''Elminster Enraged'' is a fantasy novel by

Ed Greenwood Ed Greenwood (born July 21, 1959) is a Canadian fantasy writer and the original creator of the ''Forgotten Realms'' game world. He began writing articles about the Forgotten Realms for '' Dragon'' magazine beginning in 1979, and subsequently sol ...

, set in the world of the

Forgotten Realms ''Forgotten Realms'' is a campaign setting for the '' Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game. Commonly referred to by players and game designers alike as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 a ...

, and based on the ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (T ...

'' role-playing game. It is the eighth novel in "

The Elminster Series ''The Elminster Series'' is a series of fantasy novels by author Ed Greenwood. The novels are set in the ''Forgotten Realms'' setting created by Greenwood for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game. The series focuses on the titula ...

". It was published in hardcover in August 2012.

Plot summary

Elminster battles

Manshoon ''Forgotten Realms'' is a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game. Commonly referred to by players and game designers alike as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 as a ...

despite Mystra's wishes that they work together. The battle causes Elminster to fall into the

Underdark The Underdark is a fictional setting which has appeared in ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing campaigns and ''Dungeons & Dragons''-based fiction books, including the Legend of Drizzt series by R. A. Salvatore. It is described as a vast subterra ...

as a cloud of ashes, and he inhabits the body of a fallen

drow The drow ( or ) or dark elves are a dark-skinned and white-haired subrace of elves connected to the subterranean Underdark in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy roleplaying game. The drow have traditionally been portrayed as generally evil and ...

to carry out Mystra's orders. Manshoon plans to conquer

Cormyr ''Forgotten Realms'' is a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game. Commonly referred to by players and game designers alike as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 as a ...

and become its emperor.

Reception

Dan Ruffalo of "The Ranting Dragon" commented that ''Elminster Enraged'' was "a great book, despite the fact that the rage made little more than a brief cameo. Elminster is an excellent character, and Greenwood writes him very well and very consistently (a feat, considering he first appeared in print twenty-five years ago). As a story, it was quite enjoyable. It is a little tough, as somebody who spent so much time in the main chronology of the Forgotten Realms, to keep track of everything happening now nearly 100 years later in Realms time, but it was worth it." Another reviewer commented: "The ending is great fun, it bumped this from 4 to 5 stars. Elminster gets well.. enraged. Its a lot of fun, stick with the jumps, and you'll come to a conclusion that had me smiling as a reader, as a fan of Ed's, and definitely as a fan of the Realms". James Marchese of "The Voice" called the book "a complete disappointment", stating that "it hurts me to say that there isn't really much I can complement this book on. The only thing that really pleased me about it was the transformation that Elminster went through in the book. He turns from a happy-go-lucky mage to a spiteful old sorcerer. However, like everything else in the book it meant nothing because at the end of the book he goes back to being his normal self like nothing even happened to him."

References

{{D&D topics 2012 American novels 2012 fantasy novels Forgotten Realms novels Novels by Ed Greenwood Wizards of the Coast books