Reviews

Torment by Ray Vallese, Valerie Vallese

travelling_bookworm's review

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3.0

"Your mortality is imprisoned in the Fortress of Regrets, an impenetrable citadel that drifts through the Black Barrier, the Great Void, the Cold Land - names given to the all-devouring desolation that is the plane of Negative Energy."

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Phew, imagine trapping your immortality in what is essentially the Twitter of the Planescape universe. Tough break.

I played this game years ago, really got into it, made it about halfway through the game, paused it for one reason or other, and immediately forgot about it for several years. That is, until the book version of it showed up under very mysterious circumstances one day on my shelf. (That mysterious circumstance being no mystery at all, living with a big nerd of a husband who was the one encouraging me to play the game in the first place.)

Admittedly, this book appeals to a very niche audience: fans of dark fantasy, video games, and Dungeons and Dragons. However, if you have dipped your toe into this nerd-pool (I immediately regret typing those words), it is actually an enjoyable book despite what the ratings might suggest. I found it to be an unexpectedly fun and fast-paced book that does a good job of painting the picture of the Torment chapter and filling in the gaps of the videogame adventure. At the end of the day, it is a fun companion to the original game with great characters that made me want to pick the game back up from where I left off years ago.

...
Don't let it end like this.

fyrrea's review

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1.0

If you played Torment and loved it, please don't touch this book.
The writing is bad, the characters are different (what happened to their personalities?), the only thing that wasn't that bad was the ending and the reason why Thane (yes, the Nameless One had a NAME) became immortal.
Oh and I forgot to mention it, but the book is shallow, very, very shallow. No comparision to the game.
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