3.5 stars, the young inventive scholar-priest Cadderly faces off with his ultimate nemesis - the chaos curse personified, drawing to a startling conclusion!Being the last book in the series, it's interesting to reflect on how all the characters, major and minor, evolved from the first book. Many of the Edificant Libraries residents take sinister turns, while Pikel, the dwarf-druid, and Danica, the monk, achieve the highest tiers of their respective classes. Salvatore usually has a deeper theme running in each of his novels. In this one, he touches on what it means to love; it adds a little bit of fuel to the tale but it's far from a love story. This story is ultimately about Good (manifesting in Cadderly through the power of his god, Deneir) vs Evil (a concoction of the lower planes called the chaos curse.) There are plenty of vampires and zombies, but not overloaded with boring random encounters.The conclusion has a bit of a surprise and is very well-fitting, consistent with the characters' personalities, yet also revealing how much Cadderly has grown throughout the entire adventure.It's hard to make a complete recommendation for the whole series, but if you have the time and patience then read all 5 books; if you're just looking for some quick background on Cadderly then Night Masks and The Chaos Curse were the best.
(Argh—I cannot escape vampires! They turn up everywhere! I was not happy that they were the main fixture of this book.) Overall, a neatly suspenseful story (although *this parenthetical part is a spoiler* all the drama around Danica's supposed death is ruined because the author gives away in an earlier book that monks can achieve physical suspension. And Cadderly wasn't at all freaked out by finding the apparently dead body of his fiance). I feel hugely sorry for Kierkan Rufo. I was hoping he'd get redeemed before the end, and instead he 's subjected to a gruesome demise. Also, a note about the ending: the drama and emotion is largely ruined if you've read Passage to Dawn in the Drizzt series, and there were several loose ends that didn't get patched up. This was definitely my least favorite book in the quintet. I probably would have enjoyed it more were it not for the fact that the ending was ruined and if I wasn't so frustrated with the current craze of vampires in fiction.
What do You think about The Chaos Curse (2000)?
Even though the series could have legitimately ended after the fourth book without much effort, it looks like Salvatore stretched the story out for one more book just so he could throw in vampires (pretty much the only D&D staple he hadn't already thrown into the series). There was appropriately a much darker tone during parts of this book, but it fit the theme well and didn't detract from the otherwise light-heartedness of the series. My only real gripe with the book is that he made his omniscient third-person perspective narrator flat-out lie at one point just to ratchet up the dramatic tension. If it hadn't been in relation to something he'd hinted at in the very first book (and therefore was something I was on guard against being tricked by), I'd have been fairly annoyed.All in all, this series was fast and fun and I'd recommend reading it if you've got a few days to kill and are in the mood for straightforward D&D fantasy.
—Jason
Cadderly has fought many battles against the forces of Castle Trinity and has been victorious. Now it is time to return to the Edificant Library. He dreads the return because he knows that his return will cause a split among those in his order. He has grown too powerful and is in favor with his god. The hierarchical structure is not happy with this. Little does he know that a much worse fate awaits him.The fallen priest Kierkan Rufo has returned in secret to the Library. He has been convinced by the imp Druzil that the answer can be found in the Chaos Curse. Rather than simply uncovering and releasing the curse Rufo drinks it. The result is to turn him into a vampire of tremendous power. Now Rufo sets out to bring down the library. Some will join him, some will oppose him, but none can stop him. Can Cadderly and his companions defeat this evil, or will it destroy them?This is the last book in the Cleric Quintet. This is one of the best Fantasy cycles out there. The battle of good in the face of nearly unstoppable evil rages in this book. The ending is amazing and caps off this amazing quintet. Highly Recommended.
—David Williams
