The God Catcher

INTRODUCTION

Ladies and gentlesirs, welcome to The God Catcher. You heard me a-right: the God Catcher.

No, it's not a bigger, better mousetrap.

Nor is it some gigantic, age-old weapon or mightier-than-all-other spell.

It's… an apartment building.

Catchy name, huh? Cool idea, too, and the way in which one of the famous Walking Statues of Waterdeep-that haven't taken a single step in years-has been used is so… so Waterdeep.

First-time Realms author Erin Evans "gets" my city; she understands colorful, crowded, reeking, bustling Waterdeep, from glittering highlights to its stenches and warts.

Yes, we get to see more nobles-and yes, the sewers, too.

This is the fifth in a series of stand-alone novels set in the busy, cosmopolitan, increasingly corrupt city of Waterdeep, the famous mercantile port on the Sword Coast of Faerun in the FORGOTTEN REALMS© fantasy setting.

Like its predecessors (no, you don't have to read them all, or any of them, in any order, to enjoy this book), The God Catcher takes us on a wild adventure through Waterdeep.

And once again we're reminded that the best adventures are enjoyed alongside friends. In this case, our friend is Tennora, a young woman trying to make a life for herself in Waterdeep, stepping out of the clutches of her aunt and uncle to become her own person in a decidedly seedier part of the City of Splendors.

Tennora has a rather mysterious past, no living parents on the scene, and hopes to master magic by studying at the House of Wonders. Her creator draws us right in close to see and feel what it's like to try to make ends meet in Waterdeep when coins are few, you're young and have more determination and energy than anything else, and lots of things go wrong-which is what things in Waterdeep have an all too well-established and enthusiastic habit of doing.

There's something juicy and intensely satisfying about "look behind the scenes" novels, wherein not just dark villainy and conspiracy is uncovered, but glimpses of the daily lives of citizens high and low.

Not to mention dragons.

And bounty hunters who doggedly pursue a living target halfway across Faerun…

Oops; mentioned them after all, didn't I? Sorry. Well, now, I'll just take another alley before I skulk another step along this one, so I won't ruin the great story ahead of you.

The God Catcher brings you Waterdeep from a fresh angle, showing and explaining all sorts of things about the city without ever stopping for a moment to do so. (Yes, things even I didn't know, so I know they'll be new to you.)

Tennora grows before our eyes, her life gets a whole lot more interesting than I suspect she ever wanted it to be-and in a hurry-and we get treated to a dandy adventure that starts innocently enough, eases us through speculation and slowly gathering menace, then picks up speed fast.

Near the end of this book, matters are hurtling along, an increasingly impressive tally of crimes is being committed before your eyes by lots of people (some of whom you know, and others who come as surprises-boy, I'd hate to be a member of the City Watch in this town!), and… well, I eventually had to surface just to breathe, looked at the slender handful of pages remaining, and wondered aloud just how Erin was going to bring it all home in the rapidly dwindling space she had left.

She managed it, and I love the result.

You will, too, and I have only one regret: she introduced us to so many interesting characters of Waterdeep that I want to read a row of more books about each one of them!

Ed Greenwood February 2010