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The Best of the Realms (Forgotten Realms Anthology)

Average customer rating:

Good Forgotten Realms anthology but not the best.
Basically a bunch of repeats, but one new story

The Best of the Realms (Forgotten Realms Anthology)

Manufacturer: Wizards of the Coast
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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The Best of the Realms, Book II: The Stories of Ed Greenwood (Forgotten Realms Anthology)
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Realms of the Dragons (Forgotten Realms Anthology)
Realms of Magic (Forgotten Realms Anthology)
Realms of the Dragons II: A Forgotten Realms Anthology

ASIN: 0786930241
Release Date: 2003-11-01

Book Description

The best stories, the best authors, together in one volume for the first time!

This anthology presents your favorite stories from a decade of Forgotten Realms anthologies--every one of them chosen by you. In addition, this anthology contains a brand new story by R. A. Salvatore.

Contents

"Rite of Blood" by Elaine Cunningham
"Elminster at the Magefair" by Ed Greenwood
"Darksword" by Troy Denning
"Blood Sport" by Christie Golden
"Six of Swords" by WIlliam W. Connors
"The Rose Window" by Monte Cook
"The First Moonwell" by Douglas Niles
"The Greatest Hero Who Ever Died" by J. Robert King
"Tertius and the Artifact" by Jeff Grubb
"Red Ambition" by Jean Rabe
"The Common Spell" by Kate Novak-Grubb
"Assassin's Shadow" by Jess Lebow
"And the Dark Tide Rises" by Keith Francis Strohm
"Empty Joys" by R.A. Salvatore

Customer Reviews:

Good Forgotten Realms anthology but not the best........2004-05-21

This book is good if you havn't read any of the other Realms books. If you have all ready red the other books don't bother to read this because there is only one new story in it. The extra story is still good because it is writen by r.A. Salvatore.
The best story is by Christie Golden and its about Jander Sunstar who is an elvish vampire. Every short story I have read about Jander has been exelent. The only real complaint I have with the book is the stories from The Realms of the Deep. Those stories wern't very interesting and couldn't hold my attention.

Basically a bunch of repeats, but one new story.......2003-11-23

I bought this book primarily to get the R.A. Salvatore story that appears in it. This story is the only first-appearing story in the collection. The others are all reprints of stories that have appeared in the various "Realms of..." anthologies over the past decade or so. I will only review some of the other stories, since they have all appeared previously.

"Empty Joys" by Salvatore is the final story in the book, but I review it first since it is the only new story. This is another tale of Artemis Entreri and Jarlaxle adventuring together. In this case, they join up with a band of highwaymen. Salvatore gives some tantalizing information regarding the nature of the relationship between the two fighters, giving some insight into how they regard one another. It seems that Jarlaxle might not be quite so trusting and cavalier toward Artemis as some readers might have thought.

"Rite of Blood" by Elaine Cunningham tells a story of a young drow female being subjected to her test of adulthood. The exposition was a bit long compared to a very abrupt resolution, but the treachery and deadly efficiency of the drow is driven home. My favorite part of this story is the mention of the drow Jarlaxle, suggesting to me that this story takes place further in the past than Salvatore's works. Other of Salvatore's characters appear and are good to meet again from a different writer.

"Elminster at the Magefair" by Ed Greenwood is an okay story, though the end is just unsatisfying. Again, there is great characterization and development early, only to suffer a brief conflict and resolution. Basically, Elminster is tricked into collecting a particular item, later being attacked in something of a robbery attempt. But the reader is left wondering about the backstory of the robber and the item(s) he was after.

"And the Dark Tide Rises" by Keith Strohm is a good story. A young man is lured by a sea elf to the shore and tasked with a mission. After completing his mission, he manages to get into some trouble trying to revisit said elf. The end is a pyrrhic victory at best. This story was very well-written, with good characterization and exposition.

"The Rose Window" by Monte Cook is just great. A priest acquires a special window for his abbey from another being torn down. He and his assistant begin seeing things in the glass, and things get progressively worse from there. Cook did a great job of writing a Lovecraftian story in the Realms setting. The ending makes it so rewarding.

"Red Ambition" by Jean Rabe is a good tale of some Red Wizards of Thay. The typical backstabbing and underhanded reversals of this treacherous group are all highlighted. However, though they are skilled at deception, are they the best? Rabe gives a good accounting for those who might think otherwise.

"The Greatest Hero Who Ever Died" by J. Robert King is another winner. Telling of a scheming and murderous plot that brought low a well-respected knight, King draws in the reader with a god plot and good characters. The tale takes place in a lonely tavern on a cold winter's night, told by a traveler. The tale takes place in the not-too-distant past, with something of a twist before all is done. Another great ending.

Book Description

Arilyn. Danilo. Liriel. Cunningham.

A collection of stories drawn from the pages of over a decade's worth of Forgotten Realms anthologies, plus new surprises in three previously unpublished stories from one of the defining voices of this great fantasy setting!

Customer Reviews:

One of the Realms' Best.......2007-06-15

As a long time fan of Elaine Cunningham, I was delighted to see the release of this collection. This anthology was every bit as enjoyable as I had hoped. Catching up with some of my favorite characters from all of the Forgotten Realms was a real pleasure, as was revisiting the tales I had previously read in other anthologies.
I was thrilled to see some of the loose ends from Thornhold tied up in "The Knights of Samular." I was glad to see the good hearted but naïve Algorind come into his own and the treacherous Sir Gareth revealed. I also loved the additional information on Ashemmi, one of my all-time favorite personalities in the Realms.
"Answered Prayers" was an answer to my prayer that I would get a chance to see what became of Liriel. This story was fun, I particularly enjoyed the way Liriel handled the situation with the hunters. Also, Liriel's companions piqued my interest and certainly left me wanting more. Most important though, we see where Liriel is 10 years after Fyodor's death and how his death has shaped her life up to this point and the tough decision she has to make.
Elaith Craulnober adds much to any tale and these are no exception. "The Great Hunt" gives us a rare glimpse of Elaith actually using magic, an ability that he often keeps hidden from others. This story also shows the depth of feeling Elaith has for Arilyn Moonblade, the daughter that should have been his. In "Games of Chance," we see Elaith's continued struggle with the moonblade that rejected him, and his hopes and fears for his daughter Azariah. This story further examines the dichotomy of Elaith's character and reminds us of how truly dangerous he is.
"Fire is Fire" first appeared in the Threat from the Sea Antholgy and still stands as one of my favorite stories. Reading this one again was a joy, the dual perspective of the sahuagin warrior and the young mage was excellent. Seeing through the eyes of the sahuagin was an interesting experience, and to me it was quite amazing that Elaine could so easily step into such an alien mindset and make it feel real.
Elaine Cunningham is an excellent author; the Songs and Swords, Starlight and Shadows, and Counselors and Kings trilogies are some of the best published in the Forgotten Realms setting. Her short stories are excellent, and this collection brings together the best of them along with some new tales that give us the opportunity to catch up with old friends.

It's... adequate?.......2007-06-01

Most of the stories are reprints; I'm going to just review the ones new to me (Dragon reprints, brand-new never-published-before stories).

I think I belong to the minority when I say that I never made a major fuss about the loose threads in THORNHOLD (largely because I found the novel rather indifferent). As a result, the short story "Knights of Samular" is probably wasted on me. Despite or because of this, it seems a little flat to me. The magical compulsion-to-dispel-doubts reads like a plot device designed to save space; the info-dumps about how Sir Gareth might've avoided detection all these years sound almost word-for-word like the author's answers on message boards. I feel I'm not reading a story so much as an author's Q&A via the characters' mouths.

The author notes that "Possessions" is "such a dark tale that some people have difficulty equating it with the mild-mannered soccer mom I appear to be." Errr. I mean, yeah, it involves death and horrible magic and necromancy, but I can't say I find any of the descriptions or the story as a whole particularly disturbing. Most of it's pretty standard fare, actually. I must be missing some hidden core of darkness and the fault, I'm sure, is entirely mine. I'll go play some Silent Hill 3 now and muse over it while watching an explicit cutscene of the protagonist regurgitating a god fetus.

"Stolen Dreams" purports to give a "different point of view" and, while I suppose it does do that, I can't say I've learned any new insight to the story that adds to what I learned from "Speaking with the Dead." All that "Stolen Dreams" shows is what I already know from the other short story and DREAM SPHERES: Sophie/Isabeau is a selfish and nasty brat with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. The author's introduction cites the "six blind men with an elephant" parable, but I'm not sure this retelling -- while interesting -- adds anything to the picture. It's the same blind man, at best, and he still think the elephant's head is a pot.

I found it mildly amusing that a scene in "The Great Hunt" where Elaith describes and dresses Arilyn's shoulder-to-elbow wound is almost word-for-word identical to a scene in Elaine Cunningham's other title, SHADOWS IN THE DARKNESS where an older elf, Ian Forest, does the same for the protagonist Gwen (yes, it's also "not as bad as it looks"; yes, it's also a shoulder-to-elbow gash; no, there're no severed arteries or damage to the muscles, either). Wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't just recently reread it, but there it goes.

"Game of Chance" is, for me, the most satisfying one of the bunch and one of the few that can stand alone and feel complete. It deals with the concept of manipulating magic with non-magical mechanism, and I always enjoy magic versus pseudo-science conflict in fantasy. The dynamics between Elaith and his hitherto undeveloped daughter Azariah are curious, and beg for a further story, which unfortunately probably won't happen.

"Answered Prayers" is my second favorite in the anthology. It's entertaining and it adds, I think, a new insight to the character of Liriel, though I can't help but feel that the theme of boorish thug accosting/sexually harrassing a female character in a tavern and then challenging her to a duel is getting a little stale (see "The Bargain" and ELFSHADOW).

The editorial work on this anthology is, incidentally, on the abysmal side. The table of contents lists all the wrong page numbers and typos abound everywhere.

The Best of the Realms, Book II: The Stories of Ed Greenwood (Forgotten Realms Anthology)

Average customer rating:

Truly Ed Greenwood, for better and for worse.
The Master of the Realms

The Best of the Realms, Book II: The Stories of Ed Greenwood (Forgotten Realms Anthology)
Ed Greenwood
Manufacturer: Wizards of the Coast
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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Similar Items:

The Best of the Realms (Forgotten Realms Anthology)
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Farthest Reach: The Last Mythal, Book II (Forgotten Realms: The Last Mythal)

ASIN: 0786937602
Release Date: 2005-06-23

Book Description

A Forgotten Realms anthology featuring the best of Ed Greenwood's fiction. This anthology consists of fiction by Ed Greenwood, creator of the Forgotten Realms world. Greenwood has written hundreds of articles, novels, and game products set in the Realms, and his signature character, Elminster the Sage of Shadowdale, has become a staple of REALMS fiction and game play for millions of fans.

Customer Reviews:

Truly Ed Greenwood, for better and for worse........2005-09-14

While Best of the Realms Book II contains some interesting tales, it is mostly for fans of both the Forgotten Realms and Ed Greenwood's writing. Where the stories themselves are intriguing, a casual reader may quickly and easily find themselves lost due to Realms concepts and terminologies which are not explained. This is compounded by Greenwood's writing style which is excessively fanciful, with adjectives and adverbs used recklessly with every turn of phrase. While Greenwood is far from a bad author, neither is he easy to digest.

Authoring aside, the short stories themselves differ greatly in theme and genre. This is refreshing and is exactly what I like in an anthology. Sadly, as is Greenwood's penchant, several stories seem written solely to spotlight the characters he created, most notably Elminster and Storm. Other than examples in character study, these particular tales fall deathly short on substance. Luckily, Ed Greenwood has the whole of the Realms to write about and this is where his stories truly shine.

The best reason of all to read this book is Ed Greenwood's new tale 'The Long Road Home' which gives us a glimpse at the rough times the kingdom of Cormyr went through after the fall of it's beloved King Azoun IV. As a fan of the Realms, I found the subject inticing and the story was one of the few I felt real satisfaction after having read. It is also one of the more accessible stories for readers fairly new to the Realms.

The Best of the Realms Book II contains both exhilerating and exasperating stories. While some felt as if they were drifting aimlessly (and at times very slowly) towards a lacklustre finish, several had me truly entwined in the telling until the end. I only wish every end was fulfilling.

The Master of the Realms.......2005-07-28

This book contains a nice selection of short stories written by Ed Greenwood, the creator of the Forgotten Realms. This is a curious collection of shorts. Some of his best short stories are included in this collection, while others are but strange and wondrous oddities. This is an eclectic but satisfying mix. The short story seems to be the ideal fit for Greenwood's writing style. These are excellent stories that paint a beautiful picture of the Forgotten Realms, and the folk who call it home.

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