Everquest: The Rogue's Hour Hardcover – October 13, 2004

Super quick delivery and a handwritten note inside. It also came with another free book and a bookmark so I couldn't be happier. Thanks so much!

Still reading it but so far love it .

Fears grow with justifiable cause. The magically contained malevolent Dragon of World's End will be released by evil necromancers, wizards, and shadowknights who have obtained the last object they need to bring forth the scourge.In Southern Qeynos, a stranger stops Sizemore the Red and Bully Duetchmar from acting stupidly by preventing their assault on a woman. Afterward, the stranger admits to the lady that he has no idea who he is or anything else. Using the name Rileigh he flees by sea from a necromancer and a shadowknight. Rileigh finds others trying to kill or ally with him on his great quest that he seems to be the only one not to know what it is. Quickly concluding that he cannot trust friend or foe, Rileigh wonders if his greatest enemy is his own past as he hunts for four objects of power that once chained the deadly dragon even as he wonders if he switched sides and released the killing beast.Obviously taken from the interactive online fantasy game, R.A. SALVATORE PRESENTS EVERQUEST: THE ROGUE'S HOUR is a terrific epic saga starring a delightful hero who keeps his sense of humor throughout his dangerous adventures. Those not familiar with the Everquest Universe will enjoy the tale as Rileigh will remind readers of Hans Solo in a fantasy realm. The support cast makes the universe seem genuine or brings out the good and bad of the reluctant champion. Targeting gamesters, other genre readers will appreciate the tale and seek other works by Scott Ciencin (see the Charmed LUCK BE A LADY or the Angel NEMESIS)Harriet Klausner

My husband loves these books.

I must start off by stating that I have never played any of the Everquest games before, though I have always been more than curious to try them out. Unfortunately, my server is too slow to play on-line games... That is why when I found this book by Scott Ciencin, I was more than eager to get a chance to read it. And might I say, I was not disappointed.Though I've never read anything else by this author, I must say he seems to do quite well on this one. "Rogue's Hour" has a storyline that will leave you guessing up to the very end, and an ending that is far from disappointing. It is filled with action, adventure, and even elements of suspense. My only complaint is the lack of any real romance, which might have added to this story. Then again, perhaps that would have taken from what this has going for it...who knows.The story revolves around a hero who has no real memory of who he is or where he's from. However, he soon finds himself having dreams...or perhaps memories...of a great dragon, which only confuses him even more as he soon winds up entangled in a great quest full of mystery and betrayal. Who is he, what is the relevance of the dreams, and who is it that is trying to put an end to his very existence... All of this reveals itself in time, leading to a great and climactic ending.Despite lacking any romantic theme, this is by far a great story. In my opinion, it reads almost like a video game...quick paced, full of adventure, and keeps you guessing at what will come next. So, if such a book sounds of interest to you, then give this one a chance. You shouldn't be disappointed.

Rogue's hour is one of those books that keep pushing you to throw them against the wall.It's been like this from page one for me. It wasn't the writing (which was average), it wasn't the theme (which had a lot of untapped potential), and it wasn't the setting.What nagged on me the most was what is normally the best part of any fantasy book - the storyline. Normally, I wouldn't judge a thing like this, but in Rogue's Hour it's done in such a terrible way, that it impels me to write my sentiments down.=SPOILERS AHEAD=In Rogue's Hour, the storyline is one hundred percent based around cramming in as much action, "dangerous/scary moments" and outlandish plot developments as possible. There is a plethora of scenes and even whole characters that absolutely make no sense within the story, like an important moment when Bronwynn and Rileigh are almost killed by an unidentified Gryphon rider, who remains unidentified until the end of the story. There's an Iksar (lizardman) priestess who helps the main character (twice) for no reason what-so-ever, there is an ogre bounty hunter whose only purpose is to add a useless chapter to the book, there is a boy-shaman who could've been scrapped out of the script and nobody would notice etc.The plot of the book revolves around two parts; the main character's search for his identity, and the epic quest to prevent the resurrection of an ancient, world-decimating dragon. The amnesia part could've been good, the dragon-part could've been passable but ended in a fiasco.Okay, so this dragon is powerful, extremely powerful, mind-boggling powerful. Each of his bones is a mighty weapon in its own right. In fact, if the dragon is ever resurrected, he will destroy the world, and we'd be helpless to stop it. He's even known as the Dragon of World's End. The bad guys want to revive him so that they could mind-control him, and use him for whatever evil plans they have. The heroes are on a quest to stop them.In the end, the heroes could've defeated the bad guys, and once again scattered the bones to prevented the dragon's reincarnation, allowing for a dignified ending. But no. The dragon gets resurrected, and is about to destroy the world. And guess what? The main character (who is a ninja dressed in a few magical items, but just a human being nevertheless) climbs the dragon's back and kills it by severing its spine. Dragon of World's End brought down by a single ninja, and a bit of flak from the ground? Imagine my disappointment. It's the "put in as many action moments as possible" philosophy at its finest. This is just one example. Such things occur throughout the novel, and after a while you're yawning with almost every page.The amnesia-storyline is a landscape of wasted potential. The main character is virtuous after his memory loss. So virtuous that he spares lives when his own existence is endangered, even when the lives he wants to spare belong to the ones who are trying to kill him. This goes so far that his goal throughout the book is to avenge the death of some random civilian whom the villain murdered. As the story progresses, he finds out more about his past, and it appears he was a very very VERY evil man in his "previous life". This in itself gives the writer an opportunity to create a great symbolism about a despicable man being given a second chance, and using it to right what wrong he did and, more important, being able to start anew in a better, purer way.No such luck. After the dragon dies, we're treated with a scene where the main character finds out that all the wicked stuff he did before his amnesia was, in fact, a ruse. He was always good, nurturing, law-abiding and merciful, he just did underhanded stuff so he could achieve the greater good. By this time in the book, I wanted to puke.The part that especially annoyed this reviewer was the breezy manner in which combat was depicted. Bad guys and heroes alike crack jokes, and even chitchat during lethal situations. This happens throughout the book, making me think that the characters (especially the main character) are aware of their contractual immortality, and abusing it to the extreme.Conclusion? It wasn't quite bad enough to make give it to a hated neighbor, but take my words on this; it's a bad story set in an utterly unoriginal setting. To be avoided.