Customer Reviews

Shadowstorm (Forgotten Realms)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Shadowstorm, by Paul S. Kemp, is book two of the Forgotten Realm's Twilight War Trilogy. This story tells of the opening of Sembia's civil war and of Erevis Cale's plight in the Plane of Shadow. It continues where the first book leaves off with not a change in style, tone, or pace. It brings the reader immediately into the story and never lets go.

Erevis Cale, assassin and priest of Mask, seeks to recover a part of the god of thieves' divinity from an exiled being. The journey across the Plane of Shadow to find answers to their quest engages Erevis, his partner and fellow priest Riven, and compatriot Magadon, to the plane's even darker corners. The quest gets increasingly dangerous and desperate, especially so for Magadon whose very soul is at stake.

Sembia is split as civil war begins to destroy the realm. Tamlin Uskevren, the lord of Selgaunt, must decide how to save his city and his people from the war, and must confront his own conscience and desires that will ultimately decide the fate of his city.

Shadowstorm is utter beauty. The way Paul Kemp is able to weave the story between the light and the darkness of all the moving parts of this story is masterful and captivating, and perfectly sets the mood and tone that draws the reader into the powerful world of shadows. Each scene is fluid and easily carries the reader along a fast paced and nearly overwhelming ride.

The author brilliantly avoids the "center book" failings of many trilogies by crafting this tale in complete harmony with the main story while capturing its own unique tale. This book is fully engaging and even more exciting than the first novel, though that doesn't reduce the power of Book One, Shadowbred. Paul increases the tension and drama as if the story had never been broken into separate books, with action scenes that are layered in emotion, such as desperation, vengeance, and anger. This book is nearly impossible to put down and if having to do so leaves the reader with panicky, yearning symptoms of withdrawal.

The showdown with Kesson Rel, the exiled lord, is rapturous. I read that whole scene so fast and was so fully involved I didn't even notice time or the world around me. The experience of that scene was akin to the previous book's detailed account of Erevis' encounter with his god. The battle of Selgaunt - both the physical war and Tamlin's personal fight - was woven in spectacular drama as many parts of the story came together and set the stage for the next and final book.

The places in which the book took on a first person narrative were few and far between, and no longer were they jarring like in the first book. Those moments weren't nearly as revealing as in the first book either but it made sense why as the tale unfolded.

With Shadowstorm I have become a believer in Erevis Cale as a solid character and a devout follower of Paul Kemp. There can be no rating scale to blaspheme the perfection of this book and trilogy. Pick it up, enjoy it, and never put it down; you will become a convert to the shadows. Welcome brothers and sisters, may the shadows guide you.

Shadowstorm by Paul S. Kemp is the second book in the Twilight War Trilogy. The first book is titled Shadowbred (The Twilight War, Book 1). Both of these book feature familiar characters from Mr. Kemp's Erevis Cale trilogy. Fans on Mr. Kemp's work will most assuredly find Shadowstorm to be of the high caliber of writing that we have come to expect from him.
Being that Shadowstorm is the bridge novel of this trilogy, I had mixed hopes on just what to expect from it. It seems all too common now-a-days that bridge novels in trilogies do little to further the story. Some seem to be just filler until the next book. That is not the case with this book. This book has many elements most fantasy fans will enjoy; large scale battles, magic use, political intrigue, and a great deal of character development.

The plot of this novel continues right where Shadowbred left off. As with the first book in this trilogy, the plot of this book is actually several sub-plots interwoven to create the complete story. Upon completion of this book, it is rather evident that the final book in this trilogy, Shadowrealm, will be a stunning climax as all the events of the first two books collide. Some of the sub-plots that readers can expect to read about are; Cale's promise to his god and how he attempts to fulfill that promise, Mag's dealing with events that seem to spiral out of control for him, the Overmistress's quest to lay siege to Selgaunt, the Nightseer's yet to be revealed plot, the Hulorn's further development, and more. If that list seems like a lot, it is. Mr. Kemp successfully crams as much as he possibly can into the pages of this novel. Mr. Kemp also succeeds in inviting the reader to make assumptions about what will happen later in the book, only to wrench those assumptions away in very memorable scenes.

As with past Kemp novels, that characters in this book are second to none. Mr. Kemp has clearly proven time and time again his ability to make each and every character in his books special. Mr. Kemp balances his characters well, there are characters that readers will love, there are characters that readers will hate, but there are also characters that are in the middle of the spectrum as well - some will like them and others will hate them. Yet, each character elicits a response. There is also a great deal of character development for multiple characters in this novel. The characters that seem to really develop the most are; Mags, Cale, Rivalen, Tamlin, Abelar, and Elyril. Much like the plot, if that list seems large, it is. However, at no point in the story does anything suffer because of the multiple plot points or the multiple characters. Quite contrary, in that the book seems to move along at a fast pace because of all the various things going on. Mr. Kemp does a fantastic job of giving us just enough information to advance the story (and characters, but not so much where the reader knows everything, or becomes bored with a character.

The pace of this book makes the reader feel like they are running a marathon at sprint speed. I do not mean that in a negative way though. The pacing is fantastic and challenges the reader to put the book aside, even for a little bit. Mr. Kemp's prose also lends itself to easy reading. There are no parts of this novel that get bogged down due to explanations or excessive dialog. Every word in this novel is chosen for a reason and clearly conveys the vision Mr. Kemp had for this particular book.

In my review of Shadowbred, I commented on how there are first person scenes that took away from the book for me. I realize this is purely a self-bias , as I have never been able to read first person stories. The first person scenes are again present in this book, however, they are not as `disruptive' as they were (for me) in the first book. They are more subdued and to the point. I am assuming that the third novel will also have first person scenes, but if they are like the ones in this book I won't have a problem with it. It does add more depth to the character and allows the reader to see more `inside' of Mags and what he is thinking.

The one criticism I have of this book is, at times, it felt like a couple of the characters were becoming too powerful for the scope of the story. This mostly applied to Cale and Rivalen. There are a couple scenes in particular that Cale and Rivalen dominated and I had no doubt they were going to come out of it unscathed, when I think it would have been better served to give a little sense of vulnerability. There was one scene in particular where I felt like it was just `showing off' of different powers and new ways to kill people.

Other than that, I felt this was a fantastic novel. It is grittier and darker than most Forgotten Realms books on the market today. There are at least three scenes that I was surprised to read just based on the graphic nature of them. Don't get me wrong, they fit superbly with the story, but they also certainly pushed the envelope of the PG-13 rating that Wizards of the Coast strives for.

As with every other Kemp book I have read, I would not hesitate to recommend this book to fantasy fans. While 2007 is only half over, this novel may well end up on my top 5 books of the year list.

Shadowstorm is the second book in the Twilight War trilogy, with Shadowbred being the first and the upcoming Shadowrealm the concluding book.
It's not necessary to read any of Mr Kemp's previous works, but it's highly recommended. I would first start with Shadow's Witness, and then follow up with The Erevis Cale trilogy, since all of these books continue to shape Cale and Co., and it's the growth and complexity of the characters that really fascinates me with his books.
This book, being the second, doesn't feel like a transition-book at all, which can be the case with many middle books in trilogies.
I.e. that it's only there to fill the space, and often quite devoid of character development.
Instead, the pace is quite high, daring you to put the book down. The plot is really something, and without spoiling anything, I'm very curious to how it's all going to tie up, since there's a lot going on. This Kemp handles masterfully, juggling everything at the same time.
All in all, this book's got big, magic-heavy battles, while at the same time also close-up potrayals of people. This is a very good thing, since it feels as if the characters are moving the plot forward, and not the other way around, which can be the case when the scope gets big.
So if you like a book with flawed and very "human" characters, or epic battles, this is a novel for you.

I bought a copy of Shadowstorm yesterday, and simply devoured it, finishing it this morning on the train. This may be Kemp's best book yet. There is a depth to his characters that is surprising and wonderful for the reader. They are multidimensional, and you can really sense their inner struggles.

As another reviewer on Amazon has commented, I have had a concern in the past that Kemp's characters were growing too powerful to be realistically challenged. I did not really feel like this was as big a problem in this book, because it seems like both the good guys and bad guys have stepped it up a notch or ten.

Whether you are a fan of the Forgotten Realms or not, run -- don't walk -- and pick up this book (or, if you haven't read it yet, you can start with Shadowbred, the first book in this trilogy Shadowbred (The Twilight War, Book 1)). You will not be disappointed.

A book this good only comes by so often. When I read the first few chapters I knew I was reading a great book, and so I read on to find out that I was right in my assumption. This one is going in my personal library and I hope you find it as deserving yourself. The one thing I find that Kemp will really grip you with is his detailing of each character. This detail never suffers during an action sequence, and it makes every action of every character very meaningful. I can only offer this little advice for all of you looking for a good book to read tonight. Get this book!

Shadowstorm by Paul S. Kemp is another great continuation of the series, from Shadowbred. Cale and Riven are capable as always and the places their journey takes them too are described in eerie detail.

The interplay between several of the characters, notably Elyril, the Overmistriss, Rivalen, Tamlin, and Vees was intriguing. The fight scenes as always were well thought out, and I sometimes wondered if they would really turn out the way I had anticipated.

The Lathanderites do get a bigger role in this book, which was good, including Abelar and some of his background. There are a couple events near the end concerning Abelar that seem somewhat out of character for him, some people might be bothered by, but others may not.

Shadowstorm by Paul S. Kemp- The second book in The Twilight War trilogy. This part picks up after the events in the first book, Shadowbred, and what happens to Erevis Cale, Drasek Riven, and Magadon. The last book in the trilogy is Shadowrealm.

As I mentioned before, Shadowstorm picks things up directly after what happened in Shadowbred. Cale, Riven, and Magadon face an archdevil, a shadow dragon, a god, and personal demons. While the trio goes about their business, a civil war breaks out in Sembia. From this civil war, shadows snuff out the light.

Negatives:
1) The slew of names. The first book had this, but I just didn't find it that annoying. Kemp gives names to at least a hundred people, all the while focusing on maybe twenty of them. The other eighty are named once or twice and forgotten, and in some cases reappear in later chapters, which left me scratching my head. It doesn't help either that some of the names are so similar to one another that you forget who is who. Maybe it's just me who felt that way, but I just didn't see the point of naming someone like a standard bearer who dies right after he's named.
2) Tamlin's inconsistency. I did have a small problem with him in Shadowbred, but it seemed to be okay before, with a year and all passing. But in Shadowstorm, the way he is portrayed is just not consistent with Lord of Stormweather, which is the last book in Sembia: Gateway to the Realms series. In that book, Tamlin basically changes into a deeper, braver, and just totally changed. In Shadowstorm, Tamlin is weak willed and just a whiner. Honestly, I was disappointed in how the change in Lord of Stormweather, was so overlooked.
3) The pacing. I know that some people liked the flow and how everything moved, but there were some scenes in which I could barely get through. It's still a fast paced, actioned packed story line, but there were times in which somethings were forced.

Positives:
1) The dark tone. This story really had some dark scenes in it in which I was either; a) grossed out, or b) had to take a "double-take." It worked well, because this is the kind of story that is meant to be dark and violent. There are a few things I'll mention here that show this, and I won't give up any big details. First is Magadon and his father's claws. It was just chilling and gruesome. The second is "Bowny," which just tore my heart out and made me LOATHE a certain character. These scenes were just disturbing, yet oh so good. It's definitely more of an R-rating.
2) The main characters. I would say that Cale, Riven, Magadon, Rivalen, and Abelar are some of the best done characters in the Forgotten Realms for a while. You see Cale and Riven become more dimensional. You see Magadon's inner horrors and demons and how his friends try and help him cope. Rivalen becomes more complex and interesting. Then you have Abelar's journey from the light into the darkest of revenge. All these characters really became more complex and had different dimensions added to them.
3) The last two chapters. I can't and will not give anything away from these chapters. However, I can just say that I'm happy two people got what was coming to them and the turn of a certain character was just done wonderfully. I can just see these happening in a movie, and before anyone says something, it's just one of those cinematic moments that you wish you could see.

Overall: 4.75/5
*With the problems I'd had with some things in the book, I was going to give it a solid 4, that is up until the last two chapters, which were just beautiful.*

Shadowstorm is the second book of the Twilight War trilogy. Usually second books are a bit boring or tiresome at times, because they are bridges to the last book and server only to create a climax for the finale of the story.
This is not what goes on in Shadowstorm. Paul Kemp has a good plot and is a wonderful narrator. I've read all his previous books and I think that in each book he becomes better setting higher standards.
Apart from the good plot, Kemp's power is his characters. While in previous books I felt characters a bit cliched at times, the man seems to have spent a lot of time in character building.
The reader gets to know well characters that are almost unimportant and are introduced only to die a couple of pages later. It is a great success that all these people are believable and the reader has the feeling that he knows them.
It's also a great success that in one book the author manages to fit in many different sub-plots and to have many "protagonists" that good or evil are interesting.
A nice plot and story, very good writing, interesting characters. What else does a reader want from a fantasy novel?

Paul Again has created another Novel which is hard to put down. This second Novel is full of fast-paced adventure! Paul S Kemp is one of the BEST Forgotten Realms Authors out there!

I recently started reading Forgotten Realms books again, after taking a break for several years and I must say that thanks to Paul Kemp, I am hooked again. The two trilogies featuring Erevis Cale and friends are some of the best FR material I've ever read. I'm also very impressed with the way Paul interacts with his fans via his blog. You can almost see the creative process at work. I've already pre-ordered Shadowrealm: The Twilight War Book III.