Pathfinder Tales: Nightglass

4.20/5 (based on 30 ratings)
Pathfinder Tales: Nightglass
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Embrace the Shadow

In the grim nation of Nidal, carefully chosen children are trained to practice dark magic, summoning forth creatures of horror and shadow for the greater glory of the Midnight Lord. Isiem is one such student, a promising young shadowcaller whose budding powers are the envy of his peers. Upon coming of age, he's dispatched on a diplomatic mission to the mountains of Devil's Perch, where he’s meant to assist the armies of devil-worshiping Cheliax in clearing out a tribe of monstrous winged humanoids. Yet as the body count rises and Isiem comes face to face with the people he's exterminating, lines begin to blur, and the shadowcaller must ask himself who the real monsters are...

From Liane Merciel, critically acclaimed author of The River King's Road and Heaven's Needle, comes a fantastical tale of darkness and redemption set in the award-winning world of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.

400-page mass market paperback
ISBN–13: 978-1-60125-440-5
ePub ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-441-2

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

Nightglass is sanctioned for use in Pathfinder Society Organized Play. Its Chronicle sheet and additional are a free download (270 KB zip/PDF).

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Average product rating:

4.20/5 (based on 30 ratings)

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True to Pathfinder

4/5

Ms. Merciel has done her homework not only on Pathfinder game mechanics, but also on Golarion. In choosing to read a Pathfinder Tales publication I hope to read stories with this level of attention to detail. Nightglass does not disappoint in this regard. I also appreciate her development of the protagonist, Isiem.

The story, however, is one that has already been told many times, and in that regard the book was nothing new. I was not emotionally moved by Ms. Merciel's presentation of the story. I never got invested in Isiem the way I would have liked.

I really enjoyed Ms. Merciel's detailing of Nidal, which presents a great canvas against which she did an excellent job of painting a great piece.

If Ms. Merciel had developed a new story line I would give her work five of five stars. I do recommend the book for anyone looking for a faithful depiction of elements in Golarion.


More like this one!

5/5

I liked everything about this book. The focus on Nidal... the attention spent to the development of the protagonist... the mature content... the way the cultures of Cheliax, Nidal and the strix jumped off the page... and the way the combats felt like Pathfinder combats. There's something about this book that transcends the genre - it a lot more than just a fun read.

I would LOVE to see Merciel write novels focusing on other cultures or settings that we haven't seen a lot of yet.

My only complaint is that there were a couple of significant misses in the editorial process (more than a misspelled word or incorrect punctuation). Nothing that would lower my opinion of the book, or of the author, but something I wouldn't want to see become a pattern in future titles.


Nightglass

5/5

A good read, throughout. Isiem is a conflicted character with a lot of depth, and the world around him is full of dark and twisted magic. It's obvious that the author has spent her time doing her homework. I enjoyed this book thoroughly. I have read several of the other pathfinder tales books and this one is among my favorites so far.


Prince of Wolves no longer the best novel for me!

5/5

The Pathfinder Tales started with a big bang: Prince of Wolves, Winter Witch and Plague of Shadows; then, to me at least, it seemed to have settled into still very enjoyable reads but with always "something missing" in the story or character building/development.

Then enters Liane Merciels's Nightglass. The great art on the front and the text on the back cover put the bar pretty high: Something about shadows, a protagonist from Nidal who does not sound like the usual nice guy from the evil empire... The storyline had great potential for a good story but also great potential for failure. For instance a novel about drows can be excellent or pretty bad and nothing much in between - the novel is not about drows by the way. To me a story set in Nidal could attract the same potential for greatness or literary catastrophe.

To mimic a football metaphore, this is a book of two halves. The first one is the very detailed history of the protagonist, from the moment his magical abilities are discovered as a child to that when he is a fully fledged servant of the Umbral Court in Nidal. There is no "Drizzt moment" there, no agonising monologues, just someone who adapts to the world he is born into. Isiem was never going to be a paladin, like every single one of his fellow Nidalese, whether weak or powerful, he is slave to the Midnight Lord.

The description of what happens in the Dark Halls in Pangolais is creepy. I was surprised that the relatively graphic scenes of torture the reader comes upon have made it through the editor. The book, for its content bordering on S&M reminded me of Kameron Franklin's "Maiden of Pain" a Forgotten Realms book from 2005.

The second half, literally halfway through the book, sees Isiem on an assignment that will give him the humanity he never really had before or even knew could exist. This is not exactly the usual story about redemption that one would expect from the start. The book is pretty grim from its beginning the end. Isiem, even in his kinder moments always looks for number one. The overall darkness - but not evilness - of the story, punctuated by little sparkles of hope, makes this a unique addition to the Pathfinder Tales line.

As far as the Pathfinder Campaign Setting is concerned, Nightglass does what no sixty-four pages setting book could do, in any case, not with that feeling of immersion: Nightglass makes Nidal come to life.

Sure, I have missed the witty comments from Radovan, Gad or Krunzle; but Nightglass is not meant to be funny. Nightglass is about Nidal.

Needless to say: More like this one please!


Delicious and desperate... and finally more about Nidal!

5/5

I read this in one day, couldn't put it down. Nidal has fascinated me since I first got the old Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting hardcover, and when I started my first PFRPG campaign the only info I could find about it was the Zon-Kuthon article from Skeletons of Scarwall and the great Nisroch chapter from Cities of Golarion, so I started the campaign out in Nisroch and went from there.

The author's interpretation of the Joyful Things was the only thing that didn't really match up with what I had imagined, but no less the great for that. I don't want to spoil anything, but just want to say that this novel exceeded any expectations I had about a story set in Nidal, and also gave surprisingly awesome and intriguing life to the ecology and society of the winged Strix of Cheliax.

Don't pass this one up, it's incredible.


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June 20? That's even worse! 20 days passed that I haven't read this book! Blasphemy!

Owner - House of Books and Games LLC

ThatEvilGuy wrote:
June 20? That's even worse! 20 days passed that I haven't read this book! Blasphemy!

You could always subscribe :)

Not only would you get the book faster, you'd have an electronic version available instantly.

(e-books have grown on me, but only for books I have an actual, physical copy of. When I'm stuck somewhere, I can read them on my iPhone, yet when I'm home, I can enjoy the much more pleasurable feeling of reading an actual book)

Sovereign Court

I am heavily disappointed that Barnes and Nobles has yet to get it in my area. Now if I want to drive 50 miles I can get it. Stupid.

Don't want to subscribe as there are writers at Paizo I cannot stand to read (World wound gambit)

Not to mention I'd rather not have to pay a heavy shipping on a book that will get read and shoved on a shelf afterwards.

Paizo Employee Director of Brand Strategy

IceniQueen wrote:
I am heavily disappointed that Barnes and Nobles has yet to get it in my area. Now if I want to drive 50 miles I can get it. Stupid.

Did you ask if they could order it for you? The amount you'd spend on gas would far outweigh the cost of getting it shipped, but I imagine B&N (or any other bookseller) can order you anything their distributor has (and book distributors should have this book now).

Contributor

Glad to see folks are enjoying this one so much! Liane's currently working on an outline for another novel, so hopefully you'll see more of her before too long. :)

Apologies for the two errors noted--they'll be fixed in subsequent printings.


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber
James Sutter wrote:

Glad to see folks are enjoying this one so much! Liane's currently working on an outline for another novel, so hopefully you'll see more of her before too long. :)

Apologies for the two errors noted--they'll be fixed in subsequent printings.

Great to hear that she will be writing another. This girl can write.


James Sutter wrote:

Glad to see folks are enjoying this one so much! Liane's currently working on an outline for another novel, so hopefully you'll see more of her before too long. :)

Awesome news! Can't wait to hear what it is about!

Dark Archive

Please let it be a book about either Mendev/Worldwound or Cheliax (possibly Isiem's "adventures" there?)!

Contributor

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Ravenmantle wrote:
Please let it be a book about either Mendev/Worldwound or Cheliax (possibly Isiem's "adventures" there?)!

Alas, no. The scope's likely to be a little more claustrophobic.

It is possible that someday I may try to do something set in one of those two regions, however, because I would like to bring about a convergence between certain characters from Nightglass and certain character(s) from "Certainty." And either Mendev or Cheliax would be the most logical place to do that.

But that's not this story, yet.

Dark Archive

Oh well, I'm a patient man. When I read Nightglass (which was a stellar read, by the way), I was very intrigued by the references to Isiem's time in Westcrown, which is why I mentioned Cheliax as a project I'd like to see with your name on it. That and Cheliax is a damn cool place. :D


Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber; Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber

Finally finished it, I love my 4 minute bus commute, but it is really killing my bus reading. I looked over the reviews and Karameikos hit exactly what I was thinking. I loved reading about the environment. I loved the insight into Nidal, but never really cared for Isiem.

Additionally, after some of the comments mentioned her online Pathfinder story, I clicked on it and was reminded of something I have wondered about.

Why, after a story is finished, are the stories left in a backward chapter order?


I started reading this yesterday. I had suspended my subscription due to financial concerns, and so missed three books (Song of the Serpent, City of the Fallen Sky, and Nightglass). I picked up the ePubs that I missed with the Christmas Discount.

I am sad that I did not start with this book when I began reading my backlog. This book grabbed me in a way that Song of the Serpent and City of the Fallen Sky did not. I'll reserve final judgment until I am done with the book, but this is shaping up to be one of the better books in the Tales Line.

-Aaron

Silver Crusade

2 people marked this as a favorite.

Just finished reading this after too long a wait. These aren't my full thoughts, but:

I really want more Isiem now. And more of a look inside his headspace.

Spoiler:
I really liked how his rebellion was a slow burn(that "slow slip into apostasy") and that he really was part of the system, not coming out of Nidal as relatively clean and untouched as Drizzt. Even his big heroic moment in Nidal is morally compromising, though he does the best he can with what he's given.

I do wish we got a bit more time inside Isiem's head and, honestly, kind of wish he angsted a bit more openly... But, I suppose that's the Nidalese stoicism in him. I have to say that I absolutely loved that he actually broke down and wept when he thought he was going to die and worrying over the fate of his soul. (really curious if he's going to learn he has other options in Nightblade, and if that stoicism might be further eroded along the way...)

Also, I really worried Honey was going to have to be eaten before it was over. That probably would have wrecked him a bit.

Do have to wonder though...what happened to Isiem's scrysphere? Surely it's not still in the Dusk Hall...is it? D:

Really happy that this book shows the people in Nidal as victims of their own culture too.

And hot damn, that moth pile and what lead to it...

Also, all the behavioral, anatomical, and cultural details on the strix were great. I loved how they have some potentially horrifying(to us) customs that reflect some of what we see of Nidal, yet the character of what they do and why is entirely different. To anyone interested in the strix, this is a must-read. I also loved how, certain activities the protagonist is involved in "offscreen" aside, Cheliax truly comes across as far less horrifying and oppressive than Nidal. To the point that once it gets there, the reader can honestly say "Oh thank God, he's in Cheliax now".

Fair warning to readers, child endangerment is certainly a thing here. Let's put it this way: If Korvosa's Acadamae is Hogwarts if Voldemort took over, then Dusk Hall is that with Pinhead in charge.

Eagerly awaiting Nightblade. :)

Spoiler:
goes hunting for Isiem/paladin-of-Shelyn slashfic

he could have more jewelry to play around with and everything YES I THOUGHT HE WAS GOING TO PUT THEM ON FOR A MOMENT

Silver Crusade

Also...:
...have to wonder just what that flying creature/construct of bone and feathers was...


Liane Merciel wrote:

Alas, no. The scope's likely to be a little more claustrophobic.

I hope you can keep the same kind of mood and atmosphere as Nightglass, though the short description of Nightblade hints at something more traditional as a fantasy novel (but I pray you'll surprise just as you did with Nightglass).

Here's the review I just wrote, it's an almost first-timer for me:

Moonbird wrote:

Great mood and atmosphere

***** Moonbird — 1 hour, 28 minutes ago

I really enjoyed this book, it stands out of the crowd of usual hack and slash or adventure type stories set in fantasy settings. Here, no group of super heroes plowing through obstacles and getting rid of them usually by brawn (or magic super powers) and witty end lines.

What you'll find is closer to (dark) mood and emotions, the heavy atmosphere of a nation using torture as means for its ends, and the path one of it's shadowcaller follows through his apprenticeship. I'd really like more of this kind of books, they're so rare. The first part of the book reminded me very much of the Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K Le Guin (2nd book of the Earthsea series). The second part is a bit more conventional as a plot, but using a different point of view for the main character, who comes to understand and embrace a very different culture.

The novel is of a very high quality. Enjoy it !


Pathfinder LO Special Edition, Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, PF Special Edition Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Starfinder Superscriber

I'm about halfway through this, and really enjoying it. I'm curious about something, though. Isiem is called "shadowcaller". I suspect that title is not related to the summoner class archetype, since he's pretty clearly not a summoner. He's a wizard, certainly, but also, I think, a cleric. His doubts have led him into apostasy, though. Perhaps he's better described as an ex-cleric. The CRB says "A cleric who grossly violates the code of conduct required by her god loses all spells and class features, except for armor and shield proficiencies and proficiency with simple weapons. She cannot thereafter gain levels as a cleric of that god until she atones for her deeds (see the atonement spell description)." Seems to me this fits Isiem, at least at this point in the story (after the destruction of Crackspire).

I suppose he might be a prestige class, probably Mystic Theurge, but that seems unlikely - and the description of that class doesn't say what happens if such a character falls into apostasy. I suppose he would, like a cleric, lose all spells and divine class features, but would he also lose the ability to advance in the mystic theurge class?

Any thoughts?

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