Tomes of Other Realms: Dark Knight of Karameikos

Tomes of Other Realms

Welcome to the lands of swords and sorcery, where people live and die by the sword and only the bravest of souls stand between the common folk and the forces of darkness. Join me as I wander different planes and hear the stories of their greatest defenders and the sagas of their worthiest warriors.

W A R N I N G !

This review does not represent the opinions of the general public. It reflects my personal thoughts and opinions on the book.

That said, on to the review!

Title: Dark Knight of Karameikos<
Author: Timothy Brown
Publisher: TSR, Inc.
Format: Paperback
Copyright Date: 1995

Sir Grygory, a Traladaran knight, has this thing about orcs: he hates them. After watching them destroy your village and the only life you've known, you'd hate them too. He doesn't necessarily go out of his way to kill any orc he sees, but he isn't about to let any of them get away when he can stop them. He is, however, still a knight and must follow orders. Fortunately for him, his orders happen to take him into a region of new settlements in danger of being completely overrun and destroyed by orcish invaders. Grygory leads a force into the area, intent on putting a stop to the devastation. What he isn't prepared for, however, is the presence of a dark and deadly foe from his past who's haunted his dreams even more than the orcs who slaughtered his father: a knight dressed in black armor astride a skeletal steed. He has a chance to avenge his father's death and the deaths of all who died in that attack, but is he ready to pay the price for his vengeance? And can the world survive if he is and does?

Dark Knight of Karameikos provides an interesting contrast to the world of Mystara as established by the Dragonlord Chronicles. Rather than seeing the world through the unique perspective of the dragons on a rather wide-scale--spanning two worlds seems to be very wide-scale indeed--we get to see a narrow sliver of the world, namely that of Karameikos and Traladara. Well, technically we get to see a bit more, what with Grygory ending up in the pocket dimension that comprises an overflow prison and two ventures into a fiend's horrendous home turf, but you get the idea. Still, Grygory is a mortal with a perspective vastly different from the Thelvyn's draconic, Immortal view.

One of the good things about this book is that Grygory is a human character. No, he's a human whereas Thelvyn was a dragon, but it's more than that. He has human needs, human emotions, human reactions, all the traits that make him believably human and real. His reaction to the death of his squire and the way it haunts him throughout the book is something easily accepted and understood. It's similarly simple to comprehend why he bears such a grudge against both the orcs and the black-armored knight. Then again...it was easy to understand why Thelvyn would be leery of dragons, and why he strove so hard to be a good leader. Overall, though, Grygory seems a bit more believable than Thelvyn, if only because Thelvyn's determination to protect the dragons even from themselves despite his own instinctive reactions seems slightly unreal.

Dark Knight of Karameikos focuses on the human spirit and all the struggles it must endure over time, but it isn't an exceptionally "heavy" or "deep" novel. The lessons it has to teach about overcoming pain and suffering are presented simply and clearly while providing just the touch of entertainment value needed to keep the whole thing from becoming morbid.

Rating: Thumbs up! Become a part of an epic struggle between good and evil where sometimes winning can mean losing!

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