Hopefully I can give an unbiased (or at least relatively unbiased) opinion on the new Forgotten Realms hardcover campaign setting. I am neither an avid Realmsian, nor an anti-Realmsian, but have purchased numerous FR products dating back to the original box set in 1987--mainly for ideas-plundering and entertainment (I have a hankering for fantasy settings). So my point here is not to go through the book chapter by chapter to discuss the merits and flaws of it (which another review on this site has done quite well, imo), but to give my general opinion of the work, and how it compares to not only previous Forgotten Realms incarnations, but other available fantasy RPG settings.
The Forgotten Realms pose an interesting quandary--no other campaign setting, with the possible exception of the World of Darkness, give me the Seesaw Effect so often; one moment "Nice idea, I kinda like the Realms", the next moment "Are you kidding?! How silly". The reason for this, I believe, is that the Forgotten Realms is unabashedly a world designed strictly for roleplaying games Dungeons & Dragons-style. So you get a mess of faux-real world cultures, geographic inconsistencies and general unrealism of various kinds mixed in with numerous interesting tidbits, adventure possibilities and entertaining ideas. It is obvious that both the original setting as designed by Ed Greenwood, and the commercial version as co-opted and expanded by TSR/WotC, was largely made "from the inside out"--new regions and locations were added as the campaign developed. In short, the Forgotten Realms is a total melting pot--a complete mess, even--that has a certain lack of the fine artform of world design internal logic (which Middle-Earth is still unsurpassed for). But it is an entertaining one and a veritable goldmine for D&D adventure ideas--and it still manages to have a "Realmsian-vibe", an atmosphere uniquely its own, perhaps the most crucial element of a campaign setting. Furthermore, this new book is an absolute beauty--with a $40 (whoops..."$39.95") price tag one would expect a lot, and I must say I've found it worth the price.
The new Forgotten Realms book is, in just about every possible way, a superior product to previous editions. The layout is much better, the maps are very nice (although there could have been more internal ones), and the detail is impressive. Many inconsistencies were cleared up--for example, varying population figures were corrected (anyone remember Calimport weighing in at two million inhabitants in the old FR series sourcebook?). The artwork is generally good, although some of the pieces are a bit...odd (elves with huge noses just don't work for me).
Overall, like "3rd edition" Dungeons & Dragons in general, this book generally only throws out the "bathwater" and not the "baby"; the people at Wizards of the Coast seem to have a good grasp on what has worked in the past and what hasn't (and there has been a LOT of bathwater over the last 10-15 years of 2nd edition AD&D). Furthermore, also like 3ed as a whole, the layout and style of the Realms is such that you can truly pick and choose what you want to use, whether you merely wish to plunder an idea here and an idea there, or run a full-out campaign in the Realms; the Realms is open-ended, this volume being a terrific reference work--it can be used as a step-by-step manual, but it is not rigidly set up so.
In other words, the style of the new FR book has well captured the best features of the old classic mess called the 1st edition Dungeon Masters Guide, with its veritable storehouse of information, but impossibility of coherency and ease-of-use for a newly hatched player, and the easier--but perhaps more boring--step-by-step styles of later TSR/WotC products. It balances complexity and richness of information with clarity and ease-of-use.
How does the Forgotten Realms compare to other fantasy settings available? Depends on what you are looking for. While the FR can be played however you want to play it (like most, if not all, RPGs), it definitely conveys a certain classic D&D style--exploration of ancient ruins, skirmishes with humanoid tribes, excessive use of the drow, power organizations aplenty, and so forth. If you want a ready made setting along those lines, it is hard to beat it--I definitely prefer it to Greyhawk, which isn't as detailed or as fun; or Kalamar, which seems to be what you get when you mix Harnworld and the Forgotten Realms, and water it down a bit.
If you want something a bit more novel or exotic, a setting that isn't just a fantasized version of the Real World, than Forgotten Realms probably isn't for you--try Tekumel, Talislanta or Shadow World. The same goes if you want a "realistic" setting that marries magic and medievality--try Ars Magica's Mythic Europe or Harnworld; or if you want fantasy hybridized with the atmosphere of other genres--try Tribe 8 or Agone.
Summary:
The overall merit--and flaw--of the Forgotten Realms setting is that it is a big jumbled mess of fun made just right for fantasy D&D style. Whether you want to run a campaign in a ready-made world in that vein, or you desire a sourcebook for ideas-plundering, this is a great book to have (and it is worth the $40 price tag). If you have no interest in either of those options, what are you reading this review for?
P.S. A good thing about the book--not too much Elminster or Drizz't.
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