The Forgotten Realms

 
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The ultimate campaign setting. Overshadowed for many years by the Greyhawk setting, the Forgotten Realms understandably gained prominence when 2nd Edition was released. This classic box contains: "A Grand Tour of the Realms" - 128 page book detailing the Heartlands of the Realms;  "Running the Realms" - 64 page guide to the deities, NPCs, and how to run 'Realms campaigns; "Shadowdale" -96 page guide tot he most important town (from an adventurer's point of view) in the realms; 4 maps covering all of the realms (except Al Quadim and Kara Tur); 6 card sheets showing colored images of signs, sigils and marks unique to the realms; and 8 new Monstrous Compendium sheets. Ed Green wood take bow. Next to Middle Earth, this is the most "living", evocative and adventure rich world ever created.  
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By Karen Wynn Fonstad. Lots of pencil drawn maps, ranging from entire Kingdoms to individual buildings. The quality is okay, though the maps do capture a "fantasy feel". Accompanying the maps is a lot of text explaining the history of all the areas detailed. There is some overlap with other products, but it is nice to have all this information in the one place.  
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By Scott Haring (FR3). Details the kingdoms of Amn, Tethyr and Calimshan. Included are two full color maps of the region. This supplement has gotten more interesting with the release of the Baldur's Gate 2 video game which is set in Amn. To be honest, I found the cultures of this region a little mixed up. Not quite Arabic enough for AL Quadim, but still not "classic" medieval either. I guess Moorish is a reasonable description. Kind of Middle Ages Spain and Portugal.   		  
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By Rick Swan (FR14). The Great Glacier. You could say TSR were scraping the bottom of the barrel with this one. An Inuit based culture, miles from any other part of the Realms. There is a lot of detail on this region, more so than in other supplements, though there isn't a lot else to write about, so you can see why. There are some extra rules for PCs surviving (or not) in extreme cold. This is probably one for the completists only, though I have a soft spot for real untamed wildernesses. It also provides a nice contrast to the more medieval settings.