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The novel takes its title from the artifact that shows up in the course of the story. The Staff of the Necromancer (the Alabaster Staff to some) is a powerful artifact that grants its wielder the ability to raise and control undead.
The novel is about a young street magician (okay, thief) in the city of Messemprar, in the lands of Unther, and her being sucked into a plot to bring back the fallen god Gilgeam (a Realmsian version of Gilgamish—ascended to godhood). The nature of the story has Kehrsyn (the thief) bouncing back and forth between the Red Wizards, Church of Tiamat, the Zhentarim and the thieves’ guild, with other minor characters thrown in for good measure. One group seeks to use the Staff to annihilate Messemprar’s enemies, but the real villain gets a hold of it and tries to revive his god. The heroine saves the day, and helps remove the threat of an undead deity.
What might be seen as a confusing, and unnecessarily complex, plot turns out being an adventure tale with an ancient evil artifact as the prize. Bolme turns out a decent paced novel, filled with some unusual dialogue (High Untheric reads somewhat like Shakespearean speeches) and hidden identities (no less then three characters are not what they seem—sheesh). I enjoyed reading this novel; though felt that the multiple-crosses and hidden identities were a bit overdone.
Development of characters in the novel is sparse, leaving much to be desired of the characters other than action. The story grants Kehrsyn forward momentum, but knocks the reader back as her backstory is told. At the unveiling of one of the villain’s real identity, it comes across as more of a “okay, whatever,” as opposed to a major shock.
Overall, the Alabaster Staff is a fun, entertaining novel that will satisfy the hunger for a fantasy adventure tale, but not so satisfying that it’ll keep you satiated for long.
