Saturday, April 5, 2014

Review: Tymora's Luck by Kate Novak and Jeff Grubb

Tymora's Luck by Kate Novak and Jeff Grubb
Series: Forgotten Realms, The Lost Gods #3
Published by TSR (Wizards of the Coast)
Pages: 315
Genre: Fantasy
Add on Goodreads

The Rebel Bard Joel, priest of the new god Finder, is thrown into a deity mess again.

When his friend Jas is kidnapped and rescued by the kender Emilio, the trio set out to Joel's patron Finder in the hopes of breaking the Dark Stalker curse that has been haunting Jas for over a month. However, the problem is intensified when Tymora tries to help Jas and is attacked by her sister goddess. The adventures then make for the lower planes in an attempt to help Tymora help Jas.

Quote:
Operas, like the gods they so often portray, are a mystery to me. They are a mystery wrapped in an enigma swallowed by a contradiction and covered by a silken shroud of dark chocolate and best served with hot milk before a nap.



First, I'd like to note that while this is the third book in this series, if you are interested in reading it, you really only need to read the first one, Finder's Bane. The second is written by a different author and follows Emilio in his introduction storyline. (I will admit, I didn't read it because I won't touch anything anymore by the author that wrote it.)

I'm sure we've all been there. A bad run of books leaving you with a desperation to read something that you know you'll like. Jeff Grubb (writing with or without his wife, Kate Novak) has been one of those authors for me ever since I read my second book of his.

In this book, we are reintroduced to several of the adventurers from Finder's Bane - plus a kender, which is an oddity in the Forgotten Realms world. I will admit, I adore this motley, ragtag bunch of heroes. Each one of them has their part to play in the story and their own set of abilities. Much like - I say as some that's never played D&D - I'm sure the tabletop game would be. They are pretty typical for these kinds of stories, with the 'holy-stupid' paladin and the 'mysterious (winged) woman' and the 'foolish god' but that's why these stories work so well for  me.

The plotline, I cannot deny, was somewhat...odd. The adventurers spend a good portion of their time in the realms of the gods and while that was interesting, it wasn't a very fun place - especially considering much of their journey takes place in the worlds of the 'evil' gods. However, I never read these books for a deep storyline - just a fun one. And that's what we get in this book, a fun, well-developed plotline that keeps moving.

I'll never try to convince you that this kind of stuff is high literature, (and I know there are many people that would think less of my reading taste for admitting to liking this) but if you want something light and rather unique for the Realms, I would have to say you could do a lot worse than this series.

Four Stars