The Best of the Realms III is a collection of short stories by Elaine Cunningham set in the Forgotten Realms. There are a total of 15 shorts in this anthology, three of which are brand new. The others have all appeared in either other Wizards of the Coast anthologies or Dragon magazine. As with past anthologies I will say a little bit about each story, but won't go into too much detail - mainly due to the time it would take to fully review each story.

The stories that appear in this anthology are:

#1 - The Knights of Samalar - This story is billed as the story that is supposed to tie up loose ends from the novel Thornhold (Harpers Series #16). This is an OK story. It feels as though it jumps around too much. The Characters are largely as I remember them. This story may suffer, due o the fact that it's a continuation of a story first published in 1998, so lo of events in it were foggy to me. 3 out of 5

#2 - The Bargain - This is a fun story to read. This is how Danilo should act. The pace of this story is spot on. As with most Danilo stories there is some humor mixed in as well. Not much in terms of character development, but the overall story does have a mission and accomplishes that mission very well. 4 out of 5

#3 - Elminster's Jest - This is one of the `stories' billed as new for this anthology. Sadly, it's not a story at all. It's a one page song. I honestly have no idea why this was included, maybe just to say another piece of the anthology was `new'. 1 out of 5

#4 - The More Things Change - A very interesting story involving Elaith. This story gives the reader quite a bit of background information on him in a short time. This story focuses more on character development than plot. While the plot is ok, it feels as though it plays second fiddle to Elaith's development. I would have loved to see a full length novel based on these events. 4 out of 5

#5 - The Direct Approach - This is a story that focuses on Liriel. I had a hard time really grasping the plot of this story. I just wasn't that interested in the events, or the second character that was introduced. The more I read it the more apathetic I became. 2 out of 5

#6 - Secrets of the Blood, Spirits of the Sea - This may very well be my favorite story of the anthology. It accomplishes many things, and explains a great deal about the Realms. Of course, this may or may not be true, being that the story is told as a story. The main character in this story is very good, and there aren't many wemic characters in books or stories. This story was a very good journey. 5 out of 5

#7 - The Great Hunt - Not a bad story, but the ending was very clichéd. The characters are the same fare from most of Ms. Cunningham stories. There was a moment in this story that could have advanced one of the characters, but sadly it wasn't taken and the story became flat. 3 out of 5.

#8 - Speaking with the Dead - Decent story with a good twist at the end. The characters largely held true to their past actions in previous stories. A solid plot and sub-plot. There is nothing really earth shattering with this story, it's just a solid story and mildly entertaining. 4 out of 5

#9 - Stolen Dreams - This story is essentially the same story as above, but from a different point of view. My biggest complaint with this one is if it's written to be the same but from a different point of view - it should cover the same time frame. Sadly, it comes up short. It almost feels as though there are a few pages missing. A solid story and characters, but I just feel like something was missing. 2 out of 5

#10 - Fire is Fire - Ms. Cunningham states this is her favorite story of this anthology. While mildly interesting, having a story told from dueling points of view, it by no means captured me that much. While interesting in spots I feel it could have been much better. Certainly, an interesting idea, but the end product is merely average. 3 out of 5

#11 - Possessions - In the blurb before this story, Ms. Cunningham states this is a dark tale and a ghost story as well. I think that does this story an injustice as it forces the reader to go into it with a preconceived notion. While this story is an average story, there seems, at times, to be a really good story hiding beneath it's surface. It felt incomplete and the ending seemed rushed and disjointed to me. Nothing special about this story. 2 out of 5

#12 - A Little Knowledge - This is probably my second favorite story of this anthology. It's a solid story, with a definite plot. The characters are well written and I didn't have a hard time becoming interested in them. I really enjoyed how the plot didn't seem forced, it just happened. Overall, a fun story to read. 5 out of 5.

#13 - Games of Chance - To me, this was just an average story. Some of the events in this story made next to no sense to me. It was like they came out of the blue for shock effect. Even then though, they weren't that shocking, they were more confusing. Elaith's character in particular did some things that didn't make much sense. 3 out of 5

#14 - Tribute - This is another of the stories that is billed as brand new. However, at three and a half pages, it's barely worth reading. This story came across to me as some one saying "Hey, we need another two story, pound something out quick." There really is no purpose to this story and I am not really sure why it is included here. There's not much chance for a reader to connect at all to anything here. 2 out of 5

#15 - Answered Prayers - This is billed as the long awaited story of what happened to Liriel after the Starlight and Shadows trilogy. While the writing is good and the characters are solid. I had a hard time connecting with the events of the story. Especially the end of the story when Liriel casts a spell... those entire events seemed wrong and forced. Also, Liriel didn't seem like the character I remember her being during the previous trilogy. Not a bad story, but it is certainly not the best that this anthology has to offer either. 3 out of 5

As a whole this anthology is average. There are certainly a few very good stories, Secrets of Blood, Spirits of Sea and A Little Knowledge, but there are also (in my opinion) some clunkers as well, Elminster's Jest comes to mind. The variety of stories is decent, yet it seems it could have been so much better. I feel slightly cheated on a couple of the stories. But, such is life.

As far as anthologies go, this one is about average. The vast majority of the stories can be found in different anthologies and the two `real' stories (I don't count Elminster's Jest as a story) do not necessitate purchasing this book. If you're a fan of the Forgotten Realms and have yet to read all these stories it may be worth it to pick it up, but if you already have the other anthologies you may want to check with a friend or the library. ( )