Dave Gross

Dave Gross continues the adventures of Count Varian Jeggare and his hellspawn bodyguard, Radovan in this charming - and surprisingly sweet - wuxia tribute.

Sent to far off lands, Varian finds himself in training at a monastery whilst Radovan - supposed dead - is in fact terrorising the land as a fearsome devil. Can the friends reunite before the kingdom falls?

I enjoyed this book quite a bit more than its predecessor - Gross seems more confident with his characters and less inclined to hammer show more home their character traits.

The pace is fast, and the alternating chapters work well - both perspectives are interesting. The world itself, like most Pathfinder constructions, feels real. It's comfortable, but with enough unique flair to make it interesting. In this case, the similarities to Barry Hughart's Bridge of Birds are readily apparent (and welcome).

Perhaps the most surprising part of the book was Gross' willingness to give his characters a sense of pathos, if not tragedy. Of course, this is not out of place in a Wuxia novel, but such... emotional landscapes are rare in adapted fantasy, let alone sword and sorcery novels. I really, really appreciated it, and the fact that you can have a bit of light and dark without thousands of pages of melodrama. Pathfinder Tales continues to impress me. show less

Queen of Thorns is a surprising departure from the norm for what I typically call "professional fanfic" -- novels within settings created for other media without simply being a novelization of the works in other media. Examples include film (e.g. Star Wars novels) and, as in this case, roleplaying games. Such professional fanfic novels litter the shelves in the science fiction sections of bookstores. While many people will talk about some of them being good and others bad, the truth of the show more matter is that when set side-by-side with novels of the not-fanfic variety they are overwhelmingly mediocre at best, and quite often simply bad. What makes this novel so distinctive is that it is one of only a handful "professional fanfic" novels I have encountered that is good enough to stand on its own. It does not simply overcome the handicaps of that general type of novel, but seems to erase them entirely and rise above the majority of decent novels in general.

The author's talent for evocative description without belaboring the details of a scene, his ability to infuse his narrative characters with distinctive and hilarious wit, and (best of all) his skillful obscuring of the mechanics of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game on which the story is based and in whose default setting it takes place rather than falling into the trap of bludgeoning the reader with its origins in immersion-breaking game mechanics, are all significant contributors to my enjoyment of the book. Even the last line of the novel is well-chosen and leaves me with a sense of satisfaction that is rarely achieved in other novels. Out of the four Pathfinder books I have read so far -- all four gifted to me by another roleplaying gamer who decided to give up Pathfinder RPG and move out of state, this being the last of them I have read and (I believed) surely the last Pathfinder novel I would read -- this is by far the best, and I am inspired to seek out more works by this author to see if his storycrafting holds up in further novels.

I believe he has written two other Pathfinder novels, at least, and judging by some of the references to the characters' pasts I suspect at least one of them details some of their earlier experiences. I plan to see if that is the case and, if so, perhaps read them as well.

In short: This book is not Great Literature, it is not Deeply Meaningful, it is not Art, and it is not Life-Altering. It is not even particularly insightful. It is, however, well-crafted storytelling supported by engaging characterization, and I found it highly entertaining. It is about as good as a book can be without being any of the things I just said it isn't, which is to say it's a really good read. show less

Hour of the Huntress is the first of a series of novellas published by Fantasy Flight Games to provide background and context for the "investigator" protagonists of the "Arkham Files" games, which are rooted in the horror-adventure milieu originally developed in the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game and the Arkham Horror cooperative board game. (Later games include Call of Cthulhu: The Card Game, Elder Sign, Eldritch Horror, and Arkham Horror: The Card Game.) Although set in Lovecraft's show more imaginary Massachusetts college town of Arkham and related locales, and drawing heavily on pulp-era yog-sothothery, these games also incorporate other horror literature and have some enduring elements of their own invention.

This substantial novella in ten chapters details the introduction of investigator Jenny Barnes to Arkham. Jenny is a young sophisticate who has been living as an ex-pat in Paris, and has returned to the US in search of her younger sister Izzy (Isabelle) after a worrying interruption in their correspondence. The story includes Jenny's acquisition of her trademark twin .45 pistols as she picks up the traces of what appears to be a murderous secret cult. The tale is fast-paced and interesting, and more importantly for players of the games, the characters are well-drawn.

After the text of the novella, the book includes eleven pages "reproducing" relevant news clippings, brochures, lecture notes, letters, police reports, memos, scholarly articles, and so forth, all in fragmentary form. All attractively presented with considerable verisimilitude, these texts are somewhat variable in the plausibility of their content. The translated page from the Necronomicon is notably disappointing with its repeated grammatical errors, especially as its central prose conceits are rather good.

The book came with a tiny suite of cards to provide some additional options for the Jenny Barnes character to players of Arkham Horror: The Card Game. In terms of game efficiency, these seem slightly inferior to the ones that were originally issued in the Dunwich Legacy expansion. Still, they do add some variety. I've heard completist game collectors say that they felt obliged somehow to buy the book just in order to get these cards, and I'll say they're not worth the price of the book. However, if you are a player of one of these games and like the Jenny Barnes investigator already, I would recommend the book as a fun read in itself that should enhance your affection for the game character. Readers uninterested in the games may still get some real pleasure out of the story, if they are willing to allow a bit of heroism to intrude on the cosmic despair of pristine yog-sothothery. show less

Another strong outing by Gross, who is happy to investigate the inner lives of his characters as much as new lands and challenges. The combo is appealing.

Varian and Radovan are off to the elven homeland of Kyonin. The original intent is to repair Varian's wrecked carriage, but the duo are quickly given new jobs by the Queen, along with some new companions. What they find in the forest is surprising, but what they find in Radovan is even more so.

Gross is developing into a latter-day Fritz show more Leiber, with Varian and Radovan his Fafhrd and Gray Mouser. Whilst he's not yet at those dizzying heights, the books, and characters, continue to grow in depth and the adventures are always enjoyable.

The setting is enjoyable, though I would have liked a little more of the Elven court - which is important in the story, but featured largely offscreen as the group plunges through the wilderness.

That said, the wilderness, as always, is very interesting, filled with monsters, spells and artefacts. The book comes to a very satisfying close and promises many adventures to come. Good stuff. show less