Reviews for Amazing Stories Magazine No 588

The average rating for Amazing Stories Magazine No 588 based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2021-08-18 00:00:00 Wil Hickey It makes me sad when I think that there are no more Dark Sun (or Planecape, or Ravenloft, or Spelljammer) novels being published. What a shame! Dark Sun in particular was a setting ahead of its time. The flavor and tone set it apart from most D&D worlds (for the better, IMO!), and I keep hoping for a 5E revival! What was I saying again? Oh yeah, this series is quite good for licensed fiction!

Review # 2 was written on 2018-01-17 00:00:00 Bob Blum I was really hoping that I would love this book, that the final installment would just blow my mind...but I was wary. I didn't see how the author could tie up all the loose ends in one more 314 pg book. Alas, my worries were qualified...sort of. Our hero makes his way to the city of Nibaney. We are introduced to what should be a terrifying Dragon King, but he is not going to take on Sorak himself and has the job farmed out to an assassin that lives outside the city. Okay, makes sense. Except once we get to know the assassin, we kind of like him. And not in that evil-guy-you-love-to-hate kind of way, but in a very general he's-really-not-that-bad-I-get-where-he-is-coming-from kind of way (I feel that it is necessary to mention at one point the assassin makes a plan to "have his way" with Rayna, and of course that would be unacceptable to the reader [and me too!], but by the time this happens, it almost feels like Hawke realized that he has made his antagonist too likable and he has to do something to make us root for the protagonist again...but I digress). I will have to say this is the largest flaw in this novel. The plot is still fun. Hawke does a good job of fleshing out a realm in D&D that is pretty ambiguous. He hints at a deeper plot that he only scratches the surface of...which is a little bit of a let down, because TSR dropped this world in the 90's and as far as I know it was only briefly revisited in 4th edition D&D without any novelization....but I digress... I gave it 3 stars, but 3.5 is probably more accurate. I really did enjoy it, but it wasn't as good as the first book...and neither was the second...Hawke just came up with this great idea and didn't get enough pages to really make it as amazing as it had potential for. I'm glad I finished a series I started when I was 14.