Spellfire Book

2020 Update: Five years wiser, I can safely report that no, Greenwood's novels do NOT get any better. I have to give a shout-out to Rob Bricken at Gizmodo magazine for his 100% accurate and detailed review of Spellfire; my own review below pales in comparison:

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Although he created the Forgotten Realms, his skills as a campaign creator and dungeon master did not translate to being a good author! At least not in this case. Ed Greenwood wrote many books set in the Forgotten Realms, I can only hope that his writing improved over time. Spellfire was an almost unendurable novel. Were I not invested in the setting and D&D, I don't think that I would have completed the novel, and I rarely give up on a book. The problems are countless: a heroine / lead character who shows little personality and, for the most part, remains passive throughout the events of the novel; very poor characterization; a cast of forgettable, interchangeable characters with only a couple of exceptions; lack of real conflict; poor pacing; and worst of all, the constant need to refer to magic as 'art'. "My art is not strong enough", "his art is beyond compare", "art, art, art". No other Forgotten Realms novels use "art" for "magic"! It irked me with every utterance.

I am confident that later books by Ed Greenwood will be much more enjoyable, although I did try to read "Elminster in Hell" many years ago before I was interested in the Realms because it was on a free book exchange shelf, and I had to put that one down uncompleted, so maybe it doesn't get any better! I have to note too that the author bio lists no literary accomplishments, instead listing his appearances and activities at RPG conventions. This explains a lot. I will continue to read the Realms novels and really, really hope that his novels improve.