The first (and rarest) adventure in Ed Greenwood's most highly esteemed adventures, Shadowdale begins the dramatic tale of the Time of Troubles. The gods walk the Realms! Thrown into exile by some unfathomable power, the avatars desperately vie with one another for the Tablets of Fate, the only key to unlocking their mortal prisons. Chaos fills the land, wild magic rules, nature itself revolts, epic battles between hated rivals come full force, and amidst it all, the hapless PCs... a wonderful adventure for levels 5-8, not to be missed.

Terror strikes the Realms! As the epic Avatar trilogy continues, Elminster himself is stricken down by the forces of evil. As the gods walk in flesh, Bane and Torm battle for dominance - with the heroes caught in the middle! An excellent, atmospheric module that cunningly incorporates the deities of the game in an intermediate-player setting, without wiping the heroes out - provided they're excellent adventurers, of course. ;)

Ed Greenwood does it again! Volo's Guide to the Dalelands is a book that you don't want to do without if you're a DM that is fond of the Dalelands region of the Forgotten Realms. It's got the always enjoyable style of Volo, with comments (and of course, witty remarks!) thrown in from Elminster.

Besides all that, it's full of little tidbits of information that you, as the DM, can work with to make stories jump out just from a whisper of a hint of an idea.

And, as always, the listings and descriptions of various inns, taverns, shops, etc. are invaluable to giving your players a feel for the game.

Here it is, the classic sourcebook that started it all! Ed Greenwood explores the most intriguing city of adventure for AD&D - Waterdeep, the colossal tradeport on the verge of the Savage Frontier! Details include the dungeons below, famous personages, endless lines of shops, huge reams of intrigue and plot ideas and adventure hooks, and yes, the colossal map of the city itself... a wonderful sourcebook for all DMs, because it shows how to make the cities even more interesting than the dungeons!

Ed Greenwood's classic, very rare and out of print, brings the Time of Troubles trilogy to its earth-shattering conclusion. To save Faerun, your heroes (levels 6-9) must journey to the legendary city itself, Waterdeep, and with the aid of Midnight and Elminster himself, they must challenge a god! When the gods themselves walk the realms, life is short, and never easy... an intense adventure, highly recommended.

for a player who has just begun playing in this realm then it may be of some use, but it gives to broad an overview to get any real information on it, for that get the cam[paign setting

The PG (Player's Guide) series is a well-crafted, "user-friendly" set of guidebooks that introduces new players to the worlds of TSR. The approach is refreshingly light and engaging (gamespeak and rhetoric are kept to an absolute minimum), and as primary overviews of classic campaign worlds, these colorful sourcebooks are ideal! This one details the Forgotten Realms - chapters include lore on The Seekers (a great adventuring fellowship), and their journeys throughout the North - 128 pages, a fantastic story!

Being an educated DM I decided to use the book as a module instead of a guide. By turning my evil campaign against the magister it created a wonderful module for high level characters... I changed the rules alittle (as always) but it seem great and made a perfect exit for the players characters... All my players agreed that they enjoyed that adventure more than most others they had went through... Be creative... Many books can be used in multiple ways....

In secrets of the magister it tells you if u look close enough how to be an invincible level 1 mage with all satas 25 and unlimeted wish spells. the invincibility comes with casting i think its a 6th level spell in an area described i the book and to get 720 wishes have the magister give u the ability to cast wish, just read closely and its all possable great book buy it.

I bought this module and convinced my DM to allow my character a shot at becoming the Magister. After successfully attaining that high esteemed place, she was continuously was bombarded by mages attempting to destroy her (and thusly quickly raised herself to phenomenal strength). This module does not tell you how to role play the magister...it tells you what comes along with being the Magister, what you must do and a long history of the Magister. The people below seem to forget that Ed Greenwood created Forgotten Realms and whatever he says goes. Sure the Magister is a powerful person but wouldn't it take a more powerful mage to take her down? You see PCs who live long enough to reach high level should be rewarded with such honors and that is what this book is for. It is an excellent way to retire a mage who has done everything. The key to this module is how the DM uses it not what the module says.

Where's a good mage war when you need one? While Mr. Greenwood is a master of describing the intricacies of spell battles, his skills at characters development and human interaction are tragically underdeveloped. One gets the impression that every heroic character in his works has the same sophomoric, sarcastic sense of humor; the same selfless devotion to good causes (usually without any motivation); and the same overly sexualized past (read his books and you'll see what I mean) without any real follow-through in the present-day. The villains are even worse. I had to force myself to finish this book (nee trilogy) because I paid good money for it and I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't. Overall, this was a sadly disappointing work from an icon of game design. Please focus more on your strengths, Mr. Greenwood.

I really wanted to like this series of books because I think Ed Greenwood is an extremely creative writer (he'd have to be to create the entire Forgotten Realms setting), but I was completely disappointed. This series exemplifies the worst aspect of his writing. There were times when fifty pages would go by and I couldn't really think of one significant thing that happened to advance the plot. Over and over, a new enemy--one of the Malaugrym--is introduced, tries to kill Elminster or one of the other protagonists, and then ends up dying himself. It gets really old really quick. This entire series could have easily been fit into one novel instead of a trilogy. However, I will say that the best part about this series is the witty dialogue and the character of Elminster. There were many times when I actually laughed out loud. If Greenwood's brand of humor appeals to you, then this series may be worth checking out. Otherwise, I would suggest reading books that have better storylines, for example, Salvatore and Cunningham.

... not just of Greenwood's works, but just of Fantasy in general. The novel picks up directly where the last one left off, and flows without a hitch. The Rnagers Three return as the main heros of the novel, with Elminster and the Knights of Myth Drannor (all FR regulars) spiraling in to give life to Greenwoods infamous humor. (Check out the chapter "There's always revenge". that cracks me up every time i read it.) while the battle scenes (specificly the one for Mistledale) are rather unrealistic (70 v 7000, 70 win with maybe 20 casualties...) they are fun and very well crafted. The way that Greenwood lights from perspective to perspective draws the reader in, and the Maulaugrym provide entertaining and origional villians. THe trilogy was created to be a more perosnal look at the Time of Troubles (as opposed to the Avatar Trilogys wider world-based view) and the two complement eachother nicely, although Greenwood is the better of the three writters. I recomend this to everyone and anyone who enjoys FR and Fantasy novels.

This is really just a novel, in which each of the seven sisters passes on the baton to the next as part of a connected story. The device is a bit thin, but the book is perfectly readable, and fine as light relaxing fiction. I'd like more, as ever. Greenwood isn't a particularly good writer, but the work is edited competently and flows easily enough. It's no worse than the Elminster stories.

The only gripe I had was with the physical format and cost. It's hard to hold so big a volume, and I object to paying extra for something that won't fit on my shelves.

But if you like the Forgotten Realms setting, and have liked other Greenwood novels, I think you'll be happy with this one.

I thought the writing was excellent, classic Greenwood. The story was engaging, the characters vivid. The seven sisters really shine in this work. I had thought from the title and earlier rumors about the book that the history of the sisters would have been explained better. Instead, the book focuses on a modern day (for the Realms) conspiracy. The ending was confusing, since the entire book focused more on how the conspiracy was going than on the sisters. In the beginning they seem to stumble upon an evil group, and by the end we learn this massive effort and all its resources are for one purpose which barely ties in! I won't ruin it, but be warned.

This book keeps you wanting to read more, because no where is there such a complete book on the seven sisters.

The book ties itself together nicely, and also has a good ending that wasn't so predictable. You never know where the story will take you next, or who new will show up, and that's why it's lke an awsome adventure.

Also some famous Forgotten Realms characters show up here and that's another reason why I like it.

I had been very much looking forward to reading this book. Spellfire sounded extremely intesting, and i've read many articles by Greenwood that i was thouroughly impressed with (although he does seem to be a little bit to high on the ego side with Elminster).
Spellfire started out rather slow. I was ok with this though, because i like good character development. However, this book had way WAY too many characters and it became somewhat difficult to keep track of who was who. The story around Shandril was fairly good i thought. Unfortunately, throughout the entire book, the main story seemed to completely repeat itself 3 or even 4 times!
At the end of the book, it finally started to hold my interest a little more. .. But then it just left me feeling very empty and wanting. It left way too much out. How do the dracolich's feel about stuff? What are they thinking? Give me some detail! Give me some feeling! I wanted much more than i got.
...

This was the first fantasy book I actually bought, and is also the only Forgotten Realms book I ever read. It set the theme for all the fantasy books I now read.

This is a book about a lonely orphaned girl named Shadril who knows nothing about her parentage, and the man who raised her gives nothing away. So she sets off to find her fortune with a small band of fighters. Shandril's character is amazing because Mr. Greenwood gives her no special treatment; she is not exactly given to the wandering ways...she shows nothing but bravery, in fact. Later her talents and parentage are revealed.

This book does have its downsides, such as the insipid love story complete with a drooling inept mage apprentice, and the abounding "kinship" felt all around, but you get past all that! She has powers and people want to use her! There are battles with dragons, two to be precise, there are the usual favorites (Elminster, the Simbul, Myth Drannor and its faithful Knights); there is even enough magic use for the die hards.

I believe that the true Forgotten Realms fans will wade through the syrup and enjoy this book for the adventure that it is!

I enjoyed this book immensely. It is always tricky to handle a character that has near super-powers. They always have to have a weakness, but not one that makes then unlikeable. I thought that Shandril's powers and weaknesses were done well. The only part I didn't especially like was where Shandril was gaining her powers. The events didn't all seem to flow very well. I must say - Ed Greenwood is a very hit-or-miss writer.