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A word of caution, spoilers and personal opinion may follow. I’ve also gone on record as to liking this novella before I’ve reviewed it. To me, it ties with Oath of Nerull in the “which one is best to read” category.

The Sundered Arms is the ancient dwarven legend of Andaron and how he wanted to secure his place in legend by crafting the most beautiful and artistic crafted weapons, rivaling even the Soulforger (Moradin, a greater dwarven god). It was his hubris to have his nephew in charge of the forging, as Andaron’s skills weren’t equal to his nephew’s. Long story short, evil was afoot with the nephew and coupled with Andaron’s desire for glory, the dwarven kingdom fell and his weapons broken. Andaron becomes known throughout the world’s legends, as what not to do.

Move forward several years, the iconic party is leaving town rapidly because Bunny—er, Devis had been running a scam and was uncovered by Tordek. This brings Lidda and Tordek together with Devis. Once outside town, Vadania steps up to stop the dwarf and half-elf from being strung up (it helps when you have a giant badger running around with you).

The party then gets caught up in a rescue attempt of a recently attacked village, but discovers that the forge at Andaron’s Delve has been restarted and the Sundered Arms are being put back together.

Sundered Arms moves fast and keeps the tone light. By starting with action, it keeps the reader engaged instead of waiting until all the main characters have to meet each other. The plot is an artifact hunt, almost in reverse as the artifacts have been found; the party is there to destroy them.

The story is quick and adds some to the details that can’t be found in the core rule books, like a little addition of dwarves born on the same day are considered twins, even though they are born ten years apart. Its little details like that which add to the enjoyment of the story. Even the wistful ending is okay having been set-up with some of the details that the story presents.

Overall, the story is a good story with D&D elements added unlike some of the campaign stories this series has presented. It’s the series book’s length that keeps this series from expanding and breaking out. Once the author gets a decent handle on the characters and plot, the book is over.