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Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn (Forgotten Realms: Computer Tie-In Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

by Philip Athans (Author) "Late in the summer of the Year of the Banner, Abdel Adrian, son of the God of Murder, returned to Candle-keep a hero..." (more)
Key Phrases: big sellsword, minotaur nodded, elf mage, Shadow Thieves, Tree of Life, Aran Linvail (more...)

2.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (36 customer reviews)

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Product Description
Bhaal is dead!

But his disciples want to bring him back. The blood of the god of murder runs through his children, and bad blood attracts bad people.

Shadow thieves, vampires, ninjas, and rockworms run rampant on the Sword Coast in the action-packed novelization of the Baldur's Gate II computer game from BioWare and Interplay.

Product Details

Reading level: Young Adult
Mass Market Paperback: 245 pages
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast (September 1, 2000)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0786915692
ISBN-13: 978-0786915699
Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (36 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #702,865 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

Inside This Book (learn more)

First Sentence:
Late in the summer of the Year of the Banner, Abdel Adrian, son of the God of Murder, returned to Candle-keep a hero. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
big sellsword, minotaur nodded, elf mage, dark elf, yellow haze

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Shadow Thieves, Tree of Life, Aran Linvail, Baldur's Gate, Ust Natha, Mal Cheirar, Shadow Thief, Abdel Adrian, Jon Irenicus, Copper Coronet, Myth Rhynn, Rynn Lanthorn, Gaelan Bayle, Captain Havarian, Queen Ellesime, Swanmay's Glade, Sword Coast, Captain Orhotek

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Citations (learn more)

This book cites 3 books:

Servant of the Shard (Forgotten Realms: Paths of Darkness, Book 3) by R. A. Salvatore in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
Beyond the High Road (Forgotten Realms: The Cormyr Saga, Book 2) by Troy Denning in Back Matter
The Crystal Shard: The Icewind Dale Trilogy, Part 1 (Forgotten Realms: The Legend of Drizzt, Book IV) by R. A. Salvatore in Back Matter

Books on Related Topics (learn more)

Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting by Ed Greenwood

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Lost Empires of Faer�n by Ed Bonny

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Player's Guide to Faerun by Richard Baker

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Evermeet by Elaine Cunningham

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	59% buy the item featured on this page: Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn (Forgotten Realms: Computer Tie-In Novels) 2.5 out of 5 stars (36) $6.99
	4% buy Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn (Official Perfect Guide) 3.5 out of 5 stars (33)

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Customer Reviews

36 Reviews

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(17)

Average Customer Review

2.5 out of 5 stars (36 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars While this title gently burns..., October 17, 2001

By	Xazziri - See all my reviews

If you've played the game, you're going to hate this book with a vengeance, and not just because Minsc suddenly has red hair (which is mentioned a few times, as it's apparently very important to the story). If you haven't played the game, it's really an uninspired, flawed sword-and-sorcery novel that's about as rewarding as watching an uninspired, flawed sword-and-sorcery movie. It helps pass time, that's about it.

Some people have chosen to interpret the book as a parody! It almost works, if you squint your eyes... Clearly the author wasn't taking the topic seriously, which adds to the suggestion. But really, it's not fair to the game, which was the product of a team of hard-working people whose creative talents clearly dwarfed whatever meager talent the author had to tap in to write this sorry excuse for a cut-and-paste pagefiller. If he didn't hate himself afterwards he was probably concentrating too much on the sound of money hitting his bank account.

If you think this book is an accurate indication of what the game is like, either qualitywise or storywise, think again. This is insipid commercial plagiarism. Contrary to what you might expect, the game is a *lot* better, so if you have a computer you're much better off buying the game instead and being a part of the story yourself. You won't finish the game as quickly as the book --- that, however, is a Good Thing.

And if you think computer RPGs lack storytelling quality, try playing "Planescape: Torment". If that doesn't do it for you, you should stick to reading books. Good books, that is, not `novelizations' (ick, the word itself sounds vile). Sheesh, after reading this (as far as I could bear it) I got the idea that *I* could write something better. And since I've never written a book in my life, that can't be a good sign.

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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Weak Characterization Is Only the Beginning, June 5, 2001

By A Customer

If a generic fantasy 'dime-novel' is your concept of good reading material, then Philip Athans' writing will not disappoint you. Otherwise, you'd be best advised to leave this one alone. The main protagonist's characterization is weak and may leave you wondering if you are supposed to care about his fate. The remaining characters are brushed over with such cursory dialogue and minimal depth to the extent that they might be regarded as garden gnomes as opposed to companions on an epic quest. The strongest material in his writing is not dialogue or plot, but the in-depth descriptions of the protagonist's fights with many a blow-by-blow commentary. Otherwise, there isn't much to separate this book from the paper that you throw into the recycle bin. Fans of the Baldur's Gate series are advised to keep away from this book! It's easily apparent that the writer did not play the game or read over the in-game dialogue. The characters are faithless renderings of the originals and poorly written so as to cause much pain while reading. Fortunately, I was able to read this book before making the mistake of purchasing it. You have been warned!

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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The worst, and I mean the WORST, book ever., December 6, 2001

By	Ville V. Kokko (Turku, Finland) - See all my reviews

I was pretty sure it couldn't be good when I bought it; what could you except? But I just had to see what was in it, the game being so great and all. When I actually read it... at first, I was sort of captivated, though I didn't particularly like the author's choices. Then I started feeling disappointed, which quickly changed to disgust that almost managed to keep deepening throughout the whole book, particularly as the end was written so ridiculously badly, even worse than the rest of the book and that's pretty damn' bad, I can tell you.
Different bad areas of the book included:
The plot: It looked like the author had been given a list of the main events in the game, each described in at most one short sentence, and he'd interpreted it as badly as possible.
The quality of writing: Simply bad. The only real descriptions were ones of sex or violence, otherwise it was just "they went there an' did that".
The characters: This is what really makes the book so disgustingly stupid. The protagonist, Abdel Adrian (may his wormlike soul be used as a bait for Hadesian fish forever), is stupider than an old boot, violent, selfish and weak-willed. He's also a hero, it says so in the book. It appears that he'd killed Khalid and Jaheira had fallen in love with him (anyone who's played either BG or knows anything about human relationships knows that's not exactly likely). And now this "Jaheira" was captured; what is the first thing our hero does? Goes to save her? No, that's the second thing, the first is to betray her with another woman. And then Adrian (may his name be used as a swearword by people with good taste everywhere) has to be dragged along the plot forcefully, because his attitude is "Why would I wanna save the world and myself? I'll just go home." Apparently, Athans' BG 1 was a growth story where he became a... better person, and it shows in that now he occasionally decides *not* to kill someone after all, or pauses to think a few hypocritic thoughts.
The other characters are simply paper-thin and ridiculous. All the women are either sex objects or then weirdos who like Adrian even though he's usually only ever harmed them. About the most important function of Jaheira is to comfort him when he feels guilty about betraying her (he didn't mean to do it, and resisted the temptation for a whole two seconds). The illogicality of the other characters' behaviour shows in that Adrian becomes a bloody Hero in spite of what a disgusting idiot he really is ("O yea, let's praise him for this selfless act we had to force him to perform."). The dialogue is what you might expect from a combination of such writing skills and such characters.
Overall, when reading this, I felt rather cheated, but even more insulted. First, I play, with a heroic character (well, on another occasion villaneous, but at least I didn't pretend to be a hero then), this great (nay, fantastic, no awesome, no, beyond description) game, enjoying its good plot, rich dialogue and characters and tactical and somewhat challenging battles. Then I read this book, supposedly based on the game, starring a violent, moronic infidel and a group of illogical, impersonal side characters, with a ridiculous plot, stupid dialogue and some gory and boringly elongated violence scenes.
...

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars A Surpassingly Poor Adaptation
Athans tries everything in his limited repertoire to save this bastardization of an epic story. Among his 'hooks' are gratuitous violence ([... Read more

Published 2 months ago by Cal

5.0 out of 5 stars "Based on the best-selling computer game from Interplay"
It's a good thing this warning was placed on the FRONT COVER of the book, lest one gets the impression that the book should include everything found within Baldur's Gate, which by... Read more

Published on May 8, 2007 by L Gontzes

1.0 out of 5 stars How Appalling!
I have been overheard saying that Judith Kranz is the worst writer I have ever read. Her crown is now taken! Read more

Published on May 5, 2007 by Laurie A. Atkinson

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome Book
Going to read this book right now. If you read the first one there will be no dought in your mind to buy this book because it sort of ruins the first book if you don't buy this... Read more

Published on January 15, 2007 by David A. Hart

1.0 out of 5 stars Worst Book Ever!!!!, Philip Athans-Worst Writer Ever!!!!!!!
I read the whole book in Barnes and Nobles, because i had a bad feeling about what this book would be. And let me tell you, I'm glad I didn't buy it. Read more

Published on May 2, 2006 by Rageaholic Dave

2.0 out of 5 stars Embarrassing
The game i considered a trivial masterpiece. However, i later picked up this novel just to use as bathroom reading, it seemed short enough. Read more

Published on May 20, 2004 by Alex J. Banks

4.0 out of 5 stars A great follow up to the original
The follow up to the game of Baldur's Gate was great, and so is this book. As the first game was, this is game was a bit hard to follow story wise. Read more

Published on February 28, 2003 by Photopro

1.0 out of 5 stars Not appropriate (IMHO) for preteens/kids
I was quite disappointed and somewhat shocked. In addition to the poor writing style/etc. pointed out by the other reviewers I was disturbed to find a sexual encounter with a... Read more

Published on February 27, 2003 by cedest

1.0 out of 5 stars urgh!
Wow, this book is really really badly written. Anyone who is a fan of the Baldur's Gate games (as I am) should stay away from this book because it is terrible. Read more

Published on February 14, 2003 by J.D. Burton

1.0 out of 5 stars Dim-witted, twisted, and disturbing...shall I go on?
This book, which I expected to be a basic novelization of the game, was loosly based upon the BGII plot. Read more

Published on January 22, 2003 by Jefferson Idealist

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