Customer Reviews

Tangled Webs (Forgotten Realms: Starlight and Shadows, Book 2)

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I have been a fan of Cunningham's for quite awhile now, and I feel that this is definitely her best work as of yet. She often is berated for her weak characters, and shallow plots, but I think this book shows how far she has come in her writing.
Liriel is still as confused and haughty as ever, and Fyodor is still trying to decide how he feels for her because of these traits. In this book we see Liriel growing (albeit slowly)out of her selfish cruel upbringing, and becoming much more compassionate and considerate of others. The only complaint I might raise is that Liriel is a bit too "lucky". The girl is still an adolescent, and yet she is an incredibly powerful mage, cleric, fighter, and much more. Although the end of the book does bring more emotional weakness to like which helps. Fyodor's character doesn't really change at all, but his sturdy, loyal personality is needed to provide contrast.
The relationship between the Liriel and Fyodor was really orchestrated well, in my opinion. Cunningham manages to bring their longing and desire to the surface without turning it into some trashy romance novel. Instead she draws you into the fears and hopes they both have, and keeps you rooting for a happy ending for them.
I am a huge fan of Salvatore, and these books are almost as good as the ones concerning Drizzt. It is also nice to see Liriel find her love, after waiting for Drizzt and Catti Brie to get together for so many long years!!!
I highly reccommend this book, and cannot wait until Windwalker comes out!!

This book, along with the previous one, DotD, is excellent. Just like Salvatore's Drizzt Books left me wanting to be a drow ranger, this book made me quickly change that wish from drow ranger to Rashemar berserker! Great book, good characters, only one gripe---Liriel always seems to have Lloth's favor when, in my opinion, she is a renegade like Drizzt. The whole part of Liriel simply deciding not to follow Lloth and regaining control of herself was a bit too far-fetched and underdeveloped. I am eagerly awaiting the continuing saga of Fyodor and his Wychlaran/Drow mate.

I was reading some of the "reviews" on this story. Frankly, I can't believe some of the things people were saying. I think this book is an excellent piece of literature. It grabs you and keeps you in the adventure. I am an avid reader of fantasy novels and stories, especially in the "Forgotten Realms" of D & D. I have read many of the stories, and this one rates among the highest. Ms. Cunningham, if you read this and happen to wish to, I would love it if you could respond via email and let me know when the next Liriel Baenre novel will come out. I anxiously await it.

I enjoyed this book more than any of Elaine Cunningham's other novels because I felt as though Liriel and Fyodor were much better developed than Danilo Thann and Arilyn Moonblade. Liriel in particular developed into a fascinating character. She has a wicked sense of humor, and seemed to struggle with the notion of herself as a "goodly drow". She developed through this novel into one of "those who dream".

The only thing I did not much care for was Liriel's relationship with Lloth and, to a lesser extent, Ellistrae. I realize that a goddess of chaos can act however she chooses, but I agree with some other reviewers that Lloth seemed to answer Liriel's prayers frequently, without much reason. Moreover, the way in which Liriel finaly escaped from Lloth was a bit of an anticlimax to one of the central struggles within the book: Liriel's relationship as a "good drow" with an evil goddess. Finally, mere minutes after renouncing Lloth, Ellistrae enabled Liriel to perform a resurrection. That seems like a lot of magic for a fledgling priestess who has just renounced her goddess.

All in all, though, I really enjoyed this book, including the twists at the end, even if I did find the clerical aspects to be somewhat unbelievable, the characters themselves were so rich that it made up for a lot.

I read this book shortly after reading RA Salvadore's Dark Elf series. This was the first book I've read from Elaine Cunningham. I was thoroughly impressed with her work. This book captured my attention from beginning to end. Since then, I've read many other Elaine Cunningham novels and also loved her other works. She's become one of my favorite authors.

Tangled Webs by Elaine Cunningham- This is the second book in the Starlight & Shadows trilogy. The first being Daughter of the Drow and the last being Windwalker. The events in this book take place directly after Daughter of the Drow.

The story continues with the young drow wizard Liriel Baenre and her quest to crave a rune of power in order to keep her wizardly powers on the surface, along with helping her partner and friend, Fyodor of Rashemen, control his uncontrolled berserker outbreaks. In order to crave this rune, Liriel and Fyodor have to travel to the island of Ruathym to find a tree called Yggsdrasil's Child, which is were these runes of magic are craved into. Liriel helps break out a pirate captain named Hrolf the Unruly, who is allowing Liriel and Fyodor travel to Ruathym. During the trip, Liriel comes across many different and odd things, the first being her first encounter with a surface elf, a sea elf named Xzorsh. While plans brew from the city of Luskan, an old enemy of Liriel, and the once thought to be lost Ascarle to conquer the island of Ruathym, Liriel and Fyodor are the only ones that can stop it.

Negatives:
1) Luskan. From what I know of Luskan, it's a sailing city in the north of Faerūn, and it is controlled by a mage guild called the Hosttower of the Arcane and a council of captains called the High Captains. What bothered me was the utter "throwing out" of the whole magic element that the city has and is known for. Elaine Cunningham paints the city as a barbarian place were magic is feared and hated and that the people of the city are all warriors. Which, in my mind, isn't what Luskan is at all. This just really bothered me or than anything really. You have so many stories that take place in the city, yet it seemed like she didn't even reference them or the information about the city. However, I guess the story wouldn't have really worked if it was written another way. But still, it just doesn't seem right or even close to what the city really is.
2) Lackluster Villains. First you have a high captain of Luskan named Rethnor, then you have Shakti (Liriel's old nemesis from Menzoberranzan ), and finally an illithid named Vestress. So you may be thinking that Shakti and Vestress are more than worthy foes for Liriel, and I wouldn't blame you. But alas, they're not. First Rethnor seemed to be a really good enemy to Fyodor, but nope... he's just a pawn and is used like one. He just wasn't used the way he should have been. Shakti was a decent villain in Daughter of the Drow but here, she is just there. It's like you know she is right there, but she just comes off as weak and underused. Then the illithid, which you would think is the deadliest of the bunch is just really a pathetic villain to say the least. The creature is made to be the main villain, but like all main villains in the story, it's really, horribly underused.
3) Anti-climatic Final Battles. Going hand and hand with the villains are their final battles. They are short, fast, and just simple. Each one lasts maybe a half a page to a page and a half, it just doesn't work. Especially when you have all this wonderful build-up only to get let down. And it seemed like the main characters who should be fighting this villains, should be the ones to take them down, right? Nope. Only one fight (if you could call it that) was started and finished by a main character. But it didn't even seem like a battle, so I'm really hesitant in even say that. Yes, the battles were finished in some way or form, but the whole execution of this were just awful. They all ended with some random person stopping it. And I'm not giving away anything about that.

Positives:
1) Liriel. I liked her character in Daughter of the Drow and I like her even more in this story. She continues to struggle with what friendship and love are but I thought it was in better detail and in closer introspection. Then you have her struggle against the promise of power with Lloth (or Lolth, the spelling varies once in a while). The struggle I thought was wonderfully done and finished equally perfect. I think the reason why I like Liriel is for her consistent struggle on how drow are so vastly different from the surface races and how she approaches this. With the famous Drizzt Do'Urden (the only other known drow on the surface) you didn't get this much conflict and introspection as you do with Liriel. It it makes it a little more interesting.
2) Twists. Now this is going to be a short explanation as why I liked the twists, because well if I say to much, it would ruin them. So basically, two people are not what they seem. You have an idea of who these people are, yet you are pretty much blown out of the water when you find out the truth. While they aren't "main characters" these two are so embedded within the story that you gradually forget about them yet you still are reminded by their presence that when the twist comes, you start to reflect on what you knew about this characters and it becomes so readily apparent.
3) Xzorsh. While not a main character, more like a side character, I just really enjoyed him. His utter fascination with magic that the sea elves are unable to wield and his unbelievably naive personality was what I liked about the character. I would have assumed that any surface/ water dwelling elf would have attacked a drow at first sight, yet his strange fascination and curiosity with Liriel was just interesting. I don't know what else to say really. He was like a little child, who always asks questions and keeps on asking them. Plus, I have a weird fascination with sea elves. You don't have many stories that feature one, and I really enjoy reading about them.

Side notes:
1) You may be wondering why I haven't said much about Fyodor in either review (Daughter of the Drow and this one). Well, the answer is simple. At times he was a compelling character, and at others, I had this overwhelming sense of "meh" about him. I do enjoy his little philosophical musings but all in all, he is just average.
2) What's up with all the convenient ways to solve problems? In both stories, there were these utterly out of the blue solutions and it just really didn't add up. You have all this wonderful build up and it just doesn't pan out the way you would assume it would, and in most cases the way it ended was just dumb and unthoughtful.
3) The cover art on this book is so much better than the previous. I know the artist, Todd Lockwood, is a great artist with doing the whole Drizzt saga (the newer versions) and Daughter of the Drow cover was just mind bogglingly wrong. However, the side profile of Liriel on this cover of this matches what I thought she would look like. I just hope that Windwalker keeps this loo- OH GOD! MY EYES! THEY BURN!

Overall: 4/5
Final thoughts:
While I enjoyed parts and most of the characters of this story, there were many things that really brought this down. I mentioned the lackluster villains and final battles, but there were more. For example, all the creatures mentioned for the purpose of moving the story along didn't feel right. But in truth, this was a decent second entry into the trilogy and definitely worthy of a read.

... granted that in the end, it's still light reading. But one thing I'd like to say that I didn't notice anyone else saying is this: for ME, at least, Liriel seemed real where Drizzt never did. I could never make myself believe that someone could grow up so uninfluenced by his society as he. I didn't buy it. Liriel, by contrast, demonstrates time and again that her upbringing has very much influenced her outlook and behavior, despite the fact that she's still a rogue drow.

Like I said before for book 1: this is a great twist to the Drizzt series and a must buy and read!!!

This was a good continuation the story, though a background in sword coast geography and rivalries might be helpful it was not really needed.

The story at sea and later on the island of Ruathym had a lot of twists and turns and was a page turner.

Great!I enjoyed reading this book more(if it is possible)than the first. I miss again the ancient evil of the drows,that it is'nt shown at full in the series,but great indeed.I hope Miss Cunningham write down the third novel about Liriel. Great book