Read and Download Ebook Darkwalker on Moonshae... Darkwalker on Moonshae Douglas Niles PDF File: Darkwalker on Moonshae... 1 Read and Download Ebook Darkwalker on Moonshae... Darkwalker on Moonshae Douglas Niles Darkwalker on Moonshae Douglas Niles The first Forgotten Realms title ever published, now available as an eBook! Darkwalker on Moonshae was the very first novel ever published in the Forgotten Realms setting. Appearing in 1987, this title launched what has now become a robust and ever-expanding land of adventure for millions of readers. Darkwalker on Moonshae Details Date : Published (first published May 1987) ISBN : Author : Douglas Niles Format : Kindle Edition 376 pages Fantasy, Dungeons and Dragons, Forgotten Realms, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, High Genre : Fantasy, Role Playing Games Download Darkwalker on Moonshae ...pdf Read Online Darkwalker on Moonshae ...pdf Download and Read Free Online Darkwalker on Moonshae Douglas Niles PDF File: Darkwalker on Moonshae... 2 Read and Download Ebook Darkwalker on Moonshae... From Reader Review Darkwalker on Moonshae for online ebook Jason Taylor says This book takes a lot of abuse from people I know who've read it. I think it's because I build it up too much. "Darkwalker" is a simple read with an uncomplicated plot and shallow character developments. That said, it's a really good story. It has all of the elements of classic fantasy, and it moves very well. It has two of the great battle scenes in fantasy. Admittedly, the ending is kind of weak as it is anticlimactic. The climatic battle at the keep is much more interesting. I think that Darkwalker would be a great movie script. Imagine a legion of beautiful female knights, a Viking horde, a gigantic hound, a massive firbolg, and a majestic unicorn, and Gavan being reworked as a minotaur. I'd pay to watch it. Luke Scull says In the kingdom of Moonshae, a terrible struggle is about to ensue. The evil beast Kazgoroth has awakened. Drawing power from a corrupted Moonwell – a source of power sacred to the Goddess – it roams the land, amassing its followers and spreading darkness throughout the isles. Prince Tristan must rally his people against the threat of this ancient evil even as the Goddess sends her own children to combat the threat. The first Forgotten Realms novel ever published, Darkwalker on Moonshae draws on Celtic-inspired mythology. Located a hundred miles off the western coast of the Forgotten Realms, the Moonshae isles have scant little to do with the mainland Forgotten Realms setting. Apparently the novel was originally written for a different setting and the refitted to the Realms, and it shows. The people of Moonshae exclusively worship the Mother (later revealed as an aspect of the goddess Chauntea), who has for centuries been venerated by the local druids. The clerics of the “new gods,” as the Realms pantheon are known, are a recent curiosity. There’s a definite feeling of the old ways slowly giving way to the new. This sense of the unknown encroaching upon a very familiar Celtic setting acts as an effective portal for new readers into this vast world. The story is standard fare, as are the characters. Tristan is notable only for his remarkably quick transition from feckless disappointment to his father, to inspirational leader and expert fighter. This occurs in the space of few dozen pages and seems mainly down to him finding a magical sword. Of slightly more interest is Robyn, Tristan’s young ward of mysterious parentage who quickly discovers she possesses druidic powers. Tristan spends much of the book fretting over how Robyn feels for him. New friends (and potential love rivals) include Daryth, a thief hailing from the Arabian Nights-inspired setting of Calimshan, and the famous bard Keren. Filling out the party are a halfling named Pawldo and, perhaps my favourite character, a moorhound named Canthus, who truly is a Good Boy. The writing is by, and large, fine. There are some clunky passages and dialogue, at least early on, but Niles writes combat well and paints a vivid picture of a beautiful land beset by evil. In places it’s surprisingly violent for a Forgotten Realms novel, with whole villages being put to the sword and rape alluded to, if not described. There are also some old-fashioned word choices - Daryth is introduced as “swarthy" - that are probably par for the course for an 80s fantasy novel. There’s little in the way of female representation - Robyn is the only female character of any real note - but PDF File: Darkwalker on Moonshae... 3 Read and Download Ebook Darkwalker on Moonshae... the sexism is mostly confined to Tristan’s attitude towards Robyn. His worship of her maidenhood jars a little with his own background of drinking and carefree wenching. Still, rather than dwell on this kind of thing – which would make this Great Realms Read-through very tedious indeed! – let’s just acknowledge it exists. It’s not as though Robyn is introduced with a silk shawl straining against her breasts…. (Ahem.) My favourite parts of the book were those describing the children of the Goddess and their bloody encounters with the wicked servants of Kazgoroth. It’s not often we get to read about a thousand-feet long leviathan doing battle with a gigantic fleet of northmen, or a unicorn goring the hilariously inept Firbolg. By the way, the Firbolg as described in Darkwalker on Moonshae are more like verbeeg or ogres than the magically powerful giant-kin described in the second edition Monstrous Manual. So dumb and hapless are they that Kazgoroth eventually decides to eviscerate its own giant minions, probably to save itself the pain of having to deal with them again. The highlight of the novel for me was a tense showdown between the moorhound Canthus and a werewolf for leadership of the Pack – a vast gathering of wolves that have been subverted by Kazgoroth. Though not terribly well written or greatly original, Darkwalker on Moonshae is a very successful entry point to the Forgotten Realms courtesy of its vivid worldbuilding and the sheer sense of mythology that permeates the novel. It captures the imagination and is easily recommended both to younger readers looking for a stepping stone into fantasy fiction and older readers keen to revisit a high fantasy setting where good and evil are very definite concepts. The sequel to Darkwalker on Moonshae, Black Wizards, was released in 1988 and is the third book on this epic journey across the Realms. First, though, Icewind Dale awaits…. Ralph Pulner says The End of the Beginning of the End Wizards of the Coast (formerly TSR) have ended their long run of Forgotten Realms novels in 2017. What better way celebrate than attempt to do a full read through of three decades of books? Does anyone remember walking into a Waldens or B&N in the late eightie's and browsing the fantasy section? It was a veritable wall of Dragonlance novels, as much as the shelves would carry. With the advent of their Red Box, ADnD 2nd edition, Dragonlance modules, Corebooks and novels, TSR was in full swing and was a money making machine. Douglas Niles was hired on to create a world for a new branch, TSR UK edition. Thematically, it focused on a mix of druidic, Norse mythology and King Arthur type fantasy. Douglas had a fleshed out world, playable module with a ton of adventure ideas and two half written books, ready to go. For 'reasons' the UK venture was scrapped and his oeuvre became an outlying chain of islands in Ed Greenwood's The Forgotten Realms, for U.S. release. His module was well received and reviewed so his half written books got the green light. The Forgotten Realms novel line was a reality. From sparse info on the internet it looks like sales for Darkwalker on Moonshae were a huge success. The book I purchased with the original cover was 12th printing and his books were re-released a few years ago. If you read this in a bubble, with passing or no interest in DnD or rpg's and you hated it, I don't fault you. This book was largely written to flesh out his creation of the isles, explore areas and show the possible campaigns one could have by playing his module. There's lots of adventure hooks here for people who did play at the time. Druids, bards, thieves, fighters, Elves, Dwarves, Halflings, dragons, giants (Firbolgs), enemy Northeners, animal companions, werewolves, Gods, Champions and BBEG (Big bad evil guy). There's castles, fortresses, all different kinds of terrain PDF File: Darkwalker on Moonshae... 4 Read and Download Ebook Darkwalker on Moonshae... options and magic weapons. It practically begs you to buy the adventure. I am comfortable with this setting. I love worldbuilding. The laws of this universe feel natural to me because I have played DnD and other RPG on and off for years. This was just...average. I give it more praise than I should because of what it represented way back in 87. A few bullet points. -Dude, she's your Sister! What is it with characters falling in love with non relatives raised as their siblings? It's one reason I stopped watching The Flash...it's too uncomfortable. -Tristan is an antihero, sort of. He's more like a putz and a whiner. He stumbles into notoriety. People dearly sell their life to see he survives but he just can't keep it together. Even when he suceeds, he fails. -This book is, at times, graphic and gory. For example, one guy gets turned into a fine mist.