This is the first book set in the Dark Sun campaign setting that I've read. I'm only somewhat familiar with the setting but I found it intriguing. It was a simple and quick read, with some notable flaws.While the world of Athas deviates quite a bit from standard D&D fantasy, the plot does not. The setting is described in some detail, providing a glimpse of how life in Athas is different. But it feels like there's an assumption that the reader is familiar with Athas, and so leaves out explanations and flavourful descriptions where it would've been useful. For example, given the barren world that is Athas, the characters' reaction to seeing a forest and an abundance of water was almost non-existent.The problem with the plot is that it's full of archetypes, stereotypes, and cliches. Wizened and grumpy old man, buxom maiden, stubborn gladiator, ignorant but well-meaning noble, and the worse culprit was a "test" of the group's worthiness - which boils down to something I'd roll my eyes for.The protagonists could've been much more interesting - a noble psionicist, a preserver, and two gladiators - and they had much potential. But character development was pretty lacking so they ended up very stereotypical, with simplistic motivations. One of the villains, a templar, was the most interesting character - I want to see what happens to him in the next book. And lastly the portrayal of the sorcerer-king was a bit underwhelming. Being supposedly powerful defilers and psionicists, I was expecting a stronger finale. The gladiatorial games near the end was something I quite enjoyed though.Still, the flow of the story was good, without much slow bits. It goes from action to action at a good pace, making it easy to read and follow. For the next book, I hope character development picks up a bit; I'm not at all sympathetic to the characters at all.
by Troy Denning, published in 1991.I like a good fantasy novel, especially if it is set in a D&D world. Yeah, I’m a gamer too so I can appreciate the details of a fantasy story set in a game world. TSR used to publish many of these types of novels in the late eighties and early nineties.This is one such novel set in the world of Dark Sun, a place devastated by magic long ago and populated by various mutated races (well I think they are) as well as non-traditional fantasy races - halflings and elves are not what you would expect.I really wanted to like this novel, but it has its issues and I had a hard time with it. The writing is very good so I can’t fault Troy Denning there, but the pacing of the novel and certain sections felt like they were written to fit a certain number of pages - story be damned. Maybe a case of finishing for a deadline or editor mutilation.Not good.The story itself, when not being rushed and chopped, is pretty standard fantasy fair. Evil magic user wanting to take over and destroy, unlikely heros needing to band together to defeat him. Nothing new here, but that doesn’t make it bad, just predictable.If it weren’t for the poor pacing issues, and some not-so-good characterizations, I would rate this book much higher.As it stands I’m only going to go with about a 2 out of 5.If you can immerse yourself in the world of Dark Sun, and you like good writing and can ignore shoddy pacing and some lame sections, you will like this.Oh, and it is the first of 5 books in the Prism Pentad series. And yes, despite this books flaws I will finish the series just to see where it goes. The gamer in me demands it, and who knows maybe the next four will be better.
What do You think about The Verdant Passage (1991)?
Denning really brings the Dark Sun world to life. I have seen Brom's art for Dark Sun and I knew of the D&D campaign setting, but I really didn't know a lot about the overall background of the world. This book acts as a great introduction to Athas and the city of Tyr. I look forward to the other novels in the series (5 in all). I, however, do not look forward to WotC refusal to use editors on their novels including ones that they have rerelased in a shiner more expensive version. Original published in the 1990's the book suffers from some clear and at times glaring errors. In a section where a character is looking at a creature and describing it to the reader it talks about the nose, eyes, and the creature's "month". I believe this was meant to be "mouth" but perhaps it is a form of monster anatomy I am not familiar with. There were several other instances of this throughout the book. Barring those errors I would have given the book 4 stars for sure, but some of them just took me right out of the moment, which is a shame given Denning's talent as an exceptional action, magic, fighting writer.
—Brian
This was a fantastic introduction to the Dark Sun Setting. The characters, even when a little clichéd, are awesome--all of them unique figures in a very unique setting. I enjoyed the female jousting more then I thought I would + I was very happy with the halflings portrayal.The adventures around the world are notable because they really feel like standard D&D encounters--we do not spend a lot of time in dialog or travel--we show up at the trap and get it on. And on.And ON.The final battle is super fantastic and long long long--totally worth the build up.I really loved the way this unfolded and look foreword to reading the rest of this series.
—David Schwarm
I had pretty low expectations for this book. I gotta be honest with you, GoodReads members, I'm only reading this stuff because our D&D group is starting a Dark Sun campaign soon so I figured this would be a good way to learn more about the setting. Anyways I was pleasantly surprised to find it a quick and enjoyable read. There's nothing very deep going on here (except for some polyamorous relationships) but the author does a good job with the archetypes he has. He also does a good job of evoking the feel of the places the party travels - the harsh and cruel city-state of Tyr and the surrounding desert, the unbelievable heights and thin air of the Ringing Mountains, the dangerous overgrown jungle ET CETERA. In keeping with the harsh desert atmosphere, the book is pretty brutal - people don't get stabbed, they get disemboweled and their intestines have a tendency to fly about. I feel like if I were in high school when I read this I would have been blown away, but as it was I was just surprised at the gore levels. If you're going to play a Dark Sun game or you have a hankering for some simple fantasy, you could read this book.
—Mark
