A couple weeks ago I put down my thoughts on the Dungeons & Dragons prequel novel entitled The Road to Neverwinter. Now that I've finished E.K. Johnston's dive into Faerun I can officially say I'm caught up on everyone's backstory before the the events of the movie.
While Road was a bit more congruent with the overarching tale that would inevitably unfold in Neverwinter on the big screen, The Druid's Call is more of a side quest. We're introduced to Doric, one of the best characters in the movie albeit fairly quiet through most of it, and a loose connection that she has to Simon. The entirety of the novel really explores Doric's life from infancy to young adult. We see what things have been like for her as a tiefling in the elven world, a significant step up from her brief time in the human one.
Born to human parents, Doric is confined in her attic until the ripe age of six. This Harry-Potter-esque treatment has to do with the fact that she is a tiefling, a child with demons in its ancestry that gets to inherit all of the cons with little of the pros that come with the package. Abandoned in the forest, she is raised by a kindly old elven woman and is trained to become a ranger from the time she could string a bow. The talent doesn't come naturally to her, and her skill doesn't improve with any amount of effort. The only thing that does come naturally, actually, is her affinity with speaking to and influencing animals and nature. With this gift in hand, she goes to the Emerald Enclave to learn the ways of the druids from some of the greatest teachers of the age. It is here that she learns everything she needs in order to become a force to be reckoned with by the time she fully links up with Edgin, Holga, and Simon.
The Good
A lot of Doric's story is some really strong stuff. In particular, the flashbacks to when she was a child and growing up in a harsh world were gut wrenching. This is some of the best writing that Johnston does in the entire novel, and it really helps to wrap the reader up in Doric's issues. It also gives a lot of credibility to her continuous clashes with humans.
Doric as a character is also incredibly well-written. She is fleshed out and multi-dimensional, with aspects of her personality that reflect both nature and nurture. Being able to see her develop over the course of the story was a pleasure. We see her go from the uncertain-where-she-fits tiefling attached to the elven community to become a cocksure druid ready to do what needs to be done.
The Bad
The main story itself could have used some work, I think. How does this all fit into the grand scheme of Honor Among Thieves? The ties are there, but they're loose at best. I believe that this really is a prime example of a story that wasn't really needed... but we got it anyway.
With how great and multidimensional Doric is in the novel... the same cannot be said of the other characters. From her elven buddy to her druid buddy, rude elves or rude humans, there's just not much to be had here. This is a shame, because it would have been nice to see some of these others fleshed out and made into more unique characters as well. It would give the readers something to care about a little more.
The Takeaway
The Druid's Call is a book that will probably not grace too many shelves in its lifetime, D&D fans or not, but that's not to say that it isn't a worthwhile read. It gives us a bit of the lore and framing around the movie, and virtually anything that expands upon the Forgotten Realms is at least worth a look... if only a passing glance.
7/10
To check out my own venture into fantasy territory, take a look at this excerpt from Fracture.
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