The Emerald Scepter

Great Series! As Forgotten Realms books go this series was a great read. It's nice to see a series cover a different area of the Realms other than the more popular "conflicted" areas. The characters were interesting and the plot and story carried it well enough that the books were a fairly easy read.

I thoroughly enjoyed the conclusion to the Scions Trilogy. Like his other books, Reid captures the interest of the reader using intrigue, and an ingenious storyline full of deception and plot twists without relying upon spetacular, but short-lived displays of power (Ed Greenwood?). Reid holds our attention to the end.

This, the third book in the Scions of Arrabar, was a good book to enjoy on a long flight from Beijing. The characters were well done, but not complete. Maybe it was just me. oVer all, liked it and would recommend it. Good fantasy. If you like books like this one, might I suggest another I've recently come across. The Unsuspecting Mage by Brian S. Pratt. It's another fantasy adventure sure to please. I highly recommend it.

The Emerald Scepter is the final book in the Scions of Arrabar Trilogy, but you wouldn't be able to tell from reading it! It seems to me that Trilogys and many of the standalones just won't let you walk away with a solid ending ( which is fine, but sometimes I wish for one ) I enjoyed the story as it 'obviously' carried over from book two, but had to check back ( in both books as I read them ) to understand what was going on. I never really 'felt' for many of the characters ( Especially not the main, Vambrin ) except for Emriana and Arbeendk ( the 'monkey' looking man on the front of The Emerald Scepter ). Many times I felt the story was rushed and choppy, but all did come to a well balanced ending that tied up the loose ends ( though adding new ones ). As I stated in my review of The Ruby Guardian a general lover of fantasy can enjoy these books, but it is not the 'cream of the crop'.

Thomas M. Reid has cemented himself in the Forgotten Realms, as one of hte best new authors in the Realms. In The Emerald Scepter, Reid completes The Scions of Arrabar trilogy. Reid has the knack of making characters that are believable and 'real'. They are not the all powerful type heros, they actually have flaws and doubts and that, to me anyway, makes them more interesting. From the opening scene int he book, Reid picks up right where he left off in the second book, The Ruby Guardian. The action in this book is almost non-stop. The plot line moves along at blazing speed - just daring the reader to put the book down. Reid does a very good job of describing the setting of his books. This becomes very evident later on in this book when one of the heros, Vambran, undertakes a quest (no spoilers here don't worry). The way Reid describes his scenes puts the reader right there, which seems to be a dwindling art as of late in a lot of books I have read. I could go on and on reviewing this book and still not do it justice. It's a fantastic book and a great end to the trilogy. It is one of my recent favorites. I look forward to Reid's future projects.