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For this part of the discussion, I’ll share my favorite scene.  I absolutely loved it when the ghosts of Waterdeep had a ball on Stunk’s patio while Stunk was trying to throw a party in his house.  I could just see the comical exchange as Stunk’s guests completely freaked out when they saw their dead relatives on the other side of the window.  I loved it.  And seeing Stunk go berserk with anger over his ruined party was classic.  My favorite part (of my favorite scene) was seeing a very satisfied Lord Adarbrent as the last remaining guest.  He sure wasn’t afraid of the ghosts.  As he drank his last glass of wine after everyone else left the party, a grin slipped across my face.  Adarbrent is too polite to laugh at Stunk’s misery, but the silent gloating is even more rewarding.  Well done, Rosemary, making these characters so real for the reader! 

I’m wondering now about Adarbrent’s motives.  Is he causing this mayhem just to punish Stunk’s greed?  Or is this part of a bigger plot?    

I have to say that this scene was definitely the highlight of this section for me as well.  When that chapter started, I could hear my old writing teacher saying to me "oh no, she's shifting from a limited perspective to a more omniscient one - disaster ahead!"  but I think everything worked out.  Sure, the easy solution to keep the perspective streamlined would have been Sopheara following the ghosts to the party and seeing what was happening, but this perspective jump allowed things to then settle back into a more limited perspective on Stunk, which gave us a better shot of the scene and more insight into the battle going on with him and Adarbrent.  These shifts in perspective, widening and then narrowing the focus, are not that easy to transition, so props to Rosemary for making everything flow well.  (Tolstoy is one of the best examples of this, shifting all over the third person perspective in War and Peace and somehow doing it so you barely notice that he's limited on one character one second and then giving you a 30,000 foot view of the world omniscient perspective the next moment.  And yes, Rosemary, I just compared you to Tolstoy. )

Writing talk aside, I also liked the scene because it tipifies the sort of grand fantasy scene that fantasy novels are supposed to have.  And again, there's no Drizzt here or Elminster or Erevis Cale.  That's not to say there are no interesting characters, just that there's no epic fight scene to fall back on if the plot slows down.  The fight scene in this chapter is a much more down to earth knockdown dragout street scrum.

Well, we're about halfway through.  It seems that Adarbrent is coaxing the ghosts to try and stop Stunk from moving into the neighborhood and (more importantly) ruining the graveyard and history of Waterdeep. Adarbrent may have more going on than just that, however.  And how long can Gustin go on dodging the inevitable talk with the Carver boys about his intentions with their sister???

Gustin came off pretty well, considering the events of the last section! I enjoyed the sensation-rich opening to chapter 10, and I do like the way that a sense of history is created by mentioning, but not fully explaining, events from the past - for instance, Fitlor not needing his room, or Volponia's pirate past.

I love the conversations between Sophraea and Gustin - especially his rather hopeful "I'm a friend of a Carver" line. Chapter 12 was nicely spooky, presenting the pair with evidence of the mounting problem that they simply cannot ignore. I liked the sense of confusion in the scene, and I loved the way that Gustin's fear of the supernatural was rapidly replaced by a fear of the all-too-physical when he realised what would happen if he were caught with Sophraea at that moment!

What interested me about the way the ghosts behaved at Rampage Stunk's ball was that, although frightening, their targets were clear; the dead were displeased by the way their heirs had behaved. Because the ghosts were targeting those that deserved it rather than people they'd come across randomly, it made me think that Lord Adarbrent's scheme of revenge might be less bloodthirsty than I first thought. Adarbrent's exit from the ruined ball was particularly satisfying

Oh - Gustin should really learn not to sneak up on Sophraea - she'll do him a serious injury at some point if he's not careful! (Or, of course, one of the other Carvers might )