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I purchased the softcover version of the book, and my only regret is I did not spend the little extra on the HC edition. This product is well worth the money spent.
What makes this book great? The cover art is spectacular and the interior art does not dissapoint. I would imagine that the HC book with the premium color is even more beautiful. The bulk of the interior content is full of crunch and very useable as a campaign sourcebook, or can easily be mined and modified for a homebrew campaign. Locations, NPCs, new classes, magic items, spells, plot hooks, stat blocs, and histories are, for the most part, well done and very useable in any edition of play, although stat blocs would obviosuly need to be modified. The prose is readable and not in any way unwieldy or overly verbose. The writers and content editors did a solid job on the book.
Why 4.5 stars and not five? The information presented seems to assume that the purchaser/reader is already familiar with the content from previous editions, or at least with the Forgotten Realms at large. For example, the Wychlaran have a heirachy within their ranks; Ehtran, Hathran, Othlor, and Durthan are all Wychlaran, but this is not explained until deeper in the book. For the new-to-Forgotten Realms, the way the different ranks are discussed early could prove confusing to the reader. I read the entire book cover to cover and I still don't know what a "Vremmyoni" is. Nor is it clear what a "fyrra" is without infrence. A simple 2 page glossary would go a long way to help the reader.
Lastly, and this is a very minor pet peeve: three major NPCs (Gevarra, Mangan Uruk, and Mishara Viadrova) are given generic NPC stat blocs. This comes off as a tad lazy in design. Given the case that she graces the cover in a beautful art piece, you would think Mishara would warrant her own block, as would the current Ironlord of Rashaman. Alas, no.
Please let me reiterate that this is a wonderful book and well worth the price! Purchase with confidence, and if you intend to have part of your campaign in Rashemen, this book is a necessity!
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