The orcs are gathering in great numbers to try and take Mithrill Hall if not all the northland. Seperated from his friends he thinks to be dead, Drizzt embarks on a quest of vengence and slaughter. Back at Mithrill Hall Bruener lays near death while the rest fight on.

Being a R. A. Salvatore fan I may be biased but once again I feel he has done a wonderful job with this second book in the trilogy. A gripping tale with superb battles made it a very quick read since I could not put it down. ( )

Interesting, but not really as good as some of his other Drizzt novels - though better than some too! ( )

I really enjoyed this book. Recently I have been re-reading through the Drizzt books. At the time that I read this I was between Streams of Silver and The Halfling’s Gem. This book is quite different from the older books, but it was still very enjoyable. It took a while for the book to build up, but once it got going it was fantastic. I got tired of Drizzt being all mopey. The alter-ego of the Hunter wasn’t as strong as I was expecting. In Exile, the Hunter took over Drizzt’s life. He couldn’t turn it on and off as he pleased. In this one he used it to his gain, and then maybe felt bad afterwards. I was looking forward to that struggle with the Hunter taking control. The plot with Bruenor had been spoiled for me by reading a poorly written review, so I missed out on some of the suspense that should have been there. Still it was a great book. I liked the groove that you see Catti-Brie and Wulfgar falling into. Also, I like the twist introduced by the relationship between Drizzt and Innovindil. ( )

It took me a little while to get into this one, mainly because I initially had some difficulty relating to Drizzt's motivations. I got a better grasp on where he was coming from as the book progressed, though, and overall I enjoyed it. ( )

I used to be a huge R.A. Salvatore fan. However, this book marks a downward spiral for my admiration for his writing. For the most part, this is a great book. Don't be mislead by my introductory statement. The characters (old and new) are being given more depth than previously which really adds to the animosity or empathy for the pro- and the antagonists.
However, his poorly executed way in which a certain event transpires (I'm not going to spoil what that event is), left me with such a sour taste for the book that I don't remember the end too much. It seemed as if Salvatore has run out of ideas. Maybe it was done for something bigger and better in the future, but I'm not holding my breath. If you like Salvatore, you should still read this book, but don't expect to be tingling with excitement like you did in his previous works. ( )