SJ Reviews: The Fiction

In my quest to support the delusion that folks care what I've produced a
series of quick and dirty reviews of all the Spelljammer products. I
hope these will be useful to newcomers and those without all of the
products.

Rating System:
*= Mediocre, poorly written product with little usefulness.
**= A bad product for several reasons with one or two useful aspects.
***= An average product with some good and some bad points.
****= An above average product with few bad points.
*****= An excellent product with few if any bad points. An essential SJ product.

Novels:

Beyond the Moons (The Cloakmaster Cycle)
by David Cook (c)1991
Rating: ***

The novel isn't bad, and is plotted tightly enough. It provides an
interesting example of how to bring Spelljammer into one's groundling
campaign and really highlights the evil of the Neogi and the energy of
Tinker gnome society. Gomja the Giff is a wonderfully drawn character
who brings that race to life, as well. However, most of the novel takes
place on Krynn and thus provides little information on spelljamming
societies.

Into the Void (The Cloakmaster Cycle)
by Nigel Findley (c)1991
Rating: ****

An excellent novel with great characters, especially Aelfred Silverhorn
and Estriss. The day to day life on a decent sized vessel (the
hammership PROBE) is well described, and lots of spelljamming culture
tidbits are scattered throughout the novel. A great look at the setting,
though the plot has many weak points.

The Maelstrom's Eye (The Cloakmaster Cycle)
by Roger E. Moore (c)1992
Rating: ****

An excellent book with a tight plot and a wonderful look at the Second
Unhuman War. General Vorr of the Scro and Admiral Cirathorn of the IEN
are great characters, though I don't enjoy the way so many Spelljammer
products insists on making elves evil. Excellent consistency with the
last novel in character development and a great description of a visit
to the Rock of Bral.

[Personal Note: Obviously one of my favorite Spelljammer products since
so much of my 'Bralspace' is inspired by it.]

The Radiant Dragon (The Cloakmaster Cycle)
by Elaine Cunningham (c)1992
Rating: ****

Another good novel by TSR/WOTC's best serious author. A nice look at
Evermeet and the inner workings of the Elven Imperial Fleet (including a
scene set on Lionheart). Connects well with ideas first presented in
_Practical Planetology_. Another excellent character appears, Hectate
Kir, who is an excellent 'sidekick' or 'companion to heroes' in the
Moorcock/Moonglum tradition.

The Broken Sphere (The Cloakmaster Cycle)
by Nigel Findley (c)1993
Rating: **

The 'Way of the Plain', the Great Archive, and Crescent are well done
and offer a nice setting. The plot is full of holes and the sudden
absence of Hectate Kir is completely illogical. The surprising
consistency of the previous books disappears. The villain is lame, and
the plot full of holes. Worth having for the first half, however.

The Ultimate Helm (The Cloakmaster Cycle)
by Russ T. Howard (c)1993
Rating: *

Burn it. Seriously. Inconsistent with everything except the _Legend of
the Spelljammer_ boxed set, the characters are poorly drawn and the plot
holes immense. The writing style is not bad, if only the author had even
the first clue about Spelljammer. He seems to have have read none of the
previous books. Lots of historical tidbits which have no connection to
any other Spelljammer product. Buy this only if you are a fanatical
collector and you can find it for $.50 in a used book store.

Finder's Bane 
by Kate Novak and Jeff Grubb (c)1997 
Rating: ***

This novel pulls off an impressive feat: It links Spelljammer, the
Forgotten Realms, and Planescape all into a coherent, interesting story.
Much better than most game fiction.  The Spelljammer content is small,
telling more of Jasmine, one of the more popular characters from the
Spelljammer comics.  The novel also illustrates how dangerous a
spelljammer can be in the hands of evil groundlings, and why
spelljammers so often hide their nature from groundlings when in port.

Evermeet: Island of the Elves 
by Elaine Cunningham (c)1999
Rating: ****

An excellent novel about elves in the Forgotten Realms, it's almost a
history told over several thousand years.  Evermeet's acquisition of the
Starwings is shown, as well as their uses in several battles to save the
city.  In addition, gold elves from a planet conquered by the scro are
duped into being part of an assault on Evermeet.  The wonderful
spelljammer lore is only upset by Cunningham's misunderstanding of basic
spelljammer physics.  It's very minor, however.  If you like elves in
spelljammer, you need to read this novel.

Short Stories:

"Smoke Powder and Mirrors", Realms of Magic [1995]
by Jeff Grubb
Rating:**

This very short story deals with smokepowder and the Forgotten Realms
city of Waterdeep.  The story is basically a short character study of a
young wizard's apprentice, and the only real spelljammer connection is a
giff. Still, it's interesting to see the interaction between groundling
and Spelljammer.

"Gunne Runner", Realms of Magic [1995]
by Roger E. Moore
Rating:***

Also set in Waterdeep, and also dealing with smokepowder, this story has
an actual spelljamming vessel involved, as well as a connection to the
II UnHuman War.  It's a more interesting read than the earlier
Spelljammer story in the anthology, and is basically a police procedural
in a fantasy world.  Another fascinating take on the interaction between
groundlings and Spelljammers, it is an excellent guide for GMs
considering how to integrate Spelljammer into established groundling
worlds like the Forgotten Realms or Greyhawk.

"Through the Door at the Top of the Sky", The Dragons at War [1996]
by Roger E. Moore
Rating:***

A very good story that depicts the ongoing connection of Mt. Nevermind
gnomes with the spelljamming community, as well as an spelljamming
illithid raid on Krynn.  Much more directly involved with spelljamming
than any of the other short stories.