Let's Read and also Play Baldur's Gate: Bhaal must be stopped!

[Maryring]

Finally managed to catch back up. Still a fun read as is usual. So to go back to touch on some points.

I liked how the reveal was handled in Baldur's Gate, mostly because it allowed me to create my own interpretation. CHARNAME is very much a blank slate in the game, with only some matter-of-fact statements for the most part. This means that a lot of his/her personality is determined by me, the player. So when that bombshell dropped, I paused the game for a moment, letting it sink in for me, and the character I was playing as. And I think it's a good thing. It makes for an ultimately stronger experience IMHO.

Also. I first read the talk about CHARNAME feeling grief not so much as a validation that a Bhaalspawn could feel grief and love, but that he'd actually been a good father figure. A small comfort in that, despite everything, and if nothing else, then CHARNAME was happy with his/her "Father".

Also, also. Unlike in the book, it's clear that dopplegangers don't learn anything upon impersonating a target of choice. Shistal is proof of that. More on that later.

---

Regarding the underground, I never considered the presence of dopplegangers from up above as a sign that there had been a "kill-and-replace" going on. You talked to those people just hours ago after all. And to enact such a massive, not to mention risky, scheme after you were captured makes no sense. Sarevok wouldn't waste resources on a library like that. No, I figure they were all there purely to torment you in the off-chance you should succeed in escaping somehow.

And torment they did. The catacombs of the library were, to me, an incredibly intense experience. Candlekeep itself is what I keep remembering from the game.

Now, since we know that the dopplegangers don't learn anything from killing, and they weren't there from the beginning as that would mean you'd already be dead because level 1 CHARNAME will not survive a whole library of Greater Doppies, it makes the whole scene beneath the catacombs... interesting. Perhaps it truly is madness and hallucinations brought about by paranoia. Doppies do tend to induce that after all.

---

I don't have much of an opinion on the later chapters.

[Khay]

Regarding the underground, I never considered the presence of dopplegangers from up above as a sign that there had been a "kill-and-replace" going on. You talked to those people just hours ago after all. And to enact such a massive, not to mention risky, scheme after you were captured makes no sense. Sarevok wouldn't waste resources on a library like that. No, I figure they were all there purely to torment you in the off-chance you should succeed in escaping somehow.

And torment they did. The catacombs of the library were, to me, an incredibly intense experience. Candlekeep itself is what I keep remembering from the game.

Now, since we know that the dopplegangers don't learn anything from killing, and they weren't there from the beginning as that would mean you'd already be dead because level 1 CHARNAME will not survive a whole library of Greater Doppies, it makes the whole scene beneath the catacombs... interesting. Perhaps it truly is madness and hallucinations brought about by paranoia. Doppies do tend to induce that after all.

The Candlekeep dungeons are highly memorable, yeah. It's a short segment, but boy does it have an impact.

We know from Shistal (and the nameless priest) that there's at least some killing-and-replacing going on. Sarevok does need doppelgangers in Candlekeep so he can murder Reiltar and pin it on CHARNAME if CHARNAME doesn't take the bait. It's true that killing-and-replacing random people like Hull wouldn't accomplish anything, though. I assume the doppelgangers would mostly target people who would naturally be found in the library (i. e. monks and priests) or are in positions of authority (Watchers).

I kind of like the theory that CHARNAME actually is hallucinating/affected by some illusion magic in the Candlekeep catacombs. It'd explain why the doppelgangers in the Catacombs are better actors than the ones seen everywhere else, and why they seem to refer to events from the first chapter.

[Kish]

Sarevok also mentions, "I plundered the lives of your Candlekeep," in BG2.

[Spore]

That's not how the "puppetmaster" type of villain works. But in order for the book's plot to function, Sarevok has to be that sort of villain. Alas, he isn't, and thus, the whole narrative collapses like a soufflé in a 1990s sitcom.

I completely agree from a narrative standpoint. Even if one of the cornerstones failed to align so that Abdel could have a chance to thwart the otherwise perfect plan the reader should know that. Because by the style of the book, Abdel doesn't outsmart anything. He merely stumbles upon convenient plot twists.

Even a short paragraph detailing how Eltan has outsmarted Sarevok and planted enough evidence for the eventuality of his demise in the hands of the - now enraged - Iron Throne leadership would have sufficed.

Sadly the souffle was dead from the beginning. Maybe they should've used flour instead of dirt.

[Khay]

I completely agree from a narrative standpoint. Even if one of the cornerstones failed to align so that Abdel could have a chance to thwart the otherwise perfect plan the reader should know that. Because by the style of the book, Abdel doesn't outsmart anything. He merely stumbles upon convenient plot twists.

This is a good summary of what I'd call the book's core problem. We'll be talking about this a little more when we do the full review.

---

There are only a handful of pages left in the book, now - the final confrontation with Sarevok. Are you ready for Chapter Twenty-Nine?

Spoiler: The book

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Chapter Twenty-Nine opens roughly the same way Chapter Twenty-Eight did:

Abdel stabbed the doppelganger so hard his hand followed his broadsword through the creature’s body.

Yup.

So there's good news and bad news. The bad news: Jaheira is dead. The good news: Sarevok conveniently left a map to his inner sanctum, somewhere in the old sewers, and Angelo rounded up a company of Flaming Fist soldiers to go looking for the bhaalspawn.

Eventually, the path forks. Angelo sends Maerik and company down one tunnel. For the second one, Temil takes point. Who is Temil, you ask? Well:

“Temil,” Angelo said to a short, thin, gray-haired woman in flowing satin robes, “you and your men go left up there and try to circle around. I’m going with Abdel and taking Julius’s men with me.”
The mage smiled and swept her robe around in a flourish. Her men followed her warily, obviously not used to taking orders from a sorceress, but knowing their duty.

I want you all to take a moment and ponder the mystery of Temil. She is the third mage to appear in this book, and the only one who (presumably) isn't evil. She pops into existence for exactly one paragraph, introduces a problem with the worldbuilding, then vanishes again.

Abdel, Julius, Angelo and some nameless soldiers continue down the third and final tunnel. Abdel moves well ahead of the others, since that was such a great idea in the kobold mines, and soon runs into Tamoko.

She drew her strange curved sword as fast as anyone Abdel had ever seen draw steel. Her eyes blazed at him, but Abdel couldn’t tell what she felt at that moment. She was injured. Her black silk clothes were stained a darker black. Abdel knew as much by the smell as anything that she was bleeding, and bleeding badly. (...) “Tamoko...” he said, and she shook her head. Abdel saw a tear trace a line down her left cheek. “I was... orokashii,” she said, “I was disloyal... I was disloyal.”

Abdel lifts his sword and Tamoko stabs at him. Even half-dead, she is still much faster than Abdel, who suffers a series of slashes. Tamoko doesn't last long, though. She's actively bleeding out, and eventually, she loses her balance.

Her chin hit the flagstone floor, and Abdel heard her teeth clack together. She put her arm out to stop her fall a good second after she’d already hit the floor.
“He killed you too,” Abdel asked her as she lay there on the floor trying to move, then just trying to breathe. “Didn’t he? For helping us?”
(...)
From the floor, she said, “I release you... from your vow. I cannot... he must... shiizumaru... he must die.”
“Tamoko,” Abdel said, but by the time he finished saying her name, she was dead.

Goodbye, Tamoko. You were a surprisingly decent character by the standards of this book.

And now for something completely different!

It wasn’t absolutely necessary, for the completion of the ritual, for the other sixteen priests in the inner sanctum of the High House of Wonders to be chanting. It was an aid in concentration for High Artificer Thalamond Albaier, though, and a chance for the lesser priests to see the greatest of all Gond’s miracles.

Yes, it's a rather sudden switch. My PDF copy of the book doesn't even have the five asterisks (though they are present in the print edition.)

The "greatest of Gond's miracles" is, of course, to raise the dead; and the dead, in this case, is Jaheira. The last two times Thalamond attempted this ritual, it failed, but this time...

This time, perhaps it was the wavering in the high artificer’s own faith that made the difference. Gond might have thought a demonstration was due.
A sharp, jagged breath was drawn in, followed by a hollow wail that made every hair in the chamber stand on end.
“Abdel!” Jaheira screamed as she was born once more onto the face of Toril.

Welcome back, Jaheira. I probably spoiled this plot twist(?) by not lingering on your death last time.

I have no idea why this is spliced in here, covering the bottom half of page 238 and the upper third of page 239. This feels like a classic stinger scene, you know? It's not like Jaheira's revival will affect the plot, since there's almost no plot left. All it does is ruin the pacing. (Also, resurrection magic causes plot holes and it probably shouldn't have been in this book, but I've already ranted about that a lot.)

Anyway, Jaheira's been de-fridged and Abdel is still following various passageways with a small company of Flaming Fist soldiers.

They were good men, but this was a bad situation, and all Abdel could do was trust in Angelo’s ability to lead them. A lot of people—all of Baldur’s Gate—would have to start doing that.

I can't get over how Angelo Dosan of all people was given a greatly expanded role and some measure of dignity in the novel.

Eventually, the passageway opens into a small antechamber, which (in turn) opens into a much larger chamber. The decor is not encouraging - a blood-stained altar, stone pillars with screaming faces engraved on them, wrought-iron gargoyles, candles set in golden candelabra twisted into the forms of dying women. That sort of thing.

Abdel took a deep breath. Through that archway, he knew, he would find his half brother, a man he’d seen only once before, and only for the length of time it took his brother to kill the woman he loved. Abdel didn’t want to kill anymore, had even naively hoped that Tamoko would be able to show Sarevok that there was human blood in his veins too, but now he’d come here for one reason and one reason only.

That reason is to kill Sarevok, of course.

Abdel's brother is waiting for him, standing behind the altar. He's in full armour this time.

Fashioned from what must have been iron — iron as black as midnight — the plates covered every inch of the tall man. Blades whose razor edges gleamed in the dancing light rose from exaggerated randers like miniature wings and flared from his vambraces like the raking claws of some clockwork raptor.
Set into the center of this cruel suit was a sigil Abdel recognized from the cover of the cursed book: a skull ringed by drops of blood. Sarevok looked like some huge, black iron beetle.

I think I preferred the clockwork raptor. Beetles aren't particularly intimidating, you know?

A mask of "jagged teeth-like ribbons of steel" and "horns that must have been ripped from the skull of a demon" round out the ensemble. The description is a bit overwrought, but I actually kind of like it. He's a spiky boy.

Angelo calls for the Flaming Fist soldiers to draw their swords, and Sarevok tells his acolytes to do the same. You know, those acolytes Sarevok always had.

The black-robed cultists chanted and murmured. Waves of darkness, blue glowing missiles, and bursts of flame scattered the first rank of Flaming Fists.

You know, the mages. Surely you remember all the mages that have been running around.

Anyway, it's a relatively even fight. The Flaming Fist has a clear advantage in numbers, but they lack magic backup. Abdel and Sarevok share a moment as the battle rages around them.

The brothers locked eyes, and Abdel brought his sword up in a salute he didn’t think his brother deserved. He offered the salute to the memory of the people in his life that Sarevok had killed: his true father, Gorion; his only love, Jaheira; and his friends Khalid, Xan, and Scar. Sarevok smiled a wolfs grin, and they came at each other.

The two charge at each other, brushing cultists and soldiers aside. Sarevok swings at Abdel, who parries. Abdel gets a few hits in, but they just glance off Sarevok's armour. However, the armour is very heavy, and Sarevok's movements are cumbersome - in particular, Abdel notices that his brother can't bend down. He begins to formulate a plan, but...

Abdel intended to rush in, drawing Sarevok’s defenses high, then slide down between his brother’s legs and attack him from below, where he was vulnerable. In the din of battle, though, Abdel didn’t hear his brother’s quickly mumbled incantation. Sarevok’s hands had come off his sword, which hung straight in the air in front of him as if suspended from above. His fingers worked a complex pattern in the air in front of him.

Sarevok summons a a bright rainbow of multicolored light that fans out in a triangular pattern. (I think it's Prismatic Spray, anyway, since there are screams, popping sounds, and the smell of burning flesh.) The spell hits both soldiers and cultists, killing most of them instantly. Abdel survives, but one of the rays brushes against the sellsword, charring him.

There was an eerie sizzling sound coming from his chain mail tunic, but Abdel knew he would die if he didn’t force himself to ignore the sound, the pain, and the injury, however serious it was.
Abdel didn’t know any spells and had no tricks up his sleeve. If he was going to kill Sarevok — and he was determined to do just that — he would have to hack him to death.

It's the classic fighter-vs.-wizard fight! Except the wizard is also wearing full plate, which seems unfair. (Seriously, how is Sarevok throwing spells around while in full plate?)

Lacking other options, Abdel decides to bull rush Sarevok. The impact knocks the wind out of him, and he gets a gauntlet-spike shoved through his palm (ouch), but Sarevok loses his balance and the two crash on the floor.

Abdel’s hand found the pommel of his own sword after it had bounced once on the flagstones with an alarming clang, but before he hit the ground. He landed on his knees and brought the sword up in time to block a hard, fast punch from a still rolling Sarevok.

Sarevok retrieves his own sword (disemboweling a Flaming fist footman in the process) and slashes at Abdel again, taking off the tip of the sellsword's ear.

The pain was like a splash of searing hot water in Abdel’s face, and it was as effective as cold water in snapping Abdel back into the fight. He answered Sarevok’s cut with a flurry of slashing attacks—across, back, up, down, across, and back again—and Sarevok took a defensive step backward.

I... did you really need two different water metaphors in one sentence? I feel like there was a better way to handle that.

The battle continues much as before. Abdel simply can't break through Sarevok's armour, no matter what he does, and suffers a few more superficial cuts. Abdel's arms are starting to burn, but he fights through the pain.

The battle around them starts to die down. The soldiers are closing in on the cultists, but suffer heavy losses. Nobody dares step near the two brothers.

“Kill me!” Sarevok screamed. “Kill me if you can, brother! One more death in the glory of our father, who shall rise again on the blood of the murdered!”
(...)
Abdel knew the Iron Throne had been defeated, the war avoided — the war that never seemed like a war, won. That gave him the strength he needed — just that little bit of strength — and his next blow came in not too hard for Sarevok, but too hard for his brother’s blade.

Sarevok parries the swing, but his sword shatters, briefly distracting Sarevok. Abdel kicks him in the chest, causing him to lose his balance. Sarevok lands on his back, and Abdel starts violently stabbing down at the big man. Eventually, he manages to plunge his sword through a gap in the armork.

“You may not have accepted our father’s gift, brother, but there are others — like me — who are willing.”
“I will find them too then, brother” Abdel spat, making that promise in the memory of Jaheira.

Man, is he ever going to be feel silly when he finds out Jaheira is alive again.

“And murder them?” Sarevok asked, the yellow light already fading from his eyes, as if in anticipation of death.
“Like you’ll murder me now? Enough deaths, and Bhaal will be reborn. I won’t bring him back with my war, but maybe you will with yours. Our father’s blood runs true in your veins.”
“Yes,” Abdel said softly, “just this once more.” He leaned all his weight onto the blade and held it down until Sarevok was dead.

And on that note, Baldur’s Gate: Book One by Philip Athans ends.

... no, really, that's it. Book's over, time to go home. Go. Shoo.

Spoiler: The game

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Last time, we chased Sarevok all the way through the Thieves' Guild. Note that there is no a point-of-no-return here: You are free to exit the building and go do something else for a while before coming back.


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We'll do just that - we need to rest and heal, spend the rest of our money and stock up on potions. None of the locals have any new dialogue, sadly, but this is a good spot for remaining sidequests, Durlag's Tower... that sort of thing.


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To continue, head down the stairs to the Thieves' Maze. This still isn't a point-of-no-return, but going back from that point on is annoying, so make sure you're ready.


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We are greeted by a half-dead thief with a rather odd name. Seems Sarevok came through here. He doesn't strike me as the sort of person to leave people alive, so he must've been in a hurry.


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We also learn a little about the maze up head. It's full of jellies and the undead, and connects to some old ruins under the city. Nobody ever really goes down there, apparently, which makes me wonder why they even bother to maintain the maze.


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Oh, that makes sense. Well, time to give chase.


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As Voleta said, the maze is full of oozes. It starts us off with a pair of Green Slimes, which aren't particularly dangerous except they sometimes randomly instakill one of your party members. Our luck holds, though.


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As you can see, this isn't a maze so much as a long, time-wasting twisty passage. The enemies start out easy, but they get more dangerous the deeper you go.


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Doom Guards, for example! These are mildly powerful melee fighters that yield about 2,000 XP - better than nothing, right?

You shouldn't become complacent, though. Every now and then, the maze pulls a real jerk move:


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This is a lightning bolt trap in front of a pair of skeleton warriors. They have magical arrows, so they can kill your weaker party members with a few shots, and if you charge them, you'll likely suffer a full party wipe. (Pay attention to the splotch on the wall - you can tell where the traps are.)


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The skeleton warriors are actually pretty dangerous. Decent damage output, a lot of HP, magic resistance... nothing we can't handle, though. At least they give decent EXP rewards (4k each).


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Imoen disarms the traps for us (or tries to, at least) and we continue.

The Thieves' Maze is... not exactly a beloved part of this game, and it's not hard to see why. The corridors are narrow enough to seriously upset the pathfinding, and the encounters are quite annoying. You also can't rest here, as it counts as an indoor space, so if you need to recover, you have to walk all the way back out.

So we'll just skip ahead a little.


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Our goal here is underneath the cursor. You can probably imagine how terribly annoying this is to traverse.

Someone is waiting for us by the exit.


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It's Winski Perorate! You know, Winski. The guy who bailed Sarevok out at the coronation. You know, that guy.


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He's rather talkative for someone who looks to be half-dead. What's your story, Winski?


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Interesting. He calls himself Sarevok's "mentor," but I think he's flattering himself. Sarevok's diary didn't even mention him, unless he's one of those nameless unworthy acolytes Sarevok complained about. (Revisionist works tend to expand his role.)

Winski here serves as an eleventh-hour exposition dump. He doesn't have a lot of new information, but he's happy to summarize Sarevok's scheme for you in case you're still confused. Like so:


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Lots of murder -> god of murder. The principle is sound, I guess. (It wouldn't have worked, but we won't learn the reason for that until Throne of Bhaal.)

So why did Sarevok come here of all places? I get that he's running low on refuges, but what is there to find beyond this labyrinth?


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Ah. That makes sense. Sarevok's plans may have been ruined, but he's still incredibly dangerous. Winski is right: We'll have to confront each other eventually. Sarevok is planning to make his last stand at the Undercity temple, and we'll oblige him.

So what are we going to do about Winski?


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Well, the mage is in no condition to fight, so we'll spare him. Duke Eltan's men will probably want to debrief him later.

CHARNAME take a moment to record the plot summary for future reference.


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This diary must be a confusing read, since it repeats itself rather a lot. I can see why they redesigned it in the sequel.

We step through the doorway, into the deeper tunnels. The path winds downwards for quite a while, eventually opening into a large cavern of sorts.


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Almost all the buildings in the Undercity are ruined. I suppose that temple is our destination, since it's the only place that seems to be still standing.


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While this looks like an open space, there's really only one path through the ruins. There are some undead down here, but nothing we need to worry about.

A little further ahead, though, we encounter someone who is a) still alive, and b) very much worth worrying about: Rahvin.


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Rahvin and his friends are a party of mercenaries in the employ of the mainline Iron Throne. They've been hired to bring Sarevok to justice, which is good...


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... but unfortunately, we are still enemies of the Iron Throne itself. Rahvin decides to take us out first, then Sarevok. Bad idea, Rahvin.

The party consists of Carston, Rahvin (both rangers), Gorf (ogre fighter), Shaldrissa (mage) and Wudei (cleric). It's a fairly well-balanced party, and this encounter is one of the most difficult "mini-boss fights" in the game (probably on par with Zhalimar Cloudwulfe). There are two reasons for this.

Reason #1: Rahvin has access to several Arrows of Detonation.


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Basically, they're Fireballs without the casting time. If Rahvin hits with both of them, well, congratulations on your party wipe. Frankly, I think Arrows of Detonation were a bad idea - this is not an item that needs to exist, not when 6d6 is enough damage to kill Dynaheir or Imoen outright.

Let's say you survive that part of the fight. This is where reason #2 comes in: Shaldrissa can cast Cloudkill.


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She won't use it right away, but when she does... well, congratulations on your (likely) party wipe.

It's not uncommon to get stuck here. If your party could handle the ducal palace, you can probably get through this fight, but it's still quite nasty. There are, of course, many ways to cheese this encounter - mostly involving Fire Resistance or offscreen Fireballs. Or I guess you could turn your party invisible and bypass them that way. But we're going to solve this problem with style.

First, we need some cannon fodder. We picked up a few scrolls of Summon Monster I for this exact scenario.


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The idea here is to force Rahvin to switch to melee weapons - he can't fire arrows while he's busy killing Tasloi, and we can start swording at his party members in the meantime. The Tasloi will also block Gorf for a while. Yes, they all die in a single hit, but this buys us some time.


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Step two is to spam crowd control spells and debuffs. This would work better if we had Xan instead of Dynaheir, but eventually, Rahvin's party starts to fail their saving throws.


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We tangle up the casters in melee and pull Gorf away from them. Once Rahvin and Shaldrissa go down, it turns into a relatively normal fight, which we (eventually) win.


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There's some good loot here, including some arrows and two Rings of Protection +1. Granted, we're almost out of game, but it's still nice to get a gear upgrade.

We continue down the road. Just outside the temple, an old friend stops us.


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Well, maybe "friend" isn't quite the right word. Tamoko's attempts to stop Sarevok were unsuccessful, it seems - he won't be dissuaded from his path. She's throwing herself in front of us in a last-ditch attempt to regain Sarevok's favour.


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Tamoko isn't our enemy. We're not going to fight her. This gesture is completely meaningless anyway - she's not going to be able to stop our party, and even if she did manage somehow, Sarevok would still kill her for betraying him.

("Young one." How old is Tamoko supposed to be?)


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This dialogue tree confuses a lot of people. It's a well-known fact that you don't have to fight Tamoko - you can talk her down, as shown here. However, the option only appears if you have a good Reaction score, which means high Charisma. That's why we sent Jaheira ahead to talk to Tamoko.

(A lot of people do recommend fighting her because that gets you the Plate of the Dark, which has a base AC of 0 and is the best armor in the game. We're nicer than that, though.)


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Our unwillingness to fight Tamoko makes her consider, for the first time, that not all Bhaalspawn may be headed for the same fate. She steps aside, letting us pass.


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CHARNAME makes a note of this, and we reach the temple without further interruption.

It looks... nice, I guess?


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You know, in a "very obviously evil" sort of way.


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Very, very obviously evil. It receives its own movie intro, so we can get a really good look at all the spikes and skulls and bat wings.


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The interior isn't much better - it's all statues and granite. There's also this huge Bhaal mosaic on the floor of the temple. The camera's perspective is a bit awkward, but you can kinda make it out in this shot.


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Be careful around that mosaic. There are traps all over the place and most of them can be triggered repeatedly. Imoen doesn't have enough skill points to defuse them, so... this is going to be awkward.

Sarevok and his remaining allies are waiting up ahead. Ready to face the music?


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We offer Sarevok one last chance to surrender. If Bhaal really is coming back, well... we could use some help in stopping the coming darkness.


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Sarevok outright dismisses this possibility, and draws steel.

Spoiler: You are indeed family...

Show

There are a few more branches in the initial dialogue with Sarevok, though they all lead to the same result. They also duplicate each other a fair bit. Still, depending on the path you take, you can learn some (more or less) interesting information.

SAREVOK: You are indeed family. No other could have lived to oppose me in person. Of course, it will not matter in the end. Ultimately I will prevail, and a new era will be born unto the Realms.

CHARNAME: You are mad! What do you hope to gain by resurrecting a dead god?

SAREVOK: Father Bhaal is dead, but the slaughter I will orchestrate shall prove me to be his most worthy successor. It will raise his power from the ashes. The streets will run red with blood when my work is finished!

CHARNAME: Successor? Deities are not known for sharing their power willingly!

SAREVOK: Fool! I do not wish to RESTORE his power, merely to RAISE it! With the divine blood that flows through these veins I shall assume control over that which he so foolishly lost! I shall BECOME Bhaal. THAT...is the only acceptable outcome. All that is left is for us to end this in a manner...befitting our heritage. Face me! Face the new LORD OF MURDER! Angelo! Tazok! Reveal yourselves and let's finish this now!

Such as: Sarevok has no intention of raising Bhaal, he just wants his power.

SAREVOK: You are indeed family. No other could have lived to oppose me in person. Of course, it will not matter in the end. Ultimately I will prevail, and a new era will be born unto the Realms.

CHARNAME: You are mad! What do you hope to gain by resurrecting a dead god?

SAREVOK: Father Bhaal is dead, but the slaughter I will orchestrate shall prove me to be his most worthy successor. It will raise his power from the ashes. The streets will run red with blood when my work is finished!

CHARNAME: You are worthy of nothing more than the death you will receive by my hand.

SAREVOK: Yes brother/sister! Bring your rage to bear, and we shall end this in a manner befitting our heritage! Face me! Face the new LORD OF MURDER! Angelo! Tazok! Reveal yourselves and let's finish this now!

Sarevok still considers himself to be the Lord of Murder.

SAREVOK: You are indeed family. No other could have lived to oppose me in person. Of course, it will not matter in the end. Ultimately I will prevail, and a new era will be born unto the Realms.

CHARNAME: You are mad! What do you hope to gain by resurrecting a dead god?

SAREVOK: Father Bhaal is dead, but the slaughter I will orchestrate shall prove me to be his most worthy successor. It will raise his power from the ashes. The streets will run red with blood when my work is finished!

CHARNAME: And what if I can prove myself to be more deserving of such power?

SAREVOK: You would seek to take my destiny? It is truly divine arrogance you display! You have not the skill or knowledge to steal this future! It was years in the making while you sat cloistered in a foolish library! Simple wars spill countless waves of blood and no godly wrath is raised. It is but my will that will shape the screams of the dying into the power I seek! You could no more assume my role, than I could back away from it! It is fitting though that you should try, and an ample testament to our bloodline. Face me! Face the new LORD OF MURDER! Angelo! Tazok! Reveal yourselves and let's finish this now!

A mere war wouldn't have been enough to raise the godly wrath he requires. Sarevok clearly had plans going beyond merely causing war between Amn and Baldur's Gate.

SAREVOK: You are indeed family. No other could have lived to oppose me in person. Of course, it will not matter in the end. Ultimately I will prevail, and a new era will be born unto the Realms.

CHARNAME: There must be another way, brother! We could rally, and fight this evil together!

SAREVOK: Do you not yet realize? There is no great evil to fight, save that within ourselves!

CHARNAME: Your evil is all that concerns me now! You will not leave here alive!

SAREVOK: Yes brother/sister! Bring your rage to bear, and we shall end this in a manner befitting our heritage! Face me! Face the new LORD OF MURDER! Angelo! Tazok! Reveal yourselves and let's finish this now!

Sarevok is really eager to fight CHARNAME.

SAREVOK: You are indeed family. No other could have lived to oppose me in person. Of course, it will not matter in the end. Ultimately I will prevail, and a new era will be born unto the Realms.

CHARNAME: There must be another way, brother! We could rally, and fight this evil together!

SAREVOK: Do you not yet realize? There is no great evil to fight, save that within ourselves!

CHARNAME: But together we could face such evil, regardless of it's source. Together we could be stronger!

SAREVOK: I cannot be stronger; I am strong now! It is you who are the weak one, you who destroyed your slayer within. I have TAMED mine, and use him as I see fit! The god is dead but his power is there, waiting for a will. That will is mine, and all others will fall by the wayside! Come and face your brother! Face me! Face the new LORD OF MURDER! Angelo! Tazok! Reveal yourselves and let's finish this now!

Most Bhaalspawn - the ones who just become petty murderers - feed "the slayer within" and become dominated by it. A few, such as CHARNAME, manage to contain it and cope with the taint. Sarevok, on the other hand, did neither - he found a way to channel its power instead. Worrying.

At this point, Sarevok and his remaining allies turn hostile. We find ourselves facing Sarevok and his three most loyal allies: Angelo, Tazok and Semaj. You know, Semaj. (... yeah. He was sort of blatantly added at the last second because Sarevok's team was short a mage.)

This, fittingly, is probably the most difficult combat encounter in the base game. Semaj has access to Fireball, Lightning Bolt and Cloudkill; Angelo carries Arrows of Detonation; and both Sarevok and Tazok can hit for absurd amounts of damage. The battle ends as soon as Sarevok dies, so you could try to focus fire on him, but that's easier said than done.

So we'll be bringing the cheese.


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We empty out our remaining Fireball wands to soften them up a little. If you aim just right, you can hit Team Evil without causing them to walk up to you.


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We use the "Rahvin method" on Angelo: Spam weak summoned monsters to force him into melee, then hit him with spells and ranged weapons until he falls over.


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You can also pull Tazok away from the main group and fight him six-vs.-one, again without causing the others to walk up to you. The Web traps here actually work in your favour if you have Free Movement effects available. You did pick up the Spider's Bane in the Cloakwood, right?

Finally, we'll fight Sarevok and Semaj together.


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(Semaj has a tendency to hang back and remain invisible, but I swear he exists.)


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Sarevok hits like a truck, but that's all he does. He has no spells or ranged weapons, just the (admittedly rather world-ending) melee attack. That means he's relatively straightforward to handle, at least compared to Semaj and Angelo.


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We pull him over to the entrance so we have some room to maneuever, away from the traps, and start swording at him. Don't worry about your party members dying - it's just CHARNAME who needs to stay alive. At this point, it's a relatively simple DPS race...


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... which we eventually win.


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Sarevok goes through a lengthy death animation. The game saves for us, and also exports our character for use in the sequel. (Amusingly, defeating Sarevok yields 15k EXP, although the game ends here.)

Once Sarevok finishes falling over, the ending movie plays. You should really watch it, it's pretty good. (Note: That's the Enhanced Edition ending, which looks a lot fancier than the original one.) In case you can't, though here are a few key scenes.


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We open with a slow zoom on Sarevok's dead body.


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He quickly crumbles to dust, armour and all. His body disintegrates into little specks of orange light.


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The dust floats away, and into a crack in the floor. The camera moves through a long, narrow shaft, into a chamber implied to be many miles underground.


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The dust pours on a statue of Sarevok, which also falls apart.


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The camera then pans away from the statue, revealing dozens and dozens of similar statues - some of them intact, others already crumbled to dust. You may remember these from CHARNAME's dreams.


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We end with a lingering shot of the symbol of Bhaal at the bottom of this chamber. (It's a little hard to make out, but it's there.) As Bhaalspawn die, their statues crumble, and their essence returns to the source. Ominous.

And thus ends Baldur's Gate. Not all aspects of the game have aged well, but it's still a game with great historical importance, and one I would describe as a modern classic. It pales in comparison to the sequel, but it was also what made the sequel possible, so... thanks for being around, Baldur's Gate.

... okay, just one more thing:


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The credits are actually pretty amazing. It's all Windows Movie Maker transitions and weird colour-inverted pencil sketches.

There. Now we're done.

Spoiler: Comparison and commentary

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So that was Baldur's Gate - the novel, but also the game. It's been a long, bumpy ride.

There isn't that much to say about the last chapter in specific. In the book, it's really just an extended combat sequence - a rather fancy one, yes, but it's mostly just combat. Both works take care to show us that Sarevok has been backed into a corner. The context is a little different (mainline Iron Throne mercenaries vs. Flaming Fist soldiers) but the effect is the same. The book also cuts the Thieves' Guild business and a few characters like Winski Perorate, but it's no big loss.

(Also, this is neither here nor there, but Athans does rather suddenly switch the book to a high-magic setting. It's a bit jarring. Until chapter 27, we had exactly one mage; in chapter 28, it was two; and now, in chapter 29, we've suddenly gone up to eight or nine. Seriously, where did all these mages come from?)

There is one change worth talking about, though: The sudden ending. I wonder if the final mini-movie existed when Athans was given the unfinished script. It's pretty important, and its presence (or absence) changes the whole tone of the ending.
Perhaps it's an intentional bit of irony. Abdel says he'll kill "just this once more," but we know things can't work out that way. Abdel and Sarevok are just two of the Bhaalspawn - there are many more out there. Sarevok was a pretty big wave, but the flood is still to come.
Book!Sarevok does claim that there will be others, but hearing that is one thing. Seeing the statues is quite another. And what will happen when they all crumble? As of right now, the Forgotten Realms are basically on a divine countdown. While unspoken, this is a pretty big part of the game's ending, and it's more or less absent in the novel.

It's pretty odd.

So... that's it for the book, as well as the game. I've had a lot of fun doing this, and I learned quite a few things about the game that I didn't know before. I hope you enjoyed the thread as well. I'd love to hear your thoughts. Did you enjoy the format? Was there something I could've done better, or should change in the future if I indeed end up doing the sequels? Leave your comments below. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

That said, I do have one more update planned. This chapter's review would be a pretty boring note to end on. Instead, now that we've examined each and every chapter under a magnifying glass, I want to take a step back and look at the book as a whole. There are also some odds and ends left to cover, such as the canon(ish) character profiles for Abdel and friends. There aren't any world-shattering revelations in there, but they do contain some interesting trivia, like how Jaheira and Khalid met each other.

So... see you next week, for the grand finale!

[danzibr]

I totally forgot there was someone named Belt.

Anyway, good read!

[Nerd-o-rama]

Bravo for completing this. Truly, it was the best of games, it was the worst of books.

And I'm guessing no one told Athans about the ending cinematic beyond the vague notion of a "there are other Bhaalspawn" sequel hook. It seems like something he worked in based on incomplete information as best he thought to do.

[Spore]

The dominating evil spiky overlord Sarevok throwing a fabulous rainbow as his only spell during the final encounter is probably MY favorite moment in the book. It just fits the book so well. Not only would a Fighter/Mage be unable to cast that in combat. Also by the logic of the games he would be a nearly epic character with an armor allowing for spell casting which is killed by an above average adventurer. I mean seriously, every other hamlet in Faerun has a mayor more powerful than Abdel.

[CozJa]

Well... it was a fine ride! I'm really curious to see the final update, and congrats for making interesting this horrible book

[mangosta71]

I do hope that you follow through with the sequels, but I understand if you don't want to put yourself through any more of Athans's writing.

You mention that Semaj was a last-minute addition; presumably that was because Sarevok was going to be a mage himself until the last minute.

Something that a lot of people don't seem to realize is that pure iron really isn't that useful. About the only thing you can make with it is cookware. It's heavy and brittle (even leaving aside issues with rust) unless it's tempered with a bit of carbon. Pure iron is a terrible choice for armor that's intended to be used for anything other than decoration. Future writers take not: if you want your villain to wear black armor, paint or lacquer. Or leather, or a robe or something over it. Or a different metal. Just not freaking iron.

Memories of my first playthrough: You start the game with the prophecy that there are a "score" of Bhaalspawn. I assumed it meant 20, as that's the colloquial definition. I knew that Sarevok and I accounted for two, and at least some of the others had already been killed, so when Sarevok said that there are others just before the final confrontation I thought there would only be a handful left. And then I saw the final movie...

[Spore]

I finally got around to reading the last entry completely and I love your work. Not only does it show that Baldur's Gate the game is also held together by spit and duct tape. It also shows good things about the book. Alas, this is why people nowadays would probably skim over Baldur's Gate. Not because it is too text heavy but because the story is incredibly cliched. Even if the actual plot is rather detailed. Modern games would focus on Sarevok and have his minions be just another way to characterize him (similar to Tamoko and that Mage chick; they're not important on their own but in their relation to Sarevok). And honestly, many of the game villains aren't even more than that. That is probably why Davaeorn is one of my more favorite bosses. He is involved on his own terms (other than Mulahey who is a glorified lackey), has lots of dialogue, his own support cast (his acolyte) and has a journal, a hard boss fight and lots of dialogue.

The companions, however cheesy they might be have their own agenda. The villains are basically just a bunch either chanting for Sarevok or profiting from him.

[Honest Tiefling]

I totally forgot there was someone named Belt.

Ah, good, I wasn't the only one thinking that. I can't believe I missed that when playing the game.

I take it from the 'Revisionist' comments, we will never get a comparison between the characters as presented in Dragonspear and what Athans wrote. It's a pity, as Khalid and the others actually get a fair bit of fleshing out.

Was Safana a late addition? With this writing and how useless Jahiera was, I'm surprised she didn't show up to fawn over Abdel. At this rate, it wouldn't surprise me if there's a love triangle in the sequel...

We'll bang, okay?

[Kish]

Assuming two of the participants in a love triangle in the next book were Abdel and Jaheira, whom would you guess the third one to be?

[Cazero]

I would say Imoen, because her absence from the first book combined with her plot importance in the second game means she will need to be forced in a very awkward manner. And that means romance, because a love triangle is a very reliable source of awkwardness.

[Kish]

Just to be clear, are you intentionally/knowingly suggesting an incestuous love triangle? Or are you thinking in terms of Imoen getting involved with Jaheira, not Abdel?

[Spore]

Just to be clear, are you intentionally/knowingly suggesting an incestuous love triangle? Or are you thinking in terms of Imoen getting involved with Jaheira, not Abdel?

As the books are already written and will not change by thinking about it, I think he is not suggesting anything. Anyhow, incestuous love is not a concept foreign to literature. Actually a book around that premise was in my literature list for my (German) college finals. Even if you said the topic is not made for fantasy novels, I think Mr GRR Martin would want to have a word with you. A slowly typed word.

[Khay]

I do hope that you follow through with the sequels, but I understand if you don't want to put yourself through any more of Athans's writing.

I do want to cover the sequels, but probably not right away. The combined LR/LP approach is fun, but it's also a lot of work. I could consider switching to one every other week, or maybe try to find a co-commentator. We'll see! Maybe I'll have something to talk about by Sunday.

(Interesting point about the iron, too. I guess "pure iron" is one of these things fantasy authors come back to because it sounds cool. You could argue that you need to make a distinction between tainted iron and non-tainted iron on the Sword Coast, but the subplot is dropped very early on, so eh.)

I take it from the 'Revisionist' comments, we will never get a comparison between the characters as presented in Dragonspear and what Athans wrote. It's a pity, as Khalid and the others actually get a fair bit of fleshing out.

I've been a little harsh on the Enhanced Edition, I think. To be clear, I mostly agree with the changes they've made, and the game is a lot more pleasant to play with the engine updates. The reason I haven't been using the Enhanced Edition is that it papers over a lot of the problems with the original game, and it's not really fair to compare the novel to an updated re-release. There's some interesting discussion to be had about Dragonspear, partially because its most vocal critics also tend to engage in historical revisionism. (If you think the original had no pop culture references or political commentary, you are mistaken.) Dragonspear is a massive retcon, though, and thus its material can't really be compared to the novels. It'd have to be a comparison between the games.

(Also, fun fact: The closest thing we get to a genuine love triangle in the sequel - romantic agony and all - is Bodhi/Phaere/Imoen of all things.)

[Cazero]

Anyhow, incestuous love is not a concept foreign to literature.

Especially when gods are involved for some reason. And it's like his half-sister and the common half is from a god, it doesn't really count, mkay?

[Nerd-o-rama]

Especially when gods are involved for some reason. And it's like his half-sister and the common half is from a god, it doesn't really count, mkay?

If it makes everyone feel better, this justification explicitly gets brought up in Throne of Bhaal (Viconia being her usual self, I believe, not that drow have a cultural incest taboo anyway) and Imoen explicitly shoots it down immediately.

Really, the fantasy genetics are probably less of a barrier than growing up together in a familial fashion, but this is getting dangerously off-topic.

[Kish]

Especially when gods are involved for some reason. And it's like his half-sister and the common half is from a god, it doesn't really count, mkay?

So your answer to my question, is the first one, you're knowingly suggesting an incestuous love triangle. Okay then.

[Khay]

Hey everyone! Welcome to the first (and probably only) post-game bonus update. Like I mentioned, I wanted to do a post-mortem of sorts to sum up my impressions of the novel. I also have some trivia that I couldn't fit in elsewhere, so I'm dumping it here.

Spoiler: Bonus content!

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First of all: Did you know that Dragon Magazine #262 had a special on the Baldur's Gate novels? Well, it did, and among other things, it gives us "canon profiles" for some of the characters from the game. These appear to be attempts to bridge the book and the game, and as such, they're pretty interesting.

Also, the portraits are amazing.

Spoiler: Odds and ends: Character profiles

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There are four profiles - two each for Team Abdel and Team Evil. I included full scans of the pages, as well as some commentary. Enjoy!

Spoiler: Abdel Adrian

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This article gives us a definite birth date at last. Assuming that the book also takes place in 1370, the Abdel we meet in the book is around 27 years old. (The profile seems to imply it's 1368, which would make Abdel 25 years old.) That's older than I thought he was. We also learn that he left Candlekeep at the age of seventeen. Abdel is surprisingly inexperienced for someone who is supposed to have been a mercenary for (almost) a decade, but it's possible that's just because he's... well... he's an incurious dullard.

There is a little bit of retconning going on in this profile, though not much. The Abdel of the book isn't slow to trust at all, but it's true that he's rather sullen, humorless and cynical. That probably explains the terrible CHA score. This is also where I got his portrait and the stats.

The backstory - i. e. the business with Sir Daesric - contradicts what we learn in Throne of Bhaal, but CHARNAME's backstory hadn't yet been written when Dragon #262 was released. So I'm willing to let it slide. (It does contradict the crow dream, but there's no evidence on whether that is meant to be literally true.)

Not much else to talk about here. I think it's kind of funny that Abdel gets a saving throw only if Jaheira is with him. It kind of implies that he didn't really learn anything beyond "for some reason Jaheira doesn't like it when I kill people." All of Abdel's motivation is external, and I guess that's a good summary of his character.

Spoiler: Jaheira

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That's right: Jaheira was given a new portrait! And it actually isn't that bad, even compared to her portrait from the game. A little too much makeup, but at least she's fully dressed. This version of Jaheira downplays her fighter traits a bit, since she's not in an action pose, but she still looks quite intense.

Her stats are quite accurate, too. Baldur's Gate didn't have nonweapon proficiencies, but I guess these make sense. The weapon proficiencies are a bit odd, but only a bit.

Her age is much stranger. She was born in 1347, which means she's either 21 or 23 years old. (Or 20/22, depending on when her birthday is.) That makes her younger than Abdel. The relationship becomes a little creepy when you consider that half-elves mature at a slower rate than humans - not much slower, but slower. It also means it's outright impossible for her to be an old adventuring companion of Gorion.

On the other hand, Abdel couldn't possibly be expected to shag some withered old crone in her thirties, so it makes sense she was de-aged. (This was, in fact, sarcasm.)

Anyway! These two paragraphs near the end of her profile are - I think - the only vaguely canonical source we have on the relationship between Jaheira and Khalid. It makes sense that they met through the Harpers, and it's easy to see how they would go from comrades-in-arms to lovers to married couple.

Hre's a fun fact, though: Charessa is the woman Khalid hooked up with prior to the events of the novel. That's kind of a jerk move, given she's also Jaheira's mentor and main contact in the Harpers. The office Christmas party will be awkward this year.

Spoiler: Tamoko

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Okay, that's one of the silliest portraits I've seen in... well, quite some time. Western "nerd culture" went through a real ninja phase in the late '90s and early '00s. This is a good example of what that tended to look like. Aren't you glad that's over?

This profile portrays the Tamoko of the novels. As you can see, she shares a name and a love interest with the Tamoko of the game, but other than that, she's essentially a different character. Game!Tamoko is a Cleric with a Neutral Evil alignment while Book!Tamoko is a Lawful Neutral Ninja. Book!Tamoko, accordingly, is more focused on physical stats and has a different fighting style.

The age is... a little off-putting. She is fully seven years younger than Abdel, which really isn't the impression I got from reading the novels. If the books take place in 1368, she's barely 18, which means Sarevok likely began a relationship with her when she was underage. If it is 1370 instead, she's 20, which is... a little better, I suppose, but still weird. In either case, this means her (rather long and involved) backstory was rather compressed.

I have no idea why all the female characters needed to be this young. It's frankly a little creepy.

Spoiler: Sarevok

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Pfffff ahaha. Okay, Tamoko, your portrait is excused. Sarevok doesn't look tough and intimidating; he just seems angry that someone cut a hole in his bucket.

The information given about his childhood slightly contradicts Throne of Bhaal, but that's to be expected - the story wasn't yet settled at this point. Everything else matches up quite well with both the game and the book, though. The biggest problem here is the Iron Throne. This profile appears to be intentionally vague about the organisation, perhaps as an attempt to bridge the gap between the game and the boo. We do learn that Reiltar wasn't in the book because he remained in Sembia, leaving Sarevok to manage the operation on the Sword Coast by himself. Putting Sarevok in charge from the beginning means that the "return to Candlekeep" plotline makes very little sense, but so it goes.

Also, note that his biography confirms that the Zhentarim work for the Iron Throne in the book's version of events. The book implied as much (with Xzar and Montaron), but it's nice to see it spelled out like that. I have no idea why the Zhentarim would agree to such a terrible deal, but maybe Sarevok is just a really good negotiator?

As for the stats, there are a few different points of comparison here. There's his stats from the game, as discovered via asset inspector:

STR: 18/00
DEX: 17
CON: 17
INT: 14
WIS: 12
CHA: 13

Level: 15
Class: Sarevok

(AC -1, THAC0 6, 285 HP)

Yes, his class is Sarevok. I don't know either.

Then there's his stat block from Throne of Bhaal:

STR: 18/00
DEX: 17
CON: 18
INT: 17
WIS: 10
CHA: 15

Level: 17
Class: Fighter (but with a special ability called a Deathbringer Assault)

As you can see, Sarevok actually received a buff when he became a playable character, though his stats were always godlike. Curiously, his ToB actually does have the stats to be a mage, but the other ones don't. The Sarevok of the game (and of this profile) is clearly a single-class fighter. The bit about the gauntlets was probably used to justify the spellcasting seen in the books, but remember that Sarevok wasn't wearing the gauntlets when he threw lightning at Jaheira in Chapter 28.

That aside (and disregarding the amazingly terrible portrait), I kind of like this profile. It expresses his personality well. The profile also says he's finding it "more and more difficult to pass for a normal human." That's an interesting take on Sarevok - I don't know if it's really visible in the novel, but I do like the concept.

(Also, Sarevok's magic mirror is apparently called the "Frame of Taerez-Zeez." Yeah, that... doesn't help. As far as I can tell, there's no explanation as to what it can or can't do, or what its restrictions are. Can Sarevok just program it to spy on any individual he desires? That's pretty overpowered. The name doesn't seem to be an anagram for anything, unless you count "A Fart Freeze Mezzo.")

That was interesting, wasn't it? These profiles aren't really related to anything, but they provide some interesting trivia on the characters.

Speaking of trivia: Did you know that Abdel exists in the games? Well... sort of, anyway.

Spoiler: Odds and ends: Tales of the Sword Coast

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Originally, TotSC shipped with something called a "Mission-Pack Save." This is a pre-built savegame with a rather powerful late-game party that starts you off in Ulgoth's Beard, so you can experience the new content without having to do a bunch of legwork.

Why am I bringing this up? Well, the CHARNAME in that savegame is a male human fighter called Abdel!


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This Abdel is a fairly generic min-maxed fighter. (CHA is technically unimportant for a figher, but you need high CHA on your party leader.) That's also true for the Abdel from the books, though, so... yay?

I don't know about the colour scheme, though.


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I guess he's a punk drow...? Abdel is normally in heavy armour, which I unequipped for this screenshot.

I have no idea if this is meant to be our Abdel, or if the name is just a stealthy reference to the book. On one hand, most of the characters in Abdel's party don't exist in the books, but on the other, it does have Jaheira without Khalid.

Anyway, the Enhanced Edition doesn't have the Mission-Pack Save, so this is one of those easter eggs that'll gradually be lost to the sands of time. I think it's interesting, though.

Continuing the tradition, the Enhanced Edition also contains a possibly unrelated male human fighter named Abdel.

Spoiler: Odds and ends: The Enhanced Edition

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This time, it's one of the pre-generated characters you can import if you don't want to create your own.


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This character is also in the Enhanced Edition of Shadows of Amn, though with different stats:


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These "Abdels" both fight with long swords, but I don't think either one is meant to be our Abdel Adrian. The stats are off, and they are Chaotic Good and Neutral Good instead of Chaotic Neutral. The colour schemes are different, too. Ultimately, I think this is more of an in-joke than anything else.

I think one of these Abdels is also in the original Shadows of Amn, though I'm not entirely sure and I don't have my copy of the game on hand right now.

As far as I can tell, there are no further direct references to Abdel Adrian, not even a cameo in Saradush. Part of me wants to believe that this is a comment on the quality of the novels.

That was mildly interesting, wasn't it?

It's time to stop stalling, though. Like I said, I wanted to summarize my thoughts on the book as a whole, and I have quite the text wall waiting for you.

Spoiler: The full review

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So, here we are. We've spent the last six months examining each chapter under a microscope. Now that we've finished the book, it's time to zoom back out.

Note that this won't be a traditional long-form review. There's no need to do another plot recap, and I've already voiced most of my concerns with the writing (some of them repeatedly). So this will be more of a summary.

When I decided to do this Let's Read, there were two questions I wanted to answer. One - does this book deserve its reputation? How bad is it really? And two - just why is this book so widely hated, anyway? The Baldur's Gate novels are one of the most frequently cited examples of awful video game novelisations. Does the first book in the series deserve its reputation?
Whenever appropriate, I'll try to judge the novel both as an adaptation of an existing work (faithfulness to the original) and on its own merits (overall quality as a book.) These categories do blur together a bit, so... fair warning, there's another massive text wall below.

First of all, the setting. Is this a good adaptation of the Forgotten Realms? Well... it's a little bit all over the place. Physically, the setting sort of works. Most of the Sword Coast is left vague - we learn few details about Candlekeep, Beregost or Nashkel, let alone the areas in between them. But what we learn works, mostly, and the geography is consistent. The flora, fauna and weather patterns of the Sword Coast mostly make sense (when they're mentioned) and the distances betwen the various places our heroes visit are consistent. The setting suddenly becomes a lot more detailed when we get to Baldur's Gate, and the city works quite well. The political structure was simplified a lot, but that needn't be a bad thing. The book probably should've spent more time in the Gate and less time getting there. Reaching the city is a big milestone in the game, as it flings open another massive sandbox for you to play in. During this playthrough, we barely scratched the surface of Baldur's Gate. There's a lot to discover there, and Athans was clearly more comfortable writing Baldur's Gate than Beregost or Nashkel or Candlekeep.
The setting of the book has a problem, though: For some reason, the Forgotten Realms are treated like a low-magic setting. Magic is strange and foreign, wielded almost exclusively by evil (and insane) characters, and healing magic in particular is vanishingly rare. Most of the "game canon" characters who were mages or clerics were changed to be monks or rogues or fighters, or just outright cut from the plot. For the most part, the book pretends that the Forgotten Realms are some sort of grim and gritty low fantasy environment. That's... not how this setting works. Cimmeria, yes, but not Faerûn. D&D has a higher level of "background magic" than most vaguely Tolkienesque fantasy, and the Forgotten Realms are more magical than the D&D standard.
The book isn't even consistent about this. Large numbers of casters suddenly pop into existence when needed (cleric patrols, Sarevok's acolytes) but vanish just as quickly. There is exactly one instance of a non-evil arcane spellcaster, and that's Temil, who has exactly one paragraph to her name. For some reason, Beuros the door guard has access to several minor magic items, but everyone else treats magic with suspicion. The Iron Throne somehow has access to the bags of holding required for their iron smuggling operation, but Abdel never knowingly touches a magic weapon.
This isn't a small thing. The level of magic present is going to affect the plot because of how much D&D-style magic can do. This is especially important once you consider Raise Dead-style spells. We know for a fact that it's possible to resurrect the dead in the Athansverse, and yet it barely comes up. You can't do that.
Normally, at this point, you'd wave your hand and say, well, maybe the book resembles D&D a bit, but it doesn't have to be based on actual D&D lore and worldbuilding. Why not treat it as a standalone work instead? That's a fair objection, but the problem with it is that this book does require D&D rules as scaffolding. You'll notice there are no real rules for what magic (and magic items) can do or can't do, or how the gods actually work. There's no in-book explanation for the whole Bhaal situation, or why the other gods don't intervene. If we take this book as a self-contained work, we don't have a great idea what the political situation on the Sword Coast is like, or (come to think of it) what exactly a "bag of holding" is supposed to be.

In short: Being neither a "proper" D&D novel nor a standalone fantasy novel, Baldur's Gate is left in an awkward spot.

So how about the plot? The book does try to follow the game rather closely - similar events happen in a similar sequence. First we have the bit with the poisoned iron, then the bandits, then the secret mine in the Cloakwood, then the Iron Throne in Baldur's Gate, then Candlekeep, then Sarevok's coronation. The book is relatively faithful to the game here. The script given to Athans either contained a mostly finished plot outline, or he did a good job determining which events were important.
However, the context for the events is different. This is partially because Abdel isn't CHARNAME, which we'll talk about in the next set of paragraphs, but mostly because there were a lot of changes to Sarevok and the Iron Throne. The plot, unfortunately, collapses under the weight of those changes.
A recurring problem with the narrative is that it lacks internal logic. Events happen in a specific sequence because they happen in that sequence in the game, not because they logically follow from one another. The most blatant example is Sarevok's whole... thing. We already talked about this at length in Chapter 28, but the short version is that Sarevok is a "mastermind" villain without a master plan. The narrative makes it clear that Sarevok is stringing Abdel along, allowing him to foil his plans for some nefarious purpose... except it later turns out that, no, actually, there was no purpose, Sarevok just allowed Abdel to ruin his plans for no particular reason. All the tropes and narrative conventions are there, but the actual plan is missing. It's amazing.
The novel also suffers from what I like to call the Disaster Non-Competition Clause. Our heroes are only ever confronted with one problem at a time. As soon as Mulahey dies, the tainted iron becomes a non-issue, although it'd realistically take a long time for Nashkel to ramp up production again. (Also, our protagonists are never actually affected by the iron shortage at all.) After Xan infiltrates the bandit camp, we never hear from them ever again; somehow, the theft of the map and the book seems to have caused the raids to stop. (Also, our protagonists never encounter a bandit in the wild.) That sort of thing. Yes, you could argue that Sarevok didn't really need these anymore since he was ready to move on to bigger and better things, but... well... see above.
Also, Abdel is a horrible protagonist and his group relies on blind luck and help from Sarevok at every step. We'll get to that in a moment, but while we're still in the plot section, I'd like to take a moment to emphasize how convenient everything is for Abdel. He can blindly charge into a kobold-infested mine and not suffer more than a few scratches (while finding a shortcut to the final boss.) His party finds the bandit camp without trouble (because Sarevok sends one of his minions to lead him there.) When he screws up, someone - be it Korak or Duke Eltan - will be along to bail him out. The plot relies heavily on random chance and deus ex machina events, not the efforts of its protagonist.

So, yeah, that's not great.

How about the characters, then? Maybe there's something good to be found there if you can block out the fact that the plot doesn't really make sense. Maybe this is part of Sarevok's ritual for some reason, I don't know.
The characters are... well, you all know where this paragraph is going. They are mostly awful, especially the protagonists. Some of the minor characters are alright - Xzar and Montaron work well, and Xan is bearable even if he doesn't resemble his game counterpart all that much.
Jaheira is especially terrible, though. The novel reduces her from a competent fighter/spellcaster to a damsel in constant distress. The narrator occasionally remembers she's supposed to be a warrior, but the plot rarely allows her to do more than swoon at Abdel. Khalid barely exists, and is also turned into a serial cheater so Abdel can get the girl without any pesky moral objections getting in the way. Gorion, rather than being a powerful mage and guardian, is an old man who is mildly competent at fighting with a stick. Really, the inversion of roles we see in the first chapter is great foreshadowing for how the rest of the book ends up.

And then, last but not least, there's Abdel.

I don't like him very much.

It's important to remember that CHARNAME isn't a complete blank slate. They are a player stand-in, true, but they have an established backstory (Candlekeep), a narrative voice (the journal), and some characterisation independent of player action. You pick the dialogue option, but CHARNAME's voice is indirectly present in the choice of options available to you. We can learn a few things about CHARNAME from this - for example, that they have a hugely snarky streak.
Abdel is not that character at all. As the foreword to the book notes, he's all original. Swapping the scared Candlekeep kid out for a seasoned mercenary basically throws the plot on its head. That might not be so bad, in theory but Abdel is just a terribly frustrating character. He's a dull, sullen, incurious thug who solves every problem with violence, and who relies on luck (narrative fiat really) to get him out of trouble.
Perhaps worse, Abdel lacks a proper character arc. See, if Baldur's Gate can be said to have a central theme (beyond "swording monsters yay"), I'd say it's about questions of identity and self-determination. CHARNAME's and Sarevok's heritage - their destiny - sets them down a certain path, and the entire plot is basically one massive attempt to derail that. ("Such pride undeserved, great conqueror, when your whole being is borrowed.") Baldur's Gate isn't a terribly deep game, philosophically speaking, but the themes are there.
The novel, rather than building on that foundation, buries the themes entirely. I don't think it's a coincidence that the Bhaalspawn dreams were mostly cut, for example, or that the Candlekeep dungeons had their psychological horror replaced with bargain bin. The few hints at a character arc that remain... well, don't really go anywhere.
There are plenty of examples, but here's my favourite one. It briefly looks like Abdel is going to end up struggling with his inner Slayer, when he tells Jaheira his inner murder-voice wants to bump uglies with her, but nothing ever comes of that. This plot point doesn't just disappear, it is outright inverted. Ultimately, Abdel credits Jaheira with saving his soul, just to make absolutely sure Abdel can have everything he wants with zero conflict. (For the record, the switch occurs sometime before the "you are becoming Abdel" thing.) Abdel does gradually lose his blood lust after Gorion dies, but it's not because of any introspection on his part; he just notes that killing isn't fun anymore. It doesn't cause him to kill any less, mind.

So where does this leave us? To try to bring this sprawling mess of words to a conclusion of some sort: Considered on its own, this book would be a fairly run-of-the-mill example of Thud-and-Blunder fiction. It doesn't have the sexual weirdness of Gor or the allcaps MORAL CLARITY of the later Sword of Truth novels. It isn't as amateurish or as derivative as the Inheritance cycle, and it isn't as painfully edgy as Orcs: First Blood. The protagonists retain some amount of agency and the writing is often passable, even decent. I really liked the opening sentence of Chapter Eleven. Most of Chapter Eighteen was pretty good, particularly the bit about the Elfsong. The characters who had their roles expanded - Angelo, Korak and Tamoko - are all quite decent. The combat scenes work. They're rather visceral, which is fitting, given Abdel's background. That sort of thing.

Honestly, in a vacuum, the novel would just be kind of forgettable. It's not like the 1990s were lacking for bad heroic fantasy novels with weird opinions about female characters. When placed next to the game, however, it becomes actively offensive.

More than anything else, this book looks like a could-have-been. This could've been a good book - certainly an adequate one - but those responsible for it just didn't care about that. The publisher gave an unfinished script and an absurd deadline to a rookie author who clearly wanted to work in a different genre. Athans probably did what he could, given the circumstances, but it should've been clear to everyone involved that it wasn't going to work. The novel looks like a blatant cash-in.

In short, there's a reason that Baldur's Gate (for all its flaws) is such an enduringly popular series while the novels are... not. The game deserved better than this.

So, what's next? Obviously, there are two more books in this series. There's Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn: Bhaal is dead!, also by Philip Athans, and Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal: Death to the Children of Bhaal! by Drew Karpyshyn. On balance, the second book is actually worse than the first one - you may have heard about Barmaid Minsc or the extended lesbian Drowsploitation subplot.

I do want to cover these books, but not quite yet. The combined LR/LP approach is fun, yes, but also quite a lot of work. Roughly twice as much as a regular LP, in fact. I don't quite know yet what I'll end up doing. Maybe a hybrid approach, where the "game" section is just a video? Or perhaps I'll look for a co-commentator. (Actually, if you'd be up for that, perhaps drop me a PM and we'll see if we can set something up.)

Maybe there'll be a new thread in a while. Until then... thank you for reading, and I hope to see you around.

[The Glyphstone]

I actually have no idea what Barmaid Minsc is referencing, so I will await the next episode eagerly.

[Nerd-o-rama]

Oh hell Karpyshyn wrote a Baldur's Gate novel too? I wonder if he managed to be worse than Athans at characters.

Consider me subscribed.

[Spore]

I think most people are familiar enough with the game. I would do a Let's Read and just pull up the relevant info from wikis. If I am honest with you the LP wasn't strictly necessary as the more informative parts came from the BG Wiki as well from reading dialogue options.

[Keltest]

I think most people are familiar enough with the game. I would do a Let's Read and just pull up the relevant info from wikis. If I am honest with you the LP wasn't strictly necessary as the more informative parts came from the BG Wiki as well from reading dialogue options.

I agree. The games are fairly accessible at this point, and I suspect that most people who read this are at least passingly familiar with them. It was cool to have the screenshots for a compare and contrast, but other than that I think the game didn't bring as much to this as the book did.

[LuckGuy]

I really enjoyed reading this, and I look forward to the next one when you are recharged. One thing though: the spell is "smite evil", not "bump uglies".

[ZeltArruin]

This has been an excellent LP/LR, I look forward to reading your future endeavors!

[Spore]

I now have finally read the review and I must say I disagree. The book isn't a mediocre fantasy book if not forced to abide to D&D or Faerun standards. The main story is dribble. Why?

1) The sheer dumb luck that strings the story together ruins my immersion. More often than not, Abdel is just in the right place by virtue of "plot". And he has no agency. He is not active in the story. All scheming people are puppets of Sarevok. And Sarevok has no plan for them. It feels like when two BSF characters (big stupid fighter) had a show-off whose mental stat layout is the better. Dumping Int and Wis to max Cha (Abdel) or have Int and Cha equally and dump Wis (Sarevok).

And the story once again feels like a badly DM'ed campaign. Just like the first Drizz't Books feel like a retold adventure arc, this does too. the DM throws in a ghoul as DM pc because he finds them "metal or whatever" and around 2/3s of the book, a player finds out Faerun is supposed to be extremely magical and suddenly, there are tons of spellcasters. Alternatively the DM hasn't understood Vancian magic until somwhere down the tubes.

But the hamfisted love story between Abdel and Jaheira is even worse. Athans could've just waited for Khalid to be eaten by the ooze and then have Abdel make the classical move. Console the widow, build up trust, make out with her. After that it jsut feels like the book needs to remind us every 15-20 pages that they are an item now out of thin air. Don't get me started on Khalid's infidelity. I know the character is underwritten in the games but this is just not what I had filled the void with. In my head, Khalid always was the obedient husband of Jaheira who didn't dare oppose him. And if he had mustered up the strength? infidelity? lecherousness? to betray her finally, not with her teacher.

But what doesn't make sense in the book is how Sarevok would've created a war situation out of the Iron Crisis. This is mainyl because of the book's (and honestly the game's) handling of the Doppelgangers. They fill virtually any plot hole this terrible plan has. Dukes Opposing war with Amn? Doppelgangers. Frame his half-brother for murder? Doppelgangers. Get power over the Bandit clans? Doppelgangers. That and an ending battle starting up with a rainbow attack ruins it for me. You can't do that seriously.

Spoiler: South Park Stick of Truth Spoilers:

Show

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E76tbUS1qRs

Parts are well written, but that is because Athans is probably a decent writer. But the book as an isolated product is terrible.

[mangosta71]

Something I noticed from the bios: Sarevok is supposed to be a huge, imposing figure. He's a giant of a man. Abdel is bigger; he's both taller and heavier. You don't describe someone that's smaller than you as a giant.

I honestly really like the LR/LP format because it gives clear points of contrast. (And it's been quite a while since I had time to play through the games, so my memory is a little spotty in certain areas.)

[Honest Tiefling]

I think most people are familiar enough with the game. I would do a Let's Read and just pull up the relevant info from wikis. If I am honest with you the LP wasn't strictly necessary as the more informative parts came from the BG Wiki as well from reading dialogue options.

I agree with this entirely. The LP did add something, but if you know the sequel well enough I don't think it's necessary as long as you pull the information from somewhere. Heck, if you wanted to do the LP but do side missions/get loot to make battles easier (or even outright cheat) I doubt many people would care. We need screenshots to compare, not because we think that one should play as Lord Dullard.

I also agree that the romance was the worst aspect. I don't like Damsels in Distress, and yes, I would have preferred a forbidden romance between Imoen (Or hells, even Sarevok) and CHARNAME to stripping a beloved character of her personality and competence. Okay, maybe not anything as the Drow/Vampire romance doesn't seem like it's headed in a good direction. I must know more...