Curse of the Shadowmage

Curse of the Shadowmage concentrates on the Harpers, fighters for freedom and justice.[1]

Jonathan Palmer reviewed Curse of the Shadowmage for Arcane magazine, rating it a 5 out of 10 overall.[1] He stated, "Very pleasing, this Forgotten Realms adventure, if only because it considers the spiritual nature of magic rather than just using magic as a plot device to get the heroes out of sticky situations. Referees will find new ways of looking at old magic."[1] He added that the novel has "got some good ideas, but as a novel it's less than great; the characterization is not sufficiently sympathetic for the reader to care about the outcome."[1] He states that "The writing is articulate, but not always satisfying; for example, when a milk-cow gets turned inside out at a Harvest Festival, the author alludes to all kinds of other shadow-wrought grotesquerie without actually describing it in detail. Why not?"[1] Palmer concluded his review by stating: "As well as these failings, the writer's descriptive skills managed to lose me once or twice in this slow-paced book. It's a reasonably good read, but I wouldn't go out of my way to lend it to you."[1]