El dios de la Guerra ha muerto en su ataque a Tantras, y Medianoche y sus aliados han recuperado la primera de las Tablas del Destino, en las que el Sumo Hacedor grabo las normas que rigen el equilibrio de Faerun, buscadas con ansia por los dioses caídos pues es el único medio de recuperar la gloria perdida, y también por los humanos para salvar a las Reinos del caos. Pero ahora, Medianoche, Kelemvor y Adon se enfrentan a lo mas difícil: atravesar el mundo para llegar a Aguas Profundas donde esta la segunda tabla, protegida pro los engendros de Myrkul en el reino de la Muerte. Su misión, obstaculizada por el traidor Cyric que anhela poseer las tablas para sus propios fines, y por el señor de la Muerte, dispuesto incluso a llegar a la destrucción de los Reinos, les hace vivir aventuras espeluznantes que se prolongan hasta llegar a la presencia del mismísimo Ao.

The climax of the Avatar Trilogy wasn't as enjoyable for me as the second of the three novels, Tantras. At times it was too fast paced and too action-oriented, and this caused it to quickly barrel over interesting and important moments of the plot. However, it possesses many redeemable characteristics. More than in Tantras and Waterdeep, the main characters--Kelemvor the Fighter, Midnight the Mage, and Adon the Fallen Cleric--traverse great distances and find themselves in a broad variety of tenuous situations. Fighting Bhaal the Lord of Murder, Myrkul the God of the Dead, and Cyric the power hungry Rogue, they are driven in the underworld, the wilderness, and the streets of a metropolis. As opposed to the first two novels, which take place in a relatively small area of the Realms, this third novel follows the characters over a large distance, from their start in the Dalelands of the east to the City of Splendors in the northwest. Although the characters are pretty much defined by the novel's beginning, Troy Denning (Richard Awlinson is just a pseudonym for the series of authors that wrote the Avatar trilogy) does a good job taking that material and adding his own flavor. He particularly makes Cyric an intriquing character in a scene where the thief comes upon a gutted out tavern after a zombie attack, enjoys the hospitality of the only survivor, and then nonchalantly kills him. There are overly contrived moments--even for a fantasy novel--especially when Midnight goes into the underworld and steals an artifact of great power by simply zapping it to her hands. This avoided the long narrative digression of having her actually go into the tower of the evil god. All in all, it was a good read. I expected more at the crescendo of the trilogy, but I am still satisfied with the story as a whole. If you're reading the Avatar trilogy is goes without saying that this is a necessary and enjoyable read, but the second book remains my favorite.