A good read for those interested in the Ravenloft campaign setting and the Dragonlance series by Weis and Hickman. Although Lowder's sustained study of the character of Lord Soth is interesting for its breadth, it falls somewhat short in terms of depth. Soth appears as a somewhat flat, stock arch-villain. His good qualities are extremely covered up by his overtly evil behavior. Although the narrative suggests that Soth was good at one point, it never truly convinces the reader that there was ever anything redeeming about the fallen knight. If there were only a few brief episodes in the narrative where Soth would truly do something good, i.e. out of character, he would have emerged as a much more dynamic and interesting character.

But Lowder's task appears to have been difficult. It seems Lowder's goal was to pay homage to Soth as the grand villain from Krynn, and in order to do justice to the quantity of his villainy--as he appears in Weis and Hickman--Lowder obviously stopped himself from presenting Soth as possessing any genuine redemptive qualities. But only one moment of genuine kindness would have sufficed, I think. All the same, it was an entertaining read. ( )

Terror of Lord Soth, Vol. 1

Not very good at all. ( )

Why oh why do I read these fanficton-like TSR books?

I kind of plodded along though this one, finding it tedious as I dislike the Dragonlance setting. It gets a bit more interesting when the lead character gets to Barovia but once Strahd leaves the scene you get the feeling as in a movie when the more talented actor finnishes his cameo part and leaves the set. ( )