Spinner of Lies: A Forgotten Realms Novel (Sword of the Gods) [Kindle Edition]

Bruce R. Cordell (Author)

Book Description

Memories of his past incarnations haunt Demascus, even as he searches for stolen portraits that contain the trapped souls of demigods. Meanwhile, drow creep beneath the city of Airspur, intent on precipitating war between Akanûl and a rival nation. As Demascus attempts to win freedom from the ghost of his murdered lover, he agrees to thwart the drow’s secret scheme, sending him on a trail that stretches between the Demonweb, Airspur, and an island that appears on no map.
 
Spinner of Lies is a sequel to Sword of the Gods, and is also tied to the Rise of the Underdark, an event that will have bold, sweeping ramifications across (and under) the Forgotten Realms.
 

Product Details

• File Size: 3125 KB
• Print Length: 328 pages
• Publisher: Wizards of the Coast (June 5, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B005C5QS90
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Not Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #65,274 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Demascus Returns June 5, 2012

By Stefan Gore

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Spinner of Lies is the sequel to Sword of the Gods (Forgotten Realms: Abyssal Plague, Book 2) and takes place a few months after it. We meet back up with the cast of the previous book, Demascus, a divine assassin known as the Sword of the Gods, Riltana, a wise cracking windsoul genasi who steals from the wealth of Airspur, and Chant Morven, a pawn shop owner with a network of informants that keep him abreast of events in the city. There is a new addition to the group, Jaul Morven, Chant's son. Their relationship is not on the best of terms and this provides a great side plot to the story. I really enjoyed group's interactions, especially Riltana's scathing comments to Demascus in the heat of battle. Bruce's crowning achievement is his characters. He is able to weave a tight story but at the same time you get to hear the character's inner monologues describing their hopes and fears. Things like Demascus's fear of losing his identity, Riltana's hopes for her estranged lover, and Chant's worry for his son, helped draw me in and really feel a kinship with the characters. Readers of Bruce's Abolethic Sovereignty will be happy to see Captain Thoster, the captain of the Green Siren, again. There is also a reference to the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons module, Tomb of Horrors, that longtime players will notice. (I really enjoyed the reference).

There are lots of things going on in Spinner of Lies. The first is Queen Arathane's request for Demascus and company to discover the reason communication has stopped to a mine on a secret island that left unchecked could lead to war with Tymanther, next is Demacus's murdered lover that has come back to haunt him, then stolen paintings that hold the souls of demigods, and finally drow activity in Airspur. That is a lot of ground to cover in just one book but Bruce takes these plots and spins them (no pun intended) into thread that reaches a very satisfying conclusion.

Central to the plot are the drow. The drow have been a favorite race of mine since I first read R.A. Salvatore's Drizzt series years back. Why are they lurking in Airspur and who are they in league with? Spinner of Lies is part of Wizards of the Coast's Rise of the Underdark, an event that will have bold, sweeping ramifications across (and under) the Forgotten Realms.

Even with multiple plots going on there is still time to focus on the main character, Demascus. He is a divine assassin, the "Sword of the Gods", an instrument of divine retribution. These words are inscribed on Demascus's sarcophagus:

"Agent of Fate, Emissary of Divine Judgement, Cuttter of Destiny's Thread. You died as you lived, and you will live again, Demascus, Sword of the Gods."

Yet he is still only a shadow of his former self and without his artifact, the Whorl of Ioun, he is more human than divine agent of vengeance. But is this necessarily a bad thing? Demascus wants to be more human, and not a tool of the gods, to control is own destiny. He can feel the other part of himself, the part that revels in destruction, waiting to take over, and has to fight to keep it in check. It would be so easy to let that part take over but it would truly cost him his humanity. There is a scene where Demascus seeks divine counsel and things do not go well. The dialog that occurs during that scene is fantastic.

I am ashamed to admit it, but I normally do not think on how well the title of a book fits a story, I concentrate on the characters and the story itself, but this time the title really stood out to me. Spinner of Lies is a very apt title as it perfectly describes the parallel plot lines in the book. I will not go into detail as to spoil it for other readers, but it was very well done.

I have been a longtime reader of Bruce's work and he continues to write books worthy of any fantasy reader's bookshelf, and Spinner of Lies is no exception. I highly recommend it.

This review was of an ARC from NetGalley.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars New Chapter in FR July 15, 2012

By Kendra Lawrence

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I am a huge Forgotten Realms fan. I will read almost any book that takes place in the FR D&D setting (though admittedly I am not too fond of Elminster). I have enjoyed Cordell's books, but the writing style of the Sword of the Gods seems different from his Abolethic Sovereignty series.

Since the Spellplague, I have been waiting for the drow to make a reappearance (Drizzt doesn't count because he is one drow and is not involved in the other events concerning his race). Since the events in Lady Penitent (great tirlogy, by the way), we have not heard much from the black-skinned race, and many questions are as yet unanswered. Lolth's plan to take over the Weave is, frankly, terrifying, but one can tell Wizards of the Coast is finally putting events into motion after the Spellplague. It was kind of strange to read about a deva and the drow in the same book, but not in a bad way. We also start to learn more of Damascus' past. I found the flashback of him fighting to free souls and angels coming to ferry them away before the mountain collapsed quite interesting, and I wish there had been more of it.

All in all, a must read for any Forgotten Realms fan. The only real complaint I have is that it is only available as an ebook. Kindle is good for some books, but I like my FR books in hard copy, thank you very much. If it ever does come out in book form, I'm buying it, even though it is already on my Kindle. The first one was a hard copy, so why wasn't this one?

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Spinner of Lies June 10, 2012

By Ben King

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

This second installment in the Sword of the Gods series is absolutely amazing. It is by far Bruce's best work, and that really shows in the prose, the plot, and the characters. There is much character development for Demascus, Chant, Arathane, Madri, and Jaul, albeit a limited amount for Riltana for some reason. I really liked the addition of Fossil, and the storyline of the Whispering Children and the Demonweb. Everything came together. An absolutely awesome read and I hunger for the next addition of the Sword of the Gods.

Side note: there was a nice appearance by Thoster and Arambar from Bruce's works in the Abolethic Sovereignty and Realms of the Undead.

More About the Author

Hi! I'm the author of several Forgotten Realms novels, including Darkvision, Stardeep, the Abolethic Sovereignty trilogy (Plague of Spells, City of Torment, and Key of Stars), and the Sword of the Gods books (Sword of the Gods, and Spinner of Lies).

I'm also an Origins and ENnie award-winning game designer with a sizeable list of professional credits, including the new Gamma World game, Player's Handbook 3 for 4th Edition, and the Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide. Right now, I'm a designer working on D&D Next.

I summarize myself as so: Author, science groupie, martial artist dilettante, stumbler through life's thorny briars.