This is one of the latest D&D sourcebooks to be released by Wizards of the Coast. It's not the usual fare, in that it's not a *true* sourcebook of supplimentary rules... rather it's sort of a fictional reference book for Aber-Toril.
It's a lore book: Containing a vast, and detailed timeline of the Forgotten Realms from -35000 DR up to the present campaign year (1375 DR) and on ten years into the 'future' to the point where 4th edition will begin.
Ah yes... 4th edition. This would be the reason why this has absolutely no 3.5ed content... However, that's not entirely a bad thing, and I have to say that the presentation of the Realm's version of why the rules on magic and such change so drastically is fairly interesting. I won't say much about it, but it essentially 'reboots' the entire world, shifting around the gods, the big name NPCs (who have been dropping like flies in recent novels), and the continent itself.
Okay, so the positive points:
- The first thing you're going to see is the gorgeous cover, and believe me: compared to recent WotC books, this is nothing short of fantastic.
A giant mountainscape featuring Drizzt Do'Urden on the front, and Elminster the Sage on the back.
-The book is pure, uninterrupted lore and history. No padding with prestige classes, feats or spell.. just the rich fantasy history of the most popular D&D setting. The timeline is detailed and gives references to other entries to aid following the fate of long-lived events.
Strengthening and complimenting this, are dozens of sidebar essays, notes and personal viewpoints as written by the characters that lived at the times in question (complete with different handwriting fonts).
These sidebars really flesh out some of the key points, making it far more interesting.
There are also a few pages of monarchy lineage from some of the main kingdoms... not as interesting, but a handy addition.
Now personally, this is the sort of thing I just drink up. It's why I play in the Forgotten Realms at all, and certainly why I own dozens of novels. It's just fascinating, and I could spend hours reading through the past of the world.
Now, the foreword mentions that the book isn't particularly useful for DMs, but I beg to differ because it enables a DM to flesh out their storylines with both the past of the land, and also with what's going on at the same time.
-It's not all about money. For once it seems like they've just released a high-quality source book without squeezing money out with the previously mentioned useless padding.
The downsides:
-The art. Unfortunately, with the exception of the front cover, and most of the maps, almost all of the pictures found in the book are simply recycled from prior D&D books with new captions. Lazy.
Not to say the pictures are bad... far from it.. it's just a bit cheap to not have new illustrations. I'm always going to link the pictures with what they *should* be.
-It's unnecessary. The content (save the future lore, and mini-essays) is all recycled from previous books, just compiled into one long timeline, so you can get almost all of the content elsewhere.
The saving grace here is that there *are* some new entries to the timeline, and many of are fleshed out to a paragraph from maybe a single line.
-It's a spoiler. I personally ruined two novels I'm currently reading in the present/future entries. Now, I did know this would happen, and I looked nevertheless because I needed to know some of the outcomes for the campaign I'm writing.. but all the same be warned.
-It's money grabbing.
See the thing further up saying it's not? Well... in truth it is and isn't.
Why? Well, despite none of the content being heavily watered down it *should* have been free.
Actually, it was. Most of all of it was put together on the Wizard's website by user of the game. Available to download for free.
Fair enough, they've updated it, added polish and added content.... but still, it should have been free. The foreword mentions that when the user's uploaded Grad History of the Realms was noticed by one WotC writer, he contacted the big bosses suggesting that they make it official and add some extra stuff and then release it as a free web-enhancement.
But then, the execs saw dollar signs, and here we are...
So, all in all, I think this is a fine addition to any Realms fan's collection. It's a wondeful book all in all, despite it's few transgressions. Bear in mind the original user-made version can still be found online though...
Final note. I was pleased to see the plot of Neverwinter Nights being cannonised finally, though the expansions were conspicuously absent.