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Pathfinder Tales: Nightblade

****½ (based on 7 ratings)
Pathfinder Tales: Nightblade
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Where Demons Fear to Tread

Raised as a wizard-priest in the church of the dark god Zon-Kuthon, Isiem escaped his sadistic masters and became a rebel, leaving behind everything he knew in order to follow his conscience. Now, his unique heritage makes him perfect for a dangerous mission into an ancient dungeon said to hold a magical weapon capable of slaying demons and devils by the thousands and freeing the world of their fiendish taint. Accompanied by companions ranging from a righteous paladin to mercantile mercenaries, Isiem will lead the expedition back into shadowed lands that are all too familiar. And what the adventurers find at the dungeon's heart will change them all forever.

From acclaimed author Liane Merciel comes a dark tale of survival, horror, and second chances, set in the award-winning world of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.

400-page mass market paperback
ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-662-1
ePub ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-663-8

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Average product rating:

****½ (based on 7 ratings)

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****( ) —

Unlike perhaps some of the other reviewers/posters, I liked this even more than Nightglass. And given that I liked Hellknight the best of them all, I can only conclude Ms. Merciel gets better and better on every outing.

A good cast of characters, and the ultimate villains of the horrid Fiendslair were truly frightening.

The character arcs of Isiem and Ascaros, the childhood friends of southern Nidal, was a nice study in contrasts.

On a side note, I continue to be impressed w/ all the shades of nuance and characterization authors in this line use for their paladins. Despite being all LG, they have all stood out for me in one way or another. In this book, it was Kyril.

Editing was pretty good.

****( ) —

***** —

Like Aliens, with wizards

***** —

There aren't very many books in the Tales line that are straight up horror stories. This one is (Skinwalkers is another.) Isiem's journey into the Umbral Basin and points beyond is a classic haunted house story beautifully executed. Definitely worth the read.

It has no identity

***( )( ) —

I should have liked this book, but i didn't.
I am not sure why i didn't like this book, i liked the previous one, i liked the protagonist, it has a party, high level characters, it has religious themes present (although a far cry from the previous ones), magic and spellcasting, it has a magical a magical dungeon, an uber artifact waiting at the end of the dungeon, i really should have liked it with all of that... but i didn't.
There were a few things that i noticed being annoyed by like the number of characters (too many in my opionion) but the thing that i felt annoyed me the most was that the story doesn't have a strong identity. It isn't the personal struggles of the protagonist, it isn't an action story, it isn't a rebel story, it isn't an action story, it isn't a mystery story, it tries to be all of the above in one book and that in my opinion dragged it down because not one thing was complete. It isn't about the personal struggles of Isiem because it spends very little time showing us his morality problems and his thoughts, it isn't an action story because it has very few action scenes (including battles) and those that are in; are far way from each other, it isn't a rebel story because the protagonists quickly leave the rebellous city, it isn't a mystery story because it doesn't give any real clues*.
Keep in mind that last few chapters are great, i truly enjoyed them but it was too little too late, the story has already left a poor taste in my mouth.

*spoiler:

And it really hurts the mystery part of the story when you give away the answer in the cover, from the moment we were given the first inch of a clue (the "they found something older than demons in the abyss") i managed to add two and two together and guess that there were researching qlippoth.

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Webstore Gninja Minion

Announced! Cover image is a mockup and subject to change.

Woohoo! Nightglass sequel! Been waiting for this!

First more Salim, now more Isiem. You're spoiling me :)
Silver Crusade

YES
1 person marked this as a favorite.

carry on my wayward son

Very excited for this! Really enjoyed the character development in Nightglass and I am looking forward to the continued adventures of Isiem.
Dark Archive
Adventure Path Charter Subscriber

Will this feel like a natural progression from Nightglass, or will be set some time after and be a standalone story?
Managing Editor

I'm working on this right now, and I have to say, Liane's better than ever. This book is both very different from many in the line, and yet perhaps one of the *most* Pathfinder-feeling adventures we've published. Can't wait for people to see it!
Contributor
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Justin Sluder wrote:
Will this feel like a natural progression from Nightglass, or will be set some time after and be a standalone story?

Little bit of both, I think.

It is a standalone story and there are a number of new characters, but how Isiem finds himself in that situation and why he does what he does over the course of the book makes more sense if you've read the preceding materials (both Nightglass and Misery's Mirror, because Ascaros has a fairly significant role in the story too).
Dark Archive
Adventure Path Charter Subscriber
Liane Merciel wrote:
Justin Sluder wrote:
Will this feel like a natural progression from Nightglass, or will be set some time after and be a standalone story?

Little bit of both, I think.

It is a standalone story and there are a number of new characters, but how Isiem finds himself in that situation and why he does what he does over the course of the book makes more sense if you've read the preceding materials (both Nightglass and Misery's Mirror, because Ascaros has a fairly significant role in the story too).

Cool cool. I look forward to seeing the developments.

Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Yes! I couldn't put Nightglass down once I started it. It's wonderful to see more Pathfinder fiction coming from Liane.
1 person marked this as a favorite.

Apologies to Ms. Merciel, but with the title, all I can think of is the campy show-within-a-show Nyte Blayde from the Saints Row video games. :P

Nighglass was great. Really glad to see another Isiem book. More creepy Zon-Kuthon dudes please.

Agreed. So far Nightglass has been in my Pathfinder Tales Top-3, and I look forward to the next Isiem installment. :)
Grand Lodge

Nightglass is easily my favorite Pathfinder Tales book. I cannot wait for more Nidalese Theurge action.
Silver Crusade

Can't help but wonder if that paladin is going to wind up being

Spoiler:
Ederras.

:)
RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32

Didn't Ederras make a cameo in other Pathfinder Tales already? (Maybe the beginning of Kings of Chaos? I don't remember.)
RPG Superstar 2009, Contributor
Ross Byers wrote:
Didn't Ederras make a cameo in other Pathfinder Tales already? (Maybe the beginning of Kings of Chaos? I don't remember.)

Yes. Early discussion between Oparal and Ederras on her way into the Worldwound.

Great news, Nightglass is one of my top 5 pathfinder tales and i really wanted to see a sequel.

Didn't Ederras died in King of Chaos?
Pathfinder Comics Subscriber; Pathfinder Legends Subscriber
leo1925 wrote:

Great news, Nightglass is one of my top 5 pathfinder tales and i really wanted to see a sequel.

Didn't Ederras died in King of Chaos?

I did not especially like Nightglass. However, I read the book almost entirely in the middle of the night while giving my (then) infant daughter her bottle, so I wasn't in the most lucid of times while reading it. I'll probably find time to reread it before reading Nightblade.

I don't think we saw Ederras die. I believe that the last time we saw him he was riding off towards [insert city where Wrath of the Rightous AP starts]. Mendev?
RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32

Kenabres is the city. Mendev is the country.
Dark Archive Contributor

King of Chaos spoiler:
Ederras was alive and well at the end of the book.

King of Chaos:
Was he present in the scene when the maiden elf paladin (whose name i can't remember now) got back her sword? I didn't remember that, anyway it's truly amazing that he got to survive the slaughter of Kenabres.

Itchy wrote:
leo1925 wrote:

Great news, Nightglass is one of my top 5 pathfinder tales and i really wanted to see a sequel.

Didn't Ederras died in King of Chaos?

I did not especially like Nightglass. However, I read the book almost entirely in the middle of the night while giving my (then) infant daughter her bottle, so I wasn't in the most lucid of times while reading it. I'll probably find time to reread it before reading Nightblade.

I don't think we saw Ederras die. I believe that the last time we saw him he was riding off towards [insert city where Wrath of the Rightous AP starts]. Mendev?

To tell you the truth the majority of the second half of the book wasn't to my liking but it wasn't that bad and the first half of the book was GREAT in my opinion.

Pathfinder Comics Subscriber; Pathfinder Legends Subscriber
Ross Byers wrote:
Kenabres is the city. Mendev is the country.

Thank you! That's what I get for not doing due diligence and checking the Pathfinder Wiki before posting from memory like that.

I do need to make time to reread the Pathfinder Tales books that I read in that foggy time when I was up every night to bottlefeed my daughter. That would be:

-Song of the Serpent
-City of the Fallen Sky
-Nightglass
-King of Chaos
-Pirate's Honor?

I'm not sure on that last one. See above about that being a foggy period of time...
Contributor
Itchy wrote:


-Pirate's Honor?

I'm not sure on that last one. See above about that being a foggy period of time...

Well, if you're still fuzzy on that one, catch up quickly. Pirate's Promise will be out in December!

;-)
Contributor
Mikaze wrote:

Can't help but wonder if that paladin is going to wind up being ** spoiler omitted **

:)

Spoiler:
Nope! Good guess, though.

Ederras does come back for the book after Nightblade, but that's probably getting a wee bit ahead of myself. It's hard not to want to cackle about it right now though because I'm having a major spasm of lulz with my paladin-tormenting at the moment.

But aaanyway he gets to skip a round of suffering before we head back to see what he's been up to.
1 person marked this as a favorite.

I'm hoping the paladin is Keren (along with Zae and Appleslayer). ^_^

Also, a blade that can KILL THOUSANDS of DEVILS? Holy hell, that's one hell of a major artifact!

Wait a minute...I smell the hints of a Adventure Path brewing here. I am right or wrong on that?
Webstore Gninja Minion

Updated product image and description to final.
Contributor

Love the cover!
Pathfinder Comics Subscriber; Pathfinder Legends Subscriber

New cover! Shiny! I like it.
Dark Archive

What a great read! I cannot decide if I like it or the previous novel the best!
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Campaign Setting, Card Game, Companion, Modules, Pawns, Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Accessories, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Roleplaying Guild, Tales Subscriber; Pathfinder Deluxe Comics Subscriber

They're both excellent. And Liane's already mentioned a next book. So where is it? :-)
Contributor
Ed Reppert wrote:
They're both excellent. And Liane's already mentioned a next book. So where is it? :-)

It's in editing. :)

It is not, however, about Isiem.

I took a hiatus from following his story and switched scope to Cheliax, where we'll see all the stripes of lawful: LG (this is a character I've used before), LN (new character), and LE (old character).
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Campaign Setting, Card Game, Companion, Modules, Pawns, Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Accessories, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Roleplaying Guild, Tales Subscriber; Pathfinder Deluxe Comics Subscriber
Liane Merciel wrote:
It is not, however, about Isiem.

That's okay, I'll read it anyway. :-)

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