Books like Rising Tide

A sword's steel splintered the weak moonlight, sweeping toward his head.Ah. The old shared-world hack-and-slash adventure fantasy fiction. More specifically: Forgotten Realms. I purchased The Threat from the Sea (way back), on the strength of its cover art. My introduction to fantasy was Tolkien, the Icewind Dale Trilogy and the original Dragonlance Chronicles. When I was younger, I enjoyed shared-world fiction, and Forgotten Realms in particular, because of the potential for immersion. So, I suppose it’s no real surprise that I still, every so often, get a nostalgic kick out of this sort of thing. Also, I’m not as picky as literary critics (self-appointed or otherwise). It’s not like I get paid to force my opinion on others write book reviews, so I have the singular privilege of, well, reading random books purely for the sake of a yarn. I’ve also come to the conclusion that I’m easily sold on fantasy that features interesting or exotic settings. So, to it then:The general consensus seemed to be that he'd gone insane, and everyone knew the gods favored those too stupid to save themselves.Though it isn’t the silliest D&D story I’ve ever read (not even close) it’s pretty representative of this kind of fiction in at least one sense: namely it reads like a B-movie… all plot and not too much characterization. Every situation seems to be an excuse for some sort of confrontation. This isn’t by default a bad thing if you’re looking to read something that’s pretty much action oriented, featuring exotic settings and strange beings, and reads at a fair trot. I also found the use of Sahuagin as the enemy at least somewhat novel, tying in as it does with a big event in the greater Forgotten Realms universe.The action scenes are competently written (often exceptionally so), which is important in a story such as this, in which it takes front and center. In fact, there are sequences that are the literary equivalent of a fireworks show. In small ways that I appreciated, the book illustrates wonderfully how unknown factors, such as the use of magic or alchemy, can change the course of events and battles just so. A large portion of the book deals with the battle for Waterdeep after being attacked from the sea. I probably found this whole sequence more exciting than I had any right to, but I can’t apologise for that.I was partial to the bard Pacys as far as characters were concerned. Jherek initially struck me as too much of a straight arrow trope, albeit an extremely unlucky one, but he eventually grew on me. Events seem to suggest that he is being groomed to become a Paladin, which could be interesting. In the end it’s a fairly typical D&D story with all the expected trimmings, but with the added benefit of some interesting underwater locales and critters, and written very competently to boot. I’m certainly not naïve enough to view this as top shelf fantasy fiction, but for nostalgic value and a nice quick old-school fantasy-buzz it will get you there. If you regularly read and enjoy Forgotten Realms stories, this should be on your list. It’s the first in a trilogy, and I am rather invested in seeing what happens next.In closing: there is also a brobdingnagian albino Kraken in this book, which surely accounts for at least one of the stars awarded.