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A review by emmaf09
Red Magic by Jean Rabe
3.0
If you've seen Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, this is a great entry into the Forgotten Realms series!
3 Harper Agents infiltrate Thay to investigate a Red Wizard who is building up a monstrous army of magical beasts.
Fun fun fun! I love a Forgotten Realms novel that spends time creating a well developed villain in addition to the heroes. It is satisfying to see him have a real personality, instead of just being a faceless bad guy. Thay is an exciting, creepy setting, and very different from the rest of the Realms. Rabe does an excellent job explaining and developing the setting without info dumping too much.
The Harper trio being so clearly over their head creates a super readable dynamic.
Despite being written by a woman, this book does not pass the Harem Test. (my own personal qualifier for a Forgotten Realms novel: Is there a mind wiped sex slave or harem that does whatever the bad guy wishes, or is used to tempt the hero.)
3 Harper Agents infiltrate Thay to investigate a Red Wizard who is building up a monstrous army of magical beasts.
Fun fun fun! I love a Forgotten Realms novel that spends time creating a well developed villain in addition to the heroes. It is satisfying to see him have a real personality, instead of just being a faceless bad guy. Thay is an exciting, creepy setting, and very different from the rest of the Realms. Rabe does an excellent job explaining and developing the setting without info dumping too much.
Spoiler
Szass Tam coming in as an even eviler, spookier bad guy is a fun touch.Despite being written by a woman, this book does not pass the Harem Test. (my own personal qualifier for a Forgotten Realms novel: Is there a mind wiped sex slave or harem that does whatever the bad guy wishes, or is used to tempt the hero.)