Well of Darkness: Volume One of the Sovereign Stone Trilogy (Hardcover)

by Margaret Weis (Author), Tracy Hickman (Author) "The boy gazed up at the castle..." (more)
Key Phrases: dwarven ambassador, war magi, dwarven merchants, High Magus, Dominion Lord, Lord Mabreton (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
The founding parents of the game-tie-in fantasy novel here launch a role-playing-game-related high fantasy trilogy in which game knowledge is irrelevant to reader enjoyment. This is a classic tale of the rivalry of two half-brothers, the sons of King Tamaros of Vinnengael: the virtuous elder Helmos and the frustrated and ambitious young Dagnarus. Along the way, Dagnarus wins the friendship and loyalty of his whipping boy, Gareth, who in due course trains as a mage and adept in forbidden Void magic, dangerous to the user but deadly to the user's enemies. Shortly after King Tamaros believes that he has made peace among the four races (human, dwarves, elves and orken), Dagnarus and Gareth together begin to undo all the king's work, unleashing a war of all against all made even worse by the lethal Void magic and the rivalries of potentates, particularly human and elven. This is a story assembled from archetypical elements, all at least slightly touched with originality. Dagnarus is a thug but also a heroic soldier, and his elven lover prefers to become one of the Void-spawned undead Vrykyl rather than be parted from him. Elven political institutions irresistibly recall the Tokugawa era of Japan.The dwarves are not metal-working troglodytes but horse archers, living light and traveling fast. Weis and Hickman (Dragons of a Fallen Son, etc.) are still not much more than good plain cooks as stylists, but here they are writing at an entirely respectable level. (Sept.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Chosen to serve as the whipping boy of the young Prince Dagnarus, Gareth becomes his master's friend and confidant as they grow to manhood and become embroiled in the affairs of the land. Tempted by dark powers, Gareth seeks to assist the prince in his search for love and glory, unaware of the greater paths each must follow to fulfill his destiny. The best-selling combination of Hickman and Weis have once again joined forces to create a rich and vibrant fantasy world populated with varied races and complex, believable characters. Based on the "Sovereign Stone" role-playing game, this epic series opener belongs in most fantasy collections.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 450 pages
• Publisher: Eos; 1st edition (August 22, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061051802
• ISBN-13: 978-0061051807
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.6 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (64 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #877,708 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Slow to start, but a strong finish., September 19, 2000

By	Rick Douglas Janssen (Lake Zurich, IL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman are by far two of the most well known, beloved fantasy writers of our time. Which is why it is no surprise that The Sovereign Stone Game System elected to jump-start the system with a trilogy written by Margaret and Tracy. I also suspect that Margaret Weis being one of the creators had something to do with this decision as well. Also, looking at the past success of the Dragonlance novels and what overwhelming interest those novels sparked in the Dungeons and Dragons gaming system it seems like the best move to make.

The first half of the book was relatively slow. It concentrated mainly on character and world building. While being interesting it's not overly exciting, so the book doesn't have the typical Weis and Hickman alure that their other series seem to have. However, once the reader is familar with the world and the characters the action and intensity magnify until you can't put the book down! The same phenomenon happened to me when undertaking the Death Gate Cycle. The first book was so new and different it took some time to get into the story.

I realize I haven't mentioned much about the content of the book, but the other reviews cover much of that. This book finishes strong and even though it cuts all of the loose ends by the last page there is still a hook that leaves the reader longing for more. The second book can't come out soon enough in my opinion. I highly recommend this book and I wish The Sovereign Stone Game System much success.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The worst of Weiss and Hickman, January 29, 2002

By	"zackss" (W. Yarmouth, MA United States) - See all my reviews

The Well of Darkness falls well below the bar for Weiss and Hickman. Having read nearly all of their other works I can assure you that this book does not even come close to any of their previous works.

From the start, the book follows the only character with any real depth, the whipping boy Patch. Unfortunately, Patch's character is such that he is absolutely incapable of standing up for himself or any of his morals when faced with the whims of his playmate, prince Dagnarus. Right in the beginning Dagnarus bullies Patch into doing everything he wants and at every step afterward Patch obeys because "he has already made his choice". This leads to the feeling that Patch is nothing more than a secondary character supporting the distasteful and bland prince.

Somehow during the entire story Dagnarus is described as loved and respected by all that see him despite the fact that he seems to be very obviously selfish, disrespectful, uncaring, and eventually evil. He is not even a villain with great intelligence and depth, he simply succeeds at everything he tries to do regardless of whether his conversations with other characters or his plans justify it.

The races of the world are all very different from standard fantasy, but the logic behind them and their actions are entirely lacking. The elves (which are the most important of the nonhumans in the story) are described as just as long lived and skilled as always, but also as militant, honor-bound, and with a high birth rate. This leads one to question why they haven't driven the rest of the races into slavery or extermination already. One might think their chivalry would prevent that, but the elves in the story seem to be willing to ignore their morals and honor at the drop of a hat. They loudly proclaim their disgust and hatred of void Magi and soldiers of the Void, but are perfectly willing to follow someone called "Lord of the Void".

In the end though it seems that the good guys (which are not the subject of the book) have a powerful well-defended kingdom and good plans that simply have no effect on the events of the story. It truly seems that the authors wanted certain events to happen but could not figure out a way to string them together without completely ignoring racial tendencies and character personalities. Halfway through the book I read the reviews here and assumed that it picked up and became interesting but it never did. I finsihed it primarily so I could feel capable of relaying my dislike of the book. I'm a long time fan of Weiss and Hickman and have a hard time believing this is one of their books at all.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Something old, something new, February 25, 2002

By A Customer

Weis and Hickman's style is changing. Yet their ideas of magic, characterization and plot remain much the same, and this book might prove frustrating (or delightful) for the readers who can detect the same story elements being used over again.

Style: Weis and Hickman's language is becoming ever more confident with every book; on the other hand, the writing has become verbose. The start of the book is especially slow-moving--the introduction of Silwyth, Lady Valura and the Shield also tries to describe Loerem's elven culture--a culture that is obviously steeped in and inspired by Oriental culture and ideas. How unusual and un-Tolkien! But--

I have to say I found this chapter infuriating, coming from an oriental background. The elven rules of etiquette and protocol were exagerrated and ridiculous to the extreme, yet described with apparent perfect seriousness that contained no trace of humor--or at least--humor that failed. This was a verbose chapter filled with condescending remarks that really raised my hackles.

Characters: Readers of Weis and Hickman's most recent Dragonlance books will find this familiar territory--the authors' love and attention being heaped onto the evil characters. If you're a reader who cheers for the good guys, this book WILL be disappointing. (Come to think of it, is it such a crime to want good to triumph over evil? Weis and Hickman would now seem to answer yes.)

Good characters like Helmos, King Tamaros and Dunner are constantly misled, hoodwinked and fooled. Their IQ seems deliberately kept down below 100. (Again, familiar stuff for current Dragonlance readers.) The bad guys here have all the strengths: will, wiles, diplomacy, spirit, fighting prowess and magic. Hard for a reader to decide who to sympathise with.

Gareth is a principle character who teeters between good and evil, but unfortunately is weak in character and lacks in skills of logical reasoning. Evil Prince Dagnarus is, to keep it short, a man whose strengths all stem from him being a spoiled brat. Weis and Hickman's concentration on evil characters may come from the hope of creating another Raistlin, or Lord Soth, or even Xar, but it just isn't happening in this book yet.

For readers not that familiar with Weis and Hickman, this book may be worth picking up for some of its unusual fantasy ideas and strong writing style. (Don't compare this with G.R.R. Martin though.) For readers familiar with gaming: there's not much new here. For readers familiar with Weis and Hickman, it depends--do you side with Good or Evil?