Has anyone read it? I just finished it and it seemed pretty good for a FR novel. Too bad there was so little Planescape in it. I thought it'd be more but it was just a side trip. :nolike:

Also, Finder is the most pathetic god I've ever read about. :D

Well, I was a big fan of the Bard's Tale trilogy back in the 80s. In BT3, there's this goddess of love and beauty named Alliria, whom I saw as a sort of hybrid between Aphrodite and Galadriel. BT3's plot took a real tragic twist when her husband, Cyanis, related to my party that he was forced to watch Tarjan (the god of evil) slowly torture her to death. There was a website (no longer exists because he graduated from Columbia, which had been the host) that made its own adaptation of the Bard's Tale mythology to D&D 2nd edition rules. As it turns out, Alliria remains dead, "currently adrift in the astral plane." So I started a thread in the D&D forum called, "D&D cosmology and dead deities" in order to find out what sort of afterlife a deceased deity goes to.

Tal recommended the book, "Finder's Bane", and Tal being Tal ;) recommended buying it through SP. Doing my part to help out with the expenses, I complied. I later discussed the book with Tal in a PM, and at his request, here are my comments:

I've just finished reading "Finder's Bane" and thought I'd run a few conclusions by you. Sorry if I sound sappy or obsessive about this, but I had been really into the Bard's Tale series as a teenager, and that particular point in the story made quite the impression on me.

Anyway, I found "Finder's Bane" quite an interesting book in its own right, apart from the reason I bought it. And here's what I concluded:

1) A God's spirit or essence actually enjoys a considerable latitude regarding where in the multi-verse it resides. As the Banelich put it, "Bane chose to honor me by housing his spirit within my form." However, this does seem subject to qualifications.

2) Woe betide the spirit of a god that allows itself to be captured by another deity that had been a rival.

3) Woe betide the spirit of a god that enters a plane of considerably different alignment. Bane's essence wouldn't tread anywhere near Mount Celestia or Elysium.

4) Conceivably, the spirit of a god could enter an Outer Plane that matches its alignment. This may also be consistent with Walinda's statement that a god possesses a spirit that is bound to its followers. Indeed, in BG2, we see Amaunator calling his forsaken followers to the Keep of the Eternal Sun in Mechanus. Problem is, until body, power, and spirit are reunited through a resurrection ritual, the god's spirit may be on roughly the same footing as a standard petitioner. Also, entering the plane as a petitioner may involve losing the memories of past life. In a way, it can amount to starting all over again. Certainly Bane wouldn't accept such status in Acheron of all places.

On the other hand, it seems fitting for Alliria to make her way to Arborea this way. The nice thing about fiction (especially fiction in licensing limbo ala Bard's Tale) is that you can always supply your own silver lining. Mythologies and fantasy stories always have characters of tragedy who are destined for rebirth (Balder after Ragnarok, Finduilas and others after the Second Propecy of Mandos). As such, I figure, Alliria deserves and gets as much.
I can honestly recommend reading this book. Using Khazraj's Tolkien scale, I'd give it a 6, which from me is considerable praise indeed. And yes, Finder is not a very inspiring god to read about. Joel, Walinda, Jas, and the thoroughly evil Banelich are quite captivating characters to read about though.

Thanks!

I just remembered that I forgot to tell you that Tymora's Luck is basically part 2 of the story... Same characters (and some new ones), different story - and more Planescape. I enjoyed it quite a lot. You can get it here: http://www.sorcerers.net/Books/index_fr2.htm (bottom of the page)

This series of books sounds interesting -- I'll put them on my list.