Customer Reviews

The Temple of Elemental Evil (Greyhawk Classics)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

"The Temple of Elemental Evil" is another of WoTC's revisits to the legendary dungeons of the early campaigning days of the AD&D world of Greyhawk. There is an undeniable amount of nostalgia for some readers, like myself, but this book reads like popcorn, it's light, it's filling, and it's ultimately no big deal.

Decades have passed since I first visited the Temple of Elemental Evil and the Village of Hommlet. There is an undeniable amount of fun in revisiting places I once saw only through the imagination of my mind and that of my fellow gamers.

The story: Shanhaevel, a young elven wizard is accompanying his aging master on a mysterious mission to the village of Hommlet, for reasons unkown to Shanhaevel. An ambush on the road results in the death of his master, and the burden of the mission falling to the elven wizard.

His task: go with several adventurers to scout out the ruins of the Temple of Elemental Evil, a place of powerful evil (as the name implies, ^_^ ) and find out if the forces of the temple, which were defeated at great cost a decade ago, are on the rise. As often happens, things don't quite go as planned.

Nostalgia aside, this is a fairly pedestrian book. Mr. Reid doesn't spend much time on character development, the group bonds far too fast, etc. The wit and verve of a writer like Paul Kidd, who has written 3 other of the Greyhawk dungeon novels is not apparent in Mr. Reid's style.

So, this book is nothing special, but it doesn't commit any major offenses. The book reads sort of like a checklist: it appears that the author was told he needed to do certain things, which he did, but it still has almost an outline feel to it.

The true rating of this book should be 2.5 stars, but I freely admit to being a tad biased by nostalgia, which is why I gave it 3 stars.

I picked up this book after having played the game more times than I can count (mostly running it). There are several things I really enjoyed about the book, but others that made me feel a little disappointed.

The good:

1: It was great getting a refresher in the structure of the temple, and it brought back a lot of memories. It also gave me some interesting ideas.

2: It was not written in the typical preteen fashion that many books derivative of the games are.

3: It was entertaining.

The Bad:

1: Not the greatest character development -- it seemed a bit rushed.

2: Anyone who's played the game will recognize that this went entirely too easy and quickly to even compare.

3: A bit too many stereotypical elements.

All in all, if you love the game, you will enjoy the book. If you are just looking for a good fantasy novel, try Tolkein or Alexander.

There were elements of this novel that could have made a good story but on the whole it was very dry and boring. The prologue was too short. In the span of a hundred pages the main characters go from hardly knowing eachother to being best friends. There is no interesting interaction between them.

The vilians are equally drab. So drab that not even tired old vilian cliches can be attatched to them. They are underdeveloped and you dont believe their motivations. Hedrach seems kind of intriguing at the beginning but as the story develops his intrigue quickly diminishes.

The only reason this book deserves two stars instead of one is that avid gamers will recognize certain familiar elements. Many spells used, and dieties named, and secret doors found will ring bells.

If you want to read a better book set in the Greyhawk campaign world read some of Paul Kidd's novels they are well written and have more interesting characters.

When I was twelve I would have given this book 4 stars. A few years more of reading has changed that. Simply put, this novel is like reading the outline to the game module. It is very shallow with no character development. Within two days time in the novel (12 pages) a group of "Adventurers" whom have never met are putting their lives on the line to save each other from disaster and death. It will make you shake your head a couple of times. This book would have been a good outline concept for a novel. The upside? Its better than TV these days and more quiet and it reads fast. If you must have value for your reading dollar, skip this one, read the module and play it.

I did not like this book, despite the content. I was looking forward to it very much, having played D&D for over 20 years.

First, the author has little ability to create good characters. I didn't care for any of them. Plus, he just throws things in or leaves you wanting more. There was a cool scene where the good guys capture some bad guys and they were going to interrogate them....could have been a great scene, but the author basically stated, "the bandits were charmed, the alliance got their info, and then they sent the bandits on their way."

The author needs to expand on dialogue and characterization.

Boring!

I remember playing the Temple of Elemental Evil module as a kid and spotted this book in the fantasy section of the local bookstore. Many of the locations found throughout the book such as Hommlet, the Moat House and the Temple itself brought back a tinge of nostalgia as I read through the book.

The book outlines the struggles of a tiny hamlett and its battle with an ever increasing evil force lurking just outside its perimeter. It tells a tale of a group of adventurers brought together for different reasons but united in a common goal of investigating and subsequently eliminating the threat posed by the Temples residents.

The story itself was interesting and engaging but is not on the same level of writing prowess as some of the other WotC novels written by R.A. Salvatore and others who allow you to closely relate and identify with the characters in their novel. Personally, I found character interaction a little forced and dialogue spoken to be a little out of character at times. Mr. Reid may have been trying to add a bit of levity to his characters but I just found it out of place. Fortunately, it doesnt prevent the reader from enjoying the story as a whole and was a decent read.

If this was a movie I was reviewing, I would say dont pay $9 to see it in a theatre but wait until it comes out on DvD ;)

An interesting story with some interesting characters but more detail into their lives and thoughts would have made this a better book. That being said, I think it is clearly the second-best of the Grayhawk series, behind the ever-popular Justicar books by Paul Kidd. The journey of the central character Shanhaevel from self-absorbed scholar to boon companion is rather well-done, and the supporting characters display just enough individualism to remain interesting. The storyline will be familar to old-time D&Ders, but I think that Reid did a reasonably good job of transferring a role-playing game into a novel, and those who are not familar with the game or that module will still enjoy reading this book. There are enough twists and turns in the plot to keep readers interested in the last page, and a tag at the last of the book insinuates that there may be another novel in the future dealing with these same characters, which I would welcome.

It was a good read, but nothing spectacular. It kept my interest enough that i wanted to finish reading the entire book. I'm interested to go look back at "The Temple Of Elemental Evil" module now, as well, and perhaps try playing that one again. This isn't a book i'd rush out to buy, though. Borrow it from a friend or library, read it, and return it. If you're looking for a keeper to read over and over again, try some books by Paul Kidd in the "Descent Into The Depths Of The Earth" series. Those are definite keepers!!!:>

WOW! I have read some some bad books folks but this takes the cake. The plot is the most stereotypical I have ever seen. It is as if the author has never read another fantasy book in his life and is trying to write the first one. There are no new ideas or concepts anywhere. These days fantasy books must bring something new to the table. The characters have a very bland and lifeless feel to them. I actually had no feelings at all when any of them died, I just kept checking the page numbers counting down to the finish. If you are new to the fantasy genre treat yourself to a Margret Weis and Tracey Hickman novel, don't waste precious fantasy goodness reading time on these pages of pain.

Some of the criticisms are accurate, poor character development chief among them and I also did not like how quickly total strangers became such good friends as though they had spent a lifetime of adventures together.

That being said, I was totally jazzed by reading about the temple and the vivid descriptions that Reid gave about it. I intend to read through again with the Temple of Elemental Evil module at my side and track the party through the module and note where Reid veered from the the module and where he stayed true to it.

No, the writing is not up to Hickman and Weis quality but the adventure is. The memories it invoked from playing this particular module with my friends nearly 20 years ago were well worth the price of admission.