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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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Webstore Gninja Minion

Announced! Cover image is a mockup and subject to change.
Paizo Employee Developer
2 people marked this as a favorite.

Woot! I can't wait for more Elyana adventures.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook Subscriber
Mark Moreland wrote:
Woot! I can't wait for more Elyana adventures.

+10

Absolutly loved "Plague Of Shadows." Totally stoked for a sequel. :)
Nate Z wrote:
Mark Moreland wrote:
Woot! I can't wait for more Elyana adventures.

+10

Absolutly loved "Plague Of Shadows." Totally stoked for a sequel. :)

Me too, now i wish October comes earlier this year :)

I been waiting for another adventure with these two to come. Very excited to have another sequel in the Pathfinder Tales line.
Nate Z wrote:
Mark Moreland wrote:
Woot! I can't wait for more Elyana adventures.

+10

Absolutly loved "Plague Of Shadows." Totally stoked for a sequel. :)

I don't care if it's a mock up, that's an awesome cover! I also am very excited to see another Elyana/Drelm adventure. Despite all the Pathfinder Tales novels that have come out, Plague of Shadows has been in my top 4 since the very beginning.

-Aaron
Sovereign Court

It's indeed an awesome cover.

If it's a mock up... Where is the original ilustration from?
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook Subscriber

A "NEW" novel from Howard Andrew Jones?!?! AWESOME! "Plague of Shadows" was easily my favorite of the Pathfinder Tales (although I have a "back-log" of Tales to read ... so favorites may change). ;)

But, all that aside, looking forward to a new Elyana adventure.

And I agree, whether a "mock-up" or not ... that is a fantastic cover.

Dean

I was also curious about the cover:it may be a mock up but that elf is undoubtedly Elyana.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber

Very cool! Plague is definitely one of the better Tales, and expect this one will be as well. Howard catches that authentic pulp quality that suffuses Golarion.
Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

The current cover image does use the correct artwork, but the layout will undoubtedly change a bit prior to publication. So: final art, but not final cover.

I must ask, what creature is that and where can I find its stats?
Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber

I guess it is "mysterious"!
Senior Editor/Fiction Editor
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Odraude wrote:
I must ask, what creature is that and where can I find its stats?

If I told you, it would be a really huge spoiler. :)

Totally okay with that!! PM me :D
The Exchange
2 people marked this as a favorite.

Ohh I loved Plague of Shadows so this is a must get for me too. That is one nasty looking critter, like a cross between a Dragon Turtle and a Displacer Beast. I too would love to know where it's stats can be found (if they even exist yet).

Ohh and someone at Paizo, please ask Reaper to do a miniature of Elyana cos I badly want to paint one.

A story set in the River Kingdoms, and involving a gunslinger? I have got to get this one.

Yay, more H. Jones!
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Brakkart wrote:

Ohh I loved Plague of Shadows so this is a must get for me too. That is one nasty looking critter, like a cross between a Dragon Turtle and a Displacer Beast. I too would love to know where it's stats can be found (if they even exist yet).

Ohh and someone at Paizo, please ask Reaper to do a miniature of Elyana cos I badly want to paint one.

+1, but i want a pre-painted one. Hope there is some planned at Wizkids.

Sovereign Court

Plague of Shadows was great, Jones can really do ensembles.

Excited about this.
The Exchange

Plague of Shadows is my favorite Pathfinder Tales book so far. These are good charactrs adn it sounds like we might get some pov shift to Drelm in this story. I am really looking forward to this.
Contributor
2 people marked this as a favorite.

I'm pleased to hear so many of you are looking forward to the book.

Tadkil, you're right -- Drelm is one of the major POV characters this time around. There are three who share billing: Elyana, Drelm, and Lisette.

www.howardandrewjones.com

This time HOPEFULLY Elyana and Drelm SOUGHT OUT A CLERIC to join their party's quest (or at the very least an Oracle)!
Contributor
Berselius wrote:
This time HOPEFULLY Elyana and Drelm SOUGHT OUT A CLERIC to join their party's quest (or at the very least an Oracle)!

Oh, don't worry, there'll be a magical healer along. Well, okay. You SHOULD worry. But there is a magical healer.

Quote:
Oh, don't worry, there'll be a magical healer along. Well, okay. You SHOULD worry. But there is a magical healer.

Good cause if I recall correctly, last time they went out without a healer Drelm got poisoned and things went from bad to worse.

Also, if I again recall correctly they had a huge problem with the Umbral Dragon they ran into as well).

As for worrying, I'm sure both Elyana and Drelm will be doing plenty of that for me. It sounds like their possibly up against a Behemoth.
Contributor
Berselius wrote:
Quote:
Oh, don't worry, there'll be a magical healer along. Well, okay. You SHOULD worry. But there is a magical healer.

Good cause if I recall correctly, last time they went out without a healer Drelm got poisoned and things went from bad to worse.

Also, if I again recall correctly they had a huge problem with the Umbral Dragon they ran into as well).

As for worrying, I'm sure both Elyana and Drelm will be doing plenty of that for me. It sounds like their possibly up against a Behemoth.

No comment on the Behemoth! I will look forward to hearing what you say about both the beast and the healing once you read the thing...

I'm just glad your giving us some heroic adventures rising up to the challenge of slaying a big bad beastie! Yes they have their own reasons but I love it none the less. ^_^
Webstore Gninja Minion

Updated cover image!

[Red Leader]Almost there... Almost there...[/Red Leader]
The Exchange
Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

You had me at Gunslinger.

Is a Dl sample chapter planned anytime soon?
Contributor

Well, there will definitely be a short story about the gunslinger Lisette around the time of the book release...
Contributor

There are a few more details about the book in a Q & A elsewhere on the Paizo site.

But wait, there's more!

SF Signal hosted me earlier this week on their podcast, and I spoke at length about working with Paizo, writing Stalking the Beast, Plague of Shadows, and my non Paizo stuff. You can find the podcast interview here.
Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber; Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber

Arrived via UPS yesterday. Read on bus to work this morning. Have been looking forward to it since I saw it pop up on schedule. Also realized I had not purchased The Bones of the Old Ones, a mistake that will be shortly rectified.
Contributor
Kata. the ..... wrote:
Arrived via UPS yesterday. Read on bus to work this morning. Have been looking forward to it since I saw it pop up on schedule. Also realized I had not purchased The Bones of the Old Ones, a mistake that will be shortly rectified.

Hey, thanks, Kata! Hope you enjoy them both.

Mine is in shipping, now i wish i could intercept along the way,or that Paizo uses teleportation devices to ship orders.
Senior Editor/Fiction Editor

Since I saw it pop up in the first review, here's a very spoilery note about the rules involved. (Seriously, don't read this until you've finished the book.)

Spoiler:

The reason you can't see the rune on the summoner's head when he calls his eidolon is that he's wearing a helmet, as mentioned in his description. We don't call it out a bunch, because that seemed a little too obvious a clue ("Hey, look at that thing which is totally normal but important for some reason!"), but it's there. While you can't hide a summoner rune with magic, mundane coverings like helmets totally work.
Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8

Just found this buried in the bottom. I enjoyed the book a great deal. Howard Andrew Jones does write some good (if briefly alive) characters. :-)
Contributor
James Sutter wrote:

Since I saw it pop up in the first review, here's a very spoilery note about the rules involved. (Seriously, don't read this until you've finished the book.)

** spoiler omitted **

Thanks, James.

Contributor
Matthew Morris wrote:
Just found this buried in the bottom. I enjoyed the book a great deal. Howard Andrew Jones does write some good (if briefly alive) characters. :-)

Hey, Matthew, glad you liked the book!

RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32
James Sutter wrote:

Since I saw it pop up in the first review, here's a very spoilery note about the rules involved. (Seriously, don't read this until you've finished the book.)

** spoiler omitted **

I actually figured it out using that as a clue! So I'd say it was done properly.

Dark Archive

First off I want to start off by saying I enjoyed this story tremendously and will post a review shortly. Before I do I just had a quick question:

Did she name her horse after the one that died in the first chapter of the previous book? I have no knowledge of the naming conventions of horses so I'm not sure if this is common or not, if it happens.
Contributor

Hi Todd,

Thanks for the kind words. I'm delighted you enjoyed the book, and look forward to your review.

As for the names, that touches on a whole background bit, some of which ended up on the cutting room floor. Calda was the name of Elyana's first horse, and she tends to name a lot of her horses that, or variations thereof. Calda's actually a mare of the Calda that died at the start and had a longer name (the way some of us horse owners do) but she ended up being called Calda by the end, and there was so much going on that I thought that added detail would just distract.

It's sort of like how Lisa Simpson's cats area always named Snowball, I suppose. ;)
Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8

I figured out it was a <redacted> fairly early on, but didn't think of a member of <redacted>. Also I forgot that spells work just fine, when the SLAs don't. I will have to remember that for PFS when I get the idea for a <redacted>.
Contributor
Matthew Morris wrote:
I figured out it was a <redacted> fairly early on, but didn't think of a member of <redacted>. Also I forgot that spells work just fine, when the SLAs don't. I will have to remember that for PFS when I get the idea for a <redacted>.

You redact well and judiciously, Matthew. Will you be adding an official review? I'd love a little counterweight to that two star business, part of which seems to be over a misunderstanding of how I applied/hid some information.

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8

I will try. I fear I <redacted> at reviews.
Contributor
Matthew Morris wrote:
I will try. I fear I <redacted> at reviews.

Hah. You actually made me chuckle aloud.

Scarab Sages

Just finished the book and really enjoyed it. Same goes for Plague of Shadows. Looking forward to more.

Well, I've left my review. Another excellent Tale! I rather enjoyed all the <redacted>, <redacted>, and peril as the story went on!
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