nakedsteve's review

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4.0

Well, isn't this an interesting book... The first in a set of seven books set in the Forgotten Realms region of Sembia, it's clearly an introduction to the books that follow. It's a set of seven stories, one by each of the authors, each about one member of the Uskevren family of Selgaunt. I get the impression that each book following will take off from one of the seven stories here. (Obviously there are only six more books, so one story won't get extended, but still...)

So: the stories. The book starts with Ed Greenwood, writing in his usual dry style that drives me batty. The book finishes strong with Paul Kemp and the story of Erevis Cale (the most action-packed story of the collection), followed by Lisa Smedman telling the story of the budding acolyte of a maid Larajin (Smedman doing her usual fine job of making the magic of D&D intricate and fascinating.) The middle stores are fine, but nothing special.

4/5 stars: it had some good moments, and leaves me interested in reading more.
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