City of towers

For the first book of a whole new D&D campaign setting, I'd say this book is pretty good. It's not spectacular... just nice. Obviously, being the first book of a new setting, the book attempts to introduce the readers to the world of Eberron. For readers familiar with D&D, certain sections of the book felt like a campaign setting sourcebook. For readers unfamiliar with D&D, it may probably be too much irrelevant details. There's a nice glossary at the end containing history and setting details - might've have nicer to put footnotes throughout the pages pointing to the glossary - could've made the pace faster.

Anyway, as for the story, it's an action adventure book with some mystery thrown in. The protagonists were sent to locate a missing smuggler and a missing “shipment” of goods, but were inevitably drawn into something much bigger. The plot is quite good and very nicely laid out - not revealing too much too quickly. Certain parts of the action sequences had conflicting descriptions - minor, but you'd notice - like one of the protagonist healing from a dagger wound that should have been made by a chain.

The characters are believable and each has an interesting back story. But that's where it stopped. Not enough depth probably, or not enough characterisation perhaps? It's like watching player characters (RPG) go through a campaign. I can't “feel” for the characters.

So overall, the plot, the pace, and the characters are all pretty good - they just don't stand out. A pretty good effort for the first book of a whole new setting though, so it's still a good enough read. The ending picks up the pace and nicely sets the stage for the next 2 books.

One final point though - if you're easily irritated with bad proof-reading - be forewarned about this book. It's incredible that Wizards of the Coast, which published so many books, managed to publish a book with typos and grammatical errors abound - there's at least one for almost every chapter. I even noticed one when browsing the glossary!

I think on its own, this book could work as an fascinating introduction to the setting, but if you (like me) are already familiar with the setting, politics, lore, and magic of Ebberon (and Sharn in particular) you'll probably be a little bit disappointed. I love Ebberon as a setting, it's so consistent and well realized it's a perfect playground. I liked this book, it's a fun read with some cool concepts set against an incredible backdrop.