Realms of the Elves: The Last Mythal Anthology (Forgotten Realms)

I must say that Ms. Smedmen's story was the best in this book, which is saying something considering I'm a big Drizzt fan. Still, "Necessary Sacrafices" is a deep, compelling story that grabs you and doesn't let go. Even after I finished the story, it didn't let me go and I actually cried for the both the seen and unseen tragedy. To me, all of the characters were tragic, most especially in what they themselves didn't see or realize. "Comrads at Odds" was a nice character builder and sneak preview. I was surprised to see the development of a heretofore minor character, but now I'm anticipating him playing a much bigger role in The Orc King. In fact, the potential for this guy is pretty damn good, and I hope he gets used more even if it isn't what I want/anticipate. Most of the stories here are about average to good, and the reviewers before me have mentioned all the really good ones. This book is worth your time, if only for the nice little fiction bites it provides.

Here are my reviews of these seven not-so-short stories. 1. Traitors by Richard Lee Byers. I'm not a big fan of Byers' works, because I find his novels way too action oriented for my liking, with plot and character development often completely disregarded. I was pleasantly surprised by this story. A very strong story of conflicting loyalties. He kept a nice pace through all of 70 pages, and gave us a good ending. Indirectly touches the events in his Year of the Rogue Dragons trilogy. **** 2. The Staff of Valmaxian by Philip Athans. This story didn't sit with me, to be honest. Had a promising start, by completely faded towards the end, which was a big cliché by itself. ** 3. Necessary Sacrifices by Lisa Smedman. A beautiful, sad story. The idea was simply great, but got a bit drawn out. Could have been shorter. A very good story, nevertheless. **** 4. The Greater Treasure by Erik Scott de Bie. The author shows us again that his storytelling is brilliant. The characters are interesting (if a bit annoying) and well fleshed out. It is worth the mention that this is maybe the most erotic story ever published by WotC. Very good.**** 5. Comrades at Odds by R.A. Salvatore. Besides some good, deep dialogues on the nature of orcs, this book also gives some flesh to one potentially important character in the upcoming books. A good Drizzt short story. **** 6. Tears so White by Ed Greenwood. I've given up on trying to decipher Greenwood, so I simply skipped this story. 7. The Bladesinger's Lesson by Richard Baker. While reading this story, I had a feeling of déjà vu, and that is never a good thing. Don't get me wrong, it's not boring or anything, but it really offers nothing new or unique. *** As you can see, there are only seven stories in the 340 pages of this book, so you can do the easy math and see these stories are significantly longer than usual WotC short stories. I must say I like to see a greater number of shorter stories. The book offers a number of very good stories, but none of them are brilliant. They just lacked that something extra. A very good anthology, check it out.

Compiled and expertly edited by Philip Athans, Realms Of The Elves: The Last Of The Mythal Anthology is an impressive and memorable collection of fantasy stories and the history of Faerun. Showcasing the storytelling talents of Richard Lee Byers, Ed Greenwood, Erik Scott de Bie and many others, Realms Of The Elves is comprised of such entertaining tales as: Traitors, The State Of Valmxian, Necessary Sacrifices, The Greater Treasure, Comrades At Odds, Tears So White, and The Bladesinger's Lesson. Realms Of The Elves is very highly recommended to all readers of the wonderfully heroic fantasy with a Mythal orientation, for those searching for a new and engaging fantasy series, and as an ideal introduction to the Elven world.

Realms of the Elves is the latest anthology released by Wizards of the Coast and is set in the Forgotten Realms. Like most of the other anthologies WotC releases there is a central theme to this one, and that is Elves. This anthology is supposed to drum up more interest for the final installment of Richard Baker's Last Mythal trilogy. Instead of giving a full review for each short story, which would take entirely too long, I will try to say a few words about each story. I will do so in the order they are in the book. #1- "Traitors" by Richard Lee Byers. This is an ok story. For whatever reason, Mr. Byers can't stay away from dragons right now. Everything has to have something to do with his The Year of the Rogue Dragon trilogy. See his last novel Queen of the Depths for what I mean there. I had a feeling dragons would appear and they did. I was disappointed by this story. Average at best. #2- "The Staff of Valmaxian" by Philip Athans. Athans was the editor of this book, so I am a bit surprised he found time to write his own short story as well. Decent short story here. As with most short stories they either grab you quick and interest you, or you have to drudge through and finish it to move one. I enjoyed this story, but not to the extent I was hoping. Slightly above average for this one. #3- "Necessary Sacrafices" by Lisa Smedman. This story, I think anyway, is the crown jewel of this anthology. It was a fantastic read. It has a small compact plot, interesting characters and a very, very good ending. In fact I gasped at the ending of this. This story grabbed me right away and didn't let go the whole time. Excellent read in my opinion. #4- "The Greater Treasure" By Erik Scott de Bie. This story is the hardest to rate out of this anthology. There were some things I liked, the Character Twilight for example and some things I didn't like, the character Yldar for example. The actual story, plot etc, is pretty good. I still think Mr. de Bie's short story in the last Realms of the Dragons anthology was better. This story does have some good moments though. Above average for this one. #5- "Comrades at Arms" by R.A. Salvatore. This story is probably the most anticipated short story in this anthology because it features Drizzt. However, some Salvatore fans may be a little disappointed in that it's not the classic hack and slash Drizzt we see here. This story is all character development for Drizzt. Saying that other Salvatore fans will absolutely love it. Myself, I would have like to see a mixture of both, but that is merely my opinion. Very good story none-the-less. #6- "Tears so White" by Ed Greenwood. There are few books or stories by Greenwood that I have ever liked. This proves to be no exception. I did not finish this story because, to me, it had very little flow and even less purpose. I will withhold a rating on this one for fear personal bias would cloud that judgment. #7 - "The Bladesinger's Lesson" by Richard Baker. Mr. Baker does a very