Customer Reviews

Murder in Cormyr (Forgotten Realms Mystery Hardcover)

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

 

 

This was a decent book so long as you look past a few obvious problems of having a murder occur in a world were it is possible to resurrect the dead and speak with the deceased's spirits. It's not that Mr. Williamson is a bad writer, but you have to take into account the situation you're writing about. If you have a theft take place on a world were there are telepathic individuals, one of them is going to mind scan everyone until they find the thief. In a world where you can cast a spell to detect lies or put on a ring that only lets you hear when some one is speaking the truth, then you have to work around these things. Give a reason why a cleric isn't brought to speak with the dead or raise up the King's cousin-in-law. I understand if the retired wizard is trying to live a life w/o magic, but the rest of the realm is full of spell casters. In fact a fellow War Wizard shows up shortly into the story. A few simple placements of a magical dead area, or a war currently going on the other end of the country that is using up all the high level priests could give reasons why magic wasn't used. All it all it's an O.K. read, just don't get upset that very little sorcery is used in a sword and sorcery setting.

Murder in Cormyr remains one of my favorite Forgotten Realms novels. For those unfamiliar with the brand, the Forgotten Realms novels take place in a world familiar to D&D gamers the world over. The novels range in quality from enjoyably good to excruciatingly bad. MURDER IN CORMYR is one of the former.

MURDER IN CORMYR is told from the first person perspective. A young man tries to steal from a "retired" War Wizard. Once caught, the youth becomes the Wizard's Boy Friday. Wizard and assistant become embroiled in an investigation which weaves fantasy and detective elements together in a pleasant way.

The authors have clearly patterned Wizard and Assistant upon Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin, the Detective Odd Couple made famous in Rex Stout's novels. While the writing does not rise to the level of great literature, it is enjoyable. The novel was either nominated for or won an Edgar award. If you're looking for an enjoyable read, this is a fun book.

I haven't read a book this good in a long time. Chet Williamson is an excellent author. This also makes a great campain in AD&D!

This is a book that combines mystery and fantasy to form a tale that will keep you glued to the book until the very last page. Jasper, slop boy and main character, gets chased by evil spirits, meets hydras, and even the vengeful ghost of a legendary bandit. Jasper becomes indebted to a wizard, and helps him figure out who beheaded the blacksmith's assistant and the king's envoy. This isn't all the book has in store though, but I shall tell you no more on this topic. I gave this book 5 stars because it was a mystery, a personal favorite of mine. Also even after all is said and done, there's still an extra surprise. I recommend this book to anyone above age twelve because this book is a bit too challenging for younger kids. Can you figure out who did it when you read the Murder in Cormyr

Setting up a murder mystery in a fantasy setting is asking for trouble - it could be done, but it is very difficult and Chet Williamson just didn't make the grade in "Murder in Cormyr".

The main problem with a murder mystery in a magic rich world like the Forgotten Realms is that magic opens up too many possibilities. A temporary clone spell could create the perfect alibi for any criminal. Victims can be resurrected. Culprits can teleport from practically anywhere and to practically anywhere.

Of course, the presence of magic, or technology, does not on its own exclude a murder mystery. Isaac Asimov did it in his one of his Spacer novel "The Robots of Dawn". The Realms Anthologies have some good short stories which could be termed as murder mysteries.

As Agatha Christie's Poirot once commented, a study in crime is a study of characters. An entertaining murder mystery is not marred by technology or magic making the impossible possible, but by interaction of characters.

Chet Williamson appeared to be aware of this formula. However, he fumbled rather badly in his delivery.

The narrator was one Jasper of Ghars, a slop-boy of halfling-human ancestry, apprenticed to retired Cormyrean war-wizard Benelaius after a failed attempt to raid the latter's home.

The scene was Ghars, a hardly noticable village on the Cormyrean side of the border with Sembia, soon to host the annual meeting of Grand Council of Cormyr's Merchants' Guild.

Somewhere in the story was a legendary headless ghost of a brigand leader who was supposed to guard his hidden loot in inhospitable marshlands.

It began with the discovery of the murder of an impersonator of the ghost. Then Grodoveth, King Azoun's envoy-at-large within the kingdom, was found dead.

Chet Williamson painted a colourful picture of a normally idyllic village beset by misfortunes on the eve of trying to make a name for itself hosting a merchants' conference. The characters involved were diverse from money-grubbing barkeepers to lovely daughter of the local tycoon.

Jasper found himself assisting his portly master in the investigation. Theirs was a contrast of methods, Jasper trying to emulate a fictional detective who employed deductive reasoning and logic to solve his crimes, and Benelaius apparently just sitting back and unhurriedly gathering his information mostly through others. Mystery fans should recognise the caricature of Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot, or rather more aptly, Arthur Hastings and Hercule Poirot.

Unfortunately, though Chet Williamson gave a lot of attention on character interaction, he failed to negate the possibilities played by magic. There were clues around to be sure, but they were not significantly crucial enough, and were open to alternative explanations.

Fortunately for Chet, his endings did tied up these loose ends, though leaving mystery fans not quite satisfied.

A mix of the traditional mystery and the tradition fantasy story, to great effect. The ending is pleasantly unexpected, and the character of Benelaius, the wizard who shuns magic, is an innovation. Good work.

Unfortunately, both Murder in Cormyr as well as Murder in Halruaa are a major disappointment indeed! Badly written, by what seems to be inexperienced people who not only to have had no previous work or any serious contact with Fantasy (not even to mention the specifics of the Forgotten Realms Campaign World), but writing books-ANY books- in general! Myself, a mystery enthusiast of Arthur Conan Doyle's and Agatha Christie's work and a Fantasy/Dungeons and Dragons "Fanatic" have no alternative, but to write this negative review in an effort to warn the potential reader of what they are in for. Both these authors should at least have read a Forgotten Realms novel before attempting to write one, and what?s more if they did not want to or did not have the ability to write this type of book, they should not even have attempt it. However, since they did, how and why were these books allowed to hit the printing press and then the stores? They discredit themselves (the authors), they discredit TSR, but most importantly they discredit the readers/fans of the Forgotten Realms, especially those who thought that combining Fantasy and Mystery would be a great idea, like myself. From the weak plot, to the bad writing, to the ridiculous choice of names for the characters, to the jokes that fall flat, to the great lack of knowledge regarding Toril, the books fail miserably!
It is very unfortunate that the Murder Series came to an end before the writing of Murder in Ravens Bluff and WotC should reconsider their decision now that years have gone by and maybe resurrect the project, but considering the poor work included in these books I can at least understand why they did so back then. In conclusion, it is with great sadness that I only give two stars to these books since almost all the Forgotten Realms novels that have been written have been more than wonderful-what with RA Salvatore, Elaine Cunningham, Ed Greenwood etc. The books could have been fantastic if the right people or the necessary care had been given during the writing of the stories. A shame really! My advice, read them only after you're done reading all the other Forgotten Realms books and you are still in need of more Toril related material; at least you'll get a slight hint/taste of Faerun.

Great for the pre-teen reader. A lot too predictable. Spoon feeding of clues and plot. Read it if you have nothing better to do.

I was hoping for a sherlock-holmes meets Faerun mystery and instead I got Jessica Fletcher from murder she wrote. And I'm not talking about the first, good seasons of murder she wrote, I'm talking about the horrible final seasons. You get a lot of clues throughout the novel, but you havent a prayer of actually figuring out who did it. The murder plot behind the murder isnt even that good. The literary style was ok in my opinion, but the plot, which I get a feeling was force fed to Chet Williamson was just plain lousy.