Customer Reviews

The Nether Scroll (Lost Empires Series, A Forgotten Realms(r) Novel)

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

 

 

The Lost Empires series is a series of stand alone novels featuring empires of old that have been lost only to searched out and found again for various reasons.

While this book is certainly not the best that the Forgotten Realms has to offer, it's certainly not the worst either. For thos familiar witht he Realms this is a nice book to pick up as it gives some history and lore about the Nethril empire. For those not familiar witht he Realms this book will seem like a waste of time.

I would recommend this book only if you enjoy Forgotten Realms books and have a decent understanding of what goes on there.

I was fairly aprehensive about reading this book since I did not overly enjoy Lynn Abbey's last FR novel "The Simbul's Gift." But I ended up really enjoying this book, in fact I loved this book. Many people complain that the main character's are annoying or loathesome but in actuality they were quite realistic, they contained real human qualities and real human flaws, and thats what made this book so great. The hero's are not of your near demi-god proportions and thus it makes it all the more interesting to read about them trying to overcome the perils of the book, and because of this aspect you actually don't know that everyone will be alright in the end such as in an RAS book. And finally to top off the five star rating goes to the quite enjoyable, foppish demi-human of the book. Its nice to see a character such as that portrayed with some intelligence rather than completly feral characteristics. Read this book, I don't think you will be disapointed.

Believe it or not, I was unfamiliar with the Forgotten Realms when I picked up this book. And yet it's still the best standalone novel I've read from this setting.

The overall impression I'm getting from these reviews is that readers wanted epic developments, stunning revelations, and outright heroic characters. Naturally, if you're going to limit your tastes to that form of fantasy, you're going to think this book is boring and terrible.

Fundamentally, this is a book about the characters - every one of them flawed, but none flawed to the core. Druhallen is stubborn and nomadic, but fiercely intelligent and a seeker of wisdom. Roz'ta has strong maternal instincts and a fierce temper, coupled with pragmatism and a strong bond with her compatriots. Tiep is immature, irritable and even cowardly, but he silently values and cares about his adoptive family.

People thought Sheemzher was a rip-off of Gollum. I would remind these readers that goblins are not known for their mastery of Common, and that Sheemzher has a good number of traits that distinguish him from Gollum - outright loyalty and good, as well as a childlike nature.

I found this change of pace from the usual save-the-multiverse fare extremely refreshing. This is the story of a group of unambitious adventurers just trying to make a living in an often unfair world. Boring to some; very fulfilling for me. And this from someone who doesn't even enjoy most Forgotten Realms literature.

I highly recommend this book. Just know what's on offer here and what you like from fantasy before you read it.

The Nether Scroll is set in the south-western reaches of the Anarauch desert where the Zhentarim reign supreme. The book describes the story of an unlikely group of adventurers consisting of a human female fighter, a human male wizard (who happens to be her ex-), a human male thief (who is her adopted son), and a goblin (who works for a mysterious lady-of-the-forest and who happens to be holding the female's husband, the wizard's best friend, and the thief's step-father) as they venture into an abandoned by the Netherese mine complex in search of an ancient scroll.
The Nether Scroll is the last in a series of four novels (known as the Lost Empires series and which includes The Lost Library of Cormanthyr, Faces of Deception, and Star of Cursrah) that deal with the secrets of four of Toril's long lost ancient civilizations.
The book starts off with a bang and then it's downhill all the way to the end...
In short, the book is so darn boring! Although Lynn Abbey seems to indicate that she has a grasp of essential knowledge relevant to Faerun, she doesn't do much with it. The adventure is mostly a wilderness adventure focusing on wizards, but misses out in providing that insight vis-à-vis the everyday life of a wizard with the exception of the following quote: "Wizards trained their memories the way warriors sharpened their swords and merchants counted their coins." (p.178) Aside from that, the only other notable phrases/quotes worth salvaging from this novel is a good description of zombies: "The zombie's face was fully skeletal, and flesh hung in tatters from its long bones," (p.11) and the truth that lies within the following words: "...there'd never been a slave-trade that didn't rely on the cooperation of some element within the enslaved population." (p.171)
Instead, Lynn Abbey provides for a bland story, bland dialogues, and bland (and let me add "weak and unlikable") characters. An utterly useless thief that goes adventuring with his step mother and her ex-, a wizard (Dru) who used to go out with the party's fighter (Rozt'a) only to walk out on her, which lands her marrying her ex's best friend, sounds like a second, if not third rate soap opera.
In addition, the author burdens us with an annoying goblin named Sheemzher who is a cross between Gollum from LOTR and Dobby from Harry Potter! Why, Lynn??? What made you think it is remotely amusing or necessary? A pet goblin, really...
Furthermore, reading the book at times felt like watching/playing a video/pc game, while the characters' entry into the mines was reminiscent of LOR and Baldur's Gate, which was kind of interesting.
Finally, enough with the "What's cut stays cut" over and over and over again!
In conclusion, The Nether Scroll was a disappointing way to bring the series to an end, especially after reading the third novel in line, Star of Cursrah, which was amazing. Nevertheless, the book's interesting mention of Zhentil Keep politics (Manshoon and Sememmon) and the encounters with goblins, Zhentarim, Red Wizards, Otyugh, and zombies prevents it from being a total waste. 2.5 Stars

I wanted to like this book! It started out with the promise of really bad villains and dramatic discoveries that may answer some questions of how the Nethiril Empire developed. With the introduction of some lackluster characters, and the same sort of villainous dudes seen before, I seen some potential for a really good adventure. What a let down!

I would give spoilers but there is very little left to spoil. The plot spirals unoriginally out of control, using elements from Tolkein galore. The little goblin uses dialog identical to Gollum. The whole purpose of the Nether scroll goal is very disappointing. By the time these cardboard character find them, I didnt care. Maybe, Netherise Arcanist showed up and zapped this author for nearly sinking the my enthusiasm for this series.

There have been some good, mediocre and bad Forgotten Realms books. This gets my vote as the worst of all. Fortunately, Wizards of the Coast regrouped its talent search and found some writers who actually may like contributing to the vast epic of the Forgotten Realms. The direction Lynn Abbey was taking it was down, indeed things looked a little dark at that time. Wizards inherited some talented writers; Greenwood, Salvatore, and Cunningham. In fact, I am going to explore some of thier new writers. Things could not get any worse than the Nether Scroll!

The Nether Scroll is disapointing to most of Lynn Abbey's fans as it is certainly not her best work. But it is still an enjoyable read. I finished it rather quickly and it kept my attention.

The "Lost Empires" category lured me to this book. I hoped to find more information about the past, something to compliment the Netherese set (which I do have). Instead, it's a story of very modern peoples, and only passing references to the artifact of the title. There is one section, late in the novel, giving a better idea of the nature of these scrolls, but just as a tiny glimmer was shown, it is ripped away revealing nothing of interest.
This novel has a decent story on its own, and if you want political intregue with the Zhents, this has some value. But it's not where my interests lie. (...)

Okay so first of all, Lynn Abbey is a woman.

I was a big fan of Ms. Abbey's previous FR book, The Simbul's Gift, and was really excited to see her writing in the Realms again. I was NOT disappointed. Lately the whole FR line has been getting better and better after a real lull there. Beyond the High Road, Death of the Dragon, the whole Threat from the Sea, Sembia -- some of the best fantasy out there. And The Nether Scroll is right up there. I loved it and even the most passing FR fan will too.

Reading this book was like being force fed a food that makes you want to vomit. You don't want to continue, but you really have no choice unless you want to waste 6 bucks. There are some nice points to the book, the female warrior was nice, and the things the mage learned from the scroll should have been expounded upon sooner as it was the only real item of interest in the whole dang book. As it is the writing was slow and the majority of characters were uninteresting. I can say I will never reread this book.

This was quite a weak work. The characters were extremely unlikable and the storyline rather boring. I only finished reading this to avoid feeling that I had not wasted my money buying this book. I ended up feeling that I had wasted my time instead. This is the worst Forgotten Realms book I have ever read.