Customer Reviews

Lord Soth

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

It was a good story but it WASN'T Lord Soth's story. This book was so inacurate I could have written it better off the top of my head without reading any of the other DL books over. That isn't not the only problem though. Soth's decline into evil was much too rapid. He didn't go through any emotional struggle before becoming evil, he just did. I even question if he was ever good. The book starts out with one of his henchmen murdering 2 people at his command. If you want a good book about Lord Soth there are 2 in the Ravenloft series that are very good.

I loved Knight of the Black Rose, and looked forward to getting more in depth detail of Soth's rise and fall as a Knight of Solamnia. I think its a little unfair to come down so harshly on this book. True, Van Belkom isn't James Lowder, but his style is readable and he made the novel accessible to anyone who came off the street not knowing anything about Dragonlance. As for discrepencies between Lowder and Van Belkom, he does point out in the opening pages that this story is one of many told about Soth, and details may vary between tellers. As a whole, this book was a solid read. There's enough action for a sword and sorcery fan to get into, but enough intrigue to keep you through the calm parts of the novel as well. The Kingpriest's madness is one of the coolest parts of the book. While mostly confined to small scenes, his Edict of Thought Control will send a shiver down the spine. In all, Lord Soth is a fine way to turn a friend on to Dragonlance. Its a simple, self-contained story that leaves the reader wanting more. I hope either Van Belkom or Lowder is allowed to detail Soth's early days as a Death Knight. How did he come to serve Takhisis? He seems more remorseful than evil by the end of the tale.

Given the difficulty Edo van Belkom must have had to write about one of Krynn's "unapproachable, unchangeable" characters, LORD SOTH comes off as a pretty well-written book. Having little interest in the Death Knight's personal story-because I'm just dabbing into Dragonlance right now-I read it as a straight, linear book. And it came off rather well-done. Quite literally, too, at the end when the gods bake all major characters of the book (with the gory exception of three elf maidens on the side of a certain road...). But on the serious track, the book is an interesting read for someone who doesn't try to poke through all the tidbits of Loren Soth's life. The biggest fault is not in the prose or style of van Belkom, but rather that he never really delves into Lord Soth's character. Throughout the book, Loren Soth is the doomed man, haunted by past misdeeds but also rationalizing his actions with his noble title and reputation. Yet though his madness is quite vivid in portrayal, he is only a masked character, and one is inclined to feel more sorry for say the trio of elves he cuts down on the way to (or depending on your viewpoint, back from) Istar. There are also some good parts about the pyschology of the Kingpriest of Istar. The Cataclysm isn't well portrayed in this book, not a shame, but one does wish for more depiction of the scene where the fiery mountain collides with the planet. Of course, the event has been detailed elsewhere so any extensive depiction here might come off as redundant. There is plenty of gore in the book, and it's very much domestic in nature, and to some people it may be exceedingly disturbing. The murder of a wife and child is bad enough, but when repeated... At the end, LORD SOTH is very much one of those books that is interesting to read but lacking the Dragonlance atmosphere. One can say the same thing about THE IRDA, any of the Fifth Age books, and so on (and on the badly faring side, there is THE DARK QUEEN...) Good to read, but in the end it felt like a distraction from Krynn's main road.

This is a DARK story. While there may be some contradictions from other accounts(I haven't read the Ravenloft books yet)I thought this novel showed how Soth lost everything - even his soul.

Someone said it showed Soth as never being good. I disagree. Soth didn't want to have those murders comitted at the start. It made references to his nobility several times. The book wasn't about his good side. It was about how he transcended into darkness.

A great story.

An excellent book in many may ways. I'm a big Lord Soth fan, and I must admit, this book suits him well. It shows he downfall of a man, respect and adored by many others, a man that gives himself into greed and lust, and how jealousy and mistrust can corrupt even those who seek to be so pure and noble. Although the end of the book is a little rushed (the effects of the Cataclysm could have been more explored... but that wasn't the theme anyway).

The book, Lord Soth, I found to be poorly written and failed to explain and give good reason for Lord Soth's spiral downward into the depths of evil. The way the book was written failed to show the emotions of Soth as he committed his crimes. The author seemed to just skim over the important parts, such as the deaths of Lady Korinne, Isolde, and his two children. Even though any DragonLance novice knows the tale of Soth, this book failed in showing Soth's honour and true evil. Also the summary on the back of the book concerning Soth's quest given to him by Paladine is quite misleading since it lasts a whole chapter at the end of the book. The novel also didn't fully explain what evil magic transformed Soth and his loyal knights into Death Knights. Overall I found the book very uninspired and was disappointed by it. Weis and/or Hickman should have written the book as opposed to some novice.

Soth, the most mysterious, most menacing, character from the first two Dragonlance trilogies finally gets his own starring role in a story that describes how the man became the dreaded undead knight.

The author attempts to create a Shakespeareian-like, Othello-esque story of a noble, honorable knight with a checkered family heritage who succumbs to his tragic flaws of pride and lust. Pretty impressive for a mass market paperback assumed to be targeted at the 12 to 18 year old age group.

I believe it is that very marketing fact that limits the impact of Lord Soth. Having to pull his punches, dance around mature topics, and avoid adult themes, the author is prevenented from writing the story that could be. He does his valiant best to create a decent story but in the end the reader is left saying "there could be more"

Lord Soth was originally a Knight of Solamnia who turned evil- was it pride, lust or greed? His descent into darkness and evil is detailed here. He accepts a task from Paladine to redeem himself. He is a major villain in the War of the Lance, also featured more subdued in Ravenloft. It's kind of creepy.

This was a well written book, but the main events were all wrong. I enjoyed James Lowder's novel, "The Knight of the Black Rose" a lot more, (I even cried at the end!) but that was when Soth was dead and the author could have him do whatever he wanted.

You quickly learn why it has a disclaimer in the beginning saying that this story might be wrong - the main facts that Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman said about Soth when he was living were completely left out! It started to go downhill from the point where Soth took Isolde back to the keep. That's not what happened. Soth and the elves made camp and escorted them to Palanthas. (Though I'm not sure if they made it there or not.) He seduced her - NOT the other way around. His first wife was not mentioned that much, but I don't think he loved her that much or he wouldn't have cheated on her. And I don't think he was the one who personally killed her. I got the feeling that he had one of his loyal knights do the job instead. And what's with all the people around in the land? There were no people that were "his" to watch over. That's why he got away with everything. There might have been a trial and his knights set him free, but there was NO mention of why he was taken to court. Also, Soth beat Isolde. Right before they got the message to go save Istar, she was crying (from his beating) and he took pity on her and they went and prayed together.

Now I know I haven't read the Dragonlance Series in a really long time, but my soul knew it was WRONG! Then why did I continue reading it? Because it was well written and I wanted to see if any of the other events would happen correctly.

This book really doesn't answer any questions or help you "know" Soth any better, if anything, it left me frustrated and confused - if over half the "facts" presented in here are false, how can it help you "get to know" him any better? I don't know if Soth was *ever* a truly good man, yet, throughout this book, Soth appears to be a good guy until the very end of the story. He loved Korinne, yet slept with Isolde and made it seem like her fault. Which I have major problems with...but that's another story...

This book tells the tale of the events leading up to Lord Soth's mysterious change from Solamnic Knight of Paladine to Death Knight of Takhisis for those of us who have come to know him as Kitiara's creepy sidekick from the Chronicles stories. This book does not rank as one of my all time favorites in the Dragonlance series, but it is well worth reading just for the insight into Soth's character. Our favorite Death Knight can also be found in TSR's Ravenloft series in the books Knight of the Black Rose and Spectre of the Black Rose for those of you who want to know more....