It ’s been over two years since I reviewedDarkwalker on Moonshae , the incredibly titled first book ever position inDungeons & Dragons ’ venerableForgotten Realmscampaign setting . It ’s been less than a week since I read the sequel , Black Wizards , but when I secernate you I ’ve forgotten nearly everything about the book since then , let me assure you : I forgot most of what happened later that same good afternoon .
Black Wizards is practically a spell of forgetfulness unto itself . Somehow , the two - dimensional graphic symbol of Darkwalker on Moonshae have become one - dimensional dots ; the many , many thing that lead up to the final battle are almost exclusively nonmeaningful ; and while there are indeed Black Wizards in the book , they ’re no more important than the Evil Cleric , the Robin Hood - case guy , the Fish People , the Lady in the Lake Except It ’s a Sea , the Murder God , etc . , etc . Perhaps the most revealing matter I can say is this : there are seven Black Wizards , and I do n’t call up three of them have any dialogue whatsoever . They just sit in a Wain until a rogue Black Wizard place it on fire and drink down them .
If you recall ( and you absolutely do n’t ) , Darkwalker on Moonshae ended with Prince Tristan Kendrick and his pals save the Moonshae islands from a shapeshifting beast who assembled a massive United States Army of monsters and barbarian on behalf of Bhaal , the god of vehemence and murder . Bhaal desire a rematch , and thus sends the nominal Black Wizards to crooked / bamboozle the High King of the Moonshae Isles , and an evil druid to kill a lot of non - evil druids , and a zombie army , and a bunch of evil fish - people called Sahuagin , and a lot of ogres to … kill everybody , I reckon . He ’s a idol of murder , after all .
Inset of J.P. Targete’s cover to the 2011 reprint of Black Wizards.Image: Wizards of the Coast
Despite saving the kingdom from an army of vicious piranha in the first book , Tristan ’s pappa still thinks his son is a lazy piece of shit because he is n’t interested in learning about the administrative obligation of being a Billie Jean King . This is a problem when the papa is murdered by a half - orc bravo named Razmatazz — er , Razfallow — as part of the Black Wizards ’ plot to destroy all the various kings of the islands who could potentially become the High King , although no one explain why this would be the case .
Apparently , non - High Rex - ship is nonhereditary , so Tristan and his stealer pal / hotdog superior Daryth have to travel to the capital with an asshole nominate Pontswain , who feels that he would be a better big businessman because he has administrative experience . Meanwhile , Tristan ’s adoptive sis and sexual love pursuit Robyn is hanging out with druids . The halfling Pawldo and the uber - vexatious , Orko - esque faerie flying lizard Flit also show up .
I could go beat by beat of what happens in Black Wizards , but like those three Black Wizards who do nothing but die , almost nothing of consequence come about in the book . Or rather , nothing with any consequence happens . Tristan ’s gravy holder sinks on the mode to the capital — but a giant rook erupts out of the sea and saves him . Tristan gets captured over and over again by the eminent King ’s forces — but luckily Pawldo shows up out of nowhere and later on Daryth retrieve magical thief gloves that allow him to hightail it any Julian Bond . Robyn misplace her sorcerous staff — but a couple of pages originally , someone had already given her a magic wand . likewise , it seems like Tristan loses the mythologic blade of the fabled king Cymrych Hugh several hundred time over the grade of the novel , only to ascertain it in the same chapter . Even when the malevolent cleric Hobarth subdue a bevy of imposing druids , he just … stops there , almost completely disappear from the book .
Keith Parkinson’s original cover to Black Wizards.Image: Wizards of the Coast
I could go over all the characters and secret plan element and conflict that are introduced and then disappear almost immediately , but why would I do that to you ( or to me ) ? Suffice it to say , at the end of the book Tristan Kendrick is the king of the Moonshae islet ( not that we ’ve contact anyone from any of the other islands ) and the Saguahin have a different zombie USA than the zombie army they had prior to the earthquake . Inferno , Tristan ca n’t even be trust to take the commode himself ; instead , the goddess tosses a legendary crown out of the water at his ft .
Like Darkwalker on Moonshae , Black Wizards is better drop a line than some of the Dungeons & Dragons novels I ’ve revisit on a proficient level , but it does n’t have the focus of the first novel . As a issue , it made me simultaneously angry and sleepy , which is sort of an impressive exploit , but not one I feel concerned in rewarding . So Black Wizards rolls a 4 on its 1d20 , a pointedness less than Darkwalker on Moonshae , but it should feel prosperous I did n’t make it tramp with disadvantage . Seriously , this book made me very , very grumpy .
As a result , I ’m going to treat myself — the next instalment of Dungeons & Dragons & Novels will be Homeland , the first book in R.A. Salvatore ’s Dark Elf Trilogy , about the former biography of Drizzt Do’Urden in the unapologetically vicious Drow city of Menzoberranzan . I remember outright loving this account book as a untested adolescent to a degree far more than any of the other D&D books I register back then ( include the other two volumes of the same trilogy ) , so I ’m genuinely delirious to reread it . Am I setting myself up for letdown ? Could be ! But I ’m passably convinced I wo n’t have to make a pot of coffee to get through it .
The Spanish cover to Black Wizards. I don’t have the faintest clue who this is supposed to be.Image: Wizards of the Coast
Assorted Musings:
I have no reflection about this Word .
Okay , one thoughtfulness : One of the Black Wizards is female , and all she want to do is have sex with another of the Black Wizards . When that particular wizard adjudicate he want to fuck Robyn instead , she decides to kill Robyn . Robyn kills her . It ’s very unfit .
As a gift for live on this shite with me , I will share with you this marvelous condemnation from the D&D fan wiki summary of the novel without any context whatsoever : “ He appears in the guise of a incapacitated amnesiac savage druid . ”
J.P. Targete’s full cover to the 2011 reprint of Black Wizards.Image: Wizards of the Coast
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