The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Spoilers may be present, so if you’re looking for a review without them please direct your eyes to another review.

Another Dungeons & Dragons novella read, and it’s a puzzle to me how the author could change some much between volumes of this series. The Living Dead seems to be written by T. H. Lain, but this book doesn’t carry the same feeling of the other volume. Wells-oh.

For our reading pleasure this time around we get elven characters. The Iconics for this book are Mialee, Devis and Soveliss. Though of the three, only Devis is half-elven, the rest are pure elf.

Not that we get to see much of them acting elven in this book, but it does lend itself to having awkward inner dialogues of the characters. After being assaulted in her room, Mialee heads towards the elven temple in the city completely naked, thinking clothing is “purely utilitarian, anyway.”

A friend chimed in with, “if these books are supposed to be game sessions, a guy was playing Mialee.” Which fits to a certain degree, but the author’s handling of it makes the prose weaker by having a human-in-funny suit feel.

Even in this volume we are not spared a meeting juncture, as in this book Mialee is hit on by Devis, and the two later sleep together (or that’s what a reader may infer from the text).

Most the characters are rough visions of the “character” being “played” in a gaming session, though I think that the author was influenced by the cartoon movie Road to El Dorado, having a scene where the bard underscores his place in the story with a well-strummed lute.

Soveliss was written haphazardly, as for most the book he’s an amnesiac. Which was a fine way of including some major fighting abilities to the party, but this status of amnesiac, the character misses out on developing along side the other characters.

The plot was not the greatest, and probably very fitting for an October review, as the dead are attempting to take over the world and only the heroes can stop it.

The overall feel of this book is decent, and varies greatly from the first volume of this series. The characters this time seemed less the focus of the story than what they were to do and what they fought. Slips in the story from one point-of-view character to another were higher in this book, which quickly cut through the mystery that sets up the adventure.

And while I’m not big on elves, this book was an enjoyable treat if a bit dry in places. It still feels as though Wizards of the Coast is trying out the D&D fiction line, as the series doesn’t feel connected, so far, one volume to the next. Which isn’t bad overall; it helps keep the readers fresh, and doesn’t hinder understanding should the reader start with volume two instead of volume one.

The Living Dead
The Living Dead Capsule Review by Alex deMorris on 26/10/02 Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 3 (Average) The second volume to what I’ll call the "Iconics Series" is better in places than the first, but cuts away some of that novel’s better parts feel. Product: The Living Dead Author: T. H. Lain Category: Novel Company/Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Line: Dungeons & Dragons Cost: 5.99 Page count: 192 Year published: 2002 ISBN: 0-7869-2848-4 SKU: Comp copy?: no Capsule Review by Alex deMorris on 26/10/02 Genre tags: Fantasy	Spoilers may be present, so if you’re looking for a review without them please direct your eyes to another review. Another Dungeons & Dragons novella read, and it’s a puzzle to me how the author could change some much between volumes of this series. The Living Dead seems to be written by T. H. Lain, but this book doesn’t carry the same feeling of the other volume. Wells-oh. For our reading pleasure this time around we get elven characters. The Iconics for this book are Mialee, Devis and Soveliss. Though of the three, only Devis is half-elven, the rest are pure elf. Not that we get to see much of them acting elven in this book, but it does lend itself to having awkward inner dialogues of the characters. After being assaulted in her room, Mialee heads towards the elven temple in the city completely naked, thinking clothing is “purely utilitarian, anyway.” A friend chimed in with, “if these books are supposed to be game sessions, a guy was playing Mialee.” Which fits to a certain degree, but the author’s handling of it makes the prose weaker by having a human-in-funny suit feel. Even in this volume we are not spared a meeting juncture, as in this book Mialee is hit on by Devis, and the two later sleep together (or that’s what a reader may infer from the text). Most the characters are rough visions of the “character” being “played” in a gaming session, though I think that the author was influenced by the cartoon movie Road to El Dorado, having a scene where the bard underscores his place in the story with a well-strummed lute. Soveliss was written haphazardly, as for most the book he’s an amnesiac. Which was a fine way of including some major fighting abilities to the party, but this status of amnesiac, the character misses out on developing along side the other characters. The plot was not the greatest, and probably very fitting for an October review, as the dead are attempting to take over the world and only the heroes can stop it. The overall feel of this book is decent, and varies greatly from the first volume of this series. The characters this time seemed less the focus of the story than what they were to do and what they fought. Slips in the story from one point-of-view character to another were higher in this book, which quickly cut through the mystery that sets up the adventure. And while I’m not big on elves, this book was an enjoyable treat if a bit dry in places. It still feels as though Wizards of the Coast is trying out the D&D fiction line, as the series doesn’t feel connected, so far, one volume to the next. Which isn’t bad overall; it helps keep the readers fresh, and doesn’t hinder understanding should the reader start with volume two instead of volume one.