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souljaleonn's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
dark_reader's review
2.0
I like [a: Douglas Niles|23895|Douglas Niles|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1303252441p2/23895.jpg]'s books overall. I like his prose, he creates moderately interesting characters (for pulp fantasy paperbacks), and evokes physical environments effectively, whether they be the mix of rugged highlands, coasts and untamed nature of the Moonshae islands, or the humid jungles of Maztica in another of his series. I could truly appreciate the beauty of the Moonshaes as written here. Unfortunately, he falls short in plot structuring at times, and this has marred many otherwise enjoyable books of his. In The Druid Queen for at least the third time in his nine Forgotten Realms novels, we see multiple forces, good and evil, large and small, taking separate journeys that eventually converge on a big climax involving a god or gods or their avatars. I must say that this was handled much more smoothly here than in his earlier books, and had I not read those first it might not have stood out as a tired plot. Really, I found most of this book quite enjoyable. But then, I reached the end...
Thirty pages from the end of the book, I was thinking, "Gee, there sure is an awful lot that needs to happen still", with all that was built up to that point. Twenty pages from the end, I was still thinking the same thing. Fortunately, the next eighteen pages delivered a satisfying, tense, action-packed conclusion. The last two pages (I am estimating the numbers here, don't quote me) leave a number of huge, practically existential questions and concerns unaddressed, such as (major book spoilers here, don't click it unless you mean it):
-there is extremely little concern that the princess just murdered her power-crazed sister. Maybe a little mourning before moving on to your final plans for the rest of your lives and the entire kingdom, mom and dad?
-the love triangle between Alicia, Brandon and Keane is obviously resolved and Brandon is totally cool that it's not him. There was some implication earlier that Alicia and Brandon had a little talk, as witnessed from a distance by another uninvolved character, but this was very vague.
-less crucial, Hanrald having a sad in a touching scene that gets little notice by the rest of the crew.
Needs more denouement. Seriously, the book would be so much stronger with another ten to twenty pages to process all of this stuff. It took six books (the original Moonshae trilogy plus this one) to build up to this, I would think the author would have liked to take more time to say goodbye to his characters. Was there a firm publishing deadline to meet? Did the author suddenly have other life matters that compelled all of his time? Did this book simply need a better editor to identify this glaring weakness? There was certainly room for a few more pages, as other Forgotten Realms novels published in the same era clocked in at up to 30 pages longer. Perhaps one day I will meet the author and I can ask him. Currently I harbor a hope that some of the Forgtten Realms short story anthologies that I have not yet read may contain stories to follow up on some of these characters.
The other major failing of the whole trilogy is Deirdre's character treatment. As the other princess of the kingdom, she was raised with the same love and resources and could have been developed as a character with as much interest as Alicia, even in opposition to her. Instead, she is merely a tool of evil forces throughout the trilogy, used and discarded, with no personal motivation displayed other than a shrill, desperate need for power, no matter what she gave up of herself to get it. Even this could have played better with some appropriate background, but this was not the case. Three times, her family remained incredibly dense to her status until the very end, rendering her a victim of their cluelessness as much as to scheming gods and others. I thought this treatment was a failure of potential.
Thirty pages from the end of the book, I was thinking, "Gee, there sure is an awful lot that needs to happen still", with all that was built up to that point. Twenty pages from the end, I was still thinking the same thing. Fortunately, the next eighteen pages delivered a satisfying, tense, action-packed conclusion. The last two pages (I am estimating the numbers here, don't quote me) leave a number of huge, practically existential questions and concerns unaddressed, such as (major book spoilers here, don't click it unless you mean it):
Spoiler
-the Peaksmasher, a mountainous demi-god who could destroy the whole island chain by whim or carelessness, is just left standing there once he frees himself from bondage. No one cares to ask "what will we do about him?" despite literally standing at his enormous feet.-there is extremely little concern that the princess just murdered her power-crazed sister. Maybe a little mourning before moving on to your final plans for the rest of your lives and the entire kingdom, mom and dad?
-the love triangle between Alicia, Brandon and Keane is obviously resolved and Brandon is totally cool that it's not him. There was some implication earlier that Alicia and Brandon had a little talk, as witnessed from a distance by another uninvolved character, but this was very vague.
-less crucial, Hanrald having a sad in a touching scene that gets little notice by the rest of the crew.
Needs more denouement. Seriously, the book would be so much stronger with another ten to twenty pages to process all of this stuff. It took six books (the original Moonshae trilogy plus this one) to build up to this, I would think the author would have liked to take more time to say goodbye to his characters. Was there a firm publishing deadline to meet? Did the author suddenly have other life matters that compelled all of his time? Did this book simply need a better editor to identify this glaring weakness? There was certainly room for a few more pages, as other Forgotten Realms novels published in the same era clocked in at up to 30 pages longer. Perhaps one day I will meet the author and I can ask him. Currently I harbor a hope that some of the Forgtten Realms short story anthologies that I have not yet read may contain stories to follow up on some of these characters.
The other major failing of the whole trilogy is Deirdre's character treatment. As the other princess of the kingdom, she was raised with the same love and resources and could have been developed as a character with as much interest as Alicia, even in opposition to her. Instead, she is merely a tool of evil forces throughout the trilogy, used and discarded, with no personal motivation displayed other than a shrill, desperate need for power, no matter what she gave up of herself to get it. Even this could have played better with some appropriate background, but this was not the case. Three times, her family remained incredibly dense to her status until the very end, rendering her a victim of their cluelessness as much as to scheming gods and others. I thought this treatment was a failure of potential.
mw2k's review
2.0
While being as easy to read and digest as what came before, this series ends with a gaggle of tragic events that pose more questions than answers. That's all well and good for most stories, but not for these tightly-plotted pulp novels, which are more expositions of the fantasy world of Faerun than they are anything else.
Further, it ends rapidly, hastily tying up every plot thread there is before the novel (and series) concludes. To my knowledge, there are no more novels in the Moonshae series, so one will have to make do with the decidedly inconclusive character arcs some of the players here experienced.
Further, it ends rapidly, hastily tying up every plot thread there is before the novel (and series) concludes. To my knowledge, there are no more novels in the Moonshae series, so one will have to make do with the decidedly inconclusive character arcs some of the players here experienced.
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