Marked for Death (The Lost Mark, Book 1) [Mass Market Paperback]

Matt Forbeck (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2005 | Series: The Lost Mark (Book 1)

Marked for Death begins a new epic trilogy set in the world of Eberron, Wizards of the Coast’s newest D&D® campaign setting.

The Eberron world will continue to grow through new roleplaying game products, novels, miniatures, and electronic games.

AUTHOR BIO: Matt Forbeck has written and designed games for more than 14 years, for which he has garnered several awards. His most recent title for Wizards of the Coast was Secret of the Spiritkeeper, the kickoff novel for the Knights of the Silver Dragon™ young reader series for Mirrorstone™ Books.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

MATT FORBECK has written and designed games for more than 14 years, for which he has garnered several awards. His most recent title for Wizards of the Coast was Secret of the Spiritkeeper, the kickoff novel for the Knights of the Silver Dragon™ young reader series for Mirrorstone™ Books.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Wizards of the Coast (March 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 078693610X
• ISBN-13: 978-0786936106
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #731,584 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Matt Forbeck has worked full-time as a writer and game designer since 1989 with many top companies, including Angry Robot, Atari, Boom! Studios, Games Workshop, High Voltage Software, IDW, Image Comics, Mattel, Penguin, Playmates Toys, Random House, Simon & Schuster, Ubisoft, and Wizards of the Coast. He has designed board games, collectible card games, roleplaying games, and miniatures games and has written comic books,computer games, magazines,novels, nonfiction, screenplays, and short fiction. His work has been published in over 10 languages.

His projects have been nominated for 24 Origins Awards and won 13. He has also won five ENnies. He is a proud member of the Alliterates writers' group, the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers, the International Thriller Writers, and the International Game Developers Association. He lives in Beloit, Wisconsin, with his wife Ann and their children: Marty, Pat, Nick, Ken, and Helen. Visit Forbeck.com for more details about him and his work.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Strong Start, June 12, 2005

By 

Peter Girvan (Bronx, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Marked for Death (The Lost Mark, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

Marked for Death is an entertaining and action-packed story--which is exactly what one should expect when reading a novel based in a D&D gameworld. The main characters are well portrayed and the author does an excellent job writing dialogue for the villains--the antagonists have reasonable motivations (and explanations) for their actions which is something you rarely see in a genre novel such as this.

The only flaws in the book are its length and a rough shift in tone from the novel's start to its end. In terms of length, much of the action repeats itself, as other reviewers have noted. In terms of tone, the first (and much stronger) half of the novel feels like the classic western, "The Searchers." This portion is a grim, grounded story that really grabs the reader. In the second half of the story, however, the action goes rather widescreen echoing one of the big action scenes of Attack of the Clones.

The two halves just don't fit well together and I wish that Mr. Forbeck had remained true to the Western feel that he so carefully crafted in the early parts of the story. That said, the good parts of the story outweigh the bad and I see real promise in this series.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A pretty good book, September 3, 2005

By 

Lucafin Nailo "Dragon Army Commander" (Rotterdam) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Marked for Death (The Lost Mark, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

This was a pretty good book. Matt Forbeck does a good job of describing the battle scenes, and he does a good job with the character Kandler. However, the saving and losing and recapturing and re-kidnapping of Espre gets a bit tedious. Other than that, it is a good book. I really liked the part with the deathless wizard.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Repetitive, November 9, 2005

By 

Adam Coath (Seattle) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Marked for Death (The Lost Mark, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

While the action scenes are fairly well written the plot leaves something to be desired. This romp though the Mournlands seems to be stuck in a loop as Kandler and his shifter sidekick repeatedly track his adopted daughter and rescue her, only to have her kidnapped again.
While it might be useful as introduction to some of the elements of the Eberron world, the characters and plot are not developed enough to make a great novel.