# The Erevis Cale Trilogy by Paul S. Kemp



## Werthead (Oct 4, 2011)

*Erevis Cale Trilogy #1: Twilight Falling*



> Erevis Cale is a butler in the service of the Uskevren family, a merchant house of Selgaunt. He is also a skilled assassin and a secret priest of Mask, the god of rogues, whom Cale has an ambiguous relationship with. When the Uskevren estate of Stormweather is attacked by assailants using powerful sorcery, Cale sets out to track them down. He is aided by his old friend, the halfling Jak Fleet, and an old enemy, the Zhentarim assassin Drasek Riven, who seems to have also been granted Mask's favour...
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> It's been about a decade since I last dipped into the world of Forgotten Realms fiction (in novels, anyway). I'd read many books in the setting during my teenage years and in my experience the good writers and books (Troy Denning, James Lowder, early R.A. Salvatore etc) were massively outnumbered by the bad ones, to the point where I decided to give up on the novel line shortly after the launch of the 3rd Edition of the setting, though I continued to run D&D games in the Realms for many years. Over the last few years I've heard enough good things about Paul Kemp's work in the setting to finally convince me to return to the Realms and give his work a go.
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## Werthead (Oct 13, 2011)

*Erevis  Cale Trilogy #2: Dawn of Night*




> Erevis Cale and his  allies have survived a confrontation with the slaadi servants of the  enigmatic Sojourner, but now find themselves lost on the Plane of Shadow  with no way home. Meanwhile, Azriim and his fellows seek to execute the  next part of the Sojourner's plans and head for Skullport, one of the  darkest and most dangerous cities in the Realms.
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> The second volume of the *Erevis Cale*  trilogy picks up immediately after the first book and once again pits  Cale and his band of willing and not-so-willing 'heroes' against Azriim  and his fellow slaadi. The first novel, _Twilight Falling_, was entertaining but also suffered from clunky writing and some bad pacing. _Dawn of Night_  is a notable improvement, with a more notable focus on the battle of  wills between Cale and his sometimes-ally Riven to prove themselves the  better man. The prose is more polished (though still prone to odd  lapses) and there's also a satisfying amount of weirdness invoked when  Cale and his friends find themselves lost on the Plane of Shadow.  Skullport - one of the most vividly memorable locations in the *Forgotten Realms* setting - is also brought to life in all its squalid, grubby splendour.
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## Werthead (Oct 30, 2011)

*Erevis Cale Trilogy #3: Midnight's Mask*



> Azriim and his slaadi allies have succeeded in tapping the magical mantle of Skullport, delivering tremendous power into the hands of their lord and master, the Sojourner. They now find themselves joined by Riven, who has betrayed Erevis Cale to choose the winners' side. As the Sojourner prepares to execute the final stage of his plan, Cale and his remaining allies must gather all their remaining resources to thwart him.
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> Midnight's Mask concludes the Erevis Cale Trilogy in fine form, tying up the trilogy's storylines and plot points in a satisfying and even surprising fashion. In the first two books the Sojourner's ultimate objective is not revealed, but in this finale Kemp executes one of the better surprise endings in the epic fantasy genre when it comes to his main villain's motivations.
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