City of Torment: Abolethic Sovereignty, Book II

City of Torment by Bruce R. Cordell- This is the second book in the Abolethic Sovereignty, with the first book called Plague of Spells and the third and final book called Key of Stars (due out in late 2010), all set in the Forgotten Realms universe. Bruce R. Cordell is the author of other Forgotten Realms novels and has contributed a few short stories to various anthologies. His other Forgotten Realms novels include; Stardeep (which is part of The Dungeon series of stand-alone novels), Darkvision (which is part of The Wizards series of stand-alone novels), and Lady of Poison (which is part of The Priests series of stand-alone novels). Some characters from the novel Stardeep also appear in this trilogy. The story is continues from where the last book, Plague of Spells. A tenday has passed after the viscous fight against the kraken. We find Japheth taking over a gang of thugs to extort their 'profits' so he can find some way to free Anusha from the Dreamheart. During his efforts, Raidon Kane is hunting down Japheth for stealing the Dreamheart, with the crew of the Green Siren, the same crew as in the first book, helping him. The captain, Thoster, and the mage, Seren, are helping in the search. Then we find Anusha trapped in the aboleth city called Xxiphu in her 'dream-walk' state hoping to find a way out. As Japheth frees Anusha, she returns for a few minutes before being sucked back into Xxiphu, only this time she isn't trapped. Raidon and the others barge in of Japheth, forcing him to flee into the Feywild, where his patron, the Lord of Bats, who granted him is warlock powers, is trapped. Angry at being unable to catch Japheth, Raidon and the others decide to travel down into Xxiphu to stop a being called the Eldest, who is part of the Dreamheart, from reawakening. Japheth meanwhile, decides to free his patron under the promise to not harm him and to save Anusha from the aboleths. Anusha, after being sent back to Xxiphu, finds that another being, who is also an invisible 'dream-walker', became freed from her entrapment and they team up to find a way to leave the city, but will they be able to and how will the duo find a way to return to their bodies? Will Japheth rescue Anusha and fight off the Lord of Bats? Will Raidon, Captain Thoster, and Seren find and kill the Elder before it's to late? Negatives: 1) Descriptions. I didn't really like the descriptions. They seemed too vague and not really defined. When trying to mentally picture the aboleths, it was hard at first. They are better described later in the story, when we see more and more of them. Also, the characters descriptions seemed a little lacking. I don't really know why but it seems that they are generally faceless characters. Finally, the backgrounds were horribly described. Everything was so alien and vague that what was given didn't make much sense. 2) Abolethic Sovereignty. For the trilogy being named the Abolethic Sovereignty, I still have no idea what exactly it is. What is said

City of Torment: Abolethic Sovereignty, Book II is the second novel in the Abolethic Sovereignty trilogy by Bruce R. Cordell. The first is Plague of Spells: Abolethic Sovereignty, Book I and the third one, Key of Stars is to be released in November 2010. City of Torment (CoT) continues about a tenday after the conclusion of Plague of Spells (PoS). The main plot is a bit of the same as PoS except with the events that happened at the end of PoS, CoT takes on a more dangerous venture with a trip to Xxiphu (pronounced Zee-Fu :) There are a few sub plots developing throughout such as Japheth's path to right a wrong no matter the consequences, Raidon's quest to abolish all aberrations, Seren's uncovered past, Thoster's unknown lineage, Anusha's plight, and a couple others that may lead to spoilers. I will have to say that I was impressed with the depth of Mr. Cordell gave his characters this time around. They all felt more natural and real. Each had their own voice and motivations. Their actions equally moved the plot as well as the plot moved their decisions and actions. For me, I feel that Raidon was the only main character that I really didn't care for as much. He is not a horrible character, but he felt a bit emotionless to me. I did connected much better with Thoster and Seren in this novel. I am really looking forward to delving more into their pasts and seeing how they develop more in the next book. Anusha was also a better character this time. Japheth started out ok. I wasn't as engaged with him at first as I was in PoS, but he did get better along the way and I did end up enjoying his character as much as before. There are also a couple other characters I did not care for, one was Behroun and the other Malyanna. They seemed to just pop in every not and then for no further reason than to move a plot point. Oh yeah, one other character that I enjoyed and continue to do so is Neifion. He adds a wonderful demonic feel to the book. I have a lot of fun reading his scenes. The book flows rather well. Each chapter gives the reader what is going on with the differing groups of characters and weaves them together nicely towards the end. The pacing is well balanced giving some breathing room before the action. Speaking of action, I feel that Mr. Cordell does for hand-to-hand combat what Mr. Salvatore does for fencing. The depictions are really good and easy to follow. From every flex of the wrist to hop toss to swing kick is easily visualized. Some criticisms 1. I felt there could have been more feeling given to Raidon's character. I'm not sure if this was done on purpose because of traumatic events that happened in PoS and the influence that is felt with the presence of the sword Angul, but I wanted to care about his character more. 2. The few scenes with Behroun and Malyanna felt like they were just there to add a plot point or move a plot line further. The only thing that was really added to the story, to me, was the twist with one of the oth

Bruce Cordell has the ability to write characters that are not only electric and exciting but afford the reader the ability to relate on a real and emotional level. Though marketed as a Raidon Kane adventure it is Mr. Cordells brilliant character development in "City of Torment" that, dare I say, rivals even the best Forgotten Realms novels. Each Character in "City of Torment" has so much depth they could have there own novel. I must say that this book only gets better with every page and builds to a fabulous ending as any good fantasy novel should. I highly recomend the "Abolethic Sovereignty" series including "City of Torment" as a must have for your fantasy collection.

Ordered it, and can't wait to read this. The first Novel was great, and unique. The only issue I have, and it's a HUGE one, is that the Cover Art is just horrible. A lot of the covers are cropped small, and blurry/watercolors and have no detail. Todd Lockwood on the other hand has amazing book covers. I remember a time (1987-1998) when most of the Forgotten Realms novels had amazingly detailed covers, as did Dragonlance. I guess these days, they gotta save money, and hire less gifted artists. It's sad. I miss the days of Fred Fields, Keith Parkinson or Clyde Caldwell and a few others.