Scream of Stone

Scream of Stone is the third part of the Watercourse Trilogy and although Book 1 was for me the best one, the third book is a more than enough closing book for this trilogy. What I liked most about this trilogy is that it is mainly based on characters without exceptional abilities. They are not powerful fighters, wizars or whatever. With the exception of the main villain of the trilogy they are just plain people caught up in the events. This makes this trilogy different than most Forgotten Realms trilogies, it is based on politics and on the differences among the characters. Yes, there is the occasional cliched dwarf or other characters that seem unimportant, but there at least 3 or 4 great characters and a wonderful storyline that makes up for the few fights and the lack of hack-n-slash dungeon crawling. If you wish to read a book that is somewhat different than the usual "good guy vs bad guy" Forgotten Realm novel, then this book and this trilogy are recommended.

Scream of Stone is the third and final installment in the Watercourse trilogy by Philip Athans. First two novels truly impressed me with their uniqueness, depth and general quality. This one lives up to the standard. Its should be mentioned that these three novels are in fact a single book divided into volumes, so don't bother trying to read this one before you have read the first two, you will just be at loss, and miss the greatness of the series. I wont berate much about this third novel much, because I feel I would be repeating myself from pervious reviews. It is enough to say that Athans ties up all the loose ends, stays far away from clichés and simply speaking does what he did in the first two novels. The series as a whole is probably the most original work to come out of WotC publishing ever. Its really serious fantasy. Yes there are dwarves in this book, but they aren't there just for the sake of comic relief. There are dragons, but they don't lie down on hoards of treasure, waiting for adventurers to kill them. Most of the characters in the book are normal people, and not "chosen ones", with prodigal magic or fighting skills. And as such, they are more unique and interesting then others we have read about a million times. It's not about great evil something threatening to take over the world. Its about love, envy, determination, greed and obsession, and how far each of those emotions can drive an average human. I wouldn't want to sound rude, but this trilogy is ABOVE average FR reader. It is intellectually challenging, and involving. I would certainly like to see more books like these set in my favorite fantasy universe. Buy it, and enjoy.

Ive got to completely disagree with the usual reviews for this book. 2 stars? are they nuts? Yes, this is not a book for the stupid, it is not a book for people who are simply lookign for action. b ut the watercourse trilogy is one of the best books IVe ever read. a hefty some. the characters may seem bland to some but their actually flushed out VERY well. you just need to pay attention and above all else trust me READ THIS SERIES IN ORDER!!