The Kingless Land (Band of Four) - Softcover

Greenwood, Ed

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0812580141 ISBN 13: 9780812580143

Publisher: TOR Fantasy, 2001

Synopsis

Aglirta is known as the Kingless Land--once prosperous and peaceful, it has now fallen into lawlessness, studded with feuding baronies engaged in a constant state of war. The only hope for peace lies in the legend of the Sleeping King: destined to rise and restore peace when the Dwaerindim stones are recovered.

Lady Embra Silvertree is the sorceress daughter of a bellicose baron with an eye towards world domination. She has been imprisoned by her father who hopes to use her as a magical battery to fortify his castle. When a pair of good natured rogues attempt to steal one of her jewel encrusted gowns, they are quickly enlisted as allies to help her escape and, with the aid of a shape-shifting cleric, to seek out the Dwaerindim.

About this title

Review

In the glittering Advanced Dungeons & Dragons firmament, the star power of Ed Greenwood twinkles somewhere between the bright glow of E. Gary Gygax and the somewhat dimmer shine of Zeb Cook. As creator and Dungeon Master-in-chief of the enormously popular Forgotten Realms setting, Greenwood has secured his status as a legend of gaming--doubly so by inventing the Realms' most illustrious citizen (well, except for Drizzt Do'Urden, of course), Elminster of Shadowdale.

With Kingless Land, Greenwood breaks free of the Realms with a mainstream fantasy novel, the first title in his Band of Four series. But faster than you can say "melee round," you'll suss out that Greenwood's Band looks a heck of a lot like your classic dungeon-faring party: a thief (Craer, the "procurer"), a fighter (Hawkril, a "thick-headed sword-swinger" by Craer's estimation), a wizard (a hot babe whose baron-dad wants to turn her into a castle--neat!), and a cleric (the healer Sarasper, who also gets to be a shapeshifter, presumably to make up for the fact that clerics suck). So, predictably, Kingless Land doesn't cover much more ground than Greenwood's AD&D novels, which were always hit (Cormyr, with Jeff Grubb) or miss (Spellfire--ouch!) at best. But if you can get past the indulgently italicized fantasy bluster ("Sargh and bebolt it!"), Kingless Land certainly proves equal to the best of Greenwood's previous genre work, not unlike a night spent listening to the effortless spin of an expert DM. --Paul Hughes

About the Author

Ed Greenwood is the bestselling author of the Band of Four series and creator of the bestselling and award-winning Forgotten Realms role-playing campaign setting. He lives in Colborne, Ontario.

About this edition

• Publisher: TOR Fantasy
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0812580141
• ISBN 13: 9780812580143
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 373