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Forgotten Realms: Shadow of the Avatar #1
Shadows of Doom
"Elminster's Doom
It was the eve of the Time of Troubles. The chaos of spilled blood, lawless strife, monsters unleashed, and avatars roaming Faerûn was still to come. The gods were about to be summoned to a reckoning, and among them was Mystra, goddess of all magic. She knew it was likely she, along with the other gods, was about to be stripped of godhood.
Yet to shatter governance over magic would mean ruin for the world she loved. So Mystra made certain preparations, looking always for a worthy successor . . . yet until the Ascension of that worthy one, her power must be preserved.
A lone mortal must carry the greatest share of her divine energy, the silver fire, until the mantle of magic could be reclaimed. It was the fate of this mortal to risk being destroyed or driven wild, without warning.
It was Elminster's Doom."
It was the eve of the Time of Troubles. The chaos of spilled blood, lawless strife, monsters unleashed, and avatars roaming Faerûn was still to come. The gods were about to be summoned to a reckoning, and among them was Mystra, goddess of all magic. She knew it was likely she, along with the other gods, was about to be stripped of godhood.
Yet to shatter governance over magic would mean ruin for the world she loved. So Mystra made certain preparations, looking always for a worthy successor . . . yet until the Ascension of that worthy one, her power must be preserved.
A lone mortal must carry the greatest share of her divine energy, the silver fire, until the mantle of magic could be reclaimed. It was the fate of this mortal to risk being destroyed or driven wild, without warning.
It was Elminster's Doom."
320 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published March 1, 1995
About the author
Ed Greenwood
366 books890 followersEd Greenwood is the creator of the Forgotten Realms fantasy world, which became the setting for his home D&D game in 1975. Play still continues in this long-running campaign, and Ed also keeps busy producing Realmslore for various TSR publications.
Ed has published over two hundred articles in Dragon magazine and Polyhedron newszine, is a lifetime charter member of the Role Playing Game Associaton (RPGA) network, has written over thirty books and modules for TSR, and been Gen Con Game Fair guest of honor several times.
In addition to all these activities, Ed works as a library clerk and has edited over a dozen small press magazines.
Invented the character Elminster from the popular Forgotten Realms RPG series. Currently resides in an old farmhouse in the countryside of Ontario, Canada.
Ed has published over two hundred articles in Dragon magazine and Polyhedron newszine, is a lifetime charter member of the Role Playing Game Associaton (RPGA) network, has written over thirty books and modules for TSR, and been Gen Con Game Fair guest of honor several times.
In addition to all these activities, Ed works as a library clerk and has edited over a dozen small press magazines.
Invented the character Elminster from the popular Forgotten Realms RPG series. Currently resides in an old farmhouse in the countryside of Ontario, Canada.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
January 17, 2023
Hey, 1990's TSR publishing, where was your editor??? Because they could have cut out the middle 250 pages of this book with little of value lost.
Ed Greenwood quickly established himself as one of the worst writers of the seemingly endless series of Forgotten Realms novels, starting with 1988's Spellfire. By 1995 his authorial skills improved perhaps only slightly. TSR and later Wizards of the Coast continued to give him a publishing platform for another 20 years. This is because his name is synonymous with the Forgotten Realms, and justifiably so since he created this table-top RPG fantasy setting, and presumably he is an excellect dungeon master, but this does not automatically translate to the skill set required to write a decent book. Reading an Ed Greenwood book is like hearing him play a table-top D&D session in which he is simultaneously the DM and every player character. He has exactly one personality for heroes (self-confident, fearless, preferred mode of speech is flowery fencing dialogue, and prone to tears when thinking of goodness in the world) and one for villains (bumbling, overconfident megalomaniac).
Imagine my joy at seeing that, in my ongoing quest to read the Forgotten Realms novels in publication order (a constantly questionable dedication), that Greenwood penned a whole trilogy released in 1995, my current year-of-reading. Well, a trilogy it is, but after the first volume wrapped up its entire storyline, I can't imagine what horrors (for me) the next two books will hold.
Taking place at the start of events called the Time of Troubles in mid-90's D&D lore, when the pantheon of gods were temporarily cast out of their celestial domain and stripped of some power and stranded on Faerun, the goddess and embodiment of magic, Mystra, wisely hid away her power in a mortal, because if she didn't then who knows what the world would do without magic. Who could she possibly choose for such a responsibility? Why, only the most important person in the entire Realms, Elminster! Did you know that he was the most important person in the Realms? If you didn't already, you will be told many times over the course of this book, don't you worry! Oh and what's that, Elminster is actually Ed Greenwood himself? No, that can't be so.
Anyway, somehow because of this influx of the raw magical essence of the world, Elminster is no longer able to cast any spells. He is full of ultra-powerful magic, but can't use any of it. Isn't that ironic? And doesn't it make you sad? It obviously should, because everyone who learns of this sheds sorrowful tears. Oh, woe, poor Elminster, he can't cast spells anymore, and obviously this is permanent because we have no idea really, but it must be permanent and boo hoo hoo!! And whatever will Elminster do without magic? How will he get by? Oh, he only has many powerful and ancient magic wands and rings that still work perfectly and will counter enemy magic and heal damage and throw lightning at his enemies. Whatever will he do with no magic??? And he can't go to any of his centuries-old powerful mage friends for support, because what if Mystra's power suddenly leapt to them or burst out of him in a huge explosion? There is no clear reason to suspect this will happen, but why take the risk? And, he can't stay in his home Shadowdale because one of his enemies might get lucky, except he can't simply say "get lucky", he has to say "chance upon the preferable side of fickle Tymora's favor", because when discussing world-threatening events it's important to be as wordy as possible.
Clearly, there is nothing for Elminster to do but wander away to where no one will find and threaten him. That lasts all of one night before he stumbles upon a magic teleportation portal and a Zhentarim plot to seize power over an adjoining dale, so rather than get on with this Shadow of the Avatar realms-changing events business, let's just spend 250 pages killing mook after evil mook and spoiling the evil power-grab and placing yourself directly in the type of danger that you set out to avoid for the sake of all goodness and light in Faerun (boo hoo hoo).
Seriously, we get 30 pages of story connected in any way to this Avatar/Time of Troubles thingee, then hundreds of pages of generic slaughter of enemy soldiers, storm the castle, defeat the evil wizard, then the next evil wizard, etc. Finally, jump to a random new location to defeat some more evil wizards, and then it's time for Mystra's power to move on again and hey Elminster, you can do magic again! So... what the heck are the next two books going to be about? I, for one, cannot wait to find out!
I learned a couple of things reading this book. I already kind of knew the first one but this confirmed it. First: Elminster and his allies the noble Harpers (I'm sorry, "those who harp" is the correct term, seemingly) are all complete psychopaths. Like, complete remorseless murder machines. In this book, a pair of male those who harp, indistinguishable from each other, follow in Elminster's wake killing everyone he just didn't get to yet, picking fights to get things started and using their superior swordsmanship to gleefully chop down every mook, making jokes with each other all along. Elminster and the beauteous maiden who is lucky enough to accompany him on this particular adventure, Sharantyr, at least occasionally stop to say "I feel bad about killing and wish it were not necessary" before then going ZAP ZAP ZAP STAB STAB DIE FOUL VILLAINS! some more, but not those two dudes, they have a great time killing and killing and killing some more. They were supposed to follow Elminster and protect him, but they never caught up to him until near the very end because of being so busy killing all of the enemy soldiers, who remain nameless and featureless except for the two who got names by being bad enough to fight for half a page before being stabbed to death, unlike the half a sentence all the other victims received.
The other thing that I learned, that was not so readily apparent from his prior books, is that Elminster is a perv. He flirts shamelessly, making everyone uncomfortable because dude, you are literally over 1000 years old and she's only 20! Gross. With one woman (or as Elminster sometimes calls them, "wench"), he was sure to notice how firm her young breasts felt pressing against him when they hugged and kissed on the lips. Then her husband shows up and I'm like, wut. Medieval times, what was up with then. I actually do not know how many women poor Elminster kisses in the course of this book, but at least all but one of them were alive at the time. Did I mention that Elminster is really Ed Greenwood? Gross. Also gross for the completely baffling and unnecessary toplessness of Storm as she practices combat with her ghost sister in front of her two male trainees and house guests, those two interchangeable killers mentioned above. Keep in mind, Storm is Greenwood's strongest female character.
The good news is that I figured out how to get through an Elminster book with a minimum of pain; don't read it cover to cover. Keep it as a backup book only while you read something more worthy, and digest it in manageable chunks. This allowed my to spend more time noticing all the ways in which this book was terrible and keep it a humorous experience, rather than just a total drag to slog through.
Ed Greenwood quickly established himself as one of the worst writers of the seemingly endless series of Forgotten Realms novels, starting with 1988's Spellfire. By 1995 his authorial skills improved perhaps only slightly. TSR and later Wizards of the Coast continued to give him a publishing platform for another 20 years. This is because his name is synonymous with the Forgotten Realms, and justifiably so since he created this table-top RPG fantasy setting, and presumably he is an excellect dungeon master, but this does not automatically translate to the skill set required to write a decent book. Reading an Ed Greenwood book is like hearing him play a table-top D&D session in which he is simultaneously the DM and every player character. He has exactly one personality for heroes (self-confident, fearless, preferred mode of speech is flowery fencing dialogue, and prone to tears when thinking of goodness in the world) and one for villains (bumbling, overconfident megalomaniac).
Imagine my joy at seeing that, in my ongoing quest to read the Forgotten Realms novels in publication order (a constantly questionable dedication), that Greenwood penned a whole trilogy released in 1995, my current year-of-reading. Well, a trilogy it is, but after the first volume wrapped up its entire storyline, I can't imagine what horrors (for me) the next two books will hold.
Taking place at the start of events called the Time of Troubles in mid-90's D&D lore, when the pantheon of gods were temporarily cast out of their celestial domain and stripped of some power and stranded on Faerun, the goddess and embodiment of magic, Mystra, wisely hid away her power in a mortal, because if she didn't then who knows what the world would do without magic. Who could she possibly choose for such a responsibility? Why, only the most important person in the entire Realms, Elminster! Did you know that he was the most important person in the Realms? If you didn't already, you will be told many times over the course of this book, don't you worry! Oh and what's that, Elminster is actually Ed Greenwood himself? No, that can't be so.
Anyway, somehow because of this influx of the raw magical essence of the world, Elminster is no longer able to cast any spells. He is full of ultra-powerful magic, but can't use any of it. Isn't that ironic? And doesn't it make you sad? It obviously should, because everyone who learns of this sheds sorrowful tears. Oh, woe, poor Elminster, he can't cast spells anymore, and obviously this is permanent because we have no idea really, but it must be permanent and boo hoo hoo!! And whatever will Elminster do without magic? How will he get by? Oh, he only has many powerful and ancient magic wands and rings that still work perfectly and will counter enemy magic and heal damage and throw lightning at his enemies. Whatever will he do with no magic??? And he can't go to any of his centuries-old powerful mage friends for support, because what if Mystra's power suddenly leapt to them or burst out of him in a huge explosion? There is no clear reason to suspect this will happen, but why take the risk? And, he can't stay in his home Shadowdale because one of his enemies might get lucky, except he can't simply say "get lucky", he has to say "chance upon the preferable side of fickle Tymora's favor", because when discussing world-threatening events it's important to be as wordy as possible.
Clearly, there is nothing for Elminster to do but wander away to where no one will find and threaten him. That lasts all of one night before he stumbles upon a magic teleportation portal and a Zhentarim plot to seize power over an adjoining dale, so rather than get on with this Shadow of the Avatar realms-changing events business, let's just spend 250 pages killing mook after evil mook and spoiling the evil power-grab and placing yourself directly in the type of danger that you set out to avoid for the sake of all goodness and light in Faerun (boo hoo hoo).
Seriously, we get 30 pages of story connected in any way to this Avatar/Time of Troubles thingee, then hundreds of pages of generic slaughter of enemy soldiers, storm the castle, defeat the evil wizard, then the next evil wizard, etc. Finally, jump to a random new location to defeat some more evil wizards, and then it's time for Mystra's power to move on again and hey Elminster, you can do magic again! So... what the heck are the next two books going to be about? I, for one, cannot wait to find out!
I learned a couple of things reading this book. I already kind of knew the first one but this confirmed it. First: Elminster and his allies the noble Harpers (I'm sorry, "those who harp" is the correct term, seemingly) are all complete psychopaths. Like, complete remorseless murder machines. In this book, a pair of male those who harp, indistinguishable from each other, follow in Elminster's wake killing everyone he just didn't get to yet, picking fights to get things started and using their superior swordsmanship to gleefully chop down every mook, making jokes with each other all along. Elminster and the beauteous maiden who is lucky enough to accompany him on this particular adventure, Sharantyr, at least occasionally stop to say "I feel bad about killing and wish it were not necessary" before then going ZAP ZAP ZAP STAB STAB DIE FOUL VILLAINS! some more, but not those two dudes, they have a great time killing and killing and killing some more. They were supposed to follow Elminster and protect him, but they never caught up to him until near the very end because of being so busy killing all of the enemy soldiers, who remain nameless and featureless except for the two who got names by being bad enough to fight for half a page before being stabbed to death, unlike the half a sentence all the other victims received.
The other thing that I learned, that was not so readily apparent from his prior books, is that Elminster is a perv. He flirts shamelessly, making everyone uncomfortable because dude, you are literally over 1000 years old and she's only 20! Gross. With one woman (or as Elminster sometimes calls them, "wench"), he was sure to notice how firm her young breasts felt pressing against him when they hugged and kissed on the lips. Then her husband shows up and I'm like, wut. Medieval times, what was up with then. I actually do not know how many women poor Elminster kisses in the course of this book, but at least all but one of them were alive at the time. Did I mention that Elminster is really Ed Greenwood? Gross. Also gross for the completely baffling and unnecessary toplessness of Storm as she practices combat with her ghost sister in front of her two male trainees and house guests, those two interchangeable killers mentioned above. Keep in mind, Storm is Greenwood's strongest female character.
The good news is that I figured out how to get through an Elminster book with a minimum of pain; don't read it cover to cover. Keep it as a backup book only while you read something more worthy, and digest it in manageable chunks. This allowed my to spend more time noticing all the ways in which this book was terrible and keep it a humorous experience, rather than just a total drag to slog through.
July 24, 2011
Kudos to Ed Greenwood for inventing the Forgotten Realms, but gawd, what an awful writer.
This book is actually an improvement over "Spellfire," but going from atrocious to simply bad isn't much to brag about.
This book is actually an improvement over "Spellfire," but going from atrocious to simply bad isn't much to brag about.
January 5, 2025
Enjoyable read
December 27, 2021
Reminded me some of The Fallen Fortress or of Salvatore in general but with an Ed Greenwood flair. Which is to say there is lots of combat and little else, but the little else does make this 3 stars rather than 2.
October 22, 2019
Book was Okay.
Seemed stretched out longer than it needed to be.
As the Avatar book series didn't give Elminster much room in the books this series seemed to be written to let the reader know how important he is. If you didn't know how important he is you would be told multiple times through the 300 pages of the book how important Elminster is. You will have many characters try to give their own lives for him and many others try to kill him because Elminster is so very important.
I'm pretty sure the author vicariously lives through the male characters in this book as every main male in the book is charming, witty and a ladies man. Even the main bad guy has a harem around him while he watches events play out.
Over all it's just Okay and feels like a book only written to let the audience know how important Elminster is during the Time Of Troubles.
Seemed stretched out longer than it needed to be.
As the Avatar book series didn't give Elminster much room in the books this series seemed to be written to let the reader know how important he is. If you didn't know how important he is you would be told multiple times through the 300 pages of the book how important Elminster is. You will have many characters try to give their own lives for him and many others try to kill him because Elminster is so very important.
I'm pretty sure the author vicariously lives through the male characters in this book as every main male in the book is charming, witty and a ladies man. Even the main bad guy has a harem around him while he watches events play out.
Over all it's just Okay and feels like a book only written to let the audience know how important Elminster is during the Time Of Troubles.
March 25, 2009
I hate to say it, but this was another torturous one. It lagged and it wayned and the plot was thin...just like most of the other ones. In fact I think the endding of this book is exactly the same as the middle of another book...
I'm loosing faith, but I only have two more books to read by this author and perhaps it will pick up after that.
p.s. Ed Greenwood created all of the Forgotten Realms world, so while I talk shit about his books, I am truly in awe of his creativity and imagination.
I'm loosing faith, but I only have two more books to read by this author and perhaps it will pick up after that.
p.s. Ed Greenwood created all of the Forgotten Realms world, so while I talk shit about his books, I am truly in awe of his creativity and imagination.
November 21, 2020
90 odd pages in and I'm done. I can't read any more of this sleazy, self gratifying, garbage anymore.
This is the first time in many years I have failed to finish a book but I cannot bear to read any more about such cardboard characters, 'beauteous women' and descriptions purely focussed on how unclothed the female protagonists seem to be.
Embarrassing.
This is the first time in many years I have failed to finish a book but I cannot bear to read any more about such cardboard characters, 'beauteous women' and descriptions purely focussed on how unclothed the female protagonists seem to be.
Embarrassing.
April 8, 2021
God, Ed, you'd think you'd get better at writing as you got older...but nope...y0u still pace the book like an adventure, where everyone is in a battle every two pages, and making awful quips the rest of the time. And nobody is ever in any danger of dying, because well, you never let them be in danger.
March 24, 2013
I enjoyed this book, for what it was. Don't read it expecting fine literature. If what you want is a humorous, slightly campy, implicitly racy, magical adventure mass-market paperback, you may as well read this book.
July 9, 2016
Enjoyable
Another good Elminster story. Ed Greenwood has done another good job of adding excitement, and keeping the reader interested. I've already started the next book in the series.
Another good Elminster story. Ed Greenwood has done another good job of adding excitement, and keeping the reader interested. I've already started the next book in the series.
September 7, 2025
My expectations were very low, but it still managed to completely disappoint. I wish I could give it 0 stars. It's honestly one of the worst books I've ever read.
It's extremely hokey, dialog uses pseudo-archaic English with thou and thee and ye all over the place, except sometimes they forget mid-sentence and slip into modern English. Not that anyone says anything interesting.
There are no good characters, even Elminster. They're all completely flat. The characters you play as in the game are more fleshed out and lifelike than these names-that-perform-actions. Two of the main characters are just barely names that swing swords, I can't even tell why they're there or why they're fighting.
The setup is interesting (magic has stopped working throughout the world and a god is living inside of Elminster) but that doesn't really affect what happens, so it's irrelevant. It doesn't have so much of a plot as it does a setup, 250 pages of mindless slaughter, 50 pages of wizards messing around, and then 1 page of resolving the problem in the setup on literally the very last page.
Most of the book is nonsensical. Nothing is described so you never know where anyone is or what's really happening. There are often sentence fragments masquerading as full sentences and I cannot figure out what they are supposed to mean. There are poor word choices everywhere, and someone needs to smack Greenwood in the head with his thesaurus. It's insufferable to read.
It's extremely hokey, dialog uses pseudo-archaic English with thou and thee and ye all over the place, except sometimes they forget mid-sentence and slip into modern English. Not that anyone says anything interesting.
There are no good characters, even Elminster. They're all completely flat. The characters you play as in the game are more fleshed out and lifelike than these names-that-perform-actions. Two of the main characters are just barely names that swing swords, I can't even tell why they're there or why they're fighting.
The setup is interesting (magic has stopped working throughout the world and a god is living inside of Elminster) but that doesn't really affect what happens, so it's irrelevant. It doesn't have so much of a plot as it does a setup, 250 pages of mindless slaughter, 50 pages of wizards messing around, and then 1 page of resolving the problem in the setup on literally the very last page.
Most of the book is nonsensical. Nothing is described so you never know where anyone is or what's really happening. There are often sentence fragments masquerading as full sentences and I cannot figure out what they are supposed to mean. There are poor word choices everywhere, and someone needs to smack Greenwood in the head with his thesaurus. It's insufferable to read.
May 24, 2023
Elminster, as always, is a joy to read about. I wasn’t quite sure where this book would go at first, since it just seemed to be the old mage wandering through the dales and stumbling into trouble by accident, but the tension is at least kept since the author does not spare his characters any pain and struggles to free the High Dales. A decent book.
November 1, 2023
If this is your first time stepping into the forgotten realms I would not suggest this title. The dark elf trilogy would be a better start. That being said I thoroughly enjoyed my time reading this. Unfortunately it does have a few two many men writing women moments for me to give it above 3 stars. If you are a DnD fan this would be a great weekend read. Just maybe not a holiday weekend.
November 19, 2017
Awesome
Another great novel by Ed Greenwood. I have never been disappointed in Elminesters adventures or his misadventures, always feel his emotions.
Another great novel by Ed Greenwood. I have never been disappointed in Elminesters adventures or his misadventures, always feel his emotions.
May 31, 2018
The start of a good story.
The Time of Troubles was always an interesting chapter in the D&D world, I look forward to the other two books.
The Time of Troubles was always an interesting chapter in the D&D world, I look forward to the other two books.
May 8, 2019
A fast paced Elminster book, kinda odd for it to move so quickly. The book was funny and sad in more than a few areas, but overall a fun read.
April 27, 2024
Good read
May 23, 2025
Excellent telling of the time of loss of magic from the perspective of Elminster as written by the creator of the Forgotten Realms setting. Part one of three
March 19, 2010
Synopsis - This book is about what happened to Elminster right before the gods fell and the Realms entered the Time of Troubles.
Classification -
Audience: This book is for readers that are 13+ but they can be for anyone that likes a good Fantasy title
Purpose: Entertainment
Medium: Novel
Genre - Setting: Fantasy
Genre - Style: Idealism
Genre - Plot: Action/Adventure
Criticism - Yet another good book by Ed Greenwood, the creator of the Forgotten Realms. This is the first book I have read about Elminster and it definitely won't be the last.
Classification -
Audience: This book is for readers that are 13+ but they can be for anyone that likes a good Fantasy title
Purpose: Entertainment
Medium: Novel
Genre - Setting: Fantasy
Genre - Style: Idealism
Genre - Plot: Action/Adventure
Criticism - Yet another good book by Ed Greenwood, the creator of the Forgotten Realms. This is the first book I have read about Elminster and it definitely won't be the last.
August 25, 2013
One of the worst novels I've ever read. A confusing hard to follow, mindless, plotless, jumble of action scenes and gory fights. None of the characters, not even the main characters, were even remotely memorable. He spends more time developing characters that die in under 30 seconds than he does the protagonists. Argh.
March 30, 2008
One of the best series in The Forgotten Realms. Ed Greenwood is masterful at using colourful, hilarious characters while still maintaining the seriousness of his story. This is a series I read over and over.
August 28, 2015
A solid novel by Greenwood. Mostly I dont loke his books, I think Salvatore and Cumningham are mich better FR writers than him. This one was OK, some interesting characters showed up besides El, and the fight scenes were ok. 6,5/10
May 7, 2016
It's a 3.5!
A beautiful and fun ride through the Realms, with some of the iconic characters of that setting,like Elminster, Manshoon and the chosen of Mystra.
Just to enjoy it,for fantasy lovers,especially Forgotten Realm's fans!;)
A beautiful and fun ride through the Realms, with some of the iconic characters of that setting,like Elminster, Manshoon and the chosen of Mystra.
Just to enjoy it,for fantasy lovers,especially Forgotten Realm's fans!;)
January 19, 2009
Shadows of Doom (Forgotten Realms: The Shadow of the Avatar, Book 1) by Ed Greenwood (1995)
August 10, 2015
While not one of the best books in the Forgotten Realms series, it's among my favourites only because it has my favourite character, Sharantyr the Ranger in it.
August 8, 2013
Get ekki sagt ég mæli með þessari bók, en aðdáendur Ed Greenwood gætu hugsanlega haft gaman af henni.
April 11, 2014
I love Ed for creating FR and El, but dont quite like his writings much. BUT, The Shadow of the Avatar series must be "have to be read!" books of the Realms!
February 7, 2016
It is the doom of men that they never know quite enough wisdom until it is too late.
December 16, 2021
read these in high school and decided to revisit them. this one is not bad, very much like a hack-and-slash game but it’s a good enough diversion in these pandemic times
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews