Neversfall by Ed Gentry is the first novel in a series of stand-alone novels titled The Citadels. The second novel in this series is titled Obsidian Ridge by Jess Lebow and is scheduled for release in April of 2008. Lately, Wizards of the Coast has been releasing these stand-alone novels in series form seemingly to give new authors a chance and to expand on some areas that are rarely written about in the Forgotten Realms. If you have read any of the previous stand-alone series i.e. The Fighters, The Clerics, The Dungeons etc. You know what to expect here. A nice compact story, where previous reading is not necessary. That is one thing I really appreciate about these books, as a reader you don’t have to have tomes of past knowledge under your belt to understand the story.

The plot of this book, at least at the start, is there is a citadel in the untamed wilderness where everyone has went missing. No one knows why or how. Pretty simple storyline. However, Mr. Gentry adds several sub plots to the mix to liven things up. For starters the replacement regiment sent to investigate the disappearance is made up of two different military groups. One being the hard lined Maquar and the other being a mercenary band from Durpari. Later in the book there is a bit of a political sub plot, as well as something that is present in many books, but the way Mr. Gentry presents it makes it much more poignant and that is morality. While I enjoyed the book, I really enjoyed the last two to three chapters when the morality issue came to a head. There are a few other things mixed in for good measure, but I will let you find them for yourselves, you know those dreaded spoiler things.

The characters in this novel are equally as entertaining as the plot. The main character is Adeenya, the mercenary leader. I was a little surprised that this book featured a strong female lead character. However, after finishing the novel, I think that choice was perfect. I like how Mr. Gentry explained how she came into the life of a mercenary as well. Another character that features prominently in this novel is Taennen who is the Maquar second in command. He is a solid character, well written and just enough depth and back story to be interesting without overburdening the reader with needless details. There are several other characters that are equally as interesting, but in an effort to keep this review succinct, I’ll refrain from listing all of them. I will say this though, for only three hundred and twelve pages, there is a great deal of character development with the majority of the characters. Mr. Gentry obviously put a lot of thought into how the characters were going to act, their motivations, and he succeeded in giving each one of them a voice.

The only criticism I have for this novel is I wish we could have learned more about the Durpari mercenaries that were present. It seemed aside from Adeenya and her second the rest were just fodder. I understand word count issues and such, I just thought a little more there may have helped.

I really enjoyed this novel from start to finish. I am not a role player, so I am sure some of the details that Mr. Gentry included were lost on me. For instance I do not know anything about the Durpari or Maquar but Mr. Gentry provided enough information that I was able to glean a general idea of what they were. The prose that Mr. Gentry writes is like a familiar song on the radio that you can listen to time and time again. It’s easy, smooth, and just has a natural feel to it. At no time did I get the sense hat he was forcing something on the reader. I enjoyed the little details that he tosses in as well, it makes the setting, characters, and plot come alive without plodding though useless details.

This is the first book in the citadel series, and I must say that if this is the quality of all the books in the series it will be a fantastic series. This may be Mr. Gentry’s first Forgotten Realms novel, but he writes like a seasoned veteran and other authors need to be on alert, there is a new voice in the Realms and he is playing for keeps. I am eager to get my hands on his next novel. Looking back on all the novels I have read in 2007, I am thinking this novel may be in my top ten for the year. I will certainly be recommending this novel to many, many readers. Well done Mr. Gentry, this is what a Forgotten Realms book should be!