5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not quite as good as other adventure novels, December 12, 2005
This review is from: The Verdant Passage (Dark Sun World) (Paperback)
Granted, I bought the books at a garage sale, but I still expected them to be entertaining enough to keep me interested from start to finish. I've played in the Dark Sun campaign setting and I liked it enough to want to read The Verdant Passage.
The plot at base has everything we need to be entertained. There are heroes that are underdogs, the bad guy has a heinous plot to rule the world, there are spies everywhere, there are gratuitous battle scenes and deaths, and there's a creepy old powerful man with a staff.
Where it fails is the writing. I became very bored with the way the book flowed. The writing was slightly more self-indulgent than the average fantasy novel and it caused the flow of the story to be secondary to the pretty combination of words. The characters aren't developed very well, we just get plopped in the middle of the character interactions and aren't shown much more than the body language of the characters in the interactions. They don't seem to have much motivation for themselves, I couldn't pick out a clear goal.
2 stars because the plot was good and I could finish the book in one sitting without much problem, but lacking in charisma and charm. It didn't get much better in the second book, and I couldn't get past the first few chapters of that.
So if you love the roleplaying world of Dark Sun and you really enjoy long written fighting scenes, then you would love this book. If you also like to have a gripping story with really likable stories, choose some other series to read.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Different type of D&D, January 17, 2003
This review is from: The Verdant Passage (Dark Sun World) (Paperback)
This is not your standard d&d fare. It is set in a harsh unforgiving world that is slowly dying, and while you have the impression that they inhabitants of this world are doomed, they do not. In fact, there is a sense of optimism pervasive in each character, although it might not be readily evident. For a first book in a new setting this tale does well to both describe the land, the cultures, and still manages to entertain. I read this while riding to Florida and it really passed the time quickly. I barely noticed that I was in a car. While several of Mr. Denning's novels haven't been all they could be this book really displays his skills.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
THOROUGHLY ENJOYABLE SPOOKY WORLD THAT IS ATHAS!, February 26, 2002
This review is from: The Verdant Passage (Dark Sun World) (Paperback)
This is a fun series. I know this is TSR but I don't think of Dungeons & Dragons when I read this series. The barren, dune swept world of Athas is creepy, violent and populated by great hybrid's of races from the D&D worlds - Muls (human/dwarf hybrids), half - giants and very very nasty and deadly halfings. I'm currently up to the 4th book in the series (obsidian Oracle). The first 3 are great. Too soon to judge this fourth book. Enjoy! john
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