Marked for Death, The Lost Mark #1 by Matt Forbeck
It was no surprise to me that 'The Lost Mark' trilogy had issues. In fact, most reviews and sites recommend skipping it entirely, but I'm a sucker for punishment. This was the second Eberron novel ever printed, so in the planning stages Forbeck likely didn't have all the material to work from that other authors did. That covers the continuity errors, but on a more basic level the characterization and flow of the books have problems.
Kandler is the justicar of a small town on the edge of the Mournland. His step-daughter Espre is a young elf and prone to nightmares. Kandler's best friend is the shifter Burch. Mardakine is principally settled by refugees from Cyre and the main trade is providing for adventurers heading into the Mournland. There has been a spate of unexplained, gruesome deaths among the townspeople lately and people are at a breaking point.
Enter, a confusion of paladins. There are five of them, but Commander Deothan and Sallah, a young female with red hair, are the only ones given any support from the narrative. The other three are dudebros I guess.
The mysterious deaths are followed by misunderstandings and an attack by a group of vampires whose goal is to kidnap Espre, who, not a spoiler because of that cover, bears a dragonmark that is possibly is definitely the long-lost Mark of Death.
The trilogy is mostly made up of a never-ending quest for Kandler to save his stepdaughter from the vampires, then from a changeling (a pretty good character, actually), and others.
My main take-away from this book was Forbeck's unusual focus on the smells of things. When the shifter Burch was our viewpoint that makes sense, but even the humans got in on noticing the smells and nothing else. Speaking of shifters, Burch was often treated more like an animal than a sentient being - even by the non-racist characters. Warforged didn't feel right either. They were very Destroy All Humans in a non-ironic way, which in a post-Futurama world makes no sense. My final complaint has to do with Vol, the Lich Queen and SECRET force behind the Blood of Vol religion and, even more secret, bearer in life of the Mark of Death. Characters in 'Marked for Death' are like - Vol? Yeah, I've heard of her. She lives thataway. Mark of Death, huh? Yeah I know what that is.
Nothing about Vol or the Mark of Death is supposed to be public knowledge, or even knowable by a player character who rolls a natural 20 unless in certain conditions. Ah well. Next!
The Lost Mark
Next: 'Road to Death'
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