The Gossamer Plain by Thomas M. Reid is the first book in the Empryean Odyssey trilogy. The second book in this trilogy is titled The Fractured Sky and is scheduled for release in November, 2008, the third book is titled The Crystal Mountain and is scheduled for release sometime in the middle of 2009. Mr. Reid first burst on the Forgotten Realms scene with the second book in the War of the Spider Queen series titled Insurrection. Mr. Reid then went on to pen the Scions of Arrabar trilogy. Those three books are; The Sapphire Crescent, The Ruby Guardian, and The Emerald Scepter. All of the previously mentioned books are very much worth the read in my opinion.

For fans of the War of the Spider Queen series, many will be happy to know that this book continues the tale of two characters. Both Kaanyr Vhok and Aliiszra are featured in this novel. For many, these are two of the more memorable characters. For fans of the WotSQ series, Lisa Smedman has also just started a new trilogy with the first book titled Sacrifice of the Widow and focuses on Hallisstra Melarn.

The plot of this book is a little hard to read at first, however, upon completing it and digesting all the nuggets that Mr. Reid puts out there, this novel seems like it is a set up for larger grander things. One of the main plots is a scheme of Vhok's, don't worry, I won't say what it is (I don't do spoilers), but the plot seems to be large in scale. Another plot involves a situation Aliiszra finds herself in that I am fairly sure will please many fans of the WotSQ series. The main plot of this book (Vhok's plot line) stretches far and encompasses many different places and scenarios. Such as the city of Sundabar, the plain of fire, and the City of Brass. Most of these places are well described with just enough information to give the reader an idea of what the scene looks like, but not enough that it comes off as telling the reader what to see. It's often a fine line, but Mr. Reid toes that line well in this book.

The characters in this book fall into three categories for me. The first category is interesting and imaginative. There are about three characters that fall into this group Vhok is certainly one, another is Myshik, a half hobgoblin with some dragon blood (interesting mix there), and Zasian a human priest of Bane. The second category of characters is supporitive, but just there. In this group I would put Aliiszra and a few others. Nothing against these characters, but they didn't grab me all that much. Personally, I wasn't a big fan of Aliiszra in the WotSQ series either. The last group of characters are the ones I could have done without, or that needed something more to be interesting. The main one in this group is Tauran, whom is an angel of Tyr. To me he had little personality and the scenes he was in were a drag and a couple times I wanted to skip them. He just had little personality and I found little motivation to read about him.

With that said, overall this book is a solid addition to the Forgotten Realms. It almost seemed as though, due to the plot, Mr. Reid was constrained in some way as his normal writing style (at least what I perceive to be his normal style) didn't seem as evident in this book. I did enjoy the further fleshing out of Vhok, he seems to have great potential to become a powerful force in the Realms. The twist at the end of the book was a nice touch as well, and one I certainly didn't see coming.

Some things I would have liked to see changed. The plot seemed to drag, for me, during the scenes when Vhok and Zasian were traversing the plain of fire on their way to the City of Brass. It almost seemed to me like Mr. Reid needed to add a battle or two for word count purposes. Also, as I mentioned before, the scenes with Tauran just felt forced to me and while at times they advanced the Aliiszra plot line, he is a character I could honestly care less about.

I will continue to read this series because I think there is a good story here. If Wizards of the Coast has shackled Mr. Reid with the storyline and plot arc, they should loosen the reins a little and let him work his magic that he is quite able to work. While this novel is not the best offering from Mr. Reid it has a solid plot and one I am sure many fans will enjoy. ( )

This is not, Reid’s best work. Although good escapism, not a lot really happens, and by the end of the novel, I was wondering when the story would really develop. I can only assume it is in book 2 of The Empyrean Odyssey. If you like Forgotten Realms or want to continue the story of Aliisza and Kaanyr Vhok then you might enjoy this book. However, if you are new to the Realms, this is not a good book to begin with. It is written more for Forgotten Realms fans with a working knowledge of the shared world, and who read Insurrection.

Full review at my blog. ( )