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"By the Loyal Fury!" Emperel gasped. "What manner of devil are you?" "The worst kind…an angry one." Beyond the High Road, by Troy Denning

"Beyond the high Road" is a Forgotten Realms novel and is the sequel to "Cormyr: A Novel," where in a barley unsuccessful coup is launched against King Azoun. BtHR deals with both repercussions of the events of that earlier novel and unfolds its own plot.

This is good, in fact a welcome change. All to often a book will raise a number of plot possibilities that will simply be ignored in future stories. While not every thread has to be answered, it is still good to see some of the major ones picked up and continued.

"…picturing Merula the Marvelous trussed naked on spit and roasting over a slow fire. If the wizard was spying on her thoughts, she wanted him to know what awaited him if he dared report any particular one to the royal magician." Beyond the High Road, by Troy Denning

There are several plots going at once in this story. The most important ones are detailed below.

Princess Tanalasta, after nearly marring a man who tried to kill her father, has spent the last several months a monastery in western Cormyr dedicated the nature goddess Chauntea. There, much exercise and study has polished away the softness that nearly undid her and the kingdom in "Cormyr: A Novel."

However, no one in the kingdom -- not her parents, not her sister, not her all-most fiancée and not the royal magician -- is willing to acknowledge this maturation. More over, her parents continually slap her down when she tries to stand up for her self or to assert herself. Vangerdahast is continually manipulative and deceptive around her, although she is his superior and will one day be his Queen. One of the more interesting characters is Dauneth Marliir -- who also figured prominently in the previous novel -- because he is genuinely devoted to the kingdom and still manages to be more civil to Princess Tanalasta than even her parents.

The conflict between Tanalasta's new assuredness and King Azoun desire for obedience, combined with Vangerdahast's manipulation, results in the princess being sent north into the Stoneland to search for her sister. The heavily implied threat to Tanalasta is that if she is not more complacent with her family, she will loose the throne to Alusair. The threat does not work very well because Tanalsta finds she wants the throne less and less.

However, the trip north does bring her into the other plots of the story. First, she meets and falls in love with Rowen Cormaeril. This is a problem because in the last novel, a Cormaeril was responsible for the attempt on the throne, and the rest of the family had the lands and title stripped. As such, Tanalasta cannot marry Rowen, regardless of how honorable he is, or how devoted to the kingdom he may be. Secondly, Xanthon Cormaeril has made a pack with various powers of darkness and is going around awakening ancient monsters from Cormyr's past to attack the kingdom today. Tanalasta walks right into the middle of the mess with Xanthon and the ancient monsters.

There is also a plot about the nature of the monsters, who created them, and a conflict between clerics and war wizards. To learn about these you will have to read the novel.

"The Lord Royal Magician of Cormyr was too proud to scream." Beyond the High Road, by Troy Denning

Some of the conflict in the story comes from Vangerdahast; conflicts that would other wise have not existed. This does not distract from the story – stories are about conflict after all -- but does raise questions about Vangerdahast.

In the story, he borders on being a fanatic, and fanatics do more harm to their cause through there over zealousness than they help their cause. The Lord Royal Magician of Cormyr is endlessly duplicitous and manipulative with the King, Queen and the Princesses. He also cannot even manage to be gracious or civil to clerics who helped save his life, and is out right belligerent with a retired member of the military. This is all unnecessary, yet he does it for the "good of Cormyr" without a second thought.

In contrast to Vangerdahast is Dauneth Marliir. Dauneth deals with Tanalasta's rejection stoically. He is unfailingly loyal to the kingdom, yet, unlike Vangerdahast, he is forthright, to say nothing of simply being polite to the people around him. Dauneth's manners, and Vangerdahast lack their-of are both highlighted by the other.

While it might be argued that Vangerdahast behaves the way he does due to his age and rank, this is not a supportable argument. The King and Queen, both mature people who out rank Vangerdahast, manage to be better behaved than the Royal Magician.

Ultimately his dogmatism gets Vangerdahast in trouble and lays the groundwork for the next novel. What will become of him is uncertain, but it does not bode well.

"I suppose I deserve that." Rowen, from Beyond the High Road, by Troy Denning.

This is not to say the book is flawless.

There is a love scene between Rowen and Tanalasta that comes across as something from the back pages of Playboy or from a naughty part of the web. While a few lines about Tanalasta worrying about Rowen perhaps being "too excited" are deliberately funny, the scene as a whole is funny although it is supposed to be mildly erotic.

Emperel Ruosk is described as a capable character, yet he does not see anything unusual (just evil) about one character ripping a bar tenders head off. At the very least, this should have caused Rousk to rethink his strategy, or failing that, someone should have commented that Ruosk was foolish.

There are the usual plethora of fight scenes. This, however, is a given considering that it is a fantasy story.

By this point, and this is not a fault solely of this story, more on the background of Alusair is needed. What did she do those years she had run away from home? What does she do with all her time romping around the stone lands? It is high time for a story about her.

While the story is quite good as a whole, it does not have the nice earthiness of Greenwood story, or the grace of a Cunningham story.

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Beyond the High Road
Author: Troy Denning Category: RPG Novel Company/Publisher: TSR Line: Forgotten Realms Fiction Cost: 5.99 U.S.A. Page count: 375 ISBN: 0-7869-1436-X Capsule Review by R. Sullivan on 01/03/00. Genre tags: Fantasy Conspiracy	"By the Loyal Fury!" Emperel gasped. "What manner of devil are you?" "The worst kind…an angry one." Beyond the High Road, by Troy Denning "Beyond the high Road" is a Forgotten Realms novel and is the sequel to "Cormyr: A Novel," where in a barley unsuccessful coup is launched against King Azoun. BtHR deals with both repercussions of the events of that earlier novel and unfolds its own plot. This is good, in fact a welcome change. All to often a book will raise a number of plot possibilities that will simply be ignored in future stories. While not every thread has to be answered, it is still good to see some of the major ones picked up and continued. "…picturing Merula the Marvelous trussed naked on spit and roasting over a slow fire. If the wizard was spying on her thoughts, she wanted him to know what awaited him if he dared report any particular one to the royal magician." Beyond the High Road, by Troy Denning There are several plots going at once in this story. The most important ones are detailed below. Princess Tanalasta, after nearly marring a man who tried to kill her father, has spent the last several months a monastery in western Cormyr dedicated the nature goddess Chauntea. There, much exercise and study has polished away the softness that nearly undid her and the kingdom in "Cormyr: A Novel." However, no one in the kingdom -- not her parents, not her sister, not her all-most fiancée and not the royal magician -- is willing to acknowledge this maturation. More over, her parents continually slap her down when she tries to stand up for her self or to assert herself. Vangerdahast is continually manipulative and deceptive around her, although she is his superior and will one day be his Queen. One of the more interesting characters is Dauneth Marliir -- who also figured prominently in the previous novel -- because he is genuinely devoted to the kingdom and still manages to be more civil to Princess Tanalasta than even her parents. The conflict between Tanalasta's new assuredness and King Azoun desire for obedience, combined with Vangerdahast's manipulation, results in the princess being sent north into the Stoneland to search for her sister. The heavily implied threat to Tanalasta is that if she is not more complacent with her family, she will loose the throne to Alusair. The threat does not work very well because Tanalsta finds she wants the throne less and less. However, the trip north does bring her into the other plots of the story. First, she meets and falls in love with Rowen Cormaeril. This is a problem because in the last novel, a Cormaeril was responsible for the attempt on the throne, and the rest of the family had the lands and title stripped. As such, Tanalasta cannot marry Rowen, regardless of how honorable he is, or how devoted to the kingdom he may be. Secondly, Xanthon Cormaeril has made a pack with various powers of darkness and is going around awakening ancient monsters from Cormyr's past to attack the kingdom today. Tanalasta walks right into the middle of the mess with Xanthon and the ancient monsters. There is also a plot about the nature of the monsters, who created them, and a conflict between clerics and war wizards. To learn about these you will have to read the novel. "The Lord Royal Magician of Cormyr was too proud to scream." Beyond the High Road, by Troy Denning Some of the conflict in the story comes from Vangerdahast; conflicts that would other wise have not existed. This does not distract from the story – stories are about conflict after all -- but does raise questions about Vangerdahast. In the story, he borders on being a fanatic, and fanatics do more harm to their cause through there over zealousness than they help their cause. The Lord Royal Magician of Cormyr is endlessly duplicitous and manipulative with the King, Queen and the Princesses. He also cannot even manage to be gracious or civil to clerics who helped save his life, and is out right belligerent with a retired member of the military. This is all unnecessary, yet he does it for the "good of Cormyr" without a second thought. In contrast to Vangerdahast is Dauneth Marliir. Dauneth deals with Tanalasta's rejection stoically. He is unfailingly loyal to the kingdom, yet, unlike Vangerdahast, he is forthright, to say nothing of simply being polite to the people around him. Dauneth's manners, and Vangerdahast lack their-of are both highlighted by the other. While it might be argued that Vangerdahast behaves the way he does due to his age and rank, this is not a supportable argument. The King and Queen, both mature people who out rank Vangerdahast, manage to be better behaved than the Royal Magician. Ultimately his dogmatism gets Vangerdahast in trouble and lays the groundwork for the next novel. What will become of him is uncertain, but it does not bode well. "I suppose I deserve that." Rowen, from Beyond the High Road, by Troy Denning. This is not to say the book is flawless. There is a love scene between Rowen and Tanalasta that comes across as something from the back pages of Playboy or from a naughty part of the web. While a few lines about Tanalasta worrying about Rowen perhaps being "too excited" are deliberately funny, the scene as a whole is funny although it is supposed to be mildly erotic. Emperel Ruosk is described as a capable character, yet he does not see anything unusual (just evil) about one character ripping a bar tenders head off. At the very least, this should have caused Rousk to rethink his strategy, or failing that, someone should have commented that Ruosk was foolish. There are the usual plethora of fight scenes. This, however, is a given considering that it is a fantasy story. By this point, and this is not a fault solely of this story, more on the background of Alusair is needed. What did she do those years she had run away from home? What does she do with all her time romping around the stone lands? It is high time for a story about her. While the story is quite good as a whole, it does not have the nice earthiness of Greenwood story, or the grace of a Cunningham story. Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 4 (Meaty)