Written by Troy Denning under the pen-name Richard Awlinson
Published by TSR, 1989
ISBN: 0-88038-759-9
Waterdeep is the third part of a trilogy that started with Shadowdale, then was continued with Tantras. These books recount the tale of the Time of Troubles within Faerûn. Author Troy Denning takes over from Scott Ciencin who wrote the first two books of this trilogy. Troy Denning is clearly more talented than Scott Ciencin as this final chapter in the trilogy is the best of the bunch.
The Time of Troubles is upon Faerûn! Bane, god of tyranny, Bhaal, god of murder, and Myrkul, god of the dead, have stolen the Tablets of Fate from the mighty lord AO, God of the gods. For this blasphemous theft lord AO has banished all the gods from their divine realms. They are now forced to inhabit the world of Faerûn and live as mortals. The mage Midnight, the fighter Kelemvor, the cleric Adon, and the Thief Cyric have been tasked by the dying Mystra, goddess of magic to recover the Tablets of Fate and return them to lord AO. Along the way our band of heroes have fought in the Battle of Shadowdale, where the great and ancient wizard Elminster disappeared while fighting Bane. After this battle Cyric was overcome with greed and turned on his one-time friends in pursuit of the power that the tablets promised. The heroes then made their way to Tantras where they re-joined with Elminster and recovered the first tablet of fate. Bane tried to attack the city to reclaim the tablet but was destroyed by the god of duty, Torm. This is where our last story ended and where the final chapter of this trilogy picks up.
Midnight, Adon, and Kelemvor have one of the two Tablets of Fate. The other tablet is hidden somewhere within the city of Waterdeep. It’s now up to the heroes to travel the vast distance from Tantras to Waterdeep, recover the last Tablet of Fate, then return them both to Lord AO. All while the gods Myrkul and Bhaal are hot on their heels, attempting to reclaim the lost tablet. On top of that, Cyric, is obsessed with killing his old friends and using the tablets to gain power and godhood from Lord AO.
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| The route our heroes take from Tantras to Waterdeep |
The story starts with our heroes on a ship from Tantras to Waterdeep. The captain is spooked after the crew notice that they are being pursued by a Zhentish ship. Our heroes are forced off the ship in Cormyr and must continue on foot. Of course, the Zhentish ship is Cyric and his men, who are following our heroes from the end of the last book. After continuing on-foot our heroes find a town of halflings that’s been sacked and looted by Cyric and his Zentish soldiers. The halfling Sneaksabout joins up with our party to reclaim his cursed magical sword which was stolen by Cyric. I fell in love with Sneaksabout, he’s such a conflicted character. He wants to do good, but the influence of his evil sword forces him to act in ways he’d rather not. Cyric is now in possession of this evil sword, known as Godsbane, and he has to wrestle the sword for control as it tries to corrupt him. Eventually everyone makes their way to Boareskyr Bridge. They are then forced into a climatic confrontation with Bhaal who has been hunting them since they landed in Cormyr. If you’ve played the Baldur’s Gate 1 expansion, Siege of Dragonspear, then you will be familiar with the importance of this bridge within The Forgotten Realms history. After this the heroes are forced into Dragonspear castle where they are trapped by Myrkul. The party is split up and make their way to Waterdeep separately.
Right away my biggest issue with the last two books is solved. There is no padding within this story. We move briskly through this narrative. Not a single page of this book is wasted. Every chapter sees something important happen. It’s such an improvement over the often meandering and lethargic pace of the last two books.
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| The city of Waterdeep as seen from above |
It's not just the pacing that Troy Denning has improved from Scot Ciencin’s previous two books. Cyric is still described as looking the same as he always did, which was unavoidable and not really an issue. But the descriptions of this evil greedy character as ‘hawk-nosed’ has decreased a lot. During the previous two stories by Scott Ciencin Cyric was almost always introduced to a chapter via his ‘hawk nose’ which gave very antisemitic vibes to the writing. Troy Denning avoids this by only referring to the thief’s nose during his introduction. This avoids the feeling of anti-Jewish propaganda. I can’t explain how much nicer this one factor makes this book to read over the previous two.
Anyone who’s played Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition will recognise Kelemvor and Cyric as modern gods within The Forgotten Realms pantheon of gods. This trilogy is the first part of how they got their modern positions. If you’re interested in how these mortals gained their godhood, then this trilogy as well as the two follow up stories are where you will find those stories. While the first two books in this trilogy were flawed, I feel like they are almost completely fixed with this final entry. My biggest issue with this book is that it’s attached to the other two via its nature as the final book in a trilogy. If you’re a fan of Baldur’s Gate games or the Forgotten Realms lore, then this entire series is essential reading. Beyond that, this is the highlight of the trilogy!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
