It's a Darklands Western!
Hmmm. Is it your standard Darklands setting or does it take place in one of the Orv vaults?
Both!
The cover art for this book on the 2012 catalogue is different (and much better).Is that the correct one or another mockup?
That will be the first Pathfinder novel I will not buy.
That will be the first Pathfinder novel I will not buy.
Can you tell us why?
That will be the first Pathfinder novel I will not buy.Can you tell us why?
I'm sorry if this comes across too harshly, but I think Mr Byers is an inept writer. I've rarely read something as boring as his dragon trilogy, and the one about Thay isn't much better. He did not manage to make me feel any connection with his characters, and the storylines were too predictable. I certainly hope you do not plan to hire Ed Greenwood, James Wyatt or R.A. Salvatore as novelists. That would be even worse. Paul Kemp on the other hand...
I've also become a bit disillusioned about the Tales series recently, because I think the more recent books suffer from a lack in editing and feel rushed. I was especially disappointed in Mrs Laws' and Mr Gross' second novels. Both wrote excellent first books, but they probably needed more time working on "Master Of Devils" and "Blood In The Streets", respectively.
I certainly don't expect literary masterpieces from the Tales - although "The Worldwound Gambit" comes close (I will probably get flak for that) -, but I want stories that don't read like they were shoddily cobbled together.
*sigh* Now I wrote more than I wanted to. Sorry about the rant.
Chief Technical Officer
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The cover art for this book on the 2012 catalogue is different (and much better).Is that the correct one or another mockup?
The image currently posted here is an early mockup. The image in the catalog is still a mockup, but it uses the correct artwork. The final cover should be up here in a couple weeks.
I was especially disappointed in Mrs Laws' and Mr Gross' second novels.Robin Laws is a Mr. too.
G@# d+~mit!
I knew that, I just automatically associate the name 'Robin' with a woman.
Sorry.
Will this be another book with an antihero as the protagonist? I could go for an actual hero one of these days :)
Richard Lee Byers? Yes please!
X 2!! Richard is great!
Final cover image and product description are up!
Realy pleased to see Richard Lee Byers name added to the Tales series. Had great time reading his FR novels.
Now we just miss a Paul Kemp and it will be perfect for me!
Awesome cover art...I'm liking the small reptilian (dino) critter running along with her. Animal companion? Looking forward to this one!
Who is the cover artist, by the way?
It's interesting to see how people react to the tales line, but for me I've loved them all.
My favorites being Dave Gross' works.
Downloading to my nook now for reading tomorrow.
Just finished the book, and it didn't disappoint.
I now have some new perspective on the darklands, and the various layers.
All in all a great stand alone novel.
All in all a great stand alone novel.
Good to hear!
Do Tales subscribers get access to the downloads early? I've been patiently waiting 'til Wednesday.
Yea I had the PDF/epub when my order shipped on Tuesday at no additional cost. If you're picking up the novels here at Paizo.com there's no reason not to be a subscriber.
Still don't have the physical book in hand yet due to shipping delays.
Yea I had the PDF/epub when my order shipped on Tuesday at no additional cost. If you're picking up the novels here at Paizo.com there's no reason not to be a subscriber.
Still don't have the physical book in hand yet due to shipping delays.
A little perk, eh? That's cool. I actually haven't been buying the physical books, just the epubs of the novels and short stories and novellas and so on. Can you subscribe to just the electronic versions of things?
Ahhh, sadly no, the subscriptions are only for the print products.
I liked how the Oracle(s) were portrayed.
Having grown up on ERB, the vault warmed my pulp heart too
Yea I kept getting a Land of the Lost vibe from the vault.
Ahhh, sadly no, the subscriptions are only for the print products.
I shall consider it nonetheless. Thanks for the info and for the early review!
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Some thoughts:
- This is the most action-packed Pathfinder Tales novel, apparently the darklands are pretty hostile places...
- Some of the set pieces create great mental images
- The orcs are exactly how I imagine them.
- Oracle is spot-on.
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Is it just me, or is the binding on this much, much cheaper than earlier Tales books? I just started reading my copy and the first 60 pages or so were barely attached to the binding and are about to fall out. Story's good so far, but I won't be able to read it a second time ...
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Is it just me, or is the binding on this much, much cheaper than earlier Tales books? I just started reading my copy and the first 60 pages or so were barely attached to the binding and are about to fall out. Story's good so far, but I won't be able to read it a second time ...
Mine is exactly the same as all of the others, you have probably just got a faulty copy.
Contact Customer Services, they're usually very good.
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This is the first of the Tales books I have purchased. Construction quality was fine. Overall it was an enjoyable adventure yarn touching on themes of vengeance and community. Perfectly good read.
Oddly, the only 'frustration' I had was that I kept being drawn into thinking of it as an adventure/campaign setting background book and having all kinds of unanswered questions;
What would the stats on Eovath's breastplate be? And where did it come from?
What was the plant with the paralytic effect that they hid under in the vault? Some kind of giant venus fly trap?
And most vexing of all...
What were the bloody Elder Things doing building a giant multi-dimensional pyramid in Orv?
I don't suppose Paizo has ever considered including these kinds of game details with the stories? Or in some sort of followup material? Are the stories considered part of the 'same' Golarion as the game or are the authors allowed to take liberties that would be vetoed in true game setting books?
And the books follow the rules of the game, except where doing so would be absurd (for instance, it's presumably much easier for a low-level character to take out a high-level character in the books, seeing as in real life you don't have an increasing number of hit points)