![]() Cover of the first edition | |
Author | James M. Ward, Jane Cooper Hong |
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Cover artist | Clyde Caldwell |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Series | Heroes of Phlan |
Genre | Fantasy novel |
Publisher | TSR, Inc. |
Publication date | 1989 |
Media type | Print (Paperback) |
Pages | 316 |
ISBN | 0-88038-735-1 |
OCLC | 21019475 |
Followed by | Pools of Darkness |
Pool of Radiance is a novel based on the Pool of Radiance computer role-playing game. It was written by James Ward and Jane Cooper Hong, and published by TSR in November 1989. The novel is set in the Forgotten Realms setting based on the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. This book was the first in a trilogy, followed by Pools of Darkness and Pool of Twilight .
Dragon described the novel's plot: "Five companions find themselves in the unenviable position of defending the soon-to-be ghost town against a rival possessing incredible power." [1]
Three companions, Shal Bal of Cormyr, Tarl Desanea, a cleric of Tyr, and Ren o' the Blade are brought together in Phlan by circumstance and encounter various threats as they work to purge the city of civilized Phlan, the restored part of the destroyed city of Old Phlan, culminating in a faceoff with the Lord of the Ruins, Tyranthraxus.
In the Io9 series revisiting older Dungeons & Dragons novels, Rob Bricken commented that "frankly, I'm unsurprised that Pool of [Radiance] rolls a straightforward 4—no bonuses, no penalties, just a simple, unquestionable failure." [2]
Forgotten Realms is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fantasy role-playing game. Commonly referred to by players and game designers as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 as a setting for his childhood stories. Several years later, it was published for the D&D game as a series of magazine articles, and the first Realms game products were released in 1987. Role-playing game products have been produced for the setting ever since, in addition to novels, role-playing video game adaptations, comic books, and the film Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.
Pool of Radiance is a role-playing video game developed and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc (SSI) in 1988. It was the first adaptation of TSR's Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) fantasy role-playing game for home computers, becoming the first episode in a four-part series of D&D computer adventure games. The other games in the "Gold Box" series used the game engine pioneered in Pool of Radiance, as did later D&D titles such as the Neverwinter Nights online game. Pool of Radiance takes place in the Forgotten Realms fantasy setting, with the action centered in and around the port city of Phlan.
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Drizzt Do'Urden is a fictional character appearing in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Drizzt was created by author R. A. Salvatore as a supporting character in the Icewind Dale Trilogy. Salvatore created him on a whim when his publisher needed him to replace one of the characters in an early version of the first book, The Crystal Shard. Drizzt has since become a popular heroic character of the Forgotten Realms setting, and has been featured as the main character of a long series of books, starting chronologically with The Dark Elf Trilogy. As an atypical drow, Drizzt has forsaken both the evil ways of his people and their home in the Underdark, in the drow city of Menzoberranzan.
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Azure Bonds is a 380-page paperback fantasy novel written by Kate Novak and Jeff Grubb, with cover art by Clyde Caldwell, and published by TSR Inc. in 1988. It is the first novel of the Finder’s Stone Trilogy which is set within the world of the Forgotten Realms. It served as the basis for the computer game, Curse of the Azure Bonds. One of the co-authors, Jeff Grubb, stated that of the novels he has written, Azure Bonds is one of his favorites.
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