Storm of the Dead by Lisa Smedman is the second book in the Lady Penitent trilogy, the first book of which is Sacrifice of the Widow (Forgotten Realms: The Lady Penitent, Book 1). This trilogy focus mostly on the goddess Eilistraee and other aspects of the Drow pantheon. After reading the first book it is evident that there are certainly many changes ahead for the Drow, but also for the world of Fareun as well. As with the first book, fans who have read the War of the Spider Queen series will recognize many faces, names, and places in this novel. While it is not necessary to read the War of the Spider Queen series before reading this trilogy, I would strongly advice it. Events will have much more meaning, and character motivations and actions will be clearer as well. Since this is the second book of the trilogy, you really do need to read the first book before embarking on this novel.

Much like the plot line of the first book; in that it is not your traditional one main plot line with a few sub-plots sprinkled in. To me, this book felt like it was merely several sub-plots woven together to create a novel. I think the same story could have been expressed in three or four short stories. The various sub-plots in this novel just didn't seem to mesh well together to create a cohesive story. The main sub-plot-ish story in this novel is that of something causing drow magic to not work and other consequences. It's an interesting enough storyline, however, I never felt really engaged by it. I kept reading the book hoping, that somewhere along the way, the story would pick up and become interesting. In actuality the most interesting parts of this novel were the prelude and the coda where the perspective focused on the sava game between the gods. Other than that I felt this was a very bland plot.

The characters in this novel are largely the same as they were in the first book. While the character are fairly well written and interesting, I think this book suffers from to many characters. The reason I say this is that there are so many things going on in this book, which all need characters, yet by trying to have so many things going on characters get lost in the shuffle. For instance I felt I never really knew a whole lot about the Nightshadows. They sound like a very interesting group, yet they were just there mostly. The same can be said about the Protectors. By and large there was very little real character development. Off the top of my head when I think about this novel the only characters that really developed were Q'arlynd and Cavatina. Beyond those two I can't recall much development at all.

I really enjoyed the first book in this trilogy, yet this one left me feeling disappointed and let down. The flow and pace that I commented on in the first book is altogether gone from this novel. There are parts of the novel that made reading it feel like a chore. This book certainly suffers from the `middle book' syndrome in my opinion. Since this trilogy obviously has large ramifications for the entire Forgotten Realms, I am hoping the third book will be more like the first than the second.

Overall, I think fans of the Forgotten Realms need to read this book to understand the events that seem to be occurring slowly. However, the casual fantasy fan may feel disappointed by this novel and not really care overly much for the characters or the lack of a true plot. I have usually enjoyed Ms. Smedman's work, however, I really can't say that about this novel. Unless the person is an ardent Forgotten Realms fan, I would be rather hesitant to recommend this novel. ( )