Plague of Spells

Forgotten Realms: Abolethic Sovereignty, Book 1

By: Bruce R. Cordell

Narrated by: John Pruden

Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

Lovecraftian Horror in Faern!

Blue fire sears the face of Faern, leaving the twisted and mutilated dead in its wake. But a rare few escape death - and suffer some mystical mutation. Raidon Kane is one of those who survives, the wake of blue fire burning the sigil of the amulet he wears into his chest and binding him with all the power and responsibility it entails. With everyone he knows and cares about dead, Raidon must find within himself the strength to lead the fight against the rise of an elder evil the likes of which would be the end of mortal kind.

Award-winning game designer Bruce R. Cordell depicts the rise of a monstrous nation of elder evil as only he can in this brand-new trilogy Abolethic Sovereignty. Dedicated to showcasing one of the most fascinating new aspects of the changed face of Faern, this trilogy is packed with the exciting battles, wizardry, and monsters that are the hallmark of Forgotten Realms novels as well as introducing a new never-before-seen element of Lovecraftian horror to Faern.

©2008 Wizards of the Coast, LLC (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Fun a Fantasy adventure

This was a fun martial arts fantasy adventur. It gives good perspective of the spell plegue. Probably one of d&d's most hated timepireads. I find it fasinating.

a decent start!

I just finished this book for research into my own campaign blah blah blah
The narrator takes some adjustment to get used to his style and speed, but once you're a few chapters in and are in the groove, he does a great job.

The story is mostly a giant world building scenario with callbacks to the Dungeon book he wrote, Stardeep. I am currently listening to that one before I progress to fully get all of the history behind some of the characters.

Overall it has been an interesting setting, with Thoster being the most intriguing character overall. I'd like a story on him over Radon, and the 2 outcast "lovers."

For the diehard and Spell Plague fans!

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

If you are a fan of Bruce R. Cordell or really like learning about how the Spell Plague altered parts of the realms.

What could Bruce R. Cordell have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

I'm about 50 FR books deep. So, when you don't a book you wonder... "is it me or the book?" Bruce spins an interesting story but it gets off to a rocky start with the first 10 chapters flipping back and forth with three different characters (Chapter 1 is for character A, Chapter 2 covers character B etc). This made it really hard to follow what was happening and why. Obviously, the three characters and stories eventually twine together but it's too late.

What does John Pruden bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

John Pruden is great. I found this book based off of searching for more FR stuff done by Pruden. His Erevis Cale stuff is amazing.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

The last quarter of the book was the best. More action oriented and the stories finally come together (still confusing but at least all the characters are happening in the same chapters).

Any additional comments?

I can't recommend this book (I was hoping to finish the series but now we'll see). I'm not even sure if Raidon Kane is a good main character because this was just an introduction and it's a hard sell to keep going in the series.

Not mandatory but does help to have some history/knowledge of the spell plague etc.

Enjoyable Escape

This was an enjoyable escape from heavier, more serious reading while recovering from surgery. Purely entertaining and good enough to convince me to continue to Book II.