In 1987 , Ed Greenwood , creator of theForgotten Realmscampaign scope , released his first novel in the jumbo , grotesque worldhe’d wrought ( and his first published fiction , period ) . It ’s surd to say what was more enticing to me back then : the amazing Clyde Caldwell cover artistry of a furious dracolich on the cover or its mysterious , resonant claim . Because it certainly could n’t have been anything inside the Good Book itself .
As I ’ve mentionedevery single time in D&D&N — and probably will continue to do — I did n’t retrieve what happen in Spellfire before rereading it , but this clock time it was intelligibly for the best because this Word of God is half fever - dreaming and half nothing . I can sum up its 382 pages in 14 words : A girl make Shandril gets the ability of spellfire , destroys some clobber , the close . The details are incomprehensible , meaningless , or sometimes both .
https://gizmodo.com/dungeons-dragons-novels-revisiting-darkwalker-on-m-1844776398
The original cover of Spellfire by Clyde CaldwellImage: Wizards of the Coast
Shandril is a 16 - class - former scullery maid who is hated and hassle by the chef , Korvan . They work at the rise Moon Inn , owned by the sympathetic Gorstag , who we ’re told cares deeply for Shandril but never does anything to stop Korvan or improve her site . In fact , Shandril has never even left the inn before . She ’s never gone outside . It ’s a banana detail that attend no purpose other than to suggest at the trumpery to come .
When a company of adventurers called the Company of the Bright Spear make out to the inn and their stealer is kill in a brawl — a execution absolutely no one has any emotional investment in — Shandril decides to see the world . She steals some of the troupe ’s gear and waits outside town for them to apply for the vacant perspective . Although Shandril has no combat skills and her thieving experience amounts to 12 hours , the Company takes her on . It ’s a spot laughable , but that ’s scarcely the solemn crime a D&D novel has committed . It ’s the speed at which this all happen that make it feel extra - laughable .
This is where Greenwood arrive at tight - forward . The Company almost like a shot runs into 10 member of the Cult of Dragon and , after a short battle , they then hunt into 20 Dragon Cultists who nigh overwhelm them . as luck would have it , Elminster , the Forgotten Realms ’ most powerful wizard and Gandalf analog , indicate up out of nowhere and take these Cultists run away and leaves , all within the span of two pages . Despite being significantly outnumbered , the Company decides to chase these Cultists to grab their treasure . It turn out there are over 50 cultist total and the adventurers get their piece of tail kick ( and murdered ) by a individual Dragon Cult virtuoso and his green firedrake . Shandril , on the other script , is captured and wakes up in some kind of crypt . We are on page 53 .
The cover of the 2005 reprint, with art by Jon Sullivan.Image: Wizards of the Coast
Now , I mention the page act because I require you to fully comprehend the magnitude of the follow nonsense . Here ’s what happens next :
In desperation , Shandril opens one of the crypt and finds a random bone with a mysterious Christian Bible on it
She says the word , is randomly teleported somewhere and is now attack by a gargoyle
The full cover of the 1988 original, where Elminster looks like he’s about to soil his britches.Image: Wizards of the Coast
She falls through an entirely separate , random portal site into the ruin of a castle and is immediately attacked by Devil
The devils are attacked by a giant tentacle fiend
The floor yield way and Shandril is dropped into another part of the castle
Elminster, as seen on Matt Stawicki’s cover of Ed Greenwood’s Elminster in Hell. Seriously.Image: Wizards of the Coast
Shandril is attacked by unknown assailants who are electrocuted by an unidentified source
After trying to regain her way out of the ruin for a slight chip she is capture by an evil sorceress named Symgharyl Maruel …
… who drag her in front of a dracolich
This all fall out between pages 53 and 87 , and I need you to know some of these page are devoted to another fictitious character entirely . It reads less like a book and more like some cruel Dungeon Master is maniacally roll on D&D’s“Random Monster Encounter ” table . Adracolichshowing up should be a herculean moment ; as per the top , they ’re undead dragons whose bones are held together by nothing but magic and hatred . They ’re some of the most powerful , terrifying creatures in the role - playing game , but for Spellfire it ’s just the next item in Shandril ’s Series of Unfortunate Events .
This is not the only indignity the book is go to heap on dracoliches , but first , it ’s clip to bring in you to Narm , a low - level mage who sees his not - specially - bright master get torn apart by devil when they hazard too stuffy to the abandoned , cursed Kingdom of Myth Drannor . Some of the heroic Knights of Myth Drannor — a group who lallygag nearby and adjudicate to foreclose numbskulls from hazard too close to the ruins and becoming devils ’ nutrient bar — check to help Narm when he spies the sorceress cart Shandril away for her nefarious intent . The Knights find them and combat the mage and the monster while Narm scrambles to help oneself the girl . Shandril , who ’s had a really shitty day already , quite sanely adjudicate to run away from yet another unknown chase her , but then the two get entrap in a cave - in due to the battle .
https://gizmodo.com/with-d-ds-next-rulebook-character-creation-will-never-1844807934
Now I have to get back to the page numbers racket . Shandril meets Narm for the first time ( p95 ) . They have their first conversation , which endure about 10 - 15 minutes in book time , then they have passionate sex ( p100 ) . If you think they ’re move a flake tight afford that Shandril was on the brink of death less than 30 minutes prior , please do n’t concern . Narm post - coitally declares his total love for her ( still p100 ) and require her to marry him less than 24 hours later ( p155 , almost immediately after the group lastly escapes the cavern ) . Now , this is some pretty wack tempo , but what brings it all into perspective is that Shandril does n’t get around to asking Tarm what his last name is until page 194 — at that gunpoint , weeks later in book clip .
I trust you have n’t bury about the nominal spellfire , which is built up in the storey with just as much care and precision . Back at the cave - in , Shandril and Narm discover a mysterious glowing sphere and when Symgharyl discovers them in their cubby , Shandril boom it over the sorceress ’s top dog , which releases abalhiir , an entity which absorbs magic vigour . After the two are rescued , Elminster coming back and has a calm conversation with the Knights of Myth Drannor about how the only way to stop a balhiir is for the one who released to absorb it , then blast the energy out Dragonball Z - style . This works out well , given that they ’re now all wall by the dracolich , Symgharyl , and 70 - plus Dragon Cultists , who just keep break off by .
If you though Shandril ’s spellfire would help even the odds , it does n’t . It crushes the betting odds … in Shandril ’s favor . She starts blasting and eradicate the cultist , the dracolich , the intact mountain they ’d been tolerate in , and the ruination on top , using far , far more spellfire than just absorbing the balhiir could describe for .
Now , a young girl discover she has a power so slap-up that she can take out one of the mightiest , most malign creatures ( half-)alive could be an incredible scene . It would be quite compelling to read about Shandril walk on air in her ability yet simultaneously being afraid of it , while her compatriots marvel that she singlehandedly kill an ancient monster who ’s slain thousands . Instead , Shandril remove the dracolich almost off - handedly ( p119 ) , and its lack of significance is underscored when Symgharyl fetch another dragolich to the fight , only for Elminster to kill them both in a single paragraph ( p137 ) . Then , improbably , the mighty Lord Manshoon , ruler of the unequivocally evil mass of Zhentil Keep , gets a magic alert that his paramour Symgharyl is dead , grab his black flying dragon , and flies over to get vengeance — only for Shandril to apply spellfire once more to to the full sound off both their asses without breaking a sweat ( p154 ) . The black dragon fly away but pass away of its wounds short thereafter .
For those playing at house , this means our heroes — really , just two of our heroes — defeated three dragons in 35 pageboy . That ’s unfathomable . It ’s outrageous . It also encounter to see there is no fervor throughout the quietus of the book because no matter whatever happens Shandril is never live on to be in any kind of danger again .
After this nonsense , Spellfire ultimately settles down to tell one simple , comprehendible fib , where the good guy take Shandril to Shadowdale ( home to the Knights of Myth Drannor ) to protect her while the uncollectible guy cable — of which there are two master groups , the Dragon Cultists and the rest leadership of Zhentail Keep — attempt to kidnap her for her world power or obliterate her . The oddment of the book is filled with these attempts , all of which are easily thwarted , commonly in just a couple of page .
There ’s some other stuff about Elminster examination Shandril to see how much magical muscularity she can imbibe and spellfire she can unleash ( the answer : more than enough ) , while Narm does a bit of witching training so as to assist protect his bride . Eventually , Shandril let on she ’s pregnant and the two get married and decide to pull up stakes Shadowdale and see the world since they ’re perpetually going to be attacked no matter what they do or where they go . But even after they set out , a few of the Knights follow them purposefully or on the QT , insuring the go on attacks are quelled without anyone getting close to a dangerous or interesting spot . This is really all you necessitate to know about Spellfire , but I ca n’t help but giving you one final example of what a debacle this book is because it make me so damn sick .
https://gizmodo.com/dungeons-dragons-novels-revisiting-azure-bonds-1844460389
Before Shan and Narm leave behind Shadowdale , they discover Korvan the asshole James Cook is a member of the Dragon Cult . It does n’t make any sense and is only foreshadow in the sense that Korvan is a abominable , shitty person . Once they ’re on their own , the twain determine to go see Gorstag , where they have a happy reunion , but when Shandril reveals that his cook of 15 - or - so year is an evil Dragon Cultist — a group presently determined to find and/or mutilate her — no one does anything about him .
Here ’s how they administer with this get it on opposition : 1 ) they do n’t wake up him up and 2 ) they do n’t deplete his food . Shandril and Narm still spend the nighttime at the inn and , in a twist no one could possibly have seen come , the Dragon Cult attacks . Korvan specifically attacks Gorstag , who makes it absolved he dead knew Korvan was plague and assaulting Shandril for her entire life because he tells the chef “ This has been coming for a prospicient prison term . ” And yet the Word of God presents Gorstag as Shandril ’s darling Padre figure instead of the enabling SOB he in reality is . Of course , she and Narm escape , at which point one of the major Dragon Cultists attack them on yet another dracolich . Shandril blasts it out of the sky like the others . The end .
https://gizmodo.com/elderly-wizards-with-beards-ranked-1697556399
This book is fearsome . It ’s the sort of top - to - bottom awfulness I expected to encounter when I start calculate back at these D&D novels but then forgot about after I was lulled into a false sense of security system by nominal competency of the first few books . I will say that the second half of the record is better than the first ; the Knights of Myth Drannor are n’t peculiarly original — in fact , they ’re hard to tell aside sometimes — but they have some personality and are fun to hang with . Elminster , create by Greenwood himself , is the book ’s most square character and decidedly more interesting than inhis appearance in Azure Bonds . He ’s mildly to severely irritated with everyone and everything all the meter , but Greenwood somehow keeps him from being irritating himself .
I ’d tell you not to read this volume , except it ’s pretty unmanageable to negociate . I had to get an assist from my pal and io9 reader TemporalSword to get a copy of the original novel . Amazon trade an “ updated ” ebook of Spellfire ; I ’m singular what ’s been changed and how much it ’s potentially improved , but not so peculiar that I would ever , ever read the novel again . Maybe Shandril kill a few more dracoliches ?
Assorted Musings:
There ’s a powerful , enigmatic mage called the Simbul who preserve popping up out of nowhere to keep an eye on Shandril . At one full point it ’s revealed she was fall out disguise as a feeding bottle on a tabular array . This break me up .
We check in with the dudes of Zhentil Keep and the Dragon Cult several times after the dragon massacre and each time they get less intimidating . They ’re all ruled by a variety of unfit guy rope who ca n’t determine what to do about Shandril and are more concerned in inter - office politics anyway , so when a minion does get send out to take on Shandril it feels like a clerical misplay of some kind .
A sample distribution line of dialogue from Narm , clearly trying to say “ Works for me ” : “ No words against that from this mouth . ”
Elminster subsist with a guy named Lhaeo who is cool and smart and impudent but in public acts like “ a lisping man - lover ” as a disguise . So that ’s coolheaded .
Shandril can shoot spellfire from her hands , her oculus , her mouth , her integral torso , and … well , I ’ll permit the Bible explain : “ Her blazing finger found the pharynx of her tunic and ripped it candid . From her bareheaded breast pour out spellfire as she backed down the tunnel . ” Cool cool cool .
At some point a small fry catch a true cat named Snuggleguts and as god is my watcher I have no idea what it has to do with anything .
Next prison term : Drizzt returnsin the Icewind Dale trilogy , volume 2 : Streams of Silver !
https://gizmodo.com/dungeons-dragons-novels-revisiting-the-crystal-sha-1844083723
Correction : An early version of this post had the awry publication year for Spellfire . io9 rue the error .
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