Reading “Firedrake” by Richard A. Knaak (Dragonrealm 1)

Richard A. Knaak’s Firedrake (1989), the first in his Dragonrealms series, is a atrociously written male fantasy that represents some of the worst excesses of 1980s fantasy fiction, perfectly captures the era's crisis of masculinity, and features an ancient empire of armadillo-people.

Reading “Shadowdale” by Richard Awlinson [Scott Ciencin] (Forgotten Realms / Avatar 1)

The Forgotten Realms novel Shadowdale marks the beginning of a major event in the franchise's storyworld and, despite it being somewhat of an eye-rolling chore to read, it offers some promising elements for the rest of the series.