Rating: 
Summary: Good book!!! (...)
Review: (...) This is a darn good resource for FR. Don't confuse the size of the book, with how good it is. They could have increased the font size in the printing and those guys would have giving the book a three or four. (...) True, it could have been a bit deeper in some areas, but if every part of the organization is detailed in this way there isn't enough room to add your own personal touches.
If you liked the FRCS and the Magic of Faerûn book (or even the Monsters of Faerûn), you will also like this one. I SURE DO!!!
Rating:
Summary: The Lords of Darkness
Review: After receiving Lords of Darkness in the mail the first day that it was released, I was eager to look inside and see stats for many of my favorite NPCs. Unfortunately I was disappointed to see the severe lack of this aspect of the supplement. Characters that could be considered evil, not to mention important in the Forgotten Realms were neglected to an annoying degree. Highly notable characters from the novels such as Jarlaxle(!), Kimmuriel, Morik the Rogue, Gromph Baenre, the drow of Menzoberranzan, and other awesome characters from some of the top Realms authors are missing in action. They cover the drow of Cormanthor quite well, which makes sense, considering as a gamer you're more likely to run into them than the dark elves of Menzoberranzan and other Underdark cities. Still as a 3rd addition Villains' Lorebook it really should have catered to the fans of the books better. As a reader and a gamer I really wanted to see full stats for more important Realms personalities, ie:Jarlaxle and updated stats for Artemis Entreri
and Elaith "The Serpent" Craulnober(Fighter 3/Wizard 9-I don't think so!) After getting all that out of the way, I'd like to say that what the Wizards over at Wizards did do well, was done extremely well. Each evil organization is broken down to the degree that it provides you with everything that you could possibly ask for and still leaves that little amount of room for the DM's imagination to explore. They do have many full stats for NPCs dispersed around the book, not to mention well thought out characters with only their levels(who are mostly extremely overpowered), but nevertheless its still pretty helpful and cool to have. The high point of the book was towards the end where they have two full pages of stats and information for the incomparable being that is Larloch. Upon seeing this I was elated, even though my realms lore didn't extend far enough to know who Larloch even was! Yeah well anyway, it made me wish that they had more of these entries but each time that I look at Lords of Darkness I try valiantly to realize that this isn't the Villains' Lorebook and thats both good and bad. In the end, I'm not a good critic. This is the Forgotten Realms, this is the Lords of Darkness campaign accessory and because of its vast information and attractive yet intelligent appearance I can't resist giving it a five out of five. I say if you're a fan of the Realms or even an avid player of D&D in another campaign world; buy Lords of Darkness and enjoy its vast villainous content that deals with the denizens of the Realms but can just as easily be used for other worlds. Enjoy this excellent 3rd edition supplement and hope that future sourcebooks from Wizards of the Coast will be as informative and as well made as Lords of Darkness.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent source for any campaign
Review: Although the organizations in this book are taken from the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, the contents of the book are easily adaptable to any campaign. The organizations are covered in enough detail to allow for them to be placed in any setting and provide long term nemeses for any group of adventurers. The example groups with preset challenge ratings allow the addition of encounters with these groups to fit any level of campaign. The book continues to use the small font sized used in the campaign setting book so although it may seem expensive at first glance for a paperback, the content is all there. The larger organizations have accompanying keeps and holds that can be placed into any adventure setting as needed and provide a wealth of ideas for any DM.
Rating: 
Summary: Good information
Review: Good detail and a great number of organizations makes this a decent addition to anyone's FR library.
Rating:
Summary: Well done but lacking in some areas.
Review: I'll start by saying the book is a good book for anyone playing in the Forgotten Realms setting. This book is perfect for DMs and not as important for players, although players who wish to play in an evil group will find this book very useful. Any DM that wishes to tackle the pcs with an evil group will find a lot of support and ideas in this book including stats, items, influence, npcs, allies, locations, maps etc. It also adds a handful of prestige classes specific to some of the evil groups including Church of Cyric (Spur Lords), Worshipers of Entropy(Entropist), Zhentarim's Sky mages, Thayan Knights of the Red Wizards and even the Darkmask for surface drow that follow Vhaeraun. The end of the book contains favored magical items and favored spells to some of the groups. Some of the groups have character leaders stats and items. I had to hold back from rating this book as a single reason which I thought is important as someone who plays with psionics. The books contains no psionical support, or even a psionical option, for cults like the Mindflayers which are obviously psionically oriented. Other than that, I highly recommend the book, especially for playing in or against evil groups.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent supplement for Forgotten Realms DM's
Review: If you play in the Realms and want to flesh out your villians, this book is wonderful. It's the same size and layout as Magic of Faerun, so that right there is a plus. Personally, i think the artwork is much better than Magic of Faerun, and some of the power groups detailed therein are quite intriguing. From the Daemonfey to the old Red Wizards, the book covers dozens and dozens of personalities, locales, and enemies to throw against your party. If you don't play in the Realms, the book is not as useful, but it is still GRADE A gaming material that could have pieces used in other campaigns. It seems like WOTC is pumping all their best talent and money into the FR series, which is fine by me, but it means that some other lines end up lacking (like the class supplement books). Yes, the book is very pricey, but for a DM who wants a whole slew of villians, monsters and plots, it's worth the money.
Rating:
Summary: Good for those who haven't read FR novels extensively
Review: My introduction to the Forgotten Realms began last autumn when I joined a D&D group for the first time. Since then, I've read several of the novels, but there are SO many of them, and it's quite hard to find some of the ones that have gone out of print. So I feel like I'm constantly lacking in background info. In a way, this is probably better for me in regards to playing more realistic characters, who wouldn't know every little detail about Faerûn, but I'd still like to know some of the big stuff, as a player and as a fantasy geek. Although probably not the most extensive and quality publication that could be provided, I felt that this gave me a good rough idea of some of the major and minor groups out there, as well as just enough history so I can understand what was going on. I disagree with the reviewer who felt there aren't enough illustrations. Very few pages are without something, and the complex maps for the major groups I found inspiring to base my own map-making upon. I'd recommend this book, perhaps not for those who are well-versed in FR lore, but for those who need to get a grasp on some of the concepts of the baddies out there. --Mel.
Rating:
Summary: Good for those who haven't read FR novels extensively
Review: My introduction to the Forgotten Realms began last autumn when I joined a D&D group for the first time. Since then, I've read several of the novels, but there are SO many of them, and it's quite hard to find some of the ones that have gone out of print. So I feel like I'm constantly lacking in background info. In a way, this is probably better for me in regards to playing more realistic characters, who wouldn't know every little detail about Faerûn, but I'd still like to know some of the big stuff, as a player and as a fantasy geek. Although probably not the most extensive and quality publication that could be provided, I felt that this gave me a good rough idea of some of the major and minor groups out there, as well as just enough history so I can understand what was going on. I disagree with the reviewer who felt there aren't enough illustrations. Very few pages are without something, and the complex maps for the major groups I found inspiring to base my own map-making upon. I'd recommend this book, perhaps not for those who are well-versed in FR lore, but for those who need to get a grasp on some of the concepts of the baddies out there. --Mel.
Rating: 
Summary: It depends on what you want: for me, this was disappointing
Review: One of the things I enjoyed about the FR manual was the equisite artwork and extensive detailing of personalities in the FR campaign. It not only showed you the stats behind the characters that are such an integral part of that campaign world, it gave you some ideas on how to build characters (if you are a player) or NPC personalities and monsters (if you are a DM). You find that in the Manual of the planes, as well, where they give you the updated 3E stats for Tiamat and Bahamut. Lords of Darkness gives very little artwork and almost no stats for any of the foes and monsters contained within its pages beyond things like LE human Fighter 2/Wizard 3, and even then you aren't given basic things like hit points or Challenge Rating/Encounter Level. It includes a few interesting bits, like the Spur Lord prestige class (for followers of Cyric), the Darkmask prestige class (for Drow only), the Thayan knight and the Zhentarim Skymage. Some of the history sections are interesting, such as the section on Beholders, but those are often short. But overall this book seemed like a dumping ground for backstories that they couldn't use anywhere else, or which got edited out of other longer works. The prestige classes are limited in their usefulness and application, which is probably why we haven't seen them before, and there are few ridiculous feats like Phanlanx Fighting. Overall, if you are a FR history student, you will find this an afternoon's diversionary reading. Otherwise, if you are like me, this will drift to the bottom of your stack of gaming books, never to emerge again.
Rating:
Summary: Better, but still needs some work....
Review: Reading the Lords of Darkness Book is a trip into the bad side of a realm that seems to hold more than they're implying. Much of the literature is a "inside look" if you will of many organizations of FR, and I found that while WOTC has exelled in many, several areas of the book seem to lack. Much like the Monster Manual, the Drow has been severely "underinformed" of their background info (Focusing on the Above-Ground Drow of the House Jaelre really doesn't "represent" the Drow that well IMHO). Also, some of these "Groups" (Particularly Beholders and other references to particular "Races") only seem to have been "thrown in" as filler. While it would have been prudent on just focusing on House Jaelre,did WOTC have to throw in the entire Drow Patheon for kicks and give short blurbs? Or Mind Flayers?? I would've been content on buying another book about the "Evil" Races of FR fleshed out more throughly. I seriously doubt Mind Flayers could be a "Organization" like some of the other groups in the book. Of course, WOTC does provide some great material for any campaign, but then again, how they present the information is abit clunky at times. I enjoy many of the maps for some of the Organizations and whatnot, but others left me scratching my head. Is II 2 or 11?? Also, some of the sidebars are placed like as they meant to intrude on my reading... The real money's worth is in the pictures. Gorgeous rengerings here and there; thought, more drawings would've been abit more worth it, as WOTC has lacked showing a few here and there... ...
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