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A review by dark_reader
Red Magic by Jean Rabe
1.0
Not the worst first outing for a new author, but it was lacking in many ways. I am glad that Jean Rabe has gone on to author many other works, because I could see potential here, but in many ways it cried out for a strong editor and/or some solid writing classes. I have the distinct sense that, at least in the early days of TSR book publishing in the Forgotten Realms line, they would give a book to any staff member who expressed an interest. This worked out well at times (for example, the writing couple Jeff Grubb and Kate Novak), maybe not so great at others.
The characters are one-dimensional, especially the villains. Unfortunately they are the most interesting of the bunch. The three heroes are lacking in personality, show only banal character growth, and lack any meaningful agency in the narrative. They are merely carried along, to ultimately place them in the villains' way at the end. Their driving 'mission' from the Harpers is pretty weaksauce.
Some scenes and events were utterly superfluous. For example, some slaves are purchased, engage in some minor highjinks, fail to have any dialogue, and then are released into the night, never to appear again. One character suffers severe memory loss from an attack, but then recovers before the next serious conflict, which rendered the event inconsequential and begs the question of why it was included at all. A certain class of undead are put forward as a vicious, barely-restrained threat to the heroes but then disappear from the narrative. Either something was missing, edited out, or not well-plotted in the first place.
Where this book succeeded to some degree was to present Thay in novelization; the only previous mention in published Forgotten Realms novels was at the end of Dragonwall in the Crusades trilogy, when Red Wizards approached the army in that series with a proposal. Here, we get a decent portrayal of the rivalry and constant vying between the Red Wizards of Thay and a taste of the social and economic organization of that nation.
The characters are one-dimensional, especially the villains. Unfortunately they are the most interesting of the bunch. The three heroes are lacking in personality, show only banal character growth, and lack any meaningful agency in the narrative. They are merely carried along, to ultimately place them in the villains' way at the end. Their driving 'mission' from the Harpers is pretty weaksauce.
Some scenes and events were utterly superfluous. For example, some slaves are purchased, engage in some minor highjinks, fail to have any dialogue, and then are released into the night, never to appear again. One character suffers severe memory loss from an attack, but then recovers before the next serious conflict, which rendered the event inconsequential and begs the question of why it was included at all. A certain class of undead are put forward as a vicious, barely-restrained threat to the heroes but then disappear from the narrative. Either something was missing, edited out, or not well-plotted in the first place.
Where this book succeeded to some degree was to present Thay in novelization; the only previous mention in published Forgotten Realms novels was at the end of Dragonwall in the Crusades trilogy, when Red Wizards approached the army in that series with a proposal. Here, we get a decent portrayal of the rivalry and constant vying between the Red Wizards of Thay and a taste of the social and economic organization of that nation.