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Forsworn Written by Richard Lee Byers Published by White Wolf Stuidios/SSS 288 b & w pages $6.50

First off, let me start off with a spoiler warning. If you’re just looking for a brief idea on the value of this book, it’s more of the same as the first one. A high magic yarn set in the Scarred Lands written by Richard Lee Byers that picks up a lot of the threads from the first book including the death of the rogue and the curse of love between two of the main characters. The ending is a bit of a shocker but nothing huge if you consider the fact that this same issue has already happened before but does set up a nice pace for the third volume.

Now for the rest of you…Let me start off with some of the things I don’t like about Forsworn that has nothing to do with the book itself. First off, the cover. I don’t like seeing reused art and this is taken, as the first book’s cover was, right off the Scarred Lands Screen. Second up, the assumptions in the book. For those who don’t know, the Scarred Lands setting is used by Sword & Sorcery Studios as a D20 role playing game setting. That’s a good thing. The bad thing is that all those game mechanics seem to be at work 24-7 behind the scenes without letting the reader have any clue as to how things work, so if you don’t know anything about the game system, you may find yourself wondering, how do wizards and clerics and others cast their spells?

As far as the book itself goes, it is the second installment in the Dead God Trilogy. During a massive war between Titans and Gods, several Gods were slain. One of the followers, Vladawen, of one of those gods, That Which Abides, a being whose name has been lost due to the manner of his death, seeks to restore his god. In this novel, his search takes him out or Darakeene and into Hollowfaust. Now this time, they’ve provided a map of Hollowfaust, a nice touch missing in the first book that had an overland map, but no Darakeene map. I suspect that once again, we have the game-tie ins to thank for that as Hollowfaust is a detailed city in the game setting and Darakeene isn’t.

Now for those who don’t know, Hollowfaust is a city of necromancers and this makes it an interesting setting in and of itself. Add a wandering encounter with a druid who is an incarnate, a being who relives past lives to gain their knowledge, and one of whose past lives is an ‘evil’ necromancer, as opposed to the standard ones, and you have a mix that insures that the natives of the city aren’t happy at all.

Some of the more interesting aspects of the book come in through the events surrounding That Which Abides. See, in the first book, Forsaken, many soldiers in Darakeene died in the name of That Which Abides. Now things like this happen all the time, people dying in the name of religion, but in this case, since the god is dead, they cannot find their final rest. An interesting twist that puts the former followers against the high priest of the dead god.

With some assistance from Belsameth, the Goddess of Lies and Murder, Vladawen triumphs over the issues erupting in Hollowfaust. Never mind that it’s because of Belsameth herself that many of these problems originated. The end result is that Vladawen discovers a ritual that’ll enable him to bring the god back. The bad news? He needs to know the deity’s name, which leads him to an ancient Slarecian ruin where he hopes to learn the name.

Suffice it to say, that they meet another wandering traveler, this one perhaps not so friendly who provides aid and assistance. While searching through the Slarecian ruins, Vladawen discovers the means to learn his dead god’s name, but it involves bargaining with a powerful wyrm, or dragon, who must complete an item, an Oracle, that provides information. See, the thought is, since the Oracle wasn’t complete at the time of the god’s dissolution, it shouldn’t’ be effected by the curse which wiped the memory out of most people’s minds and it works well for the Forsaken Elf.

Now with this in place, things really go fast and the ending is a bit of a shocker, too much so for me to spoil it for you.

Now as far as the character development, I enjoyed this book much more than the previous one, which perhaps could only set up the characters here. For example, Lilly and Vladawen are cursed to love one another and due to the knowledge of the curse, also seem to hate each other over it. This theme is worked on and brings some interesting contrast between the near immortal elf and his human lover. Another interesting twist comes from Opal, the mage of the series. A simple farm woman with no lost love for Vladawen, she stays true to herself. It’s interesting because one would almost think that due to her hatred of Vladawen, she would turn against him but it’s not exactly Vladawen she doesn’t like, as opposed to some of the methods he’s used, so when offered those same methods to use against him, Opal declines.

On a personal level, I like the book but worry about the setting. Many people who enjoy the Forgotten Realms novels don’t necessarily play the game and I fear the same may be true here. What effects would raising a god have on the setting? How far is White Wolf willing to change the whole setting, less then two years old, to create conflict and quests for their characters? In addition, there is a very ‘fluff’ amount of magic here. One of the gods of the setting is almost a main character and many of the minor characters that show up are actually quite powerful in their own right. Heck, Vladawen himself has already been raised from the dead prior to the series starting.

I think that Forsworn helps set the stage nicely for the final volume and is a good ‘candy’ read. I don’t think it’s in the same class as say Raymond E. Feist’s Magician or Tad Williams Memory, Sorrow and Thorn, but if you’ve got a bowl of popcorn and a hankering for some high fantasy in the Scarred Lands, it’s a good read.

Forsworn
Forsworn Capsule Review by Joe G Kushner on 10/12/02 Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 3 (Average) The igh priest of a dead god continues his quest to resurrect his deity. Product: Forsworn Author: Richard Lee Byers Category: Novel Company/Publisher: White Wolf Line: Scarred Lands Cost: 6.50 Page count: 288 Year published: 2002 ISBN: 1588468100 SKU: WW11662 Comp copy?: yes Capsule Review by Joe G Kushner on 10/12/02 Genre tags: Fantasy	Forsworn Written by Richard Lee Byers Published by White Wolf Stuidios/SSS 288 b & w pages $6.50 First off, let me start off with a spoiler warning. If you’re just looking for a brief idea on the value of this book, it’s more of the same as the first one. A high magic yarn set in the Scarred Lands written by Richard Lee Byers that picks up a lot of the threads from the first book including the death of the rogue and the curse of love between two of the main characters. The ending is a bit of a shocker but nothing huge if you consider the fact that this same issue has already happened before but does set up a nice pace for the third volume. Now for the rest of you…Let me start off with some of the things I don’t like about Forsworn that has nothing to do with the book itself. First off, the cover. I don’t like seeing reused art and this is taken, as the first book’s cover was, right off the Scarred Lands Screen. Second up, the assumptions in the book. For those who don’t know, the Scarred Lands setting is used by Sword & Sorcery Studios as a D20 role playing game setting. That’s a good thing. The bad thing is that all those game mechanics seem to be at work 24-7 behind the scenes without letting the reader have any clue as to how things work, so if you don’t know anything about the game system, you may find yourself wondering, how do wizards and clerics and others cast their spells? As far as the book itself goes, it is the second installment in the Dead God Trilogy. During a massive war between Titans and Gods, several Gods were slain. One of the followers, Vladawen, of one of those gods, That Which Abides, a being whose name has been lost due to the manner of his death, seeks to restore his god. In this novel, his search takes him out or Darakeene and into Hollowfaust. Now this time, they’ve provided a map of Hollowfaust, a nice touch missing in the first book that had an overland map, but no Darakeene map. I suspect that once again, we have the game-tie ins to thank for that as Hollowfaust is a detailed city in the game setting and Darakeene isn’t. Now for those who don’t know, Hollowfaust is a city of necromancers and this makes it an interesting setting in and of itself. Add a wandering encounter with a druid who is an incarnate, a being who relives past lives to gain their knowledge, and one of whose past lives is an ‘evil’ necromancer, as opposed to the standard ones, and you have a mix that insures that the natives of the city aren’t happy at all. Some of the more interesting aspects of the book come in through the events surrounding That Which Abides. See, in the first book, Forsaken, many soldiers in Darakeene died in the name of That Which Abides. Now things like this happen all the time, people dying in the name of religion, but in this case, since the god is dead, they cannot find their final rest. An interesting twist that puts the former followers against the high priest of the dead god. With some assistance from Belsameth, the Goddess of Lies and Murder, Vladawen triumphs over the issues erupting in Hollowfaust. Never mind that it’s because of Belsameth herself that many of these problems originated. The end result is that Vladawen discovers a ritual that’ll enable him to bring the god back. The bad news? He needs to know the deity’s name, which leads him to an ancient Slarecian ruin where he hopes to learn the name. Suffice it to say, that they meet another wandering traveler, this one perhaps not so friendly who provides aid and assistance. While searching through the Slarecian ruins, Vladawen discovers the means to learn his dead god’s name, but it involves bargaining with a powerful wyrm, or dragon, who must complete an item, an Oracle, that provides information. See, the thought is, since the Oracle wasn’t complete at the time of the god’s dissolution, it shouldn’t’ be effected by the curse which wiped the memory out of most people’s minds and it works well for the Forsaken Elf. Now with this in place, things really go fast and the ending is a bit of a shocker, too much so for me to spoil it for you. Now as far as the character development, I enjoyed this book much more than the previous one, which perhaps could only set up the characters here. For example, Lilly and Vladawen are cursed to love one another and due to the knowledge of the curse, also seem to hate each other over it. This theme is worked on and brings some interesting contrast between the near immortal elf and his human lover. Another interesting twist comes from Opal, the mage of the series. A simple farm woman with no lost love for Vladawen, she stays true to herself. It’s interesting because one would almost think that due to her hatred of Vladawen, she would turn against him but it’s not exactly Vladawen she doesn’t like, as opposed to some of the methods he’s used, so when offered those same methods to use against him, Opal declines. On a personal level, I like the book but worry about the setting. Many people who enjoy the Forgotten Realms novels don’t necessarily play the game and I fear the same may be true here. What effects would raising a god have on the setting? How far is White Wolf willing to change the whole setting, less then two years old, to create conflict and quests for their characters? In addition, there is a very ‘fluff’ amount of magic here. One of the gods of the setting is almost a main character and many of the minor characters that show up are actually quite powerful in their own right. Heck, Vladawen himself has already been raised from the dead prior to the series starting. I think that Forsworn helps set the stage nicely for the final volume and is a good ‘candy’ read. I don’t think it’s in the same class as say Raymond E. Feist’s Magician or Tad Williams Memory, Sorrow and Thorn, but if you’ve got a bowl of popcorn and a hankering for some high fantasy in the Scarred Lands, it’s a good read.