The Rage: Forgotten Realms: The Year of Rogue Dragons, Book 1

What happens when you infect the entire dragonkind population with a disease that causes them to lose their mind and revert to the more basic, primal instincts? You get "The Rage."Byers tackles one of the most intriguing topics in all of fantasy lore - dragons. They are the ultimate killers, the wisest and oldest of creatures, come in all forms (big, small, corporal, undead) and colors and seem to elicit the type of fear that can only be told in a fantasy novel. Even the most stout hearted of gamers hate to hear the words "...and a dragon appears..." when roleplaying.The Rage is centered on the premise that all dragons, good and evil, are slowly losing their self-control (as if Red dragons had any to begin with) and reverting to animal like instincts. It is unknown what is causing this issue, but the solution must be found soon, lest the entire Realms be thrown into disarray as good and bad dragons alike begin devouring, destroying, and rampaging.If you are a fan of dragon lore and enjoy the Forgotten Realms setting, then you are likely to enjoy reading The Year of the Rogue Dragons series. I know there are better books about dragons and better "worlds" that cover dragons - but there is still something special about a FR dragon in my mind...call it old sentimentality from my pen and paper days.

When I saw this trilogy was written by Richard Lee Byers, I must say I was a bit disappointed. I consider his books to be extremely action oriented, disregarding plot and character development. Some of my predictions came true, some didn't.First, this novel, the first one of the trilogy, does have a grand story behind it, although the author doesn't delve into reasons of the Rage in this novel, you can see it is a beginning of something epic. The characters of this book are a mixed bunch. Two main characters Dorn and Taegan (a very interesting, memorable character), get pretty much space and that naturally leads to depth and good character development. Other characters, however, get very limited space for their introspections and points-of-view. I hope we will see more of their characterizations in following two books. Besides that, Byers shows once again that he is a master of the flow, and he reminds you of some important characters or events throughout the book, without being repetitive or boring.I'll quote one of the characters in the book. "Illmater's Tears, will this fight ever end?" Oh man, is he right. There is so much fighting in this book, that it is simply unbearable. I knew Byers is an action-oriented author, but this is too much even from him. He could've given up on full 50 pages of battles, and still make it a fighting-heavy novel. That is my biggest complaint. Otherwise, maybe he could have made protagonists of the book a less eccentric bunch (but I understand WotC have to sell their Monster Manual XVIII somehow), and could have given the villains some space. As it is, they appear and disappear at the point of a sword.I hope to see an improvement in the following books.

I was first turned on to Byers after reading his book in the War of the Spider Queen. Since then I've read everything of his I can get my hands on.What I love about Byers the most is the how he can incorporate reality into his characters. Most often AD&D novels have just a few shades of gray between black and white, but he expands the spectrum immeasurably.The characters and situations are all well written. I even found myself emphasizing with the antagonist! Almost a "tragic villain" if you will.I also really like how he keeps the reader chronologically engaged through dates in the chapter headings.I highly recommend buying the set all at the same time. They're so good that you'll not want to wait for the next book to arrive.

I just finished the ship, shield dragon scene and I cant take anymore. I like Byers in Dissolution and the Sembia book was not bad but this book, this series is not good. Dragons are the holy grail of D&D. They are the single most powerful creature/entity next to a god. They are thousands of years old with supreme intelligence, magic, psionics, powerful physical attacks not to mention breath weapons. Yet you have this cliché group of adventurers called hunters out killing dragons one right after the other like they are peanut brained dinosaurs. In other FR novels where Dragons are mentioned, they get the respect due to them.Then you heroes, you got the typical human, human, dwarf, Halfling. You did mix it up, you made the main human the bionic man. Nice touch that's why I continued to read past the first dragon slaughter from a spell on a scroll. But alas the hero apparently had a iron head because he was sure dull.The fight scenes were bad as well, all the potions of full healing. I felt I was watching a game with the cheat codes turned on.I am an old school D&D er from the 80's. I love reading the FR books because I enjoy them. This one I did not. I don't know the story behind the book, I don't know if some MAGIC card flipper at WOC gave Mr Byers an outline and said make it happen but the story doesn't work for me. I have 2 other books of Mr. Byers from the Rogues and Priests so I will see how those go. If you have any fondness of Dragons then steer clear because its very disappointing.

I have read most of Richard Byers stories. This one is particularly good as I enjoy fantasy stories involving dragons. Good series.

I am in the middle of the book, and am really enjoying the parallel plots and character development. I am still trying to get rid of the nasty taste of the War of the Spider Queen, and this book has refreshingly good, yet conflicted, characters as its protagonists. A breath of fresh air!

Richard Lee Byers is one of my favorite authors; and these books are really good.

Lots and lots of typos and grammar errors, weak character development and an overly simplistic storytelling style that is glaring at end when the villain goes over his stereotyped motivation and agenda. I expected much better from Byers as I've enjoyed his other works that I've read. Not sure if I will spend the money to complete the trilogy.

Great start to what will hopefully be a great trilogy. I don't think I've read any of Byers' works before, but am a long-time fan of Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms. It's been nice to pick up a few new stories in the series after a few years, and dive back into the joys of these books.This story has it all - dragons, elves, wicked sorcerers and great action scenes. The storyline moves along rapidly, and the reader is always entertained, never left behind or rushed. This first book has ended on a great thread of cliffhangers, and I look forward to getting into the second book.

Product arrived on time and was as advertised. No complaints

This is one great book, I got into the Realms from Salvatores Dark Elf Trilogy, but I think this book is even better!It has a definate storyline, not too much pointless sidetracking which always helps, also there arent that many scene jumps or too many different things happening at the same time, this makes it a very easy book to understand whats going on, without making it any less exciting or enjoyable!All of the characters in this book have a deffinate personality, I personally love the way Pavel is portrayed and like the situation Byers puts him in, with his god and all that is going on around him.Overall a great book, the quickest I have ever read a book to be honest, now Ive tried reading two other books but nothing matches this one, so, I cant wait till December when the anthology comes out, but I guess we all have to wait till 2005 for the real magic to kick up again!

Als Fan des Forgotten-Realms-Settings und besonders auch von Drachen habe ich mir dieses Buch voller Vorfreude bestellt. Und sie wurde nicht enttäuscht: nachdem ich anfangs dachte die Charaktäre wären nur oberflächlich dargestellt, wurde ich im weiteren Verlauf des Buches angenehm überrascht. Mit der Zeit mag man jede einzelne Figur, sei es Dorn (der Hauptcharakter: Halbgolem, seitdem er von Drachen überfallen wurde), Kara (ein weiblicher Drache) oder der Halbling Will. Die Geschichte macht Hunger auf mehr und ich freue mich bereits auf die Fortsetzung. Für jeden Forgotten-Realms-Fan nur zu empfehlen!

Not a bad book, slightly predictable when it comes to the main characters but the overall quest and the odd mystery is what makes the book engaging.