Customer Reviews

Stardeep: The Dungeons

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

 

 

The best part of the novel is Telarian, the supposed villain. In a misguided attempt to help, the diviner causes a great deal more trouble than he realizes. This is a good example of how the ends don't always justify the means. Cordell really plumbs the depth of what that means, and how a misguided attempt at doing good can do so much harm to so many. To tell you more would ruin the novel, but in this one, our heroes and villains, while identifiable, all have bits of good and bits of darkness in them. It's a yin and yang fantasy. In its style, content, characterization and all other elements, the entire novel shows that there is a little bit of good in everything (actions, words, deeds) as well as a little bit of bad.

Forgotten Realms fans will enjoy Stardeep. Those who love novels with elves will drool over this one. I recommend this as a good shared-world novel. It has fun action, unique characters, and a setting little explored, even by other Forgotten Realms authors. And if you enjoy it, Cordell has announced that this is not the end of Stardeep's characters. His next novel will continue their stories. I for one am looking forward to it.

This is my favorite Cordell book so far. What appeals to me about Stardeep is that nothing in this book is clear cut, no action or decision or character is black or white ---- everything in this place is equivocal. Except, interestingly, a sword: the results of blind moral certainty, here, are disastrous. In Stardeep, you have to embrace the dual nature of right and wrong, loyalty and betrayal, and conflicting obligations. This book is conceptually very good; it offers you something to think about even after you've finished reading it. Maybe this is why at least one reviewer didn't like Stardeep. Not everybody wants a book that makes you think; sometimes we just need a book to take us on an interesting trip. But I think Stardeep works in that way, too. The plot moves right along, and I found Raidon Kane and Kiril Duskmourn both extremely interesting. Even the minor characters are compelling: I really liked Gage, and Brathtar, and (I'm not kidding) I actually had "something in my eye" when Adrik died. Of course, Stardeep has all of the stuff that you read Forgotten Realms books for, magic and demons and undead and a remarkably compassionate giant fungus (*why* must all the good monsters die!). If you want to know where Raidon came from after reading Plague of Spells, or if you want to know what happened to Kiril Duskmourn after reading Darkvision, or if you just like books about elves, Stardeep is completely satisfying. And if you want to spend some time after reading it thinking about the ambiguous nature of right and wrong, you can do that, too.

I was very surprised when I read the review by Andrew Gray "Beezer MN". I did not agree with most of his review. Yes, there is a bit of a sci-fi feel with some portions (specifically related to the intelligent construct introduced in the novel), I did not think that was at all detracting from the story or the "realms" feel of the novel. The realms are wide and there are many powerful and fantastic creations, and I found it to be a nice touch to see a different take on magic constructs.

The story and character development were pretty straight forward, as most one-off realms novels are. I did enjoy the authors incorporation of lore from other stories/novels/books. If you are not a dedicated reader of forgotten Realms novels, you can still read this book and not miss any part of the story. If you are a Forgotten Realms fan, and I assume you are if you are buying this novel, then you will probably enjoy these references.

The previous reviewer felt there were too many characters in the novel and found this difficult to follow. It was pretty obvious from the beginning who were the good guys and who were the bad guys. All of the characters introduced in the book had a part to play and theu were certainly easy to keep track of.

I have read most FR novels and I very much enjoyed this book. I have never written a review of any book, but I just felt that the one star given by the other reviewer was way off base. I would rate this a solid 3 or 3.5 stars. however, to balance out the 1 star rating, I have given it a 5.

As far as FR novels go, this was a good one and I hope to read more about several of the characters (Kiril, Raidon, and maybe even Gage)

At the outset, this book has a lot of potential. Star elves, an ancient realm hidden by magic, an unusual dungeon/prison setting, a unique staff of jailers, a compelling villain (when first introduced) and a few main characters that all potentially have interesting backgrounds. But none of it seems to come together well.

Gage seems interesting at first, a moderately noble rogue with a pair of demonic gloves. Raidon appears to be interesting, being half-elf and half-Shou (oriental, from the Realms' Eastern lands). Kiril is compelling at first, a noble star elf sword-mistress who has somehow fallen into drink and morose reflection. But none of them develop much beyond these caricatures. Gage is too predictable, Kiril feels more like a dwarf than an elf, and Raidon is mostly just dull. And to make matters worse, we have a magical sword thrown into the mix that instantly heals its wielder (Kiril) and can defeat most anything with ease.

I didn't really care much for any of them. Granted, this is a one-shot novel, but none are likeable and none really grow. Raidon likes pricey Shou tea, and he's a martial artist. And he misses the mother he never knew. As we never get to meet her (at least in this book), and next to nothing is revealed about her, it all comes across a bit hollow and more like a simplistic caricature. And it's a bit eye-rolling that his last name is Kane. Kwai-Chang Caine, anyone?

The most thought went into the main villain (Telarian) who is extremely compelling at first: driven with a sense of protectiveness, he slips further and further into a kind of madness. For much of the book, his goals have a certain level of rationality. But at the end, he "flips" directly into both sheer madness and a goal he was against the whole book, complete with nonsensical manaical laughter.

Sadly, the interesting locale (magically hidden Sildeyuir) ends up being little more than a pretty forest. The Empyrean Knights of the Star Elves are little more than cardboard cutout knights that do exactly as they're told, which includes the wholesale murder of a whole village of forest elves (based on the command of one person, no less). The dungeon, described as crawling with ancient and mysterious lethal dangers of the distant past, turns out to be a lot of long wide hallways and then a big unexplained "city" with a strange enemy. It's not even really connected to anything else in the plot, except to cut down a lot of the cardboard cutout knights, and it's not really explored.

This could have been set in any generic fantasy setting. It didn't feel particularly "Realmsy" except for a few dropped names here and there. And because of "Cynosure" it might have been a better fit logically for Eberron's slightly steampunk-ish universe.

Too much missed potential.

Definitely a skip.

While at a store scanning over a variety of books, I glanced at the cover of Stardeep and opened it and read the foreward. I was intrigued and just felt like taking a leap on a new read that I knew really nothing about. I went into Forgotten Realms with Stardeep, and approached it with a clean slate and with no pre-existing expectations. I listen to music the same way, even with my favorite artists, allowing myself to go into each new work as if each is a journey all it's own.

The writing in this book at first took me by surprise, as I began to build my vocabulary via a fantasy sci-fi style book, something I also didn't expect. I immediately was drawn more to the book as it really made me feel like the author had fully invested himself into the work and into the world in which he was forming before the turning pages. The more I read, the more I wanted to read, and didn't want to put it down. The characters are all so very interesting... Kiril, Raidon, Gage, Adrik (such a inquisitive delicate soul), and also Delphe and Telarian. I loved the way they travel along, and how the roads of each start to merge within the book, and how the story and mystery is slowly revealed. I also enjoyed the care taken in the heart and soul of those characters within, and the detail that really enriched the entire book.

I especially enjoyed, being a person of faith myself, the aspects of the book that shine a light on what might be beyond the whole journey that makes it all worth fighting for. It was subtly and tastefully added, and my favorite reads are those that do just that, touching on the spirit of something more, something beyond us. A great author I think has that ability, to allow another to apply their own imagery and belief into the delicately set writings there within.

I'm not sure if the authors read the reviews at such sites, but I want to say 'thanks a billion' for such an awesome book, for expanding and doing something new in the merging of genres, and for a most magnificent journey! ~ Blessings

Stardeep by Bruce Cordell is the third book in a small series of stand alone novels set in the Forgotten Realms. The series is titled The Dungeons the first book is Depths of Madness by Erik Scott de Bie and the second book is The Howling Delve by Jaleigh Johnson. The fourth book in this series is Crypt of the Moaning Diamond by Rosemary Jones and that is scheduled for release in December, 2007. This novel is Mr. Cordell's second foray into the Realms, his first being Darkvision which was part of the Wizards series. That book seemed as though it had great potential, but in my opinion missed considerably.

The plot of Stardeep was rather disappointing to me. As a reader of Forgotten Realms book, and fantasy books in genera;, there are themes and plot ideas that I can reasonably expect to see. Conversely, there are also themes and plot ideas that I would never expect to see. Stardeep, marks the second book where Mr. Cordell has transcended the flavor of the Forgotten Realms and brought in Sci-Fi elements to make the story confusing and does not seem to mesh with the overall feel of the Forgotten Realms. The plot of this book revolves around a secluded group of people trying to keep the Traitor in his prison. Mr. Cordell attempts to throw in a few subplot that revolve around the characters, but in the end they are uninteresting and seem to fall flat. As I read this book, I constantly felt as though I was reading a Star Trek, Star wars, Sci-Fi novel instead of a fantasy novel and that disappointed me.

The characters in this novel, and there are a lot never seem to really be developed. My major issue is that there wire simply so many characters I had trouble following who everyone was and what everyone's goals, motivation, and in general who they were. Through the first half of the book I had difficulty deciding who the good guys were and who the bad guys were. When I have to expend that much energy on something that should be fairly straight forward, on top of the plot that seemed to be in the wrong genre, it really sours the reading experience. I would like to talk about individual characters, but quite honestly, there are so many in this novel that they all blended together for me and I did not care enough about any one character to be captured by the book and try to follow the progression. What I do remember, I did not see a lot of character development aside from the forcing of a character to accept issues in their past.

This was a disappointing book for me to read. There were several times that I felt like putting the book down, however I kept wanting to like it and give it a chance. No matter how much I tried to like this book, and not matter how many times I tried to give it a chance. It all boiled down to this simply not being a very good novel. It seems that Mr. Cordell does have some writing ability. Yet, at the same time, it also seems as though he is writing in the wrong genre.

I know in my review of Darkvision I had some similar concerns. As a reader, and non gamer, I should not be required to read countless supplements that I have no interest in simply to understand one obscure novel. No other Forgotten Realms author seems to have these issues. Yet, this is the second time for this author. I am on the fence as to whether I will purchase another novel by him.

Overall, I think this was a very sub par book and one I will very rarely, if ever, recommend to others. There are too many quality fantasy authors out there today, so I will relegate this novel to the slush pile. As a rule, I generally never suggest to others not to read a book. Yet, I feel with this one I have to make an exception and warn people away from this novel. I do not see fantasy fans, or Forgotten Realms fans liking this book. I am very disappointed in this novel.