Elfshadow - Elaine Cunningham I seem to recall picking up this novel with a gift certificate and found Cunningham an engaging writer. If an apocalypse occurred and the only reading material left in the world was a shelf of Forgotten Realms serializations, Cunningham would be one of the authors who I wouldn't toss on the fire to keep warm on those long, radioactive nights.

The subsequent novels of hers I've read usually only merit 2 stars at most but that faint praise is only possible because of Cunningham's skill as a writer in rising above (if only a bit) the material she's writing about.