R. A. Salvatore

now this was much better! i’m super glad i didn’t skip the rest of the icewind dale trilogy after i was underwhelmed by the crystal shard.

the story here is one of those prototypical “friends going on an epic adventure” type stories that the tolkien books and the average d&d campaign have trained general audiences to expect out of high fantasy. there are honestly so many echoes with the hobbit (a dwarf going on a quest to recover his homeland, uh-oh there’s a dragon living there show more now!) and fellowship of the ring (a party representing several different martial disciplines as well as most of the major races of middle earth–i mean, toril!--going on a long journey through many perils, dwarves that dug too deep, heck it even plays the “a hero appears to have died in a very dramatic, kinda gandalfy way” card TWICE) it’s kinda distracting? but don’t worry, there’s also quite a bit going for this to differentiate it.

i don’t know when exactly salvatore & tsr definitively decided to make drizzt rather than wulfgar the central protagonist of these books, but it really does feel to me like the shift happened in this book. the book even gives drizzt a compelling antagonist in artemis entreri, and i fucking love the way he’s introduced & characterized in this book. i mean, obviously you can do a lot worse than having him mentally overpower and then bind & gag someone in literally his first scene, and then later take her hostage and psychologically torment her. i mean, just, damn. excellent antagonist. i’ll take two. thanks!

but then when he & drizzt finally face each other the enemies chemistry between the two just sizzles. he’s a fucking fantastic dark mirror for drizzt, and this book does a great job of establishing that dynamic & actually exploring it quite a bit but still leaving quite a lot on the table for future clashes between the two.

and even though i already knew going in that his “death” was a fakeout, the blaze of glory that bruenor appears to go out on in this is just fucking epic. it’s one of the moments of what i’ve read of this series so far that argues most forcefully that we should probably get some film adaptations of some of these books at some point.

my only substantial complaint is that all the hand-wringing about catti-brie killing another human for the first time is just a bit… much? like, especially specifically referencing the fact that she’s killed orcs & goblins before but going out of your way to be dismissive of it, like it “doesn’t count.” like, i know salvatore has recanted much of the racism of these early books, so i don’t wanna harp on this sort of thing too much, but holy fuck that has got to be the worst example of it i’ve seen so far in these books.

but, yeah, on the whole this book fucking ruled. i’m glad i’m finally reading these, because i’m turning into a pretty serious drizzt simp. show less

I had no idea what was going on with this series. When I read the last book, I was horrified by what I read, thinking Oh my god, they're killing off Drizzt, not with a bang, but with a whimper. That being said, when I read that they were bringing the Companions back, my thoughts were, Wow, what a cheesy way to continue a story line, someone must be desperate for some bucks. That being said, I absolutely LOVED this book. My brain was screaming No No No, but my heart was sighing Yes Yes Yes! show more Beautifully written, well thought out, and about half way through the book, what had occurred in the last book clicked and I realized what was occurring. The two decades of sleep by Drizzt and Entreri and Dahlia, all of it made sense. Now I can't wait to start on the next one! I felt that the character development was very nicely done, especially for Regis. His determination to be of more help to his friends, and his work toward that end was especially nice. Now, I can just hope that at some time in the future, Cattiebrie kicks the crap out of Dahlia. show less

Salvatore lets his id run free as he explores the fucked up human culture of Faerun, which relishes half-assed judicial proceedings, public torture, and despises premarital sex. Plus, he does not have a boring goody-two-shoes character to explain to us how this is all Bad. His flawed barbarian character, still reeling from traumas he endured in the Forgotten Reams' version of hell, takes the reins. He is sympathetic but does not do a lot of good. It is pretty much what I want in genre fiction.

drizzt: *literally notices that something is off about “regis”*
entreri (disguised as regis): hey drizzt remember ENTRERI, your arch nemesis ENTRERI, that really handsome & deadly & skilled & did i mention handsome ENTRERI? what do you think ENTRERI is up to?
drizzt:
entreri: by the nine, you are taking the fun out of this. I AM LITERALLY ENTRERI.
drizzt: you’re acting a little weird today, regis.

you know, i’m suddenly realizing that i don’t think the books i’ve read in this series show more so far have never actually gone out of their way to say that drizzt was smart? i just kind of always assumed he was supposed to be? is he a himbo twink? i’m starting to think he might be a himbo twink.

i continue to feel basically “whatever” about the drizzt/wulfgar/cattie-brie stuff. i did appreciate cattie-brie standing up for herself, and it wasn’t the most “cishet guy writing a female character standing up for herself” rote shit ever, but it also wasn’t… entirely not that? despite it seeming pretty obvious that some effort was being made? idk, just, mixed feelings here.

wulfgar’s “death” hit decently hard even though he super isn’t one of my favorite characters and i know it isn’t gonna last. the fakeout deaths are getting to be a bit much (a bit ominous considering how early this is in the series tbh), but they’re written evocatively enough that they’re still hitting. for now.

this book… sorta? kinda? slightly? actually takes a few tentative steps forward on the whole awkward racism thing that salvatore himself has publicly “my bad”ed about recentlyish? though, it’s not without its own shortcomings. idk. let’s talk about it.

okay actually, looping back to the cattie-brie stuff, it’s kinda weird that after all the hand-wringing about baby’s first human murder a few books ago (explicitly contrasted with the fact that she’s apparently unfeelingly slaughtered orcs & goblins with no issue), she’s the one who points out that maybe they should have a quick chat with the goblins before using them for target practice? and that that discrepancy isn’t… really… remarked upon? at all? idk, just feels worth mentioning.

also bringing back the sexism angle, drizzt (and the narrator, from what i can tell) seems to think that cattie-brie actually doesn’t give a shit about the poor little gobbies doing their gobby chores (they’re doing a good job!!!!!! be nice to them!!!!!!) and is just sublimating her anger at wulfgar into the whole “hey let’s maybe not do a mass murder without at least offering some non-murder menu options” argument. which, in fairness, cattie-brie does stick to her guns even after the battle that parlaying first was the right thing to do and she would argue for it again. but idk. there’s just so many holes in this thing. like, i’m not expecting it to be perfect or anything, and it did genuinely represent a slight step forward? maybe? but it’s still not great imo.

now, one actual improvement is drizzt actually coming to grips with the fact that his vow never to kill another drow while he kills orcs & goblins & others with impunity is actually pretty fucking racist. that was a genuinely pleasant surprise. i’m going to continue to be pretty guarded about this subject in these books considering, y’know, everything. but it’s nice to see even a little improvement.

but yeah, i think that does it for the stuff i need to take somewhat seriously. so here’s where i talk about why this one mostly ruled.

the fights between drizzt & entreri were obviously kind of headliners for me, and a very big part of why i liked this book so much. also i kind of totally expected entreri’s initial fakeout death to last until the next book he appears in, so having him pop immediately back in like a fucking slasher villain with his freaking bat-winged cloak??? that was so extra, i genuinely love it. no notes. you’re doing great sweetie.

drizzt spent a good amount of the middle of the book tied up and being taunted by other drow and/or entreri, which, y’know, yeah, tie that fucking twink up & show him who’s boss. i am not projecting. i am not.

(... i may be slightly projecting.)

yeah, ok, yeah. u caught me. mostly i’m just glad to have all the horny drow shit back for the first time since the dark elf trilogy. (which i get was actually the most recent series when this was written & originally released, but i read the dark elf trilogy first because it was the only one i was sure i was gonna read at first, shrug!) we start strong with vierna forcing dinin to kneel with a command spell (what no a powerful woman with a whip saying “KNEEL.” and being compelled to obey doesn’t sound good to me at all, why would *sweats*), and when he turns out to be too mouthy she turns him into a fucking drider and rides him around like some kind of fucked-up horse? which like, no the thing itself isn’t especially appealing, but as far as power moves go, nine hells.

ahem.

honestly the only way these books could pander to me more is if they had more orcs (and if those orcs were characters rather than faceless hordes), but i’m still really grooving on them atm. and my understanding is the next book has even more kinky drow bullshit in it, so can’t wait for that! show less