Swordmage: A Blades of Moonsea Novel

By Richard Baker

Discover a whole new realm of adventure: Exiled from Myth Drannor, a swordmage returns to his childhood home to find it changed by corruption and evil
 
Geran Hulmaster, a wandering swordmage, returns to the windswept shores of the Moonsea, where his beloved boyhood friend has been murdered. Aided by his ghostwise halfling companion, Geran begins investigating Jarad's mysterious death in the barrowfields of Hulburg—and uncovers a web of corruption that implicates the foreign merchant companies now terrorizing town. But Geran suspects their crimes do not end there. Someone has been robbing the tombs of the barrowfields, even though doing so is an act of treason—and risks incurring the wrath of Asperus, the necromancer-turned-lich who now commands the dead in the barrowfields as his slaves.
 
Elsewhere, a Warlock Knight of Vaasa stirs the violent passions of a tribe of brutal orcs, and sends them to Hulburg bent on pillage. Now, Geran must find a way to protect his friends and family—and prevent all of Hulburg from falling into the hands of evil.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Jan 26, 2010
• ISBN: 9780786956364

Richard Baker

Young writer just trying to get information to those who need it for fitness, workouts and diet.

Reviews for Swordmage

[apmullaly · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Richard Baker's Swordmage is part of the Wizard's of the Coast Forgotten Realms novels. I used to read ever book that Wizards and its predecessor TSR put out, but lately have not read many of these. Baker's book starts off slowly with a prolouge of events that occurred a few years before the present book. The prolouge has little if anything to do with this book and seems to be a set up for the rest of the series. It was also one of the weakest parts of the book.After wading through the prolouge, I was pleasantly surprised with the rest of the book. Baker settles down with his main character Geran Hulmaster who has returned home for the funeral of a childhood friend. From there he gets embroiled in every increasing intrigue from other citys, his step-brother and a rampaging orc horde. (to be finished

[schayde · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Swordmage, book one in The Blades of the Moonsea series, is the first novel set in the "new" Forgotten Realms. The Spellplague, already come and gone, is only briefly touched on in this book, but the effects can still be felt. When I first picked up this book and began reading it I immediately disliked the fact that a character in a Forgotten Realms series was a "swordmage". In my opinion, sword users and mages should always be seperate characters. It took me awhile to get over this issue but when I did I really enjoyed the story.Geran Hulmaster, after many years away has returned to his childhood hometown, Hulburg. The return, however, is not a happy one. His childhood friend has been killed and he, with the help of his halfling friend Hamil and other allies, intends to find answers to his death. The main issue with this are the merchant houses who have taken control of the city in his absence. Geran also discovers that there are even larger and more serious problems than the death of an old friend, there is an orc threat that will test him and his small band of friends, as well as, the country. These orcs are probably more intelligent and powerful than any you've seen in a fantasy novel.I would strongly recommend this book to any fantasy reader.

[thebooknerd · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

As a Drizzt lover, I thought this book would be right up my alley, and perhaps it would be. I'm saddened to say I couldn't finish it. I found the style of writing too forced for me to get into the story. I'm not a minimalist by any means, but I felt the author simply said to much, falling into that precarious trap of telling rather than showing. With too much description and internal dialogue, there's no work for me, as the reader, to do. Which is boring.

[waynegrantham · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed this book. From the very beginning, I thought Baker had a very defined and complete character plot. This book immediately grabs your interest and keeps it throughout.I thought that while this book was a very enjoyable read, the plot was a bit simplistic, maybe this is just a part of the Forgotten Realms structure to closely follow D&D rules etc.I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a great fun and fast read.

[karlstar_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is the first of a trilogy about Geran Hulmaster, and his family in Hulburg. The book is set in the Forgotten Realms campaign world, part of the 4th Edition D&D game. As such, it contains the version of the Forgotten Realms as it has changed and progressed for 4th edition. At first the book seems like it was written just to profile a 'cool' new 4th edition character class, the sword mage, but as it progresses the plot picks up and the characters become more alive. Unfortunately it features one of the most overdone fantasy and D&D fantasy elements ever - the orc horde. There is more to the plot than that, and the book was actually fun to read.

[michael_p_16 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Forgotten Realms: Swordmage - Blades of the Moonsea Book I begins an exciting new series in the Forgotten Realms universe, and offers an opportune entry-point for those readers new to the fictional world. Baker's solid prose, compelling characters, and well-paced plot drive this story that is a mix of political intrigue, emotional turmoil, war, and a bit of "You Can't Go Home Again" thrown in.Because of the death of a friend, Geran Hulmaster returns to the city of his birth to learn that some of the seedier elements have taken hold in the seven years he's been gone. He quickly learns that not only was his friend murdered, but the woman he loves is now a widow with a child, and there are plots against his uncle, the town leader. The reader will be pulled along as Baker's story encompasses tomb robbing, spectral soldiers, a hungry orc army, and more than a few scrapes with the local law.This is a fun fantasy novel in its own right, and will serve as a wonderful basis for the rest of the Forgotten Realms books to follow.