Rating: 
Summary: Overpriced, but still tons of fun!
Review: I must be very careful to warn you of a single simple fact in case you missed it. This is not a hardcover book. It is a paperback. Also, it is less than half the length of the core book "Monster Manual". So why exactly, is this book currently more expensive than the "Monster Manual"? It's possible that Wizards is trying to pull one over on you. Don't be fooled.That being said, we can discuss actual content, which is, for the most part, excellent. It is highly comparable to the "Monster Manual" (except for the aforementioned problems with it) in its format as well as its gorgeous artwork. I have fallen in love with challenge ratings, which are an incredibly useful tool which tells you in an instant if the monsters you're throwing at a party won't be too easy or too difficult for them. There is also enough information to make it easy to adapt any of the monsters to be a PC (although specific modifiers to abilities would be nice). Add to this the wild, high-fantasy flair that is Forgotten Realms, and you have a useful and fun tool. This is a great book, and it is only because of its deceitful price that I don't give it a higher ranking. But hey, as long as you're spending money, there are worse ways to waste it!
Rating:
Summary: Overpriced, but still tons of fun!
Review: I must be very careful to warn you of a single simple fact in case you missed it. This is not a hardcover book. It is a paperback. Also, it is less than half the length of the core book "Monster Manual". So why exactly, is this book currently more expensive than the "Monster Manual"? It's possible that Wizards is trying to pull one over on you. Don't be fooled. That being said, we can discuss actual content, which is, for the most part, excellent. It is highly comparable to the "Monster Manual" (except for the aforementioned problems with it) in its format as well as its gorgeous artwork. I have fallen in love with challenge ratings, which are an incredibly useful tool which tells you in an instant if the monsters you're throwing at a party won't be too easy or too difficult for them. There is also enough information to make it easy to adapt any of the monsters to be a PC (although specific modifiers to abilities would be nice). Add to this the wild, high-fantasy flair that is Forgotten Realms, and you have a useful and fun tool. This is a great book, and it is only because of its deceitful price that I don't give it a higher ranking. But hey, as long as you're spending money, there are worse ways to waste it!
Rating:
Summary: An essential for Realms fans, but others may wish to pass...
Review: I recommend this as 4 stars to Realms users, but only 2 stars to anyone else. The critters are important for all Realms DMs to have access to. Vicious arch enemy races abound in this book. A few good ones could be ported out of the Realms to other worlds, but several of these beasties are pretty silly. You may feel you did not quite get the value you were looking for... Especially when you realize how much you just paid for a SOFT COVER reference book!!! And one with a shortage of monsters to boot... many less than the Monster Manual, but at a higher price. Happy hunting!
Rating: 
Summary: If this is just a taste....
Review: If this is just a taste of the forgotten realms campain setting than it is a must. This suplement, in my not-so-humble oppinion, is better than the monsterouse manual itself.
Rating:
Summary: Good buy, but there are some problems
Review: If you are waiting for some of the things in this book, like the dragon descriptions and the Dwarves of Faerun entry, this book is excellent. If you are looking for some lower level undead, this is a good book. That being said, I have some issues with it: the book would have been a much more reasonable if it had had 150% the number of monsters (~150) and been 75% of the price ($16.5, this would have meant about 11 cents per monster). It has 1/5th the number of monsters that the MM has, is a fairly flimsy paperback, yet it is 110% of the price ($22 as opposed to $20). This is outrageous for the way the book is written and for only 100 monsters. At a price/monster ratio (ignoring that one is hard-cover), the MM is roughly 4.4 cents per monster while this is 22 cents per monster. The initial price was reasonable, the price of the sourcebooks is approaching ridiculous. Overall the book is good, the content is decent and it is worthwhile for a Faerun campaign, but if you are looking for something truly outstanding, skip it.
Rating: 
Summary: Priced correctly regardless what the other reviews say.
Review: Just to let you in on a little secret. The core books, Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide and Monster Manual (PH, DMG and MM respectively) are competitively priced through the 1 and 2nd printings. After that they will go up in price to their normal price of 30 to 35.00 apiece. Now on to the review. The product, while not entirely Realmsian, has monsters for any campaign. The monsters are well thought out and like all of the other current Wizards of the Coast releases for 3E spark the imagination of any DM or player. All in all, a good addition to any DM's library.
Rating:
Summary: I hope Greenwood wasn't paid by the monster...
Review: Let me begin by saying that I have never been a fan of the D&D 'canned' worlds... especially the I-wish-they-would-be Forgotten Realms. The monsters on the other hand have always been intriguing and have added much flavor to my campaign. This version of the latest set of Faerun monsters is no exception. The beasts of Malar, Neothilid (from the marvelous Mind Flayers book), Elemental and Non-human Plane-touched and a variety of Liches all happily add to my excitement. There are a great many opportunities for the DM to go wild with this book and if they are running an FR campaign I am sure this will be essential to game play... the book is gorgeous to look at and will compliment any gaming table. Unfortunately the supplement is NOT (like so many of the new products from WOTC) priced to sell. The requested price is ludicrous in light of the size of the document offered...
Rating:
Summary: I hope Greenwood wasn't paid by the monster...
Review: Let me begin by saying that I have never been a fan of the D&D 'canned' worlds... especially the I-wish-they-would-be Forgotten Realms. The monsters on the other hand have always been intriguing and have added much flavor to my campaign. This version of the latest set of Faerun monsters is no exception. The beasts of Malar, Neothilid (from the marvelous Mind Flayers book), Elemental and Non-human Plane-touched and a variety of Liches all happily add to my excitement. There are a great many opportunities for the DM to go wild with this book and if they are running an FR campaign I am sure this will be essential to game play... the book is gorgeous to look at and will compliment any gaming table. Unfortunately the supplement is NOT (like so many of the new products from WOTC) priced to sell. The requested price is ludicrous in light of the size of the document offered...
Rating:
Summary: Changes
Review: Like everything in 3rd edition, be ready for big time changes. One of my biggest surprises was what they did to dragons of all types. Basically the dragon's magical powers are now much more limited than they had been in 2nd edition, including getting rid of their polymorph abilities; and their spell-casting abilities have been restricted... Basically the moral of the story is if you're going to play 3rd edition, be sure you fully check over the new descriptions of the monsters. They may have totally different powers, or they may be more or less powerful. Something you thought was foolproof against certain monsters now may do nothing.
Rating:
Summary: A little more fun to torture the PCs.....
Review: New Monsters, realms specific info, New types of liches, How could you go wrong? This is filled with fun things to tourture your PCs with.
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