Thomas M. Reid

Clunky in places but otherwise more fun with the Underdark! absolutely everyone in this series is a bastard and I love it dearly

The Temple of Elemental Evil is a novelization of the classic Dungeons and Dragons module of the same name. Part of the Greyhawk Classics line of book adaptations of old D&D adventures. I'd picked this up because I really enjoyed the PC version of The Temple of Elemental Evil. I think the idea of turning some of these classic D&D modules into novels is a brilliant one. It's just too bad that Wizards of the Coast so obviously considered this line of books to be second tier.

The novel actually show more reads pretty well. We start in a forest, following a wizard and his adopted apprentice Shanhaevel, heading to a reunion in the town of Hommlet. Trouble ensues and after a brief battle in the woods, Shanhaevel winds up heading into Hommlet alone.

Before you can say 'the adventure begins' he and a group of strangers have been sent off to investigate activity surrounding the ruins of a temple that had caused some trouble in the past. Really there's not a whole lot more to the story than that. I'm personally not a fan of the hoary old 'defeat the Empire/save the world' cliches that run rampant through so much fantasy. This is a nice, little pocket adventure of some novice adventurers taking on a task that pushes them to their limits. The module was originally an adventure created for low-level characters and the novel reflects that. Don't go in expecting an epic, globe-spanning adventure and you will probably enjoy it.

The characters are nicely written but a bit flat. The structure of the book seems a bit off and the pace is a little too hectic. I got the feeling that these problems had more to do with length restrictions imposed by the publisher than any deficiencies of the writer. Thomas Reid seems like a competent author and at times his writing is very nice. However things are often rushed. Before the companions have been together a full day they are risking their lives for each other and a romance has blossomed.

A major character seems to just arrive out of nowhere and there weren't really any scenes of 'should we trust this guy or what?' Also, the best part of the book was a stand off at an abandoned farm house. It was very well written, but the odds just seemed so unbelievable. And at the end you can see that the author was under pressure to wrap it up in under X number of pages. The details in the last third were kind of haphazard and sloppy.

I think a few more chapters would have solved the problems this book had. The writer showed a number of different times he was up to snuff, but just wasn't able to stuff such a large package into such a small box.

I wouldn't really be able to recommend it to anybody except for those that have nostalgia for the original module or the computer game. However I can say that I do have that nostalgia and enjoyed the book enough that I would have picked up a novel of Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil if Thomas Reid were ever to write it. show less

Why did I rate this book so high? Simple; it follows the game behind it without explaining the rules. Spells, powers, and abilities are appropriate for the characters and their respective classes can easily be identified. He even mentions wizards studying spell books and resting.

The book moves quickly at a plausible pace and action is frequent enough to keep the reader engaged. Subplots are tied in with the general plot and key characters are defined sufficiently. Setting specific material show more is dealt with sufficiently for the story though a bit more elaboration may gave yielded more drama. I was familiar with the computer game so some aspects of this I was familiar with.

I like the fact that the book shied away from explicit sexual references, profanity, and other objectionable material. Scenes of torture exist but are not extensive or too explicit. I would probably rate it PG if it were a movie. show less

I read the entire "War of the Spider Queen" series back to back, so it's hard to rate each book separately. Set in the familiar forgotten realms universe, the characters encounter perils that get more dangerous as the series progresses. Filled with the distrust and backstabbing that has come to be expected with drow in this world, there are still occasional moments of tenderness and soul searching, making this a very worthwhile read.