Dance With The Dark Maiden

Not long ago I finished reading the The Lady Penitent Series by Lisa Smedman. This series is set in the Dungeons & Dragons, Forgotten Realms setting. The Lady Penitent trilogy series picks up where the War of the Spider Queen series left off. It continues the struggles of the good Drow followers of goddess Eilistraee against the evil minions of the evil Drow goddess Lloth. I have been a die hard fan of the Drow since my earliest days of playing D&D but especially since reading R. A. Salvatore’s book Homeland. Homeland was the first novel which really exposed the evil underworld of the Drow. Since then I have read everything I could get my hands on regarding this evil, yet intriguing, race of elves. So it was only natural that The Lady Penitent would top my reading list. The three book in the series are:

• Sacrifice of the Widow
• Storm of the Dead
• Ascendancy of the Last

The story of the Lady Penitent continued one of the stories from the War of the Spider Queen which was another Forgotten Realms series about the Drow which is one of my favorites. I especially enjoyed the fact that Lisa Smedman gave us a look into other aspects of Drow society: the worship of other Drow deities, other Drow cities, and especially the struggle of the goodly Drow. Smedman does an excellent job of telling the story and developing the characters.

Here is my biggest complaint regarding the series, WoTC have irreparably altered the world of the Drow yet again. I have had a love for the drow for as long as I can remember. R. A. Salvatore did the drow a huge favor by bringing them into the spotlight again through his books featuring Drow, ranger, Drizzt Do’Urden. My favorite books by Salvatore were not the ones which focused on Drizzt, they were the ones which explored the twisted and treacherous world of the Drow specifically Homeland, Sojourn, and Siege of Darkness. Obviously Siege of Darkness took the first steps towards altering Menzoberranzan but, R.A. Salvatore created it so he has the right to make the changes he wants. The six books in the War of the Spider Queen series, beat the Hell out of the already reeling Drow city but not to the point that was irrecoverable.

(SPOILER) Now The Lady Penitent series, which killed off 4 Drow gods and introduced a new race of elves all together (END SPOILER), has made some sweeping changes to the world of the Drow which to me in some ways diminishes their mystique as well as many of the intrigues and subplots which make reading about and playing D&D in the drow world fun. This is also a complaint I have about the Forgotten Realms setting in general. I really enjoy reading the novels from this setting however, every time the release a new trilogy it make vast sweeping changes alter the setting significantly. While I don’t play D&D as much as I used to anymore (I have way too many other demands on my time like a job, house, wife, kids, and other hobbies like golf, poker, baseball, and skiing) I never liked DMing in the Forgotten Realms because you other had to be constantly altering your campaign to adjust for the changes in the setting or ignore them all together in which case you weren’t staying true to that world. For both the Forgotten Realms in general and the Drow specifically I really would have preferred more books that tell smaller stories in the existing setting rather than books with broad sweeping plots that drastically change the status quo of this setting. I don’t feel like Menzoberranzan and the world of the Drow really had a chance to grow and be explored before being battered and altered. That is something that is usually saved for when people are bored with a setting which based on the popularity of the drow they weren’t (At least I wasn’t).

Now that I am off of my soap box I will conclude by saying once again that Lisa Smedman did a great job writing this series and if you love the dark elves these books are a must read.

Final Rating: 4/5 stars