Winter Witch

As a fan of the Pathfinder RPG, I was glad to hear that Paizo, already the publisher of the Planet Stories Library, was publishing a series of novels set in the Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting. After reading Elaine Cunningham's stories in the Legacy of Fire Adventure Path, which began with Pathfinder Adventure Path: Legacy Of Fire #1 - Howl Of The Carrion King, I was doubly anxious to see how she would treat the lands of Irrisen and the White Witches who rule it. So, how did she do? Here's how:

Wow. Good story! I'm going to keep my comments generic, both because I don't want to ruin it for anyone else and because my impressions don't rely too much on the specific plot points.

1) Characters. I really enjoyed them. All of them. I particularly like the fact that Elaine portrays the Ulfen people as being far more sophisticated than the usual barbarian/Viking stereotypes. Sure, Ellasif starts off as being a counterpoint to those stereotypes, but when we meet other Ulfen characters, we get an image of all the Ulfen people that goes beyond "big dumb warrior" trope. Anyone who wants to play an Ulfen character in Pathfinder needs to read this book.

I'm also glad to see that most of the characters actually have depth. I moved away from the Forgotten Realms and other RPG-setting specific novels years ago because I couldn't get past the feeling that the characters were paper thin. Most of those stories felt like the author was trying too hard to show how they could write a story in that particular setting, rather than writing a story about characters who happen to live in the setting.

Elaine doesn't do that. She didn't do it with Channa Ti in the Legacy of Fire Adventure Path, and she certainly didn't do it in Winter Witch.

The characters of this Pathfinder Tale are fully steeped in the lore of Golarion. They are children of the setting and, as a result, seem authentic, both as Pathfinder characters and as people.

2) Pacing of the story was well done. It felt a little rushed toward the end, but I think that may have more to do with the fact that I wanted to see more of the characters than an actual pacing problem. In other words, the story ended too soon. ;)

3) I found Elaine's descriptions of the setting very engaging. She provided just enough detail to give us a good sense of each location without overwhelming us with details. The story does entail a long journey, but she managed to describe the various sites without making it read like a travel log.

4) Overall...this was a really good novel and a great showing for the second in the series of "Pathfinder Tales." I want to read the sequel as soon as possible!

Standard quest story line. Like the creative use of dungeon and dragons creatures. Easy to read very visual.