The Godborn: A Novel of The Sundering

Paul S. Kemp

Oct 2013 · The Sundering Book 2 · Wizards of the Coast

About this ebook

The son of shadow warrior Erevis Cale prepares to seek out his destiny in this compelling second installment of the Sundering series
 
The shadow legacy of Erevis Cale lives on even as his old foe Mephistopheles seeks to stamp it out at any cost. Cale’s son, Vasen—unmoored in time by the god Mask—has thus far been shielded from the archdevil’s dark schemes, alone among the servants of the Lord of Light who have raised him since birth.

Living in a remote abbey nestled among the Thunder Peaks of Sembia, Vasen is haunted by dreams of his father, trapped in the frozen hell of Cania. He knows the day will come when he must assume his role in the divine drama unfolding across Faerûn. But Vasen does not know what that role should be or whether he is ready to take it on. He only knows what his father tells him in dreams—that he must not fail.
 
Enter Drasek Riven, a former compatriot of Erevis Cale, now near divine and haunted by dreams of his own. He, too, knows the time to act is near. Shar, the great goddess of darkness, looks to cast her shadow on the world forever. Riven has glimpsed the cycle of night she hopes to complete, and he knows she must be stopped.
 
At the crossroads of divine intrigue and mortal destiny, unlikely heroes unite to thwart the powers of shadow and hell, and the sundering of worlds is set on its course.

Ratings and reviews

There's no doubt that this book, the Godborn is exceptionally well written. Frankly, it's a huge step up in quality from many fantasy books. And while I've been a huge fan of the Forgotten Realms for years, I have to say I was surprised by the utterly dark and dismal feel of this book. It was depressing and seemed far too real than the fantasy of the Forgotten Realms that I had gotten used to. Admittedly, I've been away from it all for a while and being a fan of Drizzt Do'Urden and the Companions' stories, I was expecting something of lighter fair. But the Godborn is not light at all and in fact that's the point, I'm sure. What a dismal place Faerun has become and perhaps the Erevis Cale series is really where that started. What used to be a world of high fantasy has surely become a world of drudgery and fear; presumably, just as the author (a very talented guy, clearly) intended. The world described here couldn't possibly have room for any of the forces of light to survive in. The destruction of Fairelm was proof enough of that. Having said all this, the author is clearly talented and I'm going to seek out other things he's written.

Though it saddened me that the story took til the last hundred pages to actually get wind under it's wings, I can hardly contain my excitement, let alone the anticipation of the continuation of each of the characters journeys from here!

I was a little apprehensive when I started reading this book as is have been so engrossed in the story Driztt and the Companions of the hall. But soon found that I could bot put the book down. I am looking forward to the rest of the Sundering. One path leads to another, when one road ends another begins.

About the author

Paul S. Kemp is best known as the author of several Forgotten Realms novels, including The Twilight War Trilogy, Resurrection, and The Godborn. While his mind is often in the Forgotten Realms world, his body lives in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, with his wife Jennifer, his dog Penelope, and four cats: Newt, Libby, Emmitt, and Homer (after the poet, not the Simpson). He is a graduate of the University of Michigan–Dearborn and the University of Michigan law school. When he's not writing tales for Ed Greenwood's magnificent brainchild, he practices corporate law in Detroit. Visit him online at paulskemp.com.