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Those looking for an unspoiled read of the novella, please note: Possible spoilers and personal opinion follows.
The Death Ray sounds the death knell for the Dungeons & Dragons iconics series, as the events of the past ten stories finds their conclusions, none happy to be noted, here. Lain tries to figure out the characters of his supporting story as he tries to keep in tone with his main cast. Regdar and Naull are recuperating after the events of the Return of the Damned in New Koratia, a city where Regdar is commander of the Ducal Guard.
The Duke tries to setup Regdar to marry his daughter, Maelani, though the fighter has been through hell to rescue Naull. A pivotal enemy against this is Vargussel, using a shield guardian to enact his violence on Maelani’s would-be suitors. Vargussel spends his time torn between his orders from his dark god and lusting after Maelani, finally coming to some wizard gusto at the end, where he nearly destroys Regdar with his magic abilities.
The Death Ray has decent action and cool magic displays, but doesn’t really show more than cardboard (prepainted plastic miniatures?) caricatures going through the motions of the plot. The daughter wanting to secure Regdar’s love with a love potion was a minor twist from the forced marriage angle, but the elimination of the main character’s love interest at the was the more surprising.
The Death Ray is a nice, light read, but doesn’t carry enough weight to be more than an afternoon’s distraction or mildly entertaining “brain candy.” Overall, the fault of the series lies in its length, a scant hundred-seventy plus pages isn’t a great length for a more compelling read. The Death Ray isn’t bad, just short and ends the novella series quickly and painlessly.
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