Mark Sehestedt

Forgotten Realms: Chosen of Nendawen #1: The Fall of Highwatch, by Mark Sehestedt

"The Fall of Highwatch" is a Forgotten Realms novel set in the 4th Edition D&D world, but don't let that stop you from reading this excellent book. Let me start by saying that I don't play D&D, but I have read many FR novels and rather enjoy them.

The fortress of Highwatch sits in the Giantspire Mountains, in the frozen regions of Narfell. The citadel has stood strong for over a century, as the landscape around show more it has made it virtually impregnable. Indeed, Highwatch only falls because of inside treachery, when the captain of the guard betrays everyone for a second chance with his deceased love.

Hweilan, the granddaughter of the Warden of Highwatch, survives the massacre, and is thrust into a wild journey through the wilds of Narfell and even a jaunt into the Feywild. On the run from a dangerous vampire-like demon, she meets Lendri, an elf who claims to be bloodkin and oathsworn, and Menduarthis, a strange male who takes her into the Feywild because he's "bored." Even after losing everything she knows - her family, her home - Hweilan is still a strong character, and more stubborn than a donkey.

Sehestedt sets up an intriguing plot, and I can't wait for the other two books of this trilogy; I'm frustrated that I'll have to wait a year for the next installment - especially since the book ends on quite a cliffhanger. Just enough is revealed that you want to know more, and I kept reading long after I meant to go to sleep. The action is very very fast, and will at times leave you wondering just how Hweilan could have the energy to continue running and fighting after enduring so much, but adrenaline and the will to live make sense. Sometimes things were too predictable, but not often enough to really detract.

Lastly, I have to say I absolutely love the cover design of this book - it's very different, as it's horizontal art instead of vertical. The theme is continued inside, and looks very nice overall. It's eye-catching.

4/5. 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.com & Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road Facebook Group by Bookstooge's Exalted Permission. Title: Hand of the Hunter Series: Chosen of Nendawen Author: Mark Sehestedt Rating: of 5 Battle Axes Genre: SFF Pages: 304 Format: show more Kindle Synopsis: Hweilan is Nendawen's Chosen. But being a Hunter is about training as well as instinct. If she can survive the training, can she survive the mountains of Highpass and the clans of hobgoblins living there? Oh no's! My Thoughts: Book One was all about the setup. Just like in all cliched Quest/Revenge stories, you have to have a Training Arc. This was the training. First Hweilan learns all about herbs and nature and stuff from a little green'ish goblin. Yep, Yoda makes his appearance in Forgotten Realms. Then she becomes all bad ass warrior'y with a fox warrior. Next she learns magic'y things from a Spider lady. Finally, she is hunted by Nendawen himself. Now she can hunt down Jagen Ghen the demon and his brethren. But she rescues some knights, gets captured by hobgoblins and the book ends with them all in prison while the hobgoblin queen decides whether to turn Hweilan over to Jagen Ghen or not. With that kind of ending, I immediately started the 3rd and final book. Not sure if I approve of that or not. " show less

This anthology is an excellent way to get into the world of Eberron and get a really broad bird’s eye view of what this relatively new campaign setting has to offer. All of the stories are entertaining. Some are mysteries some straight up action/adventure stories, and even one that is a bit of a horror story. I enjoyed the read. It took only a few hours to read through, and Sehestedt organized them well, from beginning to end, so that it is easy for the reader to learn more about Eberron show more with each successive story. I now wish that I had read The Tales of the Last War before reading The Orb of Xoriat, just so that the world would have been more familiar to me, even if it meant reading the story of Teron out of order. If you like shared world fiction, or even just good fantasy short stories, this is a collection worth reading.

Full Review at Grasping for the Wind 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.com & Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road Facebook Group by Bookstooge's Exalted Permission. Title: Cry of the Ghost Wolf Series: Chosen of Nendawen Author: Mark Sehestedt Rating: of 5 Battle Axes Genre: SFF Pages: 311 show more Format: Kindle Synopsis: Hweilan escapes, fights, gets captured, brokers a deal, then has to deal with the demon lord and finally she has to deal with Nendawen himself. Because Nendawen literally lives to hunt, even outside of his own plane of existence. My Thoughts: The first 75% of this book deals with the hobgoblins and Hweilan. Not until the last bit does Hweilan face off against Jagen Ghen. That made this drag and made this feel very fluffed out. The battle was anti-climactic, the interjection of Hweilan's father into the overall storyline was not well handled and felt like it was tacked on so Sehestedt "could" write another series if feasible. So while I rated all 3 books the same, I enjoyed the first book the most and each successive one less. That is not a good way to end a series. " show less