Black Wolf

This review is for the book `Black Wolf', which is Book IV of the seven book `Sembia: Gateway to the Realms' series. This review is intended as a critique of the writing and flow of the book, not to reveal "spoolers". Please note: I am assuming that people have read The Halls of Stormweather, Book I of the series, prior to reading this review. If you haven't, you may wish to skip down to the last two paragraphs for my overall recommendation of this book, which will not contain any information about previous books in this series. This book focuses on Talbot Uskevren, the second son of the Uskevren household, written by Dave Gross. This story takes place directly after the events of the short story `Thirty Days' and extends through a period of over two years. Talbot is forced to accept his affliction, and learn his role in the prophecies of the gods. Overall, the book is well written and even thought the story takes place over an extended period of time, it is well paced. The author is able to keep the reader in sync with the series time line by referencing events documented within the other books of the series. Since each chapter is marked with the date, the author gives the reader more of a impression of learning history than being an active participant. This however does not detract from the enjoyment of story. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed the short story `Thirty Days', as well as readers of the Forgotten Realms and other shared fantasy settings. I would also recommend this book to readers of general Fantasy, looking for a new view on fantasy story telling. I would recommend reading The Halls of Stormweather prior to reading this book. Although the `Sembia: Gateway to the Realms' series is not linear, they occur in conjunction with one another, I would recommend reading the prior books of the series first. Each book will make references to the events of the prior books, so the reader will have a more encompassing experience and a greater understanding of the time line throughout the series. A Note to Readers new to Forgotten Realms: Like many shared settings, especially those stemming from gaming or other media types, the Forgotten Realms books are written with the assumption that the reader has some familiarity with the Forgotten Realms gaming setting. This frees up the author to focus on his or her story, instead of having to explain the world in which the story takes place; the calendar, geography, common races/species, magical properties, etc. This is very important when the book length is normally confined to 300 - 350 pages. As a reader reads more books in the Forgotten Realms setting, they will become more familiar with the world of Faerun and its inhabitants, making the experience more pleasant. The `Sembia: Gateway to the Realms' series is an excellent place for a reader to begin their journey into the Forgotten Realms, since the stories take place in a fairly localized area and contains mostly

"Black Wolf" by Dave Gross is the fourth installment in "Sembia" series of novels. The preceding books ranged from good to great, and considering they were written by different authors, one must give them credit for that. This novel isn't any different. Gross succeeds in making his main character, Talbot Uskreven, heroic without making him cheesy. A rare thing in WoTC novels, indeed. In fact, all of the characters in this book are very good, consistent, interesting and somehow different. It may be the motivations that make them so memorable. Ranging from treacherous servants to demented vampires, this novel really offers a great set of heroes and villains. This book covers a year and a half, so there is much space for character development, done in a nice, natural way. No sudden epiphanies here. The plot is also very strong, with a fair number of twists and turns, but not too hectic. It keeps a steady progress, and the author gives us something in every chapter. I loved Gross' detailed writing. Somebody may consider it boring, but I really enjoy this kind of writing over action-centered one. I just wonder why this guy didn't write any more novels. Usually this is the part where I write about things I didn't like about the book, but this time I'm leaving it blank. If you liked this novel, you ought to check out Mistress of the Night (Forgotten Realms: The Priests) by Dave Gross and Don Bassingthwaite. It is a good novel, and fairly similar to this one, dealing with werewolves and all that. There is also a short story featuring Talbot and his acting troupe in Realms of Dragons anthology, written by Gross, of course. Nothing more to say, really. You should check this book out if you like rich fantasy writing.

"Black Wolf" by Dave Gross is the fourth installment in "Sembia" series of novels. The preceding books ranged from good to great, and considering they were written by different authors, one must give them credit for that. This novel isn't any different. Gross succeeds in making his main character, Talbot Uskreven, heroic without making him cheesy. A rare thing in WoTC novels, indeed. In fact, all of the characters in this book are very good, consistent, interesting and somehow different. It may be the motivations that make them so memorable. Ranging from treacherous servants to demented vampires, this novel really offers a great set of heroes and villains. This book covers a year and a half, so there is much space for character development, done in a nice, natural way. No sudden epiphanies here. The plot is also very strong, with a fair number of twists and turns, but not too hectic. It keeps a steady progress, and the author gives us something in every chapter. I loved Gross' detailed writing. Somebody may consider it boring, but I really enjoy this kind of writing over action-centered one. I just wonder why this guy didn't write any more novels. Usually this is the part where I write about things I didn't like about the book, but this time I'm leaving it blank. If you liked this novel, you ought to check out Mistress of the Night (Forgotten Realms: The Priests) by Dave Gross and Don Bassingthwaite. It is a good novel, and fairly similar to this one, dealing with werewolves and all that. There is also a short story featuring Talbot and his acting troupe in Realms of Dragons anthology, written by Gross, of course. Nothing more to say, really. You should check this book out if you like rich fantasy writing.

The Sembia series is a series of books that intriqued me fromt he start. An interesting concept having a bunch of authors write books about the same cast of characters for the most part. Yet, this book stuck out in the series to me. It's a fantastic take on werewolves int he Forgotten realms setting. When you really think about it there haven't been a lot of book in the Forgotten Realms dedicated to Werewolves or Vampires. Yet, this one tackles werewolves in grand fashion. The plot is seemingly easy to understand until you get deeper into the book and it starts to get more complex. The character development through out the book is very subtle, but effectively done. I also like how the main character, Talbot, is not the typical hero in that he has doubts and he's not perfect, he has flaws. He's not all powerful, he can be hurt. Truly a great character to read about. Fans of the Forgotten Realms will enjoy this book. People just coming into the Forgotten Realms could do worse than starting with this one.

'Black Wolf' is Dave Gross' follow-up to his short story in the "Sembia - Halls of Stormweather" anthology. It centers on Talbot Uskevren, the son of a noble family who has recently become a werewolf.Gross' story is well written and well paced, filled with an impressively diverse cast of characters including the young hero Talbot, his rival Rusk (the werewolf who infected him), a bizarre shark-like vampire, an old gypsy wise-woman, a moon-worshiping religious cult and an extended pack of rustic werewolves. The novel features countless nods to the classic 1930's film "The Wolf Man" - most noticeably in the names of some of the main characters - Talbot, Maleva and Chaney. The most impressive aspect of the novel is the nearly equal focus on the world of the villains - complex characters with strong motives, not merely an unspoken devotion to some evil code of conduct. The scenes set among the forest-dwelling werewolf pack are frequently more engaging than the trials of the book's hero.The only weak spots come from spotty editing - Some descriptive lines and phrases are repeated almost verbatim within a few paragraphs, as if the author has forgotten that he's already said it. These flaws are minimal though, and don't mar the engaging storyline that carries the book.Particularly high praise goes to Mr. Gross for raising "Black Wolf" above the bar of standard 'role-playing novel' fare, usually overstocked with evil wizards, dragons and mystical quests. Even the inclusion of a monkey-like pair of 'cute animal' characters named Otter & Lommy is handled with refreshing restraint.Those who haven't read the former books in the series will at least want to read the "Black Wolf" chapter of "Halls of Stormweather" to jump-start their familiarity with the land of Sembia.