Customer Reviews

The Rage (Forgotten Realms: The Year of the Rogue Dragons, Book 1)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I'd picked it up for two reasons:
1) I enjoyed Byers' War of the Spider Queen title
2) The premise of the series intrigued me

I was a bit disappointed in the end, mainly due to the writing style. Each action taken by a character seems to be prefaced by what almost happened, or what would have happened had the circumstances been slightly different. Being familiar with D20 rules I can understand that Byers is trying to explain the various spells/feats/skills in whole as he moves the story forward. However, I'd expect this sort of detail to work better in a gaming manual than a novel. (You can almost see Byers writing this book, throwing dice to decide the outcome of each scene.) I found the writing style confusing at times, and often had to reread a paragraph or two to figure out what had just happened. In the end, the writing broke my suspension of disbelief.

I don't see myself reading the rest of this series.

I almost gave this book three stars because at first I had a hard time sticking to this book. After finishing it I believe it was not because of the quality and content of the book, but more so just distractions in my real life. Anyway, that said, again after finishing I determined that this book is really good.

The ending makes up for the slower beginning - the book does drag slightly from up until the middle of the book, but not enough to get frustrated or upset at the book because it is still filled with action and interesting and surprising characters. I won't say what the surprises are but they are, for a lack of better word, interesting.

One thing I really loved about this book, especially compared to other Forgotten Realms books was the sheer quantity of races, character classes, and monster types. I had never read about many of the creatures in this book before and was pleased that this book incorporated things that are only briefly mentioned in other FR books. I will also leave those as a surprise to the reader as to not spoil the fun.

Finally, the main character, Dorn, is a beast of a man. I can't tell if I truely like him or if I just like the idea of him being this huge ugly half-golem man. He brings on the pain with his half iron body and he is just so interesting. However, I dislike his sexual tension with another of the characters just because it seems so cheesy and will be trying to make a moral point later in the series.

Finally, I believe this series will be above average overall, with stunning cover art that I heard will be able to put together to make a four part mural when lined up with the other two books and the anthology for "The Year of the Rogue Dragons."

Richard Byers was tapped for this Realms Shaking Event (RSE) trilogy. For those of you who don't know a RSE is an event told in a book or series of books that will change the Forgotten Realms for ever. Wizards of the Coast doesn't usually tell the reader's when a RSE is occuring it keeps things 'interesting'.

This trilogy of books has a very interesting premise in that the most powerful mortal creatures in the Realms, Dragons, can't control this rage that happens and they don't know when it's coming.

This is definitally and action packed book, and most likely trilogy. Byers does a very good job of helping the reader get inside the various dragon's heads and know what it 'feels' like to experience the rage. He moves between scenes effectively and with little thought of "What just happened."

However, I have one complaint with this trilogy thus far. I would have liked more information on the various types of Dragons that seem to be appearing aside from the traditional dragons. It seems like every 20-30 pages a new type of dragon emerges that I have never heard of. I am not a gamer I only read the novels set in the realms and have no idea what some of these dragons are.

Other than that this is a very well written book and sure to be an interesting trilogy.

We all met Byers for the first time (in all likelihood) with book 1 of the Spider Queen series from Salvatore. Byers started off that series with an excellent effort. Now he is stepping away from that series (but not the Forgotten Realms) with his own creation. His cast of characters is superb. The combat sequences flow well, even if his heroes seem quite a bit more skilled than their opponents. If Amazon had an "Author Watch" list to keep track of books by our favorite authors, Byers would be on mine in a heartbeat.

As a Player and DM I love that there is finally a current series where the protagonists aren't invincible juggernaughts. My main complaint with many of the current Dungeons and Dragons novels is that the heros never (really) tire and only lose or die when dramatically appropriate.

In contrast, while reading this book you can imagine the author rolling the dice as he writes. Rather than finding excuses for his characters to be invincible in the face of godlike foes, he builds appropriate "encounters" and if overmatched they have to find another way to deal with a situation.

I don't want to make it sound like this book is just a very thorough campaign narration; it is certainly enjoyable to non-players as a dramatic piece. I just wanted to express how this novel is a great read for new players and old alike in reminding us how good a quality campaign can feel.

Very refreshing.

I picked up this book because I had read Dissolution. It is by no means high literature, but it is a fun, page-turning romp with likeable characters. For those who think Dragons should be invinceable, desperately hard-to-kill demi-gods, I have this to say: That wouldn't make for a very long, nor particulary interesting book.

First I should admit that I'm an admitted pulp addict-so I derive an unhealthy pleasure from these types of books. Second, I enjoyed Byers' addition to the War of the Spider Queen. This book, however, was a disappointment (not a Ring of Winter disappointment, but still a disappointment). Admittedly, I'm a hard sell when it comes to dragons: I want magic, mystery, and a bit of a scare. What I don't want is humans that are 30 feet tall-and tedious ones at that. This book just fell flat on the dragons: A) They weren't exciting. B) They weren't believable. The idea of a series of novels covering the return of the dragon's rage literally crackles with excitement, so how can this be so dull? Two silver dragons attack a ship (yawn) and are defeated by...um...dare I say a song dragon and our hero? Well, you'd have to read it to believe it.

Which I suppose brings me to the thing that irritated me even more than the lackluster dragons-the "hero." Hey, he's a half-golem. Half-IRON golem. Yes, one "half" IRON GOLEM and one "half" human-right down the middle. I realize the MM2 says these are possible. Plausible is another story. I perpetually expected him to split apart. I'm supposed to believe that his flesh leg could support the weight of a thousand pounds while walking (manual says each limb is 500 lbs)? Or that he doesn't kill himself at night by rolling over?!?! My laugh out loud moment was when it was revealed that he fights sideways so as to expose the golem side to the enemy and the flesh side away so the dragon won't hurt it. I get these images of the three-stooges. He is desperately trying to slap the dragon with his golem hand while cringing down on the fleshy side. Somebody buy this guy some plate to protect his other side. This isn't to say that a character trapped in a golem's body isn't ripe with possibilities. Hey it's Rabbi Low's story all over again. It's frankenstein. It just drips pathos. Or at least, it should.

Byers may redeem himself in the following books, but it will be a while before I read them. Best surprise coming out of the War of the Spider Queen series is Baker's series on the elves.

Personally, I am not very impressed with this book.
While the story is not bad, the many fights in this book lack excitement. The main character plows through all opposition far to easily be it soldier, wizard or dragon and you don't ever get the impression that he or one of his friends are in real danger. Sure there are moments where he is described wounded or at a disadvantage but the idea that he can loose never comes up.
The evolving love story is a joke at best. The big differences between the lovers make this love very unlikely and the speed of which the one started to love the other makes the disbelieve complete. Also there is no reason given why this love (as unlikely as it is) happens, making it material for a bad soap opera at best.
My biggest complain is that, as I have said above, that the dragon fights are to easy. The whole story of this trilogy is about the danger the dragon can pose to the continent, but when you read the battles against dragons in this book it seems that a pair of enraged dragons are only a small inconvenience which can be disposed by any band of soldiers.
A fight against a dragon should be a titanic struggle only the best should be able to survive, but in this book every run-of-the-mill swordsman seems to be able to kill a dragon without much danger.
The only redeeming factor is that the author stays very close to the rpg material. I was able to identify nearly all spell used in this book and I haven't found anything which could not be created with the published rpg material.
But for non-gamers and people who don't watch for such things, that is no help.

Richard Lee Byers, brings us a tale about dragonslayers, and their fight to rid the Realms of their depredations. The main characters are: a human Half-Golem, an arctic dwarf Ranger, a human Cleric of Lathander, a halfling Warsling sniper, a good Song Dragon, an avariel (winged elf) Bladesinger, and an arrogant Faerie Dragon. With only a little background, the author puts you in the shoes of these unlikely adventurers, and introduces you to the world of dragonslaying. It is amazing how easy an ill-equiped band of people can kill a dragon in just a few pages. If this book has a fault, it is in its treatment of dragons in combat. It is explained that the dragons are under the spell of the mysterious "rage," and not thinking straight, but somehow they still retain the intellect to cast spells. It stretches my suspension of disbelief, but the story redeems itself with the introduction of the lich, Sammaster. While it starts out as an unlikely group of semi-heroes doing outrageous things, you eventually get to know these characters and their unique personalities. The good-natured ribbing between Will (the halfling) and Pavel (the cleric) is truly entertaing. While it took me a while to warm up to the story, I began to enjoy the characterization of this odd assortment of heroes and villains. If you're a gamer, like me, I suggest giving this book at least a chance before you pass judgement. It gets better, I promise!

Woot! Another excellent series in the making and who better to tell it than Richard Lee Byers.
The story is heavly submerged in the deeps of dragon lore and war, as the title suggests. However, this book really is non-stop action packed about dragons.
From the very begininng you are confronted with the most gruesome and graphical dragon encounter I have yet to read.
Imagine watching your mother being picked and chewed by a dragon while you watch a few inches away by her side...like I said thats only the begininng!
And oh yes the major flaw with this book is the next one is slated to drop in 2005 and the third 2006! AAGGRR! :)