Master of Chains

Jess Lebow has written works for the card game of Magic and telling the story of that domain, but in 'Master of Chains' he is diving into the Forgotten Realms, and may I say that he did a WONDERFUL job. The first question I would give anyone that was about 150 pages into the book would be, want to stop reading? And I say this because the answer and I would give would be NO, this book is amazingly difficult to put down once I started it, and the Characters although, not really shown in detail about themselves, are very enticing. The plot of the story is great, and is straight foward with non stop action and lives up to the name of the series being Fighters. I would also like to add that if a person came up to me and asked me if i would recommend this novel for a Forgotten Realms casual reader, I would definetly say yes. Although I will admit that the story at the end of the novel felt as if not enough action happened in the end and I just felt that the ending was less then dramatic, but this may not have been at Jess Lebow's fault, maybe his editors, but regardless this novel is great. Have fun reading it if you pick it up!

"Master of Chains" is a story of love, betrayal and conflicting loyalties. This novel deals with emotions much more than other FR titles. It might make it slow at times, but I liked the change. The plot is strong and interesting. It hasn't got a lot of twists in it but it isn't boring or predictable at all. The battle scenes are OK, although the book itself is a bit too battle-heavy in my opinion. At least there aren't any random and unnecessary battles in the novel, as there often are in FR books. And I have to mention the ending. It is hard to comment on it without giving away any spoilers, but I will say it is different from cheesy endings you come to expect from Wizards and their books. I liked it a lot. On the downside, the characters and especially the villains are crude and uninteresting. This is a book with lot of introspective, but I failed to see any distinguishable characteristics on any of the protagonists. The villains, on the other hand, are terrible. It is true they haven't been given a lot of space in this book, but you really got to have more interesting villains. I see some people complaining about pulpy romance in this book, but there isn't a lot of it in the book, and it isn't particularly pulpy. All in all, a slightly different FR novel with a strong plot and weak characters. Yeah, and a great ending. A good read.

I am a seventeen year old kid who has just recently goten into the whole Forgotten Realm's books. Infact this is my first one I have ever read and let me tell you that this book is truly amazing. I read this entire book in 4 days and I am by no means a common reader. This book as changed all that and I am going to be reading many more in the future. I love the story in this novel. I am not accustomed to the normal novel stories, but if they are anything like regular movies then this book is totally different. The characters are adapting to different situations and the ending is immense; I never saw it coming. I loved the relationships in the book because they really brought meaning and feeling. The action is well done. Some minor spoilers: The book shifts back from Ryder (Master of Chains) and his brother Liam. Throughout the book you will notice them take their own seperate paths and make their own way through life until the very end where there is an exciting conclusion. You would never guess how the book ends in a million years and it leaves way for a sequel if they had intentions to do so. All in all this was an amazing read. Like I said, im only seventeen and not an avid reader but I was able to easily understand and read this book in only four days. It keeps you hooked and wanting more. 5 stars easily, even a 6 if I could put in another!

This book was one of the most action packed books I have read in a long time, I could hardly put it down. The reason that this book is so great is just how good the the fight scenes in this book are, they are action packed and are full of great descriptions. Also, the unusual fighting styles of the characters gives this book an extra edge on many other books I have enjoyed. Anyone who loves fantasy will love this book, but also someone who likes to read but does not want to read a whole series should read this book, because the whole story is contained in this single, fast paced novel.

I must say that I wasn't really expecting a great book when I read the back of this Forgotten Realms adventure. I was excited when I discovered that the character class books (The Rogues, The Priests) would be extended to the Fighters. Reading the book description gave me a strong impression of the movie "The Gladiator." Man is hero, man gets sold into slavery, man escapes, blah blah blah. You know the story, you probably saw the movie. Much to my surprise the back of the book is very non-descript (as has been the case with many Forgotten Realms books recently. They just give you a couple sentences with no real plot summary). Anyway, this book was pretty good. I am really starting to enjoy these "stand-alone" adventures. There is nothing more to read here. No waiting for two more books over the next two years. However, there is room for a lot of development with these characters and region of the Realms with possible future short stories or other story overlaps. Or, maybe just within my imagination. There are a lot of battles in this book. Most of them are pretty exciting. The "Master of Chains" is precisely that. He uses his chains in battle. However, the chains are not always the ones he was enslaved with, and gets ahold of some magical chain weapons. I was expecting the main character, Ryder to be chained up the entire time. Half the chapters are plotlines that are not directly related to Ryder. This book focuses on many fighters and even more fights. This book also has the undead in it. Vampires and zombies and such. Interesting stuff. The major problem with this book is that it follows the typical recent Forgotten Realms story line: in the prologue something strange and evil is uncovered in someones quest for greed. That person flees and the evil broods and plots for a long time. Then it gets unleashed in a disguised and sneaky way. Sound familiar? Anyway... Great read. It will be interesting to follow the other "The Fighters" books to read about other barbaric and heroic deeds on the battlefields and in the dark alleys. If you are looking for a good quick Realms adventure, then this book will be right up your alley.