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17
Oct/2008
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Richard Lee Byers
Over the past few years, I have been picking up the novels of this guy. And I have to say, Byers goes places where I like to think about.
I wasn't wild about his Dissolution (2002), but it was set in the Drow spheres of influence in the Underdark of the Forgotten Realms. He did really get into the mindset of the Drow, and work on some pretty large scale sub-plots.
I have no real recollection of where The Black Bouquet (2003) was set in the Forgotten Realms, but the story I did like it. Part of something called the Rogues series. Reminded me of an episode of It Takes A Thief meeting the standard fantasy novel.
I picked up Queen of the Depths (2005) at GenCon where I got him to autograph the paperback that very day. Weeks later I'd realize the idiocy of having autgraphs in paperbacks but the story rocked. Not only did the intrigue of the Forgotten Realm's nations surrounding the Sea of Fallen Stars come alive for me, but bits and pieces of the aquatic setting were detailed by the author. As I was playing with my own undersea fantasy thoughts, Byer's take on things gave me a fresh perspective.
Peryton actually bought Unclean (2007) at a later GenCon, but I found the book about a month ago. And while I can take or leave usual zombie or vampire tale by itself, a massive undead invasion of Thay, the Forgotten Realms literal Empire of of Evil is proving irresistible. As often as I have dabbled into designing my own "bad guys as seen through their own eyes" style of fantasy, with none yet published, Thay, a land that has intrigued me since I heard it mentioned in both the Black Bouquet and the Queen of the Depths strikes just the right cord with me.
Overall the works, Byers, it seems, has a way of finding protagonists that would be antagonists in other yarns. He evokes some empathy of the reader for these characters while not trying to get one to fully sympathize with them. Who really wants to relate to the sorrow of a shark-person hag who worships a god of drowning which no one really likes, or a ruthless lich's frustration at uniting a nation of blindly ambitious wizards? But you do get where the guys, err and gals, are coming from. At the same time, the supporting/side characters have epic sagas where their nobility can be portrayed, sometimes with irony but not overly so. The adventures surrounding these characters are indeed compelling, and definitely worth a read if for nothing else but decent sword and sorcery tales.
Tags: ForgottenRealms
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12/29/08 The New Look
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