The Sword Never Sleeps: The Knights of Myth Drannor, Book III [Mass Market Paperback]

The Sword Never Sleeps by Ed Greenwood is the third book in the Knights of Myth Drannor trilogy. The first book in the series is Swords of Eveningstar (Forgotten Realms: The Knights of Myth Drannor, Book 1) and the second novel being titled Swords of Dragonfire (Forgotten Realms: The Knights of Myth Drannor, Book 2). This trilogy seems to be intended to be a prequel for the Knights of Myth Drannor, to give them more `face' time and to better explain how they came together and what some of their early motivations are. One thing about any type of prequel is readers basically already know how things will end. Fans of the Forgotten Realms will no doubt recognize many of the characters if this novel, and as such, know who will be there in the final scenes. At any rate, here are my thoughts on the novel.

The plot of this book is actually several plots rolled into one. The main story arc, as one would expect, involved the Knights of Myth Drannor and how they continually find trouble and just what they do with that trouble. The second story line is an attempt to unseat the Royal Wizard Vangerdahast by creating doubt and subterfuge. Another sub plot is the relationship between Vangerdahast and the Princess Alusair. There are a couple other minor sub plots, but if I start talking about those I would no doubt spoil something, so in interested of space and time I will leave it at that. I will say that out of the three books in the Knights of Myth Drannor trilogy, this is the one I liked most. The plot, for the most part, made sense. There are a couple scenes that didn't seem to mesh with the overall story, but they were much less infrequent than in the past couple novels. The pacing of events is a slow methodical build, then when things start falling into place it quickly becomes a whirlwind of activity. While I was not completely blown away by the story, I need to say I did enjoy it and it kept me entertained.

The characters in this book are largely the characters from the first two books, and ones readers would expect to find in this book. Such as; Vangerdahast, Florin, Islif, Jhessail, Doust, and Semoor to name a few. One of the things I said in my review of the second book was that there wasn't much character development. Aside from the development of Vanderdahast and Alusair, I still feel that to be the case. There is a lot written about the Knights, but for the most part they end the novel the same way they started it. There is not much in terms of growth in terms of them learning things about themselves, new skills etc. I still think that is one of the pitfalls of writing a story, or trilogy, for that matter in a prequel fashion about characters that have long been written about. The character of Vanderdahast was fantastic in this novel though. I felt like this is one of the few novels that really gives the reader some insight into who he is and what he stands for. It was nice to see him get quite a bit of face time in the novel. I wish the villains were expounded upon a little more though. While reading about them I felt they were just there and it was hard to really care, or hate, them in any manner. Aside from Vanderdahast and Alusair, I would say the rest of the characters were just average. Nothing special, but they did not detract from the story either.

A couple criticisms about this novel:

1 - The way the story jumps around, with multiple scenes per chapter and different points of view made the story at times confusing and some what hard to follow. I would have preferred fewer longer scenes then the short choppy scenes in several places of the book.

2 - Some of Mr. Greenwood's prose bogged down the story at times. There are a couple passages that I had to reread simply because the flow was not there. I fully understand this is a style thing and one of personal preference but I still think it needs to be said.

3 - The lack of character development for, who are supposed to be the main characters in the novel. I would have liked to have seen more development with the Knights. Sure, the banter, jokes, and innuendos were funny but more substance behind the characters, their actions, and motivations would have been nicer.

Some things I enjoyed about this novel:

1 - Vangerdahast's character was by far my favorite character in this novel. While he has dominated some scenes of books he was in before, in this book he felt much more real. His choices, actions, and reasons for why he does things were explained. I also like the fact that the reader is privy to how much pressure he is under with all he has to do.

2 - The overall plot of the book. There was a consistent flow to the story and it didn't seem to be nearly as jumbled as the past books. Knowing the characters, it was easy to see how they could find themselves in the predicaments that they did.

3 - As with most Greenwood books, there is a substantial amount of Forgotten Realms lore included. Perceptive readers will no doubt find some hidden references to events we already read about, and reasons for things that had been hinted about in other books. It is nice to see how all the pieces of the puzzle come together.

When all is said and done, this novel, more than the other two, felt like a Realms novel. It had the elements I have come to expect from reading this type of novel. This trilogy has definitely gotten better with each book, so it's nice that the trilogy is ending with its best offering. While I am not sure this trilogy would be beneficial to those just starting out reading Forgotten Realms book, I think it will appeal to a wider audience. Fans of the Realms will no doubt want to pick this book up for those bits of lore and beginning adventures of the Knights of Myth Drannor, but for those just starting they may want to look at other books before jumping into this series. When they do read this book though, I think they will find something between the covers that they will enjoy.

It's just sad that something like this can get published.
No connecting story at all just random 2 page encounters with different characters

After slogging through the first two books, reading this was more in principle than desire-- I already bought it, plus I hoped the third time would be the charm. It wasn't.

Still, I contend that I do not know the characters-- a sad statement after 1000 pages. Also, a circuitous plot that comes at you from all different directions, only to come together in such a way that makes no sense at all. What the heck is so special about these Knights. They've done virtually nothing to desire such a title-- at least not by PnP standards. They went from novices, acolytes, and apprentices to heroes in no time flat.

I would NOT recommend this or any other in the series. If this is a typical Greenwood novel, then he needs to stick to reference books, for which his performance is stellar.

SPOILER...ENDING...

So, they were off to Shadowdale, the whole point of this book-- Vangey sends them to Shadowdale. Plus, Elminster and Khelben want them to get there as well (not that they should be bothered at all with sch insignificant "players"). Do they get there? Who knows? The story just ends, that's it (just like all the others). Maybe I missed it, I must admit, I was on autopilot the last 50 pages or so.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 6 reviews  2.3 out of 5 stars