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Well, I thought I'd ease back into this whole book reviewing thing with something fairly simple, and Ed Greenwood's Spellfire fits the bill admirably. It's fairly standard fantasy fare, based on the age-old story of the young person who runs away from a nasty home situation and ends up earning fame and fortune. In this case, the tale is set in TSR's Forgotten Realms, based on the Dungeons and Dragons campaign setting of the same name.
The heroine of Spellfire is Shandril, a young woman working as a barmaid in a country inn. Sick of the treatment she is receiving from some of the other denizens of the inn, she flees with a party of adventurers who are passing through. In short order, things go awry with that bunch, and she ends up with a group that includes the famous wizard Elminster. Shandril also discovers that she possesses a powerful form of magic (the spellfire of the title). Soon, evildoers of one type or another are hunting for her, and she must quickly learn to master her powers and defend herself. She also must deal with a growing attraction between herself and a young wizard named Narm.
OK, Spellfire isn't bad, it's just that it's not that good either, as is often the case with novels written to conform to a pre-published setting. My main problem with the book was that things happen far too quickly; Shandril goes from a naive young girl dreaming of adventure to a spellfire-hurlin', dracolich-destroyin' powerhouse in a matter of days (you'll have to read the book to find out what a dracolich is, if you don't already know). Apart from that, there isn't really anything too too wrong with the book, and it does have its bright spots. I particularly enjoyed Greenwood's description of Manxam, the beholder (again, read the book to find out what a beholder is) - a truly dread-inspiring passage. The various characters are more-or-less engaging, and the plot chuffs along steadily to its appointed climax (although there is a nice, and somewhat unexpected, twist towards the end). In short, I enjoyed Spellfire, and will probably pick up more of Ed Greenwood's Forgotten Realms books when I'm looking for something unchallenging, but I'm not going to rush out and do it today.
Reviewed by Patrick Conway on December 11, 2000. Image from Sewdoll's Fantasy Clipart.
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