Curse of the Shadowmage

Curse of the Shadowmage is the eleventh book in the Forgotten Realms Harpers series and the sequel to the Crypt of the Shadowking. Caledan Caldorien finds himself trying to overcome the same curse that has afflicted his ancestor eons ago. Mari Al'maren, together with several of Caledan's old adventuring companions from the Fellowship of the Dreaming Dragon, and some new allies, set out to save their friend. Slightly better than the first book, Curse of the Shadowmage is very well written, with the reader feeling that they have been transported to another universe and are actually present among the characters, seeing what they see, feeling what they feel, sensing what they sense. On the negative side, ENOUGH with the author portraying the Harpers as being oppressive, twisting the arms of their members and making them carry out their instructions while suppressing their free will etc! Last time I checked, the Harpers were the heroes keeping the Realms from falling under the sway of Evil! K'shar, who in the end, supposedly "saw the light" and turned stag is portrayed as the "hero" who "breaks free" of the Harpers (???). Is there something wrong with the picture here? All right, let's do away with hierarchy and the chain of command, and have the agents vote whether they want to take a specific assignment!!! That will work... Moreover, the Shadowstar and the Shadevari are too similar to J.R.R. Tolkien's One Ring and the Nazgul respectively. In addition, WAY too many characters are "coming back from the dead" to the point that it is getting tiring/annoying... Furthermore, on page 309 (the last page in the book) the author states "Now Kellen was the last person in the world with shadow magic." That is just not true as Richard Baker will show in The Shadow Stone, unless that was the case for a very short period of time. Aside from that it's a pretty good book; the plot, the writing and the characters are very well thought out and presented! The story of the Shadevari, Azuth, and the creation of the world, along with the Shadowstar, (Pp242) is GREAT. K'shar is a FASCINATING character who deserves a whole book (at least) all to himself. Finaly, there is some very witty humor between Cormick and Jewel. Other books I would recommend from the Harpers Series include Red Magic, Parched Sea, The Veiled Dragon, Elfshadow and Elfsong to mention a few.

Great book! I have enjoyd reading this book very much.But if you haven't read the previous one (Crypt of the Shadowking) y recommend you to read it, becouse it's as good as this one. The plot here is placed in time sortly after Crypt of the Shadowmage. The plot is great, and, even when you can see what is happening, you don't know for sure how it is going to end. The Quest for find ...ejem.."something" (I can't say it here, sorry, you'll understand when you read it ;P ) is not long and with some surprise, and maybe you can guess how it will end and maybe. II didn't guess when I readed it but, I was to deep inside the book reading it, that I wasn't thinking of what will happen or how will it end. The characters are also good. The only dissapoint I have is with Kellen. Ok, he is lovely, but, for my taste, he is a bit perfect, knows everything and is thinking in things a child of his age wouldn't think. He must have been playing instead of saving the world, but even with this, the book is great. Buy it, and judge yourself, is the best I can say.

This is the sequel to "Crypt of the Shadowking" and is even better!! I love Anthony's writing style. This was a compulsive read, and I finished it in about a day. The narrative sweeps the reader along with just the right pacing and excitememt, and the story itself is a logical extension of the first book. The only slight problems were that, 1. the whole story surrounding Stiletto was just too predictable; sorry Mark, but I saw it coming a mile away, and 2. I was a little disappointed with the epilogue, which I thought was a bit unfair (I can't say why without giving away important elements of the story). But these really are minor quibbles, and I would highly recommend both of Anthony's "Harpers" books. I hope that we will see another story about these characters. I'd especially like to see something involving Kellen as Morhion's apprentice; could have lots of interesting possibilities! When you finish your latest writing project, how about it Mark?

Very entertaining! Caledan and Morhion are very intriguing characters, not to mention Kellen. I read that book in les than 2 or 3 days so much it hooked me up. Recommanded, as well as the prequel 'Crypt of the Shadowking'.