their recent offerings have been weak, but this one was pathetic. I looked forward to this book for months. I should have saved my money. The book is the same scene over and over and over thirty seven times. The Knights of Myth Drannor are nowhere to be found. Every bad guy who said "Hey, pursuing spellfire is lousy idea" changed his mind. Some new ones showed up as well. Shan's kid disappears without explanation. There's no plot. There's no point. The ending is over the top and the montage is enough to make you gag. If you want good FR fantasy, pick up anything in the Sembia series, City of the Ravens, anything by R.A. Salvatore, or most stuff in the Harpers' series, if you can find it.

An awful end to a story about heroism and strength in the face of adversity. While Shandril has increased in power, Narm has not (why?) and is more useless than ever. He reminds me of the typical 'helpless female' character so prevalent in books and movies.

This book seems like an exercise in writing combat scenes, as Shandril kills all those who oppose her, over and over and over again. In addition, it makes little sense that various allies of Shandril and Narm have the ability to magically travel but never share that with them, forcing them to walk and ride while coming under almost constant attack. It's almost like Ed hate's Shandril's character, and is torturing her.

I loved the first two books in this series. Spellfire and Crown of Fire managed to capture a sense of both humor and desperation.
Not only does Hand of Fire lack the humor of the first two books, it's the single most depressing novel I have ever read. Now, I don't mind a tragic ending, I'm very fond of dark stories, but this ending was far too dark even for me. Narm and Shandril don't managed to accomplish anything, and then Shandril dies uselessly at the end.
Do not waste money buying this book. You will only end up angry about buying it.

Without reading the other reviews, I can say that this book is rambling and pointless. Characters are introduced mindlessly without any thought to advance the plot (if you could even say there is a plot!), and the author doesnt seem able to continue with a single line of thought for more than about two pages.

While the other two books in the series are at least readable, reading this one was agony, even for a hard core Forgotten Realms fan like myself. Do yourself a favor and get a different FR book.

As a fan of Ed Greenwood and his Forgotten Realms books I was looking forward to the release of this book. It was largely a disappointment though. Not only was the style below par but the plot seemed too haphazard, almost as if it was written by someone on too much caffeine. It may not be Ed's fault since editors will demand entire section of a book to be removed to get the page count within "acceptable" limits. But I will fault him on the way the book ended and the characters' mindsets to justify those actions.
I won't spoil the ending for anyone who may want to read this book, but don't buy it. Borrow it from someone else or get it from the local library and save yourself the money.

If you enjoyed the first two books in the trilogy, stop there. Unfortunately, Hand of Fire is a great disappointment. This book will leave you with the feeling of being cheated. The first two installments made this conculsion look very promising. Ed Greenwood had the chance to get Shandril and Narm to their goal and accomplish something. By the end of this book I felt like I just ran around in circles, winding up where I started and feeling dizzy. It would have been better if he just stopped with Crown of Fire and left the story open-ended instead of way he chose to end it.

Not much too this tale, shandril and narm are on journey along with a merchant caravan stuffed with wizards and would be holders of spellfire. They fight ad naseum for the length of most of the book. All in all, a sad end to the trilogy. Negligible story and character development.

Ed Greenwood is a talented writer but unfortunately he waited way way way too long to continue the saga of Shandril Shessair. Spellfire continues to be one of my favorite books, I've read it numerous times and enjoyed it. Unfortunately I just didn't get as much enjoyment out of this book. It lacked a certain something. I don't really know what else to say about it. It's a good series of books but I think they could have been better.

I have to say, I loved this series of books, until the last book. I loved the first novel especially, and I would read it over and over. The same things applies to the second. I hated the third. The entire novel felt rough. There was no flow to it, and in fact there was the pointless death of Shandril. There is the whole message of no one will leave her alone, but there are places that Greenwood himself created that she could live out her life. It was a senseless killing and one that ruined the entire series for me. I read these books in high school (8ish years ago) and once I read this final novel, I never touched them again.