Everquest: Blood Red Harp

Well written, great character development. It was fun to read how the characters traversed areas of Norrath, especially once you've played the game. Elaine Cunningham is a fabulous writer!

Elaine Cunningham's novel, The Blood Red Harp, is one of four Everquest novels set in the online roleplaying game's world. The novel itself doesn't require knowledge of the game in order to enjoy it. While I'm a fan of certain roleplaying computer games I've never played Everquest, but Elaine's mastery of bringing a setting to life is remarkable, and no less so for this world. The Blood Red Harp details the adventure of a flighty bard, Elizerain, cursed to find truths to the songs she sings. After being given a magical harp by a necromancer, Rain must discover the truth of the instrument unknowingly in a plot for the necromancer to utilize its powers for himself. The bard travels with three companions sworn to help her learn more about the harp, one being a noble elf enchanter named Nyson and Xander, a wood elf ranger. The adventure sends them across the land and into slave pits, even as prisoners of a warband of ogres, but throughout their ordeals each of them learn more about each other and themselves than they would ever have thought. Elaine's description of the world is unsurpassed. She brings to life the various geography and personalities of the Everquest world with ease, bringing the reader into the story so fully that the pages just seem to fly by. It is of sad note to know that these characters probably will not grace us with their presence ever again unless the owners of Everquest deem to try their hand at broadening their product in another attempt. Rain, Nyson, and Xander, as well as the necromancer and even Davin the Dark, the bandit leader, were wonderfully three dimensional and have such distinctive character and personality. The story is primarily character driven with the game lore as a subtle backdrop. The plot itself is easy to follow which makes Elaine's rendering of the characters so much more powerful. This story was well built around a musical theme, carrying the reader on an intriguing adventure with that purpose. As a reader, this style was very involved and utilized descriptions that captured the other senses - especially aural - more so it seems than any other book. Though there were confusing moments, moments that were difficult to follow who was talking and some spots seemed like there was a time jump in the writing just to get to the next part. One spot, toward the end, indicated one character was heavily involved with an activity but suddenly that character was next to another having a discussion, there may have been a moment of time between but it happened too quick to adjust. A few moments of similar circumstance popped up but overall this didn't affect the pace and enjoyment of the novel. I enjoyed this story and was very glad I decided to add this to my collection. It's just a shame, though, that I'll not here from these characters again as I have become particularly attached.

This was a very good book if you're a fan of the EverQuest world. Some of the characters don't match up exactly with the Sony game, but the author made the story move along so well. The story flows, the characters have names that you can remember (differing from some other books where apparently you have to have 3 mouths to pronounce the names). She also really gave a feel to the size of the wold of Norrath. Hopefully, there will be more stories including these characters.

Elaine Cunningham delivers a most excellent tale set in the world that is EverQuest. There is a stereotype amuck that says Game books are plain awful. Be that as it may, I found this particular edition to be a wonderful piece of fantasy with just enough references to EverQuest that felt seamless and not forced. The reviewer below me has done a fabulous job at reviewing this novel in detail but I did just want to make vocal my appreciation for The Blood Red Harp. Especially for the antagonist, Chanzoon! Love him. He was the perfect blend of power and weakness not seen in many main antagonists. Oh and did I mention he is creepy...I mean c--r--e--e -p--y! I would love to see more written on him. Anyway this novel sure is a blend of surprise and most of the chapters ending in page turning cliffhangers. If you enjoy fantasy of the Forgotten Realms/Dragonlance vein and desire a slightly darker hue this could be a good addition to your novel collection...I mean throw in EverQuest, a necromancer, vampire, and a bard and you got the making of something really unique and promising...in fact you have The Blood Red Harp.

Let me start by saying that I absolutely LOVED this book and was hoping against hope there was a sequel or a series to follow. I was immediately hooked. This story, as the plot suggests is about an evil and, for once, good looking necromancer who wants to be the one and only Dawnwalker. A Dawnwalker is one who is a vampire by night, with all the super powers that entitles, but is back to his or her old self during the day. So, basically he'd be a powerful necromancer by day and an even more powerful vampire by night. Now tell me you aren't just dying to read that! Unfortunately for our friend, the very very evil necromancer by the name of Chanzoon Nexus, the only way to find out how this works is by playing the blood red harp. Problem is that the harp will only yield its secret when the right bard plays it. Our necro friend won't be stopped by such trivial things so he sets out to torture and kill any and all bards he can get his hands on to find the perfect one. To do this, he has "enlisted" [more like forced] the aid of a very unscrupulous rogue by the name of Davin the Dark. As he is under Chanzoon's spell he has to help him find said bard and he does so by suggesting his ex wife the wood elf Elizerain. Elizerain and Davin were married for about a year and this, along with the fact that she is a bard AND likes to play the harp [seen by elves as beneath them] has gotten her a reputation amongst her elven clan. She doesn't seem to care much since she is off all over the place in quests and adventures and she travels alone. During one of her travels she goes to Kelethin for a song festival and runs into an old friend by the name of Xander Fletcher whom she used to be in love with. Xander however doesn't think too much of Elizerain after she was involved with the bandit Davin and his band of robbers. Through a series of [shall I say it? lol] unfortunate events Elizerain is cursed by the necromancer and is forced on a quest to save her life. Xander, as well as a highborn elf by the name of Nyson and Trobe the dwarf join her on this quest but, as with anything in these types of stories, nothing and no one is as they seem. I couldn't get enough of all the characters, both good and evil. They all fit their parts perfectly and none of them dragged the story down or seemed out of place. Elizerain Greenleaf is a perfect heroine for this quest. She isn't under the illusion that she is better than anyone or that she can do everything herself. She knows exactly what her weaknesses are and she takes them into account when it's time for her to act. I can honestly say that there was only one time where she chose the wrong thing to do and, even then, you can understand where she is coming from as she did it to help someone in need. She is strong yet she is not above following directions or someone else's lead when she understands they know better than she does. I also liked her spunky attitude because it goes well with the adventures they encountered.