Customer Reviews

The Shattered Land: The Dreaming Dark Book 2

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

 

 

Too often a sequel or 2nd part of a trilogy will be somewhat of a letdown. I felt that way about Two Towers compared to The Fellowship of the Ring. With City of Towers, Keith Baker introduced us to a short list of characters that were to start on a epic life journey. Notice I said "life journey" and not quest. Although I found the first book in this series to be fairly good, I had trouble getting into the setting of Eberron and understanding some of what Keith Baker wanted us to know and appreciate about his fantasy world. Well, let me tell you folks, this book more than steps out in front of City of Towers - it far surpasses that first book! Baker is definitely getting better as a writer (and so are his editors, as I found much fewer errors in this novel than his first). This is a "cannot put it down" adventure novel, with a much better development of characters than the previous book. The dialogue seems to be improving, too, as the character of Daine provides a good example in this novel.

For those interested in Eberron's role-playing aspects from the D&D RPG, this book will help add to the players' knowledge base and understanding of what it means to 'play' in the world of Eberron. Xen'drik is wonderfully featured here, in all of its obscurity, from Stormreach to the jungles themselves. The drow are portrayed in an interesting way, as a cross between Zulu and native American warriors. Its the old D&D drow taken 90 degrees away from its predecessor.

For those not interested in RPGing but just a good adventure/fantasy story, this book should easily fill that desire. My father is an old fantasy reader, not much knowledge of D&D, and he was able to appreciate and be entertained by the first book. I know this book will be devoured in one day's sitting when I finally let him borrow it.

In short, an excellent fantasy/adventure book with suspense galore. Keith Baker, you've got my vote for best fantasy book of 2006, and it's only February!

That difficult second album. Sometimes it is really hard to follow up on a novel that most people found to be fantastic. Sometimes the middle book can be a little bit of a let down, as it is simply the second act of a play and rarely has a satisfying end. Here though, Keith Baker has crafted a book that exceeds his first novel, and has enough action, intrigue and character building to keep you flipping those pages.

The book does end on a cliffhanger to end all cliffhangers, but it just means that we will be rushing out to get that last volume the minute it hits the shelves.

This book is The Dreaming Dark's equivalent of Aliens to Alien, Superman II to Superman, The Empire Strikes back to Star Wars. But I have a feeling that his last novel in the series will not be a Return of the Jedi or Superman III.

This book takes you on an adventure across Khorvaire to a land that we know very little about, Xen'drik. Along the way Keith Baker adds so many layers to his characters it is unbelievable. We now have a group of people that we genuinely care about. To be honest I was not bothered either way what happened to them in the first book, but whilst reading this I was panicking at the thought of anything this group of adventurers.

I loved the new elements that were introduced in this novel, namely the adventures on Xen'drik. I really enjoyed the Xen'drik drow. These are a race that could have been done so wrong, playing on the cool factor of the drow from Forgotten Realms, but Keith has done enough to make them as different and fresh as possible and at the same time make them as deadly as ever.

I am really looking forward to the final volume now, and have a new found respect for this man who only released his first novel about this time last year.

Keith Baker - I salute you!

This book, the second book in the Dreaming Dark trilogy, has a little bit of everything. There is plenty of action and adventure and all the magic one might expect in a D&D-related book. But at its most basic level this book is mystery set in the fantasy world of Eberron (and a very good mystery at that).

The Shattered Land is filled with plot twists and turns that keep the reader guessing. Add to this an interesting set of characters all with their own mysterious background and what you get is an exceelent story that keeps the reader on the edge of his or her seat, eagerly awaiting to see what comes next. While I was able to see some of the plot twists coming, many of them caught me by surprise.

One aspect of the book (and the series in general) that I really enjoyed is that the motivations of the characters are often unclear. The characters are well thought out and have interesting backstories. Many of them are wrestling with their mysterious pasts and trying to figure out how the past is related to the events and struggles they are currently facing.

The author does an excellent job of dropping clues without revealing everything. This keeps the reader guessing about how various events fit together with the main thread of the story. Some of these mysteries are solved (at least in part) in this book while others are left unanswered (presumably until the third novel is released).

As mentioned by some of the other reviews, the book does an excellent job of familiarizing the reader with the setting. The reader is brought along as the characters explore the mysterious continent of Xen'Drik, almost sharing in the discoveries.

One word of warning. This is the second book in the series and to fully enjoy it and follow the mysteries I recommend you first read The City of Towers, also written by Mr. Baker.

Other Eberron books you might enjoy include: The Binding Stone, by Don Bassingthwaite and The Orb of Xoriat, by Edward Bolme

The Shattered Land is book two of The Dreaming Dark trilogy set in the new world of Eberron, it is penned by Keith Baker - who also created the world of Eberron. The first book is The City of Towers which was released in 2005.

In the City of Towers, Mr. Baker was a little handcuffed in what he could do based on it being the first Eberron book ever published. He needed to set the stage and explain several key factors of the world of Eberron. Unfortunately all this necessary detail took away from the actual story and it often felt like it was plodding along.

While there is still a little bit of that description and explanation of how things work in this world, it is not nearly as much and it `feels' better placed and less forced. However, it still feels, at times, like there is too much. I can't really fault Mr. Baker for that though as Eberron is still a new world and a lot of the logistics need to be explained.

The plot in this book is a direct carryover from the first book and picks up right where the last ended. It picks up the tail of Daine, Lei, and Pierce as they traverse Eberron to try and save a member of their party. Mr. Baker does a pretty good job at keeping the pace of this book moving along as he adds characters and throws in a twist or two. I do have one complaint about this book's plot, but if I talk about it, it may spoil a part of the book so I will not do so here. Suffice it to say that some times an author could do more without playing with emotions time and time again, sometimes less is really more.

There was a great deal of character development in this book. I think the character development in this book far surpasses the first book. I can really see how Mr. Baker has grown as a writer, so I am hoping for even better things in the next book. I was fairly shocked at how much character development Mr. Baker put into the character of Pierce, I had thought he was a supporting character yet the more I read the more it seems he will be playing a larger role than what I had thought.

When deciding what to write in this review, I had a little trouble deciding what to write as I still don't think this is the really good fantasy yet, but it was so much better than the first book I am holding out hope. I think there is great promise to Eberron now; it just may take a little time for Mr. Baker to fully realize his vision. When writing most of my reviews I try to end with either a recommendation or a non-recommendation. If you are a fan of the Forgotten Realms and/or Dragonlance I think this world may be of interest to you. If you are a fan of Epic fantasy (Martin, Erikson etc) this may be a disappointing read for you. Either way, if you are considering reading this book you first need to read the City of Towers so you are not overly confused by some of the events in this book All in all, this is a much better book than the first and the ending leaves you wanting more. Decent read, but still some work yet to be done.

This book as many other reviewers have pointed out already is a much needed improvement over the first book of The Dreaming Dark series. The flow of events, the narrative, character development, plot, etc. all show the purpose of this book and its place in the series.

The characters are likable and easy to sympathize with. You get to know them better, their psyche, their motives their strengths and weaknesses. You get some of the back-story to explain events previous to book #1 of the series and to events within this book. It also does a great job at foreshadowing what's to come in the next book of the series.

My only qualm with this book (as well as many published by WotC) is the lack of editing, proofreading and spelling and grammar errors. I took a full star down the rating for this fact alone. I find it appalling that a professional author and publishing company are churning out books without minimal care for details.

I liked this book better then the first in the series. Mainly... that infernal halfling is now dead and gone. If the remaining characters would stop moaning and crying for his loss, I'd be happier.

I'm a little confused on how the first book ties to the second book other then the cast of characters. But it still reads alright. And I did like the ending as that speaks of the last book actually going to tie in and be a proper continuing story.

The first book was an interesting perspective and left the readers with a good taste of what Eberron had to offer. The 2nd book in the Dreaming Dark triology is a step up in perspective. It follows a different narrative perspective and noticably style.
In relation to the first book, which had seemed to be taken from notes of an actual game session then compiled into a book; this novel seems to be a geniune "run of the mill" style writing. The story arc is well driven with installment and powerful to the end.
My personal opinion about the book is that Shattered Lands is a great follow up. The writing style in the first was very unique and I wish he would have continued to this novel. I have the sense that this title may have been ghost written. If so, plans Keith made for this story is marvelous. I am looking forward to more stories in this vein.

The second book of the Dreaming Dark trilogy has the companions sailing south to the strange continent of Xen'drik. The book gives a good history of the ancient giant civilization that once ruled the continent and it's fall and the rebellion of the giants elf slaves. Great storyline, emotion and all around adventure!

Great book!

Keith Baker's second insallment of the Dreaming Dark trilogy is even better than the first. The story takes on a much more mysterious and important feel. Plenty of dark secrets about the characters and their fates are hinted at. The adventurers from The City of Towers return in this one to travel to the land of Xen'Drik (or something like that), where they face all kinds of unique and unexpected challenges. Drow elves (with a very unique background) and rogue war-forged hold dark secrets and rule the isolated land with powerful magics. Fate plays a big part in this story, with the characters being drawn into events that seem way over their heads but are nonetheless theirs to experience and deal with. Lei and Pierce play larger roles in this second book, sharing more of the "main character" spotline with Daine.

The book has a pretty exciting climax, but just when you think you finally understand what is really going on, you're thrown for another loop. The book ends with a dramatic cliffhanger, begging you to run out and by the next book ASAP.

Read the Dreaming Dark trilogy, you won't be disappointed!

Adequate and decent are the words that come to mind after finishing SHATTERED LAND by Keith Baker. This is Mr. Baker's second book set in the fictional world of Eberron, created by him as setting for the Dungeons & Dragons game. I've quite enjoyed the Eberron campaign setting with its embrace of pulp action and post-war "Lost Generation" atmosphere. As such, I was intrigued by what Mr. Baker could do as a novelist with his creation. I must also confess that I picked up this second book in his trilogy because it features a glimpse of the Xen'drik continent, of which little information has been given by Wizards of the Coast, the current developers of D&D.

The first 100 pages or so seemed more like they were written or conceived as adventure modules. Or rather, it seemed encumbered by the plot tasks that needed to be accomplished, like a module, rather than a freely evolving adventure. The characters are attacked at prescribed times to give them a physical challenge like in a module, without providing the illusion of spontaneity. Just as characters walk down an alley or are about to pick up the magic item, out jumps the cloaked figure as per module orders. I thought the story picked up around page 200 when the author provides a narrative bait and switch, which I don't want to spoil. Suffice to say, the importance of certain characters seems fixed through the first 199 pages and then waxes or wanes among them all. This enhanced the story. Unfortunately, the book ends at a cliffhanger so the reader doesn't know how these fluxes climax.

Since the book is set in an elaborate fantasy world, it has a glossary at the end to aid reader comprehension. Even though I'm familiar with much of the setting's history, I still found it necessary to consult the glossary. While it's a nice touch, it did become tedious to flip back and forth, particularly since it didn't seem to add to the adequate story.

Overall, the book was merely okay for which it receives a basic 2 stars. I didn't feel I got my $7 bucks from it though and wont' pick up the first or last installment. I did receive some interesting information about the Xen'drik continent which will be useful for playing in the Eberron setting, for which this book gets a third star. I think Keith Baker is a very creative game designer and respect his efforts with this book but (IMHO) he still has room to develop as a novelist.