Realms Of The Deep: A Book Review

Considering that I finished this book a couple weeks back (and have read a couple others since), it is well past time that I wrote up this review of it. Realms of the Deep is an anthology of short stories, set in the world of the Forgotten Realms. As with the other Realms anthologies such as Realms of the Elves, the stories within its covers have a common theme, in this case they are set around the events of the Threat From The Sea trilogy of novels, which detailed a great war under the seas around Faerun, which at times spilled over onto the lands that had shorelines along those seas.

The stories in this anthology are as follows:

• Hard Choices by Lynn Abbey. Where a malenti (a sahaugin that looks like a sea elf), must decide whether his allegiance lies with the people he was born too, or those he resembles. 3/5.
  
• Fire Is Fire by Elaine Cunningham. A young wizard who dreams of glory gets a harsh lesson in reality during the sahaugin's siege of Waterdeep. 4/5.
  
• Messenger to Seros by Peter Archer. A merman is sent to bring warning to the peoples of the Inner Sea of the growing war and befriends an orphaned girl in his strange voyage. 2/5.
  
• The Place Where Guards Snore At Their Posts by Ed Greenwood. An apprentice wizard on the Isle of Mintarn with a fondness for practical jokes, becomes the unlikely saviour of the island's ruler (and his lovely daughter). 4/5.
  
• Lost Cause by Richard Lee Byers. A knight sent to lead a militia unit gets a lesson in honour & duty in the process of defending a village from attacks by Crabmen. 4/5.
  
• Forged In Fire by Clayton Emery. A pirate captain only out for himself is reluctantly drawn into the growing conflict with the creatures of the sea, and meets his match in the form of Belinda Destine, a nigh unstoppable Imperial Marine of Calimshan. 4/5.
  
• One Who Swims With Sekolah by Mel Odom. Laaqueel, a malenti priestess bears witness as her king Iakhovas, the instigator of the undersea war, seeks an artifact and then uses it to shatter the Sharksbane Wall, freeing the sahaugin to raid and pillage the Inner Sea. 5/5.
  
• The Crystal Reef by Troy Denning. A pauper Reef Giant is caught between the forces of Calimshan's navy, and those of the undersea races when they fight over the worthless island that is his beloved home, neither side willing to concede the island to the other, their battle destroying it in the process! 5/5.
  
• The Patrol by Larry Hobbs. A rookie guardsman earns the respect of his colleagues in the Cimbar city watch whilst hunting down a malenti assassin. 3/5.
  
• Star Of Tethyr by Thomas M. Reid. A young sailor gets his first taste of duty when he is called upon to replace a fallen crewmate during an attack by the undersea races on Tethyr's shipyards. 3/5.
  
• Persana's Blade by Steven E. Schend. A young triton gets more than he ever thought he would from life, when he becomes bonded to a magical weapon during a devastating attack by morkoth's on his city. 2/5.
  
• And The Dark Tide Rises by Keith Francis Strohm. Morgan Kevlynson must undertake a perilous journey to an island to pass on a warning on behalf of a badly injured sea elf who cannot make the trip there herself. 3/5.
  

As well, at the back of the book is a small appendix detailing the Calendar of Harptos, which is how the world of the Forgotten Realms measures its years. Too there are a few pages giving a paragraph of infomation on each of the authors.

All in all this is a pretty decent collection of stories, with a couple stand out tales from Troy Denning and Mel Odom, and a surprisingly good story from Ed Greenwood (whose stories I normally can't stand). I've not read the trilogy that this anthology supports as yet, as I'm having a hard time finding a copy of the second book, but after reading this book I am much more keen to do so.