I Read What?!

I don't have much to say about this book as I've never read it before. This is the second book in R. A. Salvatore's non-Drizzt Forgotten Realms series: The Cleric Quintet.

I was pleasantly surprised by the first book, Canticle, so I'm looking forward to giving this a try.

On a personal note, one of my very best friends has become a big Drizzt fan. I must be supportive of her newfound love, even if I think he's a pontificating jackass. Please wish me well.

But this Cadderly's story, not Drizzt's. Thank god.



We begin with a Prologue. And a map!

I enjoy maps very much and this one seems small but fairly detailed. Between Drizzt, Neverwinter Nights and various other properties, I'm considerably more familiar with the Sword Coast than I am with this region. But I'm intrigued.

The map shows us "Shilmista" (subtitled "Forest of Shadows"), the Snowflake Mountains, a place called Carradoon, and the Edificant Library. The road appears to lead to a place called Riatavin. It'll be interesting to see which places matter to the story.

Considering it's called "In Sylvan Shadows", I'm GUESSING, Shilmista might be a major location. Just a guess.

So, we rejoin Cadderly. And it becomes pretty obvious that unlike certain other Forgotten Realms protagonists, who seem to brush off horrors right away, he's actually not okay.

Everything was as it always had been for Cadderly—at least, that’s what the young scholar tried to convince himself. Percival was at play in the sunshine; the library was secure and peaceful once more; the lazy remainder of summer promised leisure and quiet walks.

As it always had been.

Cadderly dropped his chin into his palm, then ran his hand back through his sandy brown hair. He tried to concentrate on the peaceful images before him, on the quiet summer world of the Snowflake Mountains, but eyes looked back at him from the depths of his mind: the eyes of a man he had killed.

Yeah, that makes sense. Poor kid went from having a fairly quiet, sitcom-esque life to a truly horrifying experience. And he killed a dude. That sucks.

Apparently he's not so quick to smile anymore. Aw. I won't make fun for that.

Anyway, we get to see what he's writing. I'm vaguely intrigued by the name he uses "Cadderly of Carradoon, Appointed Scholar, Order of Deneir." From what I remember, he spent pretty much his entire life since early childhood at the library. So what connection does he have to Carradoon?

It's also notable that he doesn't use a surname. We know of one possible surname thanks to the surprise stinger reveal in the last book. But does Cadderly know?

So basically, Cadderly seems to be writing a diary entry of sorts. It's been five weeks since Barjin's defeat - and now I'm wondering how Cadderly knows the guy's name. They hadn't really had much time to chat. But okay. He ends up crossing out the thought about still seeing his dead eyes. Which seems kind of sad - he should get to express himself. But this is apparently part of his year quest, and he hadn't written an entry in more than a week.

Ivan and Pikel have left to go help Pikel figure out how to be a druid. Cadderly has some doubts that woodland priests will welcome a dwarf though. You'd think the survivors here at the temple could help with that. He'll miss them, considering them, Danica, and Newander as "the true heroes" of the fight.

Hm, I'm trying to decide if the "true heroes" line reads a little too Drizzt like to me, and I'll go with no. The whole thing with Drizzt is that it was presented that Regis got undeserved credit that should have gone to him in the Crystal Shard (IMO, Regis more than earned it, but fuck that shit.). But Cadderly's correct in attributing the victory to the whole group.

There is a bit of belated lampshading where he says "Barjin - if that was his name", and we're told that they learned this from clerics calling back Barjin's spirit. There is a warning to take any information gleaned from the dead as "probable" rather than exact, which I kind of like.

They do believe Barjin is part of a conspiracy. And have gotten the name "Talona" from him. This makes Cadderly uneasy, since, as a baby Cleric working in a Library, he definitely knows who the Lady of Poison is. He does note that Barjin isn't marked or scarred in the way of most Talona disciples. Though his holy symbol DOES resemble Talona's.

But there's news now: Prince Elbereth of Shilmista has come to visit, with gloves that were taken from a band of marauding bugbears. The insignia exactly matches Barjin's symbol, so that's more evidence of the conspiracy. Cadderly believes that he'll be ordered to accompany Elbereth back to the forest, since he's pretty much exhausted all of his research options at the library itself. He's basically hit dead ends when it comes to researching both Talona and the evil elixir.

We're told the lower catacombs are sealed, and the bottle is where Cadderly left it, immersed in holy water in Barjin's altar room.

I think it'd be better if they guarded the room rather than sealed it, honestly. What if there's another entrance that they don't know about?

So anyway, Cadderly's only clues now go to Shilmista, somewhere Cadderly's always wanted to go, but not for these reasons.

Cadderly ends the report, and gets contemplative, reminding us that until the last book, the Library hadn't been threatened. And so orcs, goblins, undead monsters and evil wizards had always been stories from books. Now they're real. And even though Cadderly's been called a "hero" for his actions, all he remembers are confusion, chaos, and "blind fate" governing his actions. It was even an accident that he'd killed Barjin.

So yep, that's where we are at the start of this story. Someone's taken Zack Morris and given him a severe case of imposter syndrome.

Now where it goes from here? We'll see next time!