Lisa Smedman

Before I begin this review, I'd like to state that I have had a very hit or miss pattern with Forgotten Realms. I've read a couple of [a:Ed Greenwood|20513|Ed Greenwood|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1248120586p2/20513.jpg]'s Elminster books and found them extremely boring. Then I read the War of the Spider Queen series and absolutely loved it. Then, on recommendation from my brother, I started the Drizz't series. That was just awful! Then I found the sequel to the War of the show more Spider Queen, The Lady Penitent trilogy and once again, loved it! Then I tried the Abolethic Sovereignty trilogy and couldn't finish it.

So I'm always leery when trying a Forgotten Realms book/series, as I just don't know what I'll end up with.

I'd heard of Erevis Cale somewhere or other and wanted to see if he was an interesting character, so I dug around and found this to be the first book with him in it. And then I found it was a bunch of short stories centering around the Uskevren family, of whom Erevis was the butler.

I enjoyed the stories, as they introduced me to the city Selgaunt and the area of Sembia [do you know how long it took me to figure out that Selgaunt and Sembia were actually two different places and not just different names for the same place?!?]. I also found that the short story format worked well with each character, as we get a snaphsot of them without the author of said short story showing all their weaknesses by trying to write a full blown novel about that character.

So I just sped through this book, loving it and looking forward to the next. Which I've finished and will be reviewing tomorrow. Man, when Forgotten Realms is good, it is GOOD! show less

  This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.leafmarks.tumblr.com by express permission of this reviewer.  Title: Viper's Kiss  Series: House of Serpents, Forgotten Realms  Author: Lisa Smedman  Rating: 3 of 5 Stars  Genre: Fantasy  Pages: 324     Synopsis: Arvin show more skips town to avoid the guild and to get rich quick off a Baron who has a kidnapped daughter. Of course, everything leads back to Sybil the goddess wannabe and the mindmage who once tried to control Arvin. Arvin meets a stunningly beautiful half-Yuanti and teams up with her to take down the kidnappers, rescue the girl and to foil Sybil.   My Thoughts: Pretty average fare. Lots of action and intrigue and some kinkiness thrown in as Smedman skirts the whole human/yuanti mating thing.   Arvin is still a stupid ass but since I wasn't expecting him to have changed from the previous book, Venom's Taste, it was easy to go with the flow. However, him sending his own lover and mother of his future children into hell, by accident no less, was not something I saw coming. I actually just laughed it was so ridiculous.   This book confirms that I enjoy most of Smedman's Forgotten Realms writings and that when I see her name on a book I will most likely enjoy it. I like having that kind of knowledge. " show less

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 show more 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. show less

I liked the setup for this series, and the characters are all fun. I am extremely predictable in that Q'arlynd is of course my favourite, because I love horrid little wizard men.

Decently strong writing, especially compared to some of the other FR books I've read.