Forgotten Realms: Realms Of Infamy Edited By James Lowder

 Those not familiar with the role playing game Dungeons and Dragons likely don't know what Forgotten Realms is. Dungeons and Dragons is a game that is largely set up around story telling. And every story has to have a setting. The Forgotten Realms predate Dungeons and Dragons, having been created by Ed Greenwood in 1967 as the setting for his fantasy stories. He began writing about Forgotten Realms in Dragon Magazine after becoming a fan of the game and using his creation to set his own campaigns in the mid to late 70's. Soon the company adopted the setting and made them the official setting for several adventures they published. And not just in the game. It didn't take a genius to see that tie-in novels would be a good way to merchandise to fans of the game, and maybe help expand the customer base of the game to readers who were not yet playing. And one of those books was a collections of short stories called Realms of Infamy, edited by James Lowder.

As with almost any anthology of short stories, the quality of the stories included varies. The style of the stories also varies, with elements from other genres being used in these fantasy works. The first story, for instance, has elements of political intrigue. Written by the man who developed the Realms in the first place, Ed Greenwood's A Price So High follows the plottings of a mage who plans to take over the rule of a keep, and the plottings of the men who want to stop him. Throw in an alliance with a faction of Beholders (a popular mainstay of D&D) and it's an interesting story, even if the resolution seems a bit confused.

Next up is a story titled The More Things Change by Elaine Cunningham. It has the scope of an epic story tracing the life of an elf who begins life as an aristocrat, gets dishonored and begins a new life on the wrong side of the tracks, claws his way to the top of the underworld, and reflects on how his new life is similar to his old one. Unfortunately the whole tale takes up just a few pages and is more of an outline than a real story. Most of the time we spend with the elf is in in-between moments when he is reflecting on all the exciting things that have happened to him. So we miss out on the adventure and intrigue on a first-hand level, and instead get ruminating. The storyline itself is interesting, but told in the least interesting way possible.

The Meaning of Lore by Barb Hendee is one of the better stories, following a scheming and ambitious loremaster who has designs to make himself rich and famous. He goes through an experience that seems to teach him a lesson, but in the end it seems that his nature will be what it is. The fact that this one includes an actual dungeon of sorts also endears it to me. I tend to be someone who embraces tropes. Raven's Egg by Elaine Bergstrom is another highlight, written almost as an Edgar Allen Poe tale set in a mystical fantasy land, complete with the macabre twist ending that would be totally in tune in an E.C. horror comic. Even the story is one that could be told in a more normal setting, a man mistrusts his wife and sets up a scheme to get even, only to have the scheme get turned on it's head and used against him. And this is another tale where a man's baser nature cannot be softened, even after it leads to his own demise. 

R.A. Salvatore is a well known name by readers of fantasy novels, at least partly through his other Forgotten Realms work. His story here, titled The Third Level, seems like the possible setup for a longer exploration of a character. It's different from most fantasy in that the protagonist seems to have few redeemable qualities, but his ruthlessness and determination make you cheer him on anyway. It's a story about a young man's rise from street urchin to major player in a thieve's guild. After that we go on a vampire hunt in Blood Sport by Christie Golden. At one time this would have been of more interest to me, but since Ann Rice popularixed the "Vampire with a heart of gold" theme I feel like it's been overdone and vampired have become more domesticated than the family dog. It's a fun story in spite of that, but this one also feels like the setup for a character the author wants to explore further, only in this case I don't want to be counted in. 

Gallows Day by David Cook starts off pretty good, and I enjoy the characters that get sketched out. But sadly what starts out looking like it will be a clever heist story ends with the heist being more of a "get caught in a hopeless situation and get out of it with an obscenely large bribe" plot. It involves a group of thieves who have to rescue a comrade from being hanged, and figure out how he was so easily apprehended to begin with. Even at the end when the character who sets the events in motion points out that it was more about sending a message, it seems that the message he sent would inspire less, and not more, loyalty.  Another standout is A Matter of Thorns by James M. Ward. A horror story with comic elements, with an unlikely and oblivious hero, in retrospect the outcome may not exactly seem obvious but also doesn't come from nowhere. It's another story that could fit in well with the ouvre of E.C. horror comics of the past. I'll just say that it involves a narcissistic new lord, a blood curse, and a rose bush that feeds on blood and controls minds. 

Another story that has a protagonist who the author doesn't bother trying to give redeeming qualities, Stolen Spells by Denise Vitola tells about a thief who is hired to steal an elixir from an old dwarf.  Of course there is a double cross and the story is one of revenge. It's a fun story, though one with few surprises. Next up is a story that is good despite having a goofy element to the end. The Greatest Hero Who Ever Died by J. Robert King has a mysterious stranger telling the story of the great knight Sir Paramore. But it is obvious from the beginning that the storytelling is an unreliable narrator who has some weird hold on his audience. Even if you see the twist coming almost from the beginning, it doesn't take away from the fun of this rather gory tale.

Twilight by Troy Denning starts off as an over the top mythology, telling about the creation of the races of giants. It moves into a more narrative style, but does not lose the over the top elements. It's the darkest of the stories, getting even more bleak than the comedically dark Greatest Hero. Fans of The Silmarillion might enjoy this similar bit of world building.  The Walls Of Midnight by Mark Anthony is a more traditional fantasy adventure story, with a young woman seeking to become a warrior of renown, who meets a mage also trying to find his way. The two have each been sent on an impossible missions, meant to fail. But their meeting gives them what they need to beat the odds. A dark story, it's not the ending you would expect from a story like this. It's a grim tale with a grim view of it's world, but a very enjoyable one none the less. 

And Wringing Of Hands by Jane Cooper Hong is a highlight in what is a pretty solid anthology so far. It deals with as assistant to an assassin whose conscience is starting to bother him. He befriends a young lady who heightens these feelings of guilt about his complicity in so much death. Of course, it is only a matter of time before she becomes the next target for his boss. A really good story that relies heavily on character, you could take this one out of the fantasy world setting and it would still work just as well. To me, those are the best kind of stories, much like the way the best songs can be interpreted in multiple genres and still work. In the context of that analogy, this story is a hit.

Normally when fantasy authors try to incorporate politics and political intrigue into their stories it falls a little flat. Robert Jordan was one of the few who was really good at it. Thieves' Honor by Mary W. Herbert is not at the Robert Jordan level, but it is leaps and bounds better than most others. It starts with a fun character, Teza a female horse thief. She is recruited by a witch to help with what she thinks is a romantic liaison. It's a pretty straightforward story with some fun elements. Laughter in the Flames by James Lowder is a pretty standard EC Comics morality tale. There's an old adventurer who disrespects everyone, especially the servants. One of the servants gives him some information directly after being humiliated by him. It seems like a set-up, and it is. It's pretty easy to see where this one is going, but it's still a lot of fun if you enjoy these kinds of stories (which I very much do). 

Roger E. Moore wrote one of only a couple of stories not told from a human perspective in Vision. This one is told from the point of view of goblins, an interesting choice that makes the story stand out. I know there was an earlier one told from the view of giants, but this is more of a regular narrative and has less of a "writing mythology" flavor to it. But the mythology of the goblins is very much woven into the story. It is the story of a group of goblins sent on a quest by their gods, but it's a very different kind of quest than we usually get in these kinds of stories. The two main characters are a blind mad half human goblin who is on a mission to return goblins to their savage origins, and a full blooded goblin whose outlook is much closer to humans in nature. At least at first. This one is brutal, and all the better for it, though not really explicit in details. I guess they were trying to keep it as PG friendly as possible. Still a really fun read and a great way to round out the collection. Over all this is a really solid anthology with more hits than misses. FOr fans of Dungeons and Dragons, or just fantasy in general, I suggest it.