Customer Reviews

Masquerades (The Harpers, Book 10)

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

 

 

Westgate, the city moved by trade, and thieves. For fourteen years, the dreaded Night Masks have ruled the city from the shadows. Enter Alias, a familiar hero to fans of realms fiction, she of the enchanted arm. When Alias and Dragonbait return to Westgate, they become embroiled in the twisted plots of "the Faceless", the mysterious and enigmatic ruler of the Night Masks. With the help of the irrepressible Olive Ruskettle, as well as several new allies they delve head first into breaking up Faceless' dark reigns.

Long had the city of Westgate remained a relative mystery to the Realms reader. An odd fact when you see it lies just across the Lake of Dragons from Cormyr. I was thrilled with this look into the manipulative and trade driven society, especially the haughty merchant nobles. Unlike their Cormyte counterparts, these back biting greengrocers count every penny, and think more about the next shipment than the next ball. I also enjoyed the new faces, both the villains and the allies. I have heard people who claim this book is a failure because the story is not epic. Well if you are sick of realms shattering, god-killing epics this title is for you. I thought it was refreshing to see a title in which the villains were mere mortals capable of manipulation without a castle full of necromancers and priests to shove their will down the peasant's throat. A plot where manipulation and betrayal weighed more than the gold spent to buy a dead tarrasque. This was a fine tale, and worth the time and money to read.

However, I feel I must rate this a four star, rather than a five for one particular reason. As another reviewer stated, the portion of the tale that deals with Verovan's Treasure chamber could have used a touch more work, it felt a touch rushed, and endings are oft to feel that way, it's always the hardest part. As to whether it felt cliché, as that reviewer states, I would have to agree. Love conquers all is a relatively common theme, but that's because it's true for the most part; and while I felt the handling of that cliché was managed well, I would have liked to have seen it done differently. Nevertheless, I have to recommend this title, and the trilogy that introduces thee of the main heroes (Alias, Dragonbait, and Olive): The Finder's Stone trilogy. If you can find any of these four titles, snap them up quick.

In Azure Bonds, there was real mystery: what were Alias' origins, and who was Dragonbait? In Song of the Saurials, the intrigue continued with the mysterious Grypht, and the action was built to an epic scale, with the companions fighting gods and dragons. But everything is scaled down in Masquerades. Alias (who does not seem nearly as well developed as in past books) and the gang are confined to a singular, typical city (so it's not too epic), facing a typical, predictable villain (so it's not too mysterious). This book could have been converted into a cheesy Dungeons and Dragons adventure pretty easily, and that's not a good thing. If Novak and Grubb want to return to these characters, how about they do it through another well-thought out, interesting, mysterious trilogy? I just don't think they expended the same effort on this "little Harpers book" as they have in past efforts.

A book with Dragonbait and Olive has to be good.But this was great!I liked the plot.All the supporting characters were well-made and since Westgate isn't in many books it was nice to read about it.Alias did behave stubbornly but nobody's perfect.I recommend this book to all interested in the Forgotten Realms.

This is a good read. It's kind of obvious who the bad guy is, but there are some interesting twists. I would have liked to see some of the items in the Night Mask treasure room described (and maybe used by the heroes), but that's just me. If you can find this book, get it.

Alias returns to her "hometown" of Westgate on a trivial matter for the Harpers and gets sucked into a battle with the Nightmasks and their leader the Faceless. The Nightmasks are ruthless thieves who really run the city. They have their grubby hands in every pocket and a knife at every back. Alias is hired to break their ring and bring in the Faceless.
This is a good tale which is nicely paced and leaves a few things open for future novels. The characters are solid (but then, most of them have been fleshed out looong ago) and interesting. A good book if you haven't read any of their previous novels, a great one if you have.

I was very impressed with this book. It has to be one of the best from the harper series. The use of established characters strengthens the story and makes it more interesting to read. The best part of the book though has tobe the continuing plot twists. I highly recomend. A warning first: you may want to read the the Finder's Stone triology first.

Why are not all Forgotten Realms novels like this one ? It is just perfect, the heroes are people you can believe in, and the story has an unexpected end. If you like Fantasy, then you should read this novel and the Finder's Stone trilogy preferably before this one.

This novel was among the best fantasy books that I have ever read. The story was in-depth, well written, and stayed true to the Forgotten Realm tradition. The characters had true depth, and the villian was very original. One of the true "last one you would ever expect" mysteries....a 10 out of 10.

This was a great follow up to the finder's stone trilogy. Although it becomes a bit predictable at times, Novak and Grubb still do a great job telling the story of Alias of the Azure Bonds

I think the villain in this book is one of the most original, and truly realist. I was so drawn into this story, I practically read the whole novel in one night! It's unpredictable and addictive. My only gripe, a truly minor one, is that last part in the other plane. W/o spoiling anything, let's say that "letting go of bitterness and despair, and thinking about love blah blah blah" somewhat annoyed me. I think all authors should drop this cliché ^_^. Aside from that, it's sheer perfection.