The Fading Dream (Thorn of Breland #3, Eberron by Keith Baker review

THE FADING DREAM by Keith Baker is the third and final novel of the Thorn of Breland series. I’m quite fond of this series due to it being spy fiction in a high fantasy setting. Thorn is an agent for the Brelish government but ever since a disastrous mission where she was infused with several magical rocks, she’s been doubting her commitment to the cause. She’s also developed a link with a powerful long dead (?) dragon named Sarmondelaryz.

I was very excited about The Fading Dream due to it covering two of my favorite topics in Eberron: The Mourning and Cyre. The Mourning for those unfamiliar is a magical cataclysm that destroyed an entire nation of Eberron and brought an end to the Last War. Cyre was the nation that was destroyed and turned the entirety of its survivors into homeless refugees. Unfortunately, this turns out to be a book that isn’t quite about that. It’s still but both aspects are more background than forefront.

The premise is that Thorn has returned from her mission to kill the Son of Khyber in the previous book but been demoted to bodyguard duty because of the manner it ended. After an assassination attempt is foiled, Thorn gets a chance to redeem herself by going out into the Mournlands to make contact with the mysterious eldarin. A group of powerful elves from Thelanis, the eldarin claim they know the cause of the Mourning and how to repair it. Thorn thus sets out with the aid of an immortal child to discover whether this is true or just another theory about the Mourning’s cause.

Fans looking for concrete answers to the Mourning and Cyre’s destruction will sadly be disappointed. Keith Baker has been clear in other sources the true origin of the Mourning will always be left up to the Dungeon Master. However, it presents a theory even as the protagonists remain skeptical. Personally, I wish they had leaned heavier into this aspect and I was disappointed Prince Oargev (hereditary ruler of Cyre’s survivors) had remained a part of the adventuring party for the entire book.

Essentially, this book feels a great deal like an advertisement for 4th Edition’s attempt to insert the eldarin as a PC race into most Dungeons and Dragons settings. Keith Baker takes the bull by the horns and gives the eldarin a massive history connected to the giants, quori, possibly the Mourning, as well as the plane of Thelanis (Eberron’s equivalent of the feywild). They are alien, mysterious, and driven by stories in a way that is quite incomprehensible to the normally cynical and pragmatic Thorn. I admit I preferred the realpolitic of The Queen of Stone and the cynical analysis of revolution in The Son of Khyber but Keith Baker is always entertaining.

Fans who have been wanting a resolution of Thorn’s connection to Sarmondelaryz.will get all the answers they need. I’m a bit iffy about this because while I like the plotline, I also feel like Thorn was always a strong enough character to carry the plot without her being linked to a red dragon who sometimes felt like a deus ex machina. James Bond is cool. Dragons are cool. James Bond as a dragon isn’t necessarily cooler than either individually. I also wished we’d received more follow up on Lei, Pierce, and Daine after their mentioning in Son of Khyber.

In conclusion, The Fading Dream is a good book but I find the eldarin less interesting than the gritty dark side of Eberron. The Queen of Stone had a lot of diplomacy and intrigue while the Son of Khyber thrived on its moral ambiguity. The Fading Sun is a more classical adventure tale with heaps of mythology as well as world-destroying supervillains that could have fit into something like the Forgotten Realms. Keith Baker is, as always, a great writer and I hope he’ll return to writing novels in a fantasy setting some day. Would I read more Thorn, though? Absolutely.

8/10 

Available here