Sage of Shadowdale book series is awful to meh.

The first two books (Elminster Must Die; Bury Elminster Deep) drone on with pointless action that takes place sneaking into and escaping out of the Cormyr palace so many times I stopped counting, and it doesn’t set up anything interesting either. The two books could be condensed to half a book, without losing anything. The only saving grace is that Ed Greenwood writes very well, so he manages to make it tolerable to read. Rating 2/5.

The last book (Elminster Enraged) is much better, but still not very good. Most of the pointless plotless meandering was left out, so it’s at least working towards some clear goals. Too bad the main goal was a heavily foreshadowed deus ex machina – just because we know it’s coming, doesn’t really make it ok, especially not if you then don’t take the time to flesh it out. The ending that should have been a grand majestic resurrection, instead just falls flat. Rating 3/5.

How people have rated these books as high as Ed Greenwood’s earlier works like Cormyr or the Elminster Ascending series, I just can’t fathom.