Pathfinder Tales: Prince of Wolves

Already posted a review, but I wanted to second it and say that this was a extremely fun read. Looking forward to the next Radovan and Count Jeggare novel! Keep up the great work Dave!

Cheers!

Thanks for the kind review. It's great to see they're still coming months after the book's release. Of course, with the big gift-giving occasions coming up, that's perfect timing to tell all your friends on Amazon what to pick up at the last minute. :)

A question in another thread made me wonder, What elements of Prince of Wolves and Winter Witch have you added to your Pathfinder game?

A question in another thread made me wonder, What elements of Prince of Wolves and Winter Witch have you added to your Pathfinder game?

None yet, but I am not running a game right now. Though I will be starting one up in January.

In general I tend to use novels as a way to get a better feel for the cultures and people in them. It gives me more to work with when trying to set things up for the players.

Many thanks to those who've cross-posted new reviews for Prince of Wolves to amazon.com. I'd love to see more for Winter Witch as folks catch up on their holiday gifts reading.

i read about half of the book so far, and enjoyed most of it, but again i wonder: why is there such an urgent need for fantasy authors that almost every women in the books need to be raped, killed, mutilated or any combination of those?

i mean, seriously, i know it's a dark dark world, bad stuff happens and those things easily create sympathy or antipathy, but still, this level of misogynicism grosses me out every time.

A question in another thread made me wonder, What elements of Prince of Wolves and Winter Witch have you added to your Pathfinder game?

I'm playing a campaign that takes place in ustalav's nobility at the moment (and perhaps changes it drastically), but the personalities mentioned in Prince of Wolves will certainly add some flavour.

I fell into this series all sorts of backwards - started with the web fiction, which I thought was great and a bit unconventional with the first-person perspective. Comments from the other readers inferred knowledge of the characters from older books, but as I'm a bit naive with Galerion lore, I figured it was a module or sourcebook.

Once this novel was released, I picked it up from the bookstore immediately. Again, loved the story and especially the main characters. I really enjoy how the author instills pieces of Golarion culture into the story - not just the faux-European noble decadence (which is excellent, IMO, I'm a big fan of *Count of Monte Cristo*, *Dangerous Liaisons*, etc), but especially the small curses and common sayings, like "Desna weeps". I put down the novel with a smile, looking forward to more!

THEN, a few months ago, I started up a 1-on-1 campaign with my brother, using *Council of Thieves* (which, BTW, I owned the WHOLE time - they were delivered while I was in Afghanistan, so I didn't get to peruse them closely). While reading ahead in preparation, much to my happy surprse, I discovered the *Hell's Pawns* series! Hooray for serendipity!

Mr Gross - I hope you are continuing the written adventures of Count Jeggare and Radovan! To answer your question, I am integrating a lot of the feel of Cheliax culture into my campaign based on your descriptions, including those curses and sayings! :)

Very engaging read! I really enjoyed the web fiction and reading Prince of Wolves. I'm looking forward to picking up the Hells Pawns stories later, and the Tian Xia novel when it comes out.

I'm currently in Beijing, and find my acquisition of Mandarin to be really similar to how Radovan picked up the language of Ustalav. It was nice to see that portrayed so seriously (although a little fast, its taken me about 6 months just to understand the flow of the language.)

I really love how I can get this in pdf, but is there any way to buy it from Amazon? I have a TON of store credit with that retailer.

Mr Gross - I really look forward to more from you and your peers from Pathfinder Tales!

Very engaging read! I really enjoyed the web fiction and reading Prince of Wolves. I'm looking forward to picking up the Hells Pawns stories later, and the Tian Xia novel when it comes out.

I'm currently in Beijing, and find my acquisition of Mandarin to be really similar to how Radovan picked up the language of Ustalav....

Mr Gross - I really look forward to more from you and your peers from Pathfinder Tales!

Thanks for the kind words and the nice review.

One of the things I love about characters' traveling in Golarion is the frequent change in cultures and languages. It's one thing for a polyglot egghead like Count Jeggare to adjust, but it's a challenge for guys like Radovan, and I find that fun. Imagine how much harder it will be for him to learn Tien.

Mandarin is *hard*. Good on you for picking it up. I hope to see Beijing some day, but I'm sure I'll need an interpreter.

I really love how I can get this in pdf, but is there any way to buy it from Amazon? I have a TON of store credit with that retailer.

We have looked at selling our Tales products through Amazon's Kindle store, but there are some sticking points in their contract that currently make it impossible for us to agree to. They have offered larger publishers the terms we require, but they are currently unwilling to extend them to smaller publishers. Should they ever do so, we'll reconsider coming on board with them.

GregWeb wrote:

I really love how I can get this in pdf, but is there any way to buy it from Amazon? I have a TON of store credit with that retailer.

We have looked at selling our Tales products through Amazon's Kindle store, but there are some sticking points in their contract that currently make it impossible for us to agree to. They have offered larger publishers the terms we require, but they are currently unwilling to extend them to smaller publishers. Should they ever do so, we'll reconsider coming on board with them.

How about Barnes & Noble's NOOK? I don't know how much their digital business structure differs.

Vic Wertz wrote:

GregWeb wrote:

I really love how I can get this in pdf, but is there any way to buy it from Amazon? I have a TON of store credit with that retailer.

We have looked at selling our Tales products through Amazon's Kindle store, but there are some sticking points in their contract that currently make it impossible for us to agree to. They have offered larger publishers the terms we require, but they are currently unwilling to extend them to smaller publishers. Should they ever do so, we'll reconsider coming on board with them.

How about Barnes & Noble's NOOK? I don't know how much their digital business structure differs.

B&N's small press deal has the same issues as Amazon's.

I really enjoy how the author instills pieces of Golarion culture into the story - not just the faux-European noble decadence (which is excellent, IMO, I'm a big fan of *Count of Monte Cristo*, *Dangerous Liaisons*, etc), but especially the small curses and common sayings, like "Desna weeps". I put down the novel with a smile, looking forward to more!

Mr Gross - I hope you are continuing the written adventures of Count Jeggare and Radovan!

Somehow I missed this note earlier, so a belated thanks for the kind words. You hit the nail on the head with Dangerous Liasons as an influence on that first chapter, which turned out to be the love-it-or-hate-it chapter. I appreciate the vocal minority who enjoy the courtly stuff as much as the action, horror, and mystery. If you can, check out the beautiful Korean version of Liasons, Untold Scandal.

Speaking of which, you can expect more of the boys this summer in Master of Devils, which takes them to Tian Xia. There's still a strong thread of intrigue, but you have to duck under a table to escape the fighting and appreciate it.

Flipper's "Hot Damn!" steals second-place from "Pleasantly Surprised" for my favorite review subject line. "I Love Dave Gross" remains in first.

Thanks to everyone who's posted a review here and/or on Amazon, especially those posted so long after the release of the book. I hope you'll pass along a copy to friends and encourage them to post their reviews.

I also look forward to seeing more reviews of Elaine Cunningham's Winter Witch, Howard Andrew Jones's Plague of Shadows, and Robin D. Laws's upcoming The Worldwound Gambit.

Is there any possibility that Paizo could make a .doc format available for subscribers? I would like to read these books on my Kindle, but the PDF format that is available does not convert well at all to Kindle format. Most of the text shows up grayed out.

Is there any possibility that Paizo could make a .doc format available for subscribers? I would like to read these books on my Kindle, but the PDF format that is available does not convert well at all to Kindle format. Most of the text shows up grayed out.

I'm told that apps like Calibre can convert your ePub doc into a nice clean Kindle format file.

Deleon wrote:

Is there any possibility that Paizo could make a .doc format available for subscribers? I would like to read these books on my Kindle, but the PDF format that is available does not convert well at all to Kindle format. Most of the text shows up grayed out.

I'm told that apps like Calibre can convert your ePub doc into a nice clean Kindle format file.

I was just looking this info up - thanks Dave!

Deleon wrote:

Is there any possibility that Paizo could make a .doc format available for subscribers? I would like to read these books on my Kindle, but the PDF format that is available does not convert well at all to Kindle format. Most of the text shows up grayed out.

I'm told that apps like Calibre can convert your ePub doc into a nice clean Kindle format file.

Yup, I just used calibre for the first time saturday, very user friendly and easy to do, it will even send them to the kindle for you

Awesome, thank you!

I just finished Prince of Wolves and I enjoyed it. I think Mr Gross has created a couple of characters that really bear further exploration. I would like there to be a little more of Jeggare... he reminds me of Stephen Maturin from the Patrick O'Brian books, but I'd like to see him developed from the little we know now. Radovan... he could stand to be a bit more complex. I'd definitely pick up more books in their series.

Critical nitpicks? I didn't really think the dual first person technique added anything to the telling. It didn't ruin the story, but I had a hard time figuring out who was talking in the first three chapters, until the pattern was established. Also, the fact that the motif by which we are reading one character's first-person narration (the diary) is not the same as the second person's narration (immediate perception) so that was further jarring. A first-person diary from Jeggare and a 3rd-person POV from Radovan would have improved the reading, I feel.

And the author referred twice to "tennants" of a belief system. Editors! Well, don't worry about it, I fixed it ("tenets!") in my copy. The rest are up to you.

I just finished Prince of Wolves and I enjoyed it. I think Mr Gross has created a couple of characters that really bear further exploration. I would like there to be a little more of Jeggare... he reminds me of Stephen Maturin from the Patrick O'Brian books, but I'd like to see him developed from the little we know now. Radovan... he could stand to be a bit more complex. I'd definitely pick up more books in their series.

Critical nitpicks? I didn't really think the dual first person technique added anything to the telling. It didn't ruin the story, but I had a hard time figuring out who was talking in the first three chapters, until the pattern was established. Also, the fact that the motif by which we are reading one character's first-person narration (the diary) is not the same as the second person's narration (immediate perception) so that was further jarring. A first-person diary from Jeggare and a 3rd-person POV from Radovan would have improved the reading, I feel.

And the author referred twice to "tennants" of a belief system. Editors! Well, don't worry about it, I fixed it ("tenets!") in my copy. The rest are up to you.

Jeggare & Radovan first appeared in the Council of Thieves Pathfinder Journal entries (collected here), but are also in the prelude to Prince of Wolves The Lost Pathfinder, and the upcoming Master of Devils. Jeggare also appears in Wayfinder #4, before Radovan is in his employ. :)

I just finished Prince of Wolves and I enjoyed it. I think Mr Gross has created a couple of characters that really bear further exploration. I would like there to be a little more of Jeggare... he reminds me of Stephen Maturin from the Patrick O'Brian books, but I'd like to see him developed from the little we know now. Radovan... he could stand to be a bit more complex. I'd definitely pick up more books in their series.

Thanks for the kind words, Christopher. You're not the first to compare Jeggare and Maturin, although I didn't have him in mind. You make me want to read more O'Brien, or perhaps I shouldn't.

The alternating first-person for Radovan and the boss has evolved. I'll be interested to hear what you think of how it works in Master of Devils. There's also a new POV character with a distinctive voice.

In that book and the accompanying novella, you'll get to see more facets to both characters. More of the story behind Radovan's peculiar condition comes out, and Jeggare has to deal with a big change in his place in the world.

"Tennants" will haunt me to my grave. Damned near-homophones! One of the easiest mistakes to make when composing, and unfortunately also one of those that a spellchecker won't help you catch.

Jeggare & Radovan first appeared in the Council of Thieves Pathfinder Journal entries (collected here), but are also in the prelude to Prince of Wolves The Lost Pathfinder, and the upcoming Master of Devils. Jeggare also appears in Wayfinder #4, before Radovan is in his employ. :)

Iirc the story from Wayfinder #4 "A Lesson in Taxonomy" is also available online here

Jeggare & Radovan first appeared in the Council of Thieves Pathfinder Journal entries

Ah HA! I knew I heard those names before! Well, I didn't get to finish that through all the way, because I was pressed for time at that point in my gaming life. I'll go back and read the AP stuff now.

"Tennants" will haunt me to my grave. Damned near-homophones! One of the easiest mistakes to make when composing, and unfortunately also one of those that a spellchecker won't help you catch.

Clearly you're a fan of the tenth Doctor, which makes it all excusable.

Dave Goss should have read this article before writing:

http://www.seankreynolds.com/rpgfiles/rants/terminology.html

Dave Goss should have read this article before writing:

http://www.seankreynolds.com/rpgfiles/rants/terminology.html

Dave "Goss" does know the meaning of "tenets" but makes mistakes sometimes. It's easy to make a mistake on a short deadline or when composing a messageboard post in haste.

Perhaps you'd also enjoy Sean's rant on errors in published books.

This is very late, but I finally posted a review to my blog. It's a double-feature post for Prince of Wolves and Master of Devils.

You can read it here.

Sorry I didn't post the full review in the "reviews" section, but it is a very long article. I did, however, post a link to the same article on Amazon.com.

I just wanted to post this. While I am not a fan of first person narrative as I have mentioned. But recently I let my mom borrow all the Pathfinder tales books, as she is who got me hook on fantasy in the first place. Anyways she really liked this book, well all of them but she really liked this one and has started to bug me about bringing out the new book so that she can read it. Just thought I would share that.

I just wanted to post this. While I am not a fan of first person narrative as I have mentioned. But recently I let my mom borrow all the Pathfinder tales books, as she is who got me hook on fantasy in the first place. Anyways she really liked this book, well all of them but she really liked this one and has started to bug me about bringing out the new book so that she can read it. Just thought I would share that.

I like your mom. Not in a creepy way, of course.

Maybe those who don't enjoy first person would dig it more if you grabbed a friend and took turns reading the alternating POV chapters to each other. Hm...

Dark_Mistress wrote:

I just wanted to post this. While I am not a fan of first person narrative as I have mentioned. But recently I let my mom borrow all the Pathfinder tales books, as she is who got me hook on fantasy in the first place. Anyways she really liked this book, well all of them but she really liked this one and has started to bug me about bringing out the new book so that she can read it. Just thought I would share that.

I like your mom. Not in a creepy way, of course.

Maybe those who don't enjoy first person would dig it more if you grabbed a friend and took turns reading the alternating POV chapters to each other. Hm...

Yeah she introduced me to Lord of the Rings, Dragonlance, and Shannara series. While my dad introduced me to Conan and some other really old fantasy books of short stories I no longer remember the names of.

I think I would like it in a audio book just fine. Then I would be listening to someone telling me their story. When I read it it and I read things like...

*then I walked across the floor and flung the windows wide open to climb down*

All to often my thought is, no i wouldn't do that. Which just breaks the immersion for me and I am very much a immersion type reader. When I first start reading any little thing can break me out of reading and make me stop. But if left alone and I read 10-20 pages undisturbed then I tend to only put the book down when I must, like it is 3am and I am falling asleep or I start feeling starved etc. *shrug* Don't know why I am that way, just know I am. :)

Your's isn't the first books like this I tried to read and just wasn't able to get far in them. There has been several others I really thought sounded neat, so much so I bought them and tired to force myself to read them and I just couldn't. Yeah I know I'm weird.

Yeah she introduced me to Lord of the Rings, Dragonlance, and Shannara series. While my dad introduced me to Conan and some other really old fantasy books of short stories I no longer remember the names of.

I think I would like it in a audio book just fine. Then I would be listening to someone telling me their story. When I read it it and I read things like...

*then I walked across the floor and flung the windows wide open to climb down*

All to often my thought is, no i wouldn't do that. Which just breaks the immersion for me and I am very much a immersion type reader. When I first start reading any little thing can break me out of reading and make me stop. But if left alone and I read 10-20 pages undisturbed then I tend to only put the book down when I must, like it is 3am and I am falling asleep or I start feeling starved etc. *shrug* Don't know why I am that way, just know I am. :)

Have you ever tried to come up with a specific character-voice in your head when you read first-person narratives? I find it can really help with immersion in the story.

(Radovan sounds like one of the Sopranos-cast to me.)

I tried it, just when I read I, I think me and I just can't get around it in my head. I have tried many books in first person that people have recommended over the years and have never finished a single one.

I'd like to jump on board the "I love Dave Gross" train.

I finished reading Prince of Wolves in one marathon sitting a few weekends ago. I meant to do a little "light reading" while my roommate was out. It was Saturday morning and we had some tentative plans... which I totally forgot about, since I was engrossed in the book.

By the time I came up for air, it was six in the evening. It's been a long time since I've gotten so involved in a book. I think when I first read "The Hobbit" I felt like that, so kudos to you, Mr. Gross.

I really enjoyed the relationship between Radovan and Jeggare, though at first I found it a little confusing with the switching of voices. I had never read any of the other material they are in before this. I realized they were different narrators, but it took a little bit before I was able to switch back and forth between the two styles without being slightly disoriented, but even with this minor critique I still found the book highly entertaining.

I love the nods to Golarion as a living, breathing place of its own, and I'm particularly glad I spent so much time perusing the Rule of Fear sourcebook, because I could recognize many of the locations and really liked how the atmosphere of Ustalav shines through. As I am planning on running the Carrion Crown AP when our current GM wants to rotate out, I think it is telling that as I was reading I kept thinking, "oh that's great! I'm so stealing that [description/mood/character] for use in the game!"

Pathfinder Tales are fictional works, but they take place in the same world that we play in, so it was an entirely pleasant surprise to see how well Dave Gross pulls off the not insignificant task of making an enjoyable work of fiction while still remaining true to the roots of the Pathfinder RPG and Golarion. Well done, sir! I especially enjoyed your portrayal of Caliphas social life, with all the courtly intrigue and double meanings, the Monastery of the Veil, and the really nasty way Urgathoa came across.

If this is an indicator of the quality I can expect from the other Pathfinder Tales, I think Paizo has just found itself a new subscriber.

I'd like to jump on board the "I love Dave Gross" train.

If this is an indicator...

Thank you for the very kind words. Considering your screen name, you might get a kick out of Black Wolf and Lord of Stormweather, both of which feature a swordsman by the name of Radu.

Should I write another novel with these boys, I might add the name of each character under the chapter title.

Would that do the trick for you, Dark_Mistress?

I'd like to jump on board the "I love Dave Gross" train.

A great name for the train. And since you are not a VJ hater, I will call you, Brother. ;-)

Radu the Wanderer wrote:

I'd like to jump on board the "I love Dave Gross" train.

If this is an indicator...

Thank you for the very kind words. Considering your screen name, you might get a kick out of Black Wolf and Lord of Stormweather, both of which feature a swordsman by the name of Radu.

Should I write another novel with these boys, I might add the name of each character under the chapter title.

Would that do the trick for you, Dark_Mistress?

I am sure a lot of people would like that. I know you are a good writer cause people who have similar tastes in books like your books. I just don't think I will ever get past the 1st person narrative. You are not the only author who has books that way I think I would otherwise like.

This chronicle has a typo, I believe. The rapier detects undead within 6' radius? Are you sure it's not 60'?

This chronicle has a typo, I believe. The rapier detects undead within 6' radius? Are you sure it's not 60'?

I'd like to confirm this also.

Dave, around 1 AM I realized trying to fall asleep was useless, so I picked up this book again. I've been reading it off and on for the past 2 weeks, and only got to page ~56.

I said "Just one more chapter" around 18 times, and never got to sleep. It was an awesome read.

My main gripe (other than the chronicle's typo...and wrong sword type I think) is that fireball doesn't produce any pressure, so it doesn't blow things around. Total immersion killer. 1 star.

and by 1 I mean 5

Cheapy wrote:

This chronicle has a typo, I believe. The rapier detects undead within 6' radius? Are you sure it's not 60'?

I'd like to confirm this also.

Confirmed. A 6' radius isn't really all that useful. :P

Thanks! Printing the evidence now.

The chronicle sheet has been updated to fix above error :)

Yay! I'm useful!

Dave, around 1 AM I realized trying to fall asleep was useless, so I picked up this book again. I've been reading it off and on for the past 2 weeks, and only got to page ~56.

I said "Just one more chapter" around 18 times, and never got to sleep. It was an awesome read.

My main gripe (other than the chronicle's typo...and wrong sword type I think) is that fireball doesn't produce any pressure, so it doesn't blow things around. Total immersion killer. 1 star.

and by 1 I mean 5

I never liked those "laserballs." My fireballs pack a wallop. :)

What is the chronological order of books for Varian Jeggare and Radovan? Prince of Wolves then Master of Devils, and then Queen of Thorns?

Yes. Here is a somewhat more complete chronology. You can add "Killing Time" right before Queen of Thorns.

Especially with the short fiction, it's not strictly necessary to read them in order, although I know some feel differently about the novels.

Yes. Here is a somewhat more complete chronology. You can add "Killing Time" right before Queen of Thorns.

Thanks Dave! Straight from the source. Man, I love these boards. I'm looking forward to reading your work!

House of Thrune: Current ruling house of Cheliax, which took power following Aroden's death by making compacts with the devils of hell.

Compacts or contracts?

Compact: an agreement. Not a direct synonym for "contract," but the same general idea and a slightly cooler word.

Dave, just wanted to say the books so far with Varian and Radovan have been fantastic! You write a book that's really worth the extra bump to the price tag that comes with the Paizo products (much like their PFRPG core products).
I want more from Arnisant! I loved the attention and character development he got in Master of Devils and was sad to see him back in an ancillary role during Queen of Thorns.
Thanks for the incredible stories though, and for all the inspiration they've added to our home games.