Customer Reviews

Whisper of Waves (Forgotten Realms: Watercourse Trilogy Book 1) (v. 1)

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

 

 

"Whisper of Waves" was an interesting book. It created a story that was just intriguing enough and just fast-enough paced to yield a positive review. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this book to fans of the fantasy genre, but I would definitely recommend this book for "Forgotten Realms" fans.

I respect the author because he basically has created three main storylines that at times loosely weave in and out of each other. The reader can tell by the end of the book that there will be an exciting series of events that finally bring all these plotlines together in a huge climax. I believe that the upcoming books will provide a higher excitement level and more action than this book was able to provide.

Here is what I did not necessarily enjoy about the book. The book spans many, many years. The reader must really pay attention to the dates, months, and years provided at the beginning of every chapter in order to determine where the plot is advancing chronologically compared to the previous chapters. There are also many smaller characters that are foreshadowed to have important roles later on. At the beginning of the book I had a hard time keeping track of who everyone was, but that was quickly cleared up. The other thing I disliked was the action/fight scenes. They seemed forced and unnecessary in some aspects. I understand why they are important toward the plotline, but they still seemed forced. It seemed to me, in my opinion, that the author was just trying to write in some action and fighting since it is a "Forgotten Realms" novel and the author is trying to establish himself as an all-around, "power-author" of the Realm. However, that being said it should be noted that Athans does weave a compelling political tale that will only get more interesting and more complex as the series progresses.

To sum up, this is a good story for "Forgotten Realms" fans. I can see some serious world events that might shape the rest of the Realms stories to come. This book is one of the better FR novels I have read in some time for one reason. Athans is like a drug-dealer. He gave me this novel and said, "Here, try this out," and then gave me enough to get excited about, enough to "wet my whistle," and enough to leave me wanting more. Unlike a drug dealer, Athans isn't going to charge me an arm and a leg to get my next fix, just $6.99.

This book leaves room for a lot of potential for the rest of the trilogy. The final thing I will say is that this book is what FR trilogies should be. This book is not like "The Sapphire Crescent" which is a self contained novel and didn't need two more books afterwards (see my review of it for further information). "Whisper of Waves" is a small, integral piece of a much larger work.

Whisper in Waves by Philip Athans is the first book in the Watercourse Trilogy set in the Forgotten Realms.

If you are a fan of the Forgotten Realms, this book is very different than the normal Realms fare. The set up of the book is different than most books I have read, there are 72 chapters in this book with each chapter being 3-5 pages long. While this is a decent idea because each chapter has a central character, it disrupts the flow of the book. With so many chapters and changes of perspective the book feels disjointed and herky-jerky making for a little bit of a difficult read at times. One other thing that needs to be noted is the reader is forced to pay attention to the dates of this book because this novel covers such an extensive period of time, it covers 38 years which also ads to the disjointed feeling.

Now, if you can get past the herky-jerky parts of the novel there is actually a good story within. I am a fan of Athan's work for the most part and the `meat' of this book is no exception. However, if you are looking for a well contained novel where you don't have to think too much this may not be the book for you. At times there are several plot lines moving at the same time, at most times there are no less than 4 plots occurring simultaneously. I don't mean sub-plots either, I mean full fledged plots. I believe this multiple plot line idea may be another reason why the story feels disjointed at times. However, each plot is rather interesting and seems to be well thought out. As can be expected since this is the first book of the trilogy, the author spends a good deal of time setting things up for the next two books. One can easily see where there will be a collision of a plot line with another in the future two books. For an introductorily novel into the trilogy this book does a decent job at setting the stage for future events.

The character development as can be expected with a 38 year span is quite extensive for most characters. The problem with the character development, is the same with the plot, it jumps around so much if you are not putting all your thought into the character you may miss something or forget what was read before. With that said, Athan's has certainly created some memorable characters and characters that will have some memorable moments in the next two books. There was one character in this book that I know will be important later in the next two books, but do to the choppiness of the book I simply grew to not care about. Maybe this will be rectified in the next book though. Athan's also does a decent job at throwing some hints out and leaving them sit there. This is a good touch for an opening book in a trilogy, and one that I appreciated.

Overall, there are some flaws (or what I perceive to be flaws) with how this book was put together, the short chapters, the jumping of perspectives etc. Yet, the content of the book is solid, and the characters are solid. I think with any form of art, some will be touched by it and others won't be. While I wasn't `put off' by this book, it didn't grab me like other Realms novels have in the past. I would not recommend this book to people who are not familiar with the Realms, and would only recommend this to those who know the Realms and understand this book before they dive into it. I will not say don't read it, but if you do read it be prepared for what I said above.

First let me say, when I first picked up this book, I thought it was one of the finest Forgotten Realms branded books to come out it years. I had been reading fantasy for 10 years, and this was one of the best that had that unfortunate company brand upon it. The plot was excellent, the characters interesting...

Until I read "The Fountainhead", by Ayn Rand.

This series is virtually the EXACT SAME thing! Honestly, the similarities are astounding...Ivar Devorast IS Howard Roark in a tunic. There is a scene that is grotesque in its slavish devotion to Rand's original: where Phyrea meets Devorast = where Dominique meets Roark.

So, while Athans is excellent, the sheer disgust I now feel at his blatant crime is overwhelming. If "The Fountainhead" set in the Forgotten Realms sounds appealing, by all means go ahead, he does a splendid job of adapting and simplifying the tale to the setting...but know that he adapted, he did not create.

Official Disclaimer: I happen to know this author, have spent time with him, went to his wedding etc.

That having been said, I enjoyed the book and I am looking forward to the other two. I paid absolutely no attention to the dates, only to find out based on the other reviews that this is am important detail. How it's important, I don't know and I haven't asked him either. I thought it was distracting to the plot and characters, so I blew it off. Sue me.

It is a little more political than I'd like, but not overly so. It had an awkward love scence that I hope is not repeated (Sorry Phil) and if it has to be repeated, maybe with more panache. Other that that one scene it was a good book and made me glad I picked up book two so I could continue the story. Looking forward to more.

The Whisper of Waves is set on the shores of the Lake of Steam, in the port city-state of Innarlith. The book describes the story of five (mainly) characters: two engineers from Cormyr, Willem Korvan and Ivor Devorast, a Red Wizard of Thay named Marek Rymut, a young noblewoman, part-time rogue, and native of Innarlith named Phyrea, and Pristoleph, a fire genasi (!), as they go about their respective business in the city of Innarlith.
The Whisper of Waves is the first in the Watercourse Trilogy. The book starts off well and then it's downhill all the way to the end... Upon reading the first few pages one immediately feels the difference in mood compared to other Forgotten Realms (FR) novels, especially the older ones; this is not your second edition era FR novel.
In short, the author tries to set a darker mood, but instead it is just kind of strange and weird, while the plot is all over the place and not that interesting at all. Although Philip Athans seems to indicate that he has a grasp of essential knowledge relevant to Faerun, he doesn't do much with it. Moreover, these abrupt shifts from one character to another are frustrating and take away form the overall enjoyment. Other drawbacks include the dullness of the main characters, which at times makes reading the novel painful.
That said, Philip Athans provides for an extraordinary behind the scenes look into the Red Wizards' network: "`You will leave for your new homes when the sun rises on Ches,' the tharchion commanded. `Once there, you will make yourself a part of your city's life pulse. You will learn the names of all whose names are worth knowing. You will indebt yourselves, ingratiate yourselves, inculcate yourselves. You will not command, you will not conquer, you will not take nor will you accept control. You will listen, you will watch, you will remember, and you will report. When you are commanded to do so, you will act. When you are recalled, you will return. The interests and the future of Thay in each of these places rests in your hands, so should you fail that is the first part of you that will be taken by me in payment," (pp.35-36) and "... I was sent here to establish a trade in magic items imported, secretly, from Thay. I was charged with establishing buyers, developing a market, eliminating competitors, and so on..." (p.292)
In addition, the author, through Chapter 5, provides for an amazing encounter involving a black dragon; possibly the best I have seen to-date, while Chapter 43 deals with naga lore: dista'ssara (human) and naja'ssara (water nagas).
Moreover, a good number of Philip Athans' descriptions of battle were breathtaking: "Rymut smiled, remaining silent, and watching while one of his people... was disemboweled by a lizardman's ragged claws. The yellow-gray ropes that came out of her body splashed in the swamp water and glistened in the sunlight filtering through the trees above. Flies landed on them and took off again quickly, taking their little nibbles even as the guts sank into the swamp," (p.26) "... the sergeant stumbled around a bit, his iron helmet melted to his scalp, his clothes and armor burned away to reveal what was left of the skin underneath, just a mass of swelling blisters," (p.99) "With a mouth as big as the man was tall, the demonic beast bit the man so cleanly in half that his legs continued to run for fully three steps before falling into a twitching mess on the rain- and blood-soaked deck," (p.149) and "Phyrea closed her eyes just before it hit him in the forehead. The vial broke and the oil did what the oil was made to do. The sound was a dull thump that rebounded from wall to wall... She turned, and her smile became a grimace. The headless man was still standing. His body quivered, blood rained around his feet, and his arm jerked." (p.164)
Furthermore, on page 95, the author provides for a good dose of drama: "A woman cradling a baby in her arms crouched in the middle of the street, screaming at a black firedrake that toyed with them before making a meal of both mother and child."
Finally, Philip Athans is on the ball when he writes that: "Old men take credit for the works of the young..." (p.175)
In conclusion, I am not really looking forward to reading the sequel, Lies of Light, but I will do so anyway in the hopes of encountering improvement.

This novel is the opening one of the Watercourse trilogy by Philip Athans. Reading the reviews here, I was skeptic about its quality, understanding it as some kind of a failed G.R.R. Martin wannabe set in FR. Oh, I was so wrong.
The story in this book is far from your standard hack and slash fantasy novel, rewritten a million times over. To put it short, it is about a visionary who will reshape the trade in the Realms by determination itself. The book is divided in 70 or so small chapters, but every single one of them has a story to tell, and they are chronologically ordered, so there is nothing confusing or disjointed about them.
Being book one of a series, it is largely focused on its numerous characters, a wide variety of colorful individuals, getting tied together only towards the back end of the book. Characters are much deeper, unique and more believable then in any Realms novel I read so far. And I think I've read them all. Book is charged with emotions, and is completely free of clichés. A rarity in these times. Characters aren't your typical bunch of comic-relief dwarfs, mysterious elves and prodigal wizards. They are people with their strengths and more often, their weaknesses.
Usually in second part of the review I put my complaints about a novel. Ill leave it blank this time.
If you want something intellectually challenging, pick up this book, you will love it. If you want hack and slash fantasy (like most of the reviewers here it seems), then pick any other book from the fantasy shelf, you have a 90% chance of hitting the mark.

i am only halfway through this book, but as another poster pointed out, anybody who's read the fountainhead will recognize that this book owes heavily to it. there are at least 7 characters from the fountainhead that are transplanted directly to this book, with near identical physical descriptions, occupations and relationships between the 7 characters. so i guess i would have appreciated if there had been some kind of disclaimer before hand about what i was reading. but i don't know how these things work in the legal and the book world, but i feel like i am reading a story i've already read before in a different setting, and it is obviously prejudicial to my continued enjoyment of the story which otherwise might seem quite good.

This novel is in some ways more intelligent than some other Realms offerings, and in some ways less.

As for the basics: The writing is good, and I had no trouble following the plot, which others have claimed is disjointed; like other WOTC novels, this one occasionally suffers from poor editing, but the author cannot really be blamed for that.

To move on to things of more substance: It is nice to read a Realms novel that is also a novel of ideas; but to anyone who has read Ayn Rand, this novel is not going to seem like one of very original ideas. Athans has simply transplanted the characters and some of the plot of _The Fountainhead_ to Faerun. What Ms. Rand would have thought of this is anyone's guess. She would have been flattered, probably, that someone had so wholeheartedly embraced her philosophy; but it might have dismayed her to find that Objectivism had finally come home to roost in its home plane, the world of fantasy.

This is not the place to voice an extensive criticism of Objectivism or of Rand, though such a critique (positive or negative) will inevitably be a part of a well-read reader's response to this novel. Knowing Rand, what is really of most interest in reading this novel is how Athans adapts her ideas to the Forgotten Realms and, more generally, the fantasy genre. Rand's skepticism, for instance, is hard to reconcile with an interventionist pantheon, and yet Athans somehow makes the gods and his main character coexist by giving him an off-handed, rather indifferent comment on the subject. Meanwhile, selfishness as a virtue must intermittently take back seat to selfless bravery, as when the main character charges giant frogs to save two young boys. Somehow, Athans manages the reconciliation without his hero seeming entirely wooden, though there are times we see the stilts.

The interest of the novel is in the peculiarity of the author's project, and I have to say that I am very interested to see how the series progresses. For one, the Objectivist protagonist is typically a static character. Aloof, infuriating but also compelling to the other characters, incapable of making mistakes or miscalculations, supremely talented at whatever he does, and as single-minded as a worker bee, the hero transcends the normal alterations of human behavior. This is well and good for him, but in a trilogy, such stasis inevitably bores readers expecting change and growth.

I am curious to see what Athans does with this; there is the intriguing possibility that he could go beyond Rand, and make his character breathe in a way Howard Roark never could--he could perhaps even problematize the rather slapstick and contrived, black-and-white political drama he has set up in this first book.
Hardly a Marxist myself, I nevertheless find his satire of "collectivist" thought and the manipulative intelligentsia a little facile.

Athans has done remarkably well writing a novel of ideas, even if those ideas aren't his own. If Athans develops a little more as an author and original thinker, it is likely his story will develop with him, and his hero grow up.

Whisper of Waves (Forgotten Realms: Watercourse Trilogy Book 1)
sadly the book seemed to have so much promise. but in about the middle of the book it just fell apart. objectivism is not my cup of tea, and it just pains me to read the appearant randroid writing incorperated into a novel for the forgotten realms. i say stick to editing philip its what you do best, stop writing books. it was the war of the spider queen series that i also stopped reading right at book 5. from now on i will steer clear of philips books and i hope he knows , if someone doesnt want to publish your randroid points of view then dont try to sneak it in the backdoor in your books, thanks. another writer on my do not read list.

This book has a flow that doesn't seem to generate a continued interest. Every chapter doesn't neccesarily follow exactly the chapter previous(and each is only pages long). The concept is novel and the writing good, but just as I got into a section it was over.

A book with a better flow to it is one that I've recently come across. The Unsuspecting Mage by Brian S. Pratt. It's another fantasy adventure sure to please. I highly recommend it.