The Silent House (Chronicle of Aglirta) [Hardcover]

Ed Greenwood (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2004

In the Band of Four series that started with The Kingless Land, Ed Greenwood introduced the land of Aglirta through the exploits of a band of four brave adventurers.

But this world has not yet revealed all its tales.

The Silent House
A Chronicle of Aglirta

The Silvertree Stronghold is more than just the family estate of the feared and awed Silvertree dynasty whose wizardly powers and political cunning has survived through many generations.

But with their power comes a curse.

A curse more terrifying than rival warlords or the mystical threats of the dreaded faceless -- an inward corruption of the soul that binds one's power to a downward spiral of madness and magic.

The Stronghold goes by the name of The Silent House. It is a soul repository for this dynasty. Two daring treasure hunters hope to profit from unlocking the secrets of its past and harvesting the powers of its bounty ¿ but unbeknownst to them an observer watches their every move, and waits to make his presence known from the halls of eternity.


The Silent House is a Chronicle of Aglirta, the multigenerational tale of a powerful and feared wizardly dynasty.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this complex, fast-paced heroic fantasy, the first to give a sweeping overview of the world of Aglirta, Canadian author Greenwood focuses on the transformation of Silent House, the ancestral estate of the Silver-tree clan mentioned in his Band of Four series (The Kingless Land, etc.), from a stronghold into a living entity. As the increasingly sentient Silent House tries to protect its charges with supernatural force, it unintentionally releases a curse. Characters are as confused by their own ambiguous motives as they are by one another. Beneath all the surface action and adventure, the romance and battles that are standard sword-and-sorcery fare, the author subtly explores the effects of culpability and remorse. He extols ideals of heritage and courage even as he depicts often misguided individual motives with grim naturalism. This is a book as philosophically engaging as it is entertaining. FYI: Greenwood is the creator of the Forgotten Realms role-playing game series.
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Review

"Greenwood's previous work has included plenty of game-related fiction... The originality and wit he displayed in that work is even more evident in this saga, and indeed there is little that is generic about any aspect of either this book or the series of which it is a part."

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; First Edition edition (June 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765308177
• ISBN-13: 978-0765308177
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,741,814 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ed Greenwood, creator of the Forgotten Realms setting, is the best-selling author of hundreds of novels, game products, and articles. His most recent novel for Wizards of the Coast is The City of Splendors, a collaboration with Elaine Cunningham. He is also the author of the Band of Four novels published by Tor Books.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not what I thought, October 22, 2008

By 

C. Myers (PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Silent House: A Chronicle of Aglirta (Mass Market Paperback)

This book was not at all what I thought it was. I thought that Ed Greenwood was continuing the storyline. Instead all this book tells me is the family history of a character. Not worth buying.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great story, not so great writing, October 24, 2006

By 

MJD "homieGspider" (Upper Peninsula of Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Silent House : A Chronicle of Aglirta (Band of Four) (Hardcover)

This was one of those books that was a pure random purchase. My fiance was looking for a new book and picked this one up. She liked the summary on the back so we got it. We went home and she read the first five pages at which point she put the book down and said she couldn't read any more.
This made me curious.
I then proceeded to struggle through the book. I had a very difficult time understanding what was happening sometimes and the switches from past tense to present tense in the same sentence were overwhelming. Much of the way the grammar was presented disturbed me. I am all about interesting writing styles but come on. It should still make sense and be an entertaining read.
And still I trudged on.
I enjoyed the first story about Ravengar and just as I was beginning to like him the story changed to another character. I didn't get into any other character after that. I didn't get into any other story after that although over time everything kind of came together. Kind of, although I could have done without ninety percent of it.
I liked it but it was so difficult for me to read it and feel good about reading it. I remember one thing very fondly from the book. "He spit thoughtfully." That phrase made me feel disconcerted.
Okay, enough chatter.
It was a good book and I recommend it to those who like to read very descriptive and active-moving stories and those that can deal with writing that can confuse you at times.
I do not recommend it to those people that just want to sit back and enjoy a book. This book expects a little more out of you.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Really not what I expect from this author, November 16, 2010

By 

T. Smith (PEWAUKEE, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Silent House: A Chronicle of Aglirta (Mass Market Paperback)

I love his other books, but this one was very slow and just never caught my attention. It took forever to read because I kept putting it down. Love his other books, but really didn't like this one.