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Pathfinder Tales: Stalking the Beast

4.10/5 (based on 17 ratings)
Pathfinder Tales: Stalking the Beast
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Out for Blood

When a mysterious monster carves a path of destruction across the southern River Kingdoms, desperate townsfolk look to the famed elven ranger Elyana and her half-orc companion Drelm for salvation. For Drelm, however, the mission is about more than simple justice, as without a great victory proving his worth, a prejudiced populace will never allow him to marry the human woman he loves. Together with a fresh band of allies, including the mysterious gunslinger Lisette, the heroes must set off into the wilderness, hunting a terrifying beast that will test their abilities—and their friendships—to the breaking point and beyond.

From acclaimed author Howard Andrew Jones comes a new adventure of love, death, and unnatural creatures, set in the award-winning world of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.

400-page mass market paperback
ISBN–13: 978-1-60125-572-3
ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-573-0

Stalking the Beast is also available as a digital edition on the following sites:

Stalking the Beast is sanctioned for use in Pathfinder Society Organized Play. Its Chronicle sheet and additional rules are a free download (359 KB zip/PDF).

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Average product rating:

4.10/5 (based on 17 ratings)

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Delivers on its premise, could have done it without the gun

3/5 —

Thoroughly enjoyed the magic item twist at the end.

Great Characters & Action, Too Many Twists

4/5 —

NO SPOILERS

Stalking the Beast tells a new adventure featuring the protagonist of Howard Andrew Jones’ previous Pathfinder Tales novel, Plague of Shadows. But in addition to elven archer Elyana and half-orc warrior Drelm, several new characters are introduced here as well. The chapters alternate between different characters’ points of view, and while it’s not quite as effective of a contrast as Dave Gross’ Varian/Radovan books, it still works well. This novel starts off near the small town of Delgar in the River Kingdoms, but there’s some local travel later in the book. The plot is certainly not predictable, and contains plenty of action and drama capped off with an excellent ending. Although it’s not my favorite Pathfinder novel, it’s an above-average entry in the series and definitely worth reading.

SPOILERS

The first part of Stalking the Beast concerns a mystery: what strange, invisible monster is murdering people near Delgar? The cover art unfortunately gives it away, but the protagonists have to bring together adventurers and bounty hunters from all over the River Kingdoms to form a search party capable of tracking and slaying the strange beast. I particularly liked the scene of Elyana and Drelm testing the applicants, though the eventual search party ends up being so large that I had trouble keeping track of all the participants. And this proves something of a problem as they start being killed off, and one of them ends up being the beast’s master! It’s a “twist” that fell flat to me because I couldn’t remember who the character was before he was revealed to be behind the murders to begin with. Anyway, that’s far from the end of the story: the plot also involves tensions between the fey and druids of the forest of Sevenarches (in an excellent portrayal) and several further twists that are almost dizzying. There may, in fact, be one twist too many.

What makes Stalking the Beast work as a novel are the exciting action scenes and the interesting, well-rounded characters. Drelm, a half-orc warrior who worships Abadar (god of law and civilization) is a great character, the emerging subplot of how Elyana is realising that the time may have come for her to leave the town and Drelm behind (she’ll live for centuries after his death, after all) is bittersweet, and a new major character, a bounty-hunting gunslinger named Lisette, keeps things fresh. And whereas a lot of novels fall flat when it comes to the ending, this one nails it perfectly.

I think Stalking the Beast has some room for improvement, but it’s enjoyable and probably superior to Jones’ previous Pathfinder novel.

Slightly above fanfiction

2/5 —

This book is not good. I haven't read the previous book starring these main characters, but I have no interest in finding out either. The protagonists in this story are wholly one dimensional and lack any flaws or negative qualities whatsoever. I also never felt they were in any serious danger either as they were instantly healed after every combat. Speaking of combat, wow is there a lot of it in this book. I'd guess at least 75% of this book consists of fight scenes. And while the descriptions of these scenes were ok, they felt like complete filler to pad the length of the book. All of the secondary characters in this book are completely forgettable (except Cyrelle) and served as either love interests or monster food. The book is also filled with some cringy dialogue, obvious infodumps, and even outright contradictions. I gave this book a second star since it was my first Tales book that features a gunslinger and the villain's class which I won't spoil here. The gunslinger also has one great scene involving fey which was very smart and original.

4/5 —

4/5 —

A fantastic follow-up to Plague of Shadows, bringing back Elyana and Drelm, the latter of whom really evolves as the novel proceeds. As in the earlier novel, great adventuring party, characters, plot twists, battles, etc.

One thing that stands out in these novels is the high body-count. It's almost a bit shocking, but I like the fact that there's not a slavish adherence to the game rules, such that you're not wondering why all the important or interesting characters "simply don't get resurrected". I think PF fiction works best if that little out is downplayed more often than not.

In addition to the excellent Elyana and Drelm, the introduction of the amoral gunslinger Lisette is another high point of this novel. There are also many secondary characters I found quite interesting.

I found the end a bit sad, but realistic, given why Elyana left Stelan in the first novel. Really brings home how those w/ long lives (like the elf Elyana) might choose to deal w/ those w/ more limited life spans.

I dearly want to see more of Elyana; and a novel w/ her and Lisette working together would be just great.

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Contributor

D.M.T., thanks for letting me know you enjoyed it! David, many thanks for posting the review!
Contributor
2 people marked this as a favorite.

If I were to write some more books featuring the survivors of this one, who would you be most interested in following? There were two primary groups you could follow, and I'm curious to see which one readers would want to see more of.

(If you're going to name names I suppose it would be best to conceal them with "spoilers" tags because a LOT of characters in this one get picked off...)
Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8

My vote:

Spoiler:
Demid, I'd like some more Brevoy fiction. And Cyrelle. I can't play a packlord, may as well read about them. :-)

Hey Howard I just started reading this this past weekend and spent 2 hours reading it outloud to my fiancee while we were driving back from a vacation sunday night. It was her first pathfinder tales book and I think she really enjoyed it. After chapter 4 my voice gave out and we had to stop though...and as much as I want to continue I feel it would be unfair to continue with out her. She has the flu right now so there might be more reading tonight after I get off work at 11...
Contributor
Matthew Morris wrote:

My vote:

** spoiler omitted **

Thanks for the info, Matthew! Duly noted.

Contributor
mathpro18 wrote:
Hey Howard I just started reading this this past weekend and spent 2 hours reading it outloud to my fiancee while we were driving back from a vacation sunday night. It was her first pathfinder tales book and I think she really enjoyed it. After chapter 4 my voice gave out and we had to stop though...and as much as I want to continue I feel it would be unfair to continue with out her. She has the flu right now so there might be more reading tonight after I get off work at 11...

Now that's dedication!

You know, one of the last things I try to do before I ship off a manuscript is read the whole thing out loud to myself, because that's a good way for certain kinds of errors to jump out. Although I usually have to whisper so my voice doesn't give out!

Glad you're both enjoying it, and I hope she feels better soon.

best,
Howard

I've GOT the book, I just haven't had a chance to read it yet. :( I'm eagerly anticipating this one. Whether he knows it or not, I made a promise to Richard Pett to finish and review his book (Crooked) before I start any others. Dear Wife may end up reading my physical copy before I do!

I read aloud as well as silently depending on the situation. When I'm reading on my walk home from work, I read aloud (quietly). I get funny looks, but I live in a medium size city, so we have lots of crazy people on the streets.

If I'm reading at home, I'm probably in bed, so I read silently to avoid waking Dear Wife.

-Aaron
Contributor

I know it and appreciate it Aaron, I have all the hard copies at home right now, fermenting them a little and whispering to them so they can spread the word, they're just about to leave the nest like bloated cuckoos.

Rich
Howard Andrew Jones wrote:

If I were to write some more books featuring the survivors of this one, who would you be most interested in following? There were two primary groups you could follow, and I'm curious to see which one readers would want to see more of.

(If you're going to name names I suppose it would be best to conceal them with "spoilers" tags because a LOT of characters in this one get picked off...)

Well...

Spoiler:
Drelm and Lisette were my favorites in the book, but it seems like they've sorta settled down (although Lisette has some unfinished history that could cause trouble for her).

It would be interesting to see what Melias ends up doing with herself. No family left, but she got a nice pile of coin, and a wand that shoots acid.
Contributor

Thanks for letting me know, Mechalibur.

Spoiler:
I'm actually pitching something completely unrelated to any of these characters, but from this book it's Lisette who interests me the most going forward. I could see her in a variety of further adventures.
Grand Lodge

Hi Howard!

Wanted to mention that I LOVED your book and have been reading your Pathfinder back catalog.

One of the main reasons I loved the book was because of all the characters. Every one of them I really liked. Lisette is the star of the book for me (I've been looking for a suitable mini to play a character like her now!) but Elyana comes a close second. Heck I even like the half-orc.

Looking forward to whatever you write next. Incidentally I liked your Abir & Dasim story in Return of the Sword and have been meaning to get to more of your work. Glad to see I crossed paths with more of your writing in the Pathfinder world!

um, what does this mean:

Howard wrote:
If I were to write some more books featuring the survivors of this one.

Does that mean that I may never get to read about Lisette or Elyanna again!?!?! Inconceivable!

Contributor

Thanks for your kind note! I'm really glad that you're enjoying my characters.

I think you'll definitely be seeing both of those ladies once more, although you're likely to see Lisette much sooner. I have in mind a couple of short stories to follow up on "Bells for the Dead" for the Paizo web fiction section, but I'm heads down over the opening book I'm drafting for a new St. Martin's series, and until I finish the rough draft of that I'm staying clear of other projects. (I hope to have the rough done by mid January.)

To my mind, Lisette is ideally suited for a low magic area, or some low magic adventures, and I could see myself writing a series of stories or short novels where she takes on various assignments and then figures out how to get through them when her carefully laid plans go awry. Sort of like heist novels, but with a bounty hunter. My friend C.L. Werner did some great work about an amoral bounty hunter named Brunner, for Warhammer -- any Lisette books would would have a different feel from these, though. (I think Brunner is one of the best sword-and-sorcery creations in modern times, including both regular fiction and tie-in fiction.)

But the next books I pitched to Paizo to write feature new characters in a different part of the world. I'm quite excited about them and I'm eagerly awaiting word from James. If I had THAT much fun just drafting the outlines, I think I'll have even more fun writing them, which usually translates to readers having fun as well.
Dark Archive

is there a chronicle sheet for this? I picked up the book as research for my priest of razmir character, figured if there was a boon I'd apply it to him. can't find one anywhere?
Liberty's Edge

Major spoilers:

Enjoyed this one. The "Beast" isn't the behemonth on the cover, although you can be excused for thinking that; even the characters in the book think that for a substantial faction of the book. But, of course, the Beast is really the Church of Razmir....

I'd love to see more of both Elyanna and Lisette in the future. Drelm seems to have settled down, and it would be nice if he was actually able to enjoy some peace for a while, which main characters of books never get.

Contributor

Hey, I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for helping get the word out. Any chance I can get you to do a spoiler-free write-up on the review page? It only has severn write-ups right now.

So I'm rereading this book and I notice Lissete a song about a certain "hero" and his halfling brother. That was awesome to see.
Managing Editor
havoc xiii wrote:
So I'm rereading this book and I notice Lissete a song about a certain "hero" and his halfling brother. That was awesome to see.

I was wondering how many people noticed that particular Easter egg. :) Glad you enjoyed it!

Sovereign Court
James Sutter wrote:
havoc xiii wrote:
So I'm rereading this book and I notice Lissete a song about a certain "hero" and his halfling brother. That was awesome to see.
I was wondering how many people noticed that particular Easter egg. :) Glad you enjoyed it!

Explainings?

Spoiler:
Darvin and his brother from hand of death err doom show up via a song in a tavern and while at camp.
Contributor

Finished this one last night and thought it was great. Nice work on the ensemble cast; I managed to get (briefly) attached to almost everybody and was legitimately sad when bad things happened to 'em. I also liked being wrong about exactly who'd be left standing at the end. :)

Lisette's POV on Drelm made me laugh a bunch in the early chapters. Her contempt for him was just fantastic.

Spoilery spoiler thoughts and questions:

Spoiler:
I liked that we never found out who or what the cultists were actually trying to summon (or even if that really was their goal, since I don't think any of the Razmiri cultists actually confirmed it and it was just conjecture on the part of Our Heroes). It felt very true to sword-and-sorcery that Elyana just lost her temper too much to question the crazed evil spellcasters and ended up letting sharp and pointy bits of metal do her talking in the end, even at the cost of potentially losing out on information.

That said, I'm a little sad not to have that ultimate mystery revealed, because it's So Mysterious and waaah I want to know, waaah.

It does make a neat hook for GMs running campaigns in that part of the world, though, and I suppose it's more adaptable if it stays in mystery.

re: characters I'd like to see going forward:

-- Lisette was hands-down my favorite of the three POVs in this book. So much snark. It warms my heart, truly it does. <3

-- I'd like to see Drelm get his happily-ever-after of crispy bread and boring spousal conversations. I feel like he's earned a happy retirement into the status of Interesting Background NPC/Occasional PC Ally. Especially given the kill count in these books, I don't want to see him risk his neck again!

That said, I'd love to see a cameo appearance from him a few years down the line, especially if it's from the perspective of a character who's never met him before. Lisette's early impressions were solid gold.

-- Elyana's obviously situated to have continuing adventures as well, of course, and I'd happily read whatever she gets up to in the future.
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