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Editorial Review Product Description
The Halls of Stormweather, a novel in seven parts, is the first book in a series that explores the mean streets of a city where everything has its price and even the wealthiest families will do anything to survive!
Ed Greenwood -- The creator of the Forgotten Realms begins the tale with the capable but embattled patriarch of the Uskevren family.
Clayton Emery -- The heir to the family fortune is brought to life by the author of Star of Cursrah and the Netheril Trilogy.
Lisa Smedman -- A veteran science fiction and fantasy author shows us a young woman who's more than just a maid.
Dave Gross -- The author of An Opportunity for Profit tells the story of the youngest son who carries a horrifying curse.
Voronica Whitney-Robinson -- The story of the willful daughter Thazienne is told by the co-author of Spectre of the Black Rose.
Richard Lee Byers -- The author of Dark Kingdoms tells a tale of a wife with a past as long as it is dark.
Paul Kemp -- A talented newcomer creates a servant with more secrets than his master could ever guess.
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A boring uninspired book
I bought this collection of short novels having read many good reviews but I was disappointed. I think that the thing that I liked less is the Sembia location and the characters that here take life. I think this setting is not fantasy after all, it is more a kind of 18th century Europe mixed with fantasy elements that don't fit well together at all. Ed greenwood confirms himself a great inventor of poeples and settings and a bad writer, but also most of the other authors couldn't really suspend my disbelief. I didn't enjoy at all this collection of stories and will not buy other books located in Sembia.
Can't wait to read the rest
This was an excellent book and provides a very intriguing opening to this series of books. The book is divided up into 7 chapters, each chapter focusing on a member of the Uskerven household.
I found most, if not all, of the characters to be enthralling with all of the stories well written. There is the proud patriarch of the family, Thamalon Uskevren, the disappointed heir to the family forturn Tamlin, the free-spirited daughter Tazi, the very independent second son Talbot, the proper yet mysterious matriarch Shamur, the distinguished butler Erevis Cale, and the young, innocent servant Larajin. The chapters set up stories for each family member. These stories will unfold through the rest of the series, with one book focusing on one family member. It definelty is an original way to do a series. Hopefully the full-length stories will be as good as these chapter length ones were.
Erevis Cale is by far the most popular of the characters and with good reason. He is much like Drizzt in that he has a very honorable streak in him and love for the people around him, but his past is very dark and shady. I know he has gotten one trilogy dedicated to him, and I believe there is a second one planned. I was also drawn to Talbot. His story one of being cursed and having to be responsible for things he wasn't responsible for. Something we can all relate to at certain points in our lives.
These were just my two favorites. I am looking foward to reading all the stories about the family, and I'm hoping that they develop more series for the individual characters and not just Erevis Cale.
OVERALL SCORE: (B-/C+)
This is a fair to good collections of short stories that are somewhat interesting.
Why buy this book, well if you want to read the books and series that follow the characters that are started here, that would be the reason.
Ed Greenwood `The Patriarch' -- slow and dull (C-)
Richard Lee Byers `The Matriarch' -- strange(C-)
Clayton Emery `The heir'-- unlikable fop(C+)
Voronica Whitney-Robinson `The Daughter'-- spoiled, very spoiled(C)
Dave Gross `The Youngest Son'-- interesting werewolf (B)
Paul Kemp `The Butler' -- superb story of a likable assassin!!! (A+)
Lisa Smedman `The Maid' -- really good story of a cleric to be? (A-) OVERALL SCORE: (B-/C+)
READABILITY: (?), PLOT: (B-), CHARATERS: (B-), DIALOGUE: (B-), SETTING: (B+), ACTION/COMBAT: (A-), MONSTERS/ANTAGONISTS: (C+), ROMANCE: (B), SEX: (n/a), AGE LEVEL: (PG)
Secrets at Stormweather!
This is an excellent novel, with only a few faults.The main gripe I have with the book is that it is truly a series of short stories, but is treated like a novel.What I mean to say is that there is no table of content that allows you to easily jump one from story of interest without having to scan through the entire book.The tales need not be read in order at all, and yet you are expected to do so.
Each story centers on one member of the Uskevren house, starting with the Patriarch all the way down to the maid.Each of these people seem to have some special quality about them, and their secrets are kept close to their breasts.Sometimes, it seems that there is a reason that each person is so special or has so deep and dark a secret.Clearly, there is more to this family than is initially let on, and only further tales will reveal what is so special about them.
In case you did not know, the shorts in this book are butpreludes to the other novels in the series, they are basically the set up tales that get you interested, but really give you no completion.Many things are left unsettled by the end of this book. The only downfall I can really see, and it has nothing to do with this novel in and of itself, is that the final book that was to be penned by Greenwood has been canceled.I would love to see another anthology of tales to close out the series. Of them all, the Best tales deal with the matriarch, the butler, the maid, the daughter, and the second son.The Patriarch's tale is informitive, but dry and the heir's story has plenty of drama, but no depth.Two out of seven aint bad!Besides, they are still decent tales. Warning:If you buy this book you will have to pick up the rest of the series!
Genuinely, This Book Was A Great Read
I read this book very, very fast because of the fact that is is seven separate stories, there was something bran new every fifty or so pages, so you go through the book very fast. The stories are fast paced and exciting and good for anyone that likes a good fantasy or medieval based book, regardless of if you've read any other Forgotten Realms books. It can easily be a stand alone novel.
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