Shadows of Doom

Forgotten Realms: The Shadow of the Avatar, Book 1

By: Ed Greenwood

Narrated by: Todd McLaren

Length: 12 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's Summary

Elminster's Doom...

It was the eve of the Time of Troubles. The chaos of spilled blood, lawless strife, monsters unleashed, and avatars roaming Faern was still to come. Unbeknownst to mortals, the gods had been summoned together, and among them was Mystra, grown proud and willful in the passing eons. With the others, she was about to be stripped of her godhood. The secret of her power gave her an idea. She made certain preparations, looking always for one who would be her successor.... But until that person's ascension, her power must be preserved.

A lone mortal must carry the greater share of her divine energy until the power could be reclaimed, and it was the fate of this mortal to risk being destroyed or driven wild, involuntarily and without warning. This was the occaision of Elminster's Doom.

©1995 TSR, Inc. (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

PURE ENTERTAINMENT! From start to finish

What did you love best about Shadows of Doom?

From the first moments, one is gripped by a thrilling tale of non stop action filled with delicious moments of intrigue, battle, and laugh out loud humor

Who was your favorite character and why?

Eliminster does not fail impress with his perfect blend of wit & wisdom

Have you listened to any of Todd McLaren’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I listened to Todd read the"Emberverse series and he made me an instant fan. I love him as a reader!

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

A wizard without spells can still woop-ass

Any additional comments?

Ed Greenwood = PURE ENTERTAINMENT!

An ok book that starts good then gets bogged down

I am a fan of Greenwood as a world builder but his writing is kind of all over the place. This book starts out interesting, but towards the middle I felt it became a bit of a slog. It is fairly interesting when he is stripped of his powers at the onset of the book but eventually it bogs down into him and his lady paladin hewing through dozens and dozens of bad guys saving a town from evil do'ers.

Ok

Got better at the end. In the beginning it’s was slow and boring to me but it was interesting enough to keep you interested and then at the end your like alright lot better. I just hope the next one is better.

Not worth my time

As a long-time fan of Ed Greenwood's Forgotten Realms campaign setting, I expected to be entertained by his novels featuring Elminster, so I started with this one. I came to learn that Ed is great at writing rule books and setting information, and not entertaining at all in writing a novel. At no point in this listen did I feel excited about what I was hearing; no characters were that interesting; and Elminster went from being an interesting part of the wider Avatar Crisis to being the single most important person in existence. He is also instantly forgiven for beating a woman without provocation, and every woman he comes across find his 1,000+ year old self so attractive they have to have him. It reeked of fanboydom, the impulse to make your character so much cooler than anybody else's that it turned me off. I removed the rest of the series from my Wishlist, because this was such an awful start.

Entertaining then monotonous

Started out strong but got rather monotonous half way through and never really picked back up.

Great Elminster story

I really enjoy Greenwoods writing. I really enjoyed the narrator that did his Elminster series. Todd M kinda grew on me. But the story was good and kept me captivated. I originally missed this series when it came out in print and really enjoyed it 20 years later. I recommend this to all Elminster fans.

Entertaining and Funny

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I thought this book was great. I know Ed Greenwood can be hit or miss but Shadows of Doom was awesome. The story is pretty tight and you never feel lost. Ed doesn't bounce around each chapter with different characters etc. This was my first Todd McLaren listen and I thought he did a really nice job. Ed throws in some wit and funny remarks that makes the characters come to life.

Who was your favorite character and why?

It's a push... the two Harpers! These two Harpers are quested with protecting Elminster throughout this travels. It's lots of banter back and forth with kicking butt and taking names. I really enjoyed listening these guys talk to one another and the enemies throughout their romps. Hilarious.

Which scene was your favorite?

No particular favorite (the battles are okay but it really is the in between time when characters talk to one another). Maybe the ending and what happened to everyone involved... there is a serious prize they receive.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I really enjoyed this book and would read/listen to it all in one sitting.

Any additional comments?

I have read a lot of Elminster books and other FR novel prior to this one. I do not believe you need that background to enjoy this novel but a brush up on Elminster might help.