Homeland

(cw: horny for problematic shit)

so a while back when i was sad about finishing rereading a brother’s price & looking for things that hit a similar spot this book kept coming up because of the matriarchal shape of drow culture, and yeah i gotta say i think everyone who recommended it in the various threads/etc i found in my search might be misunderstanding what was so damn appealing about a brother’s price? like, this definitely doesn’t hit in the softboy happy gender place that a brother’s price did, nor does it hit in the badass older sisters and/or wives place? all of that being said, holy shit there is so much femdom in this and it is so hot, fuck.

like, look, obviously drow culture isn’t aspirational. i don’t endorse show more compulsory dominance hierarchies of any kind, certainly not ones that are enforced by violence. keep that shit consensual. but in terms of fantasizing yeah holy shit this stuff worked for me.

nor am i only interested in this for prurient reasons. it was also just super well-written? like, it really does a great job of conveying the perspectives of its characters and the way their world is turned upside down. the way the surface world is horrifying to them. everything feels extremely raw & real. it really feels like salvatore put an obsessive amount of thought into developing the world & the characters of this story, and what comes out the other end of that process is just so fucking good.

this is the kind of fantasy i want. i’ve had this series recommended to me for literally forever, and i’m so glad i finally actually picked it up. i’ve wanted for a while to read more high fantasy, but the genre is so dizzyingly big that it’s been a bit intimidating to figure out where to start. but yeah, i’m really glad that this first foray into the genre (beyond the obvious stuff like tolkien) was so satisfying. it’s very encouraging, and i’m looking forward to exploring the genre–and this series, in particular–further. show less

As good as I remembered it being.

This was a reread for me, I think I read the first 6-8 Drizzt focused books either in late high school or early college days. That was my first experience binge reading on a Kindle, as well.

Anyway, this first book was probably as perfect as start to a series as any reader could wish for. The settings are definitely characters in their own right, the conflicted and inherently hypocritical situations of Zak and then Drizzt hold a fascinating tension, and the anticipation for more hits as soon as you read the last word.

In comparison to my initial read, I did have more complicated thoughts on the politics of the world's created here, their ideologies and the thoughts of the characters about these factors. show more Nothing too profound, but I did have that realization of how age impacts a person. Older and wiser or older and more cynical, I don't know, but several characters in this book, beyond Drizzt whose characterization is such, seemed a bit naive or hopeful or simple-minded, when I'm sure that wasn't the intended effect.

Can't wait to reread the rest of what I had gotten to the first go round, then dive into all the new and new-to-me stuff. show less

Even better than #1? In book two of the Dark Elf Trilogy R.A. Salvatore tears at your strings of empathy, excitement and relief. "Exile" begins with everybody's favorite dark elf Drizzt Do'Urden isolated out in the wilds of the Underdark, performing the unimaginable feats of martial arts in an effort to survive and make it another day away from his home of Menzoberranzan.
Gone but not forgotten as it turned out. Matron Malace, Drizzt's mother is pissed off. Just raised to the 8th ruling house of Menzoberranzan, weakened by being out of favor of the Spider Queen due to Drizzt's activities, Malace is at her wits-end and is ready for him to be gone from her world.
What she does will not only change Drizzt's life but he world of show more Menzoberranzan and the Underdark as a whole.
In "Exile" we meet more of Belwar Dissengulp who came back to the story after we first meet him in "Homeland", Clacker, a Hook Horror who is much more than what he seems, wizards, Illithids, and another dark elf that goes by the name of Jarlaxle, whose hands are everywhere in the world of Menzoberranzan and one that I believe we will be seeing much more of.
"Exile" reads quickly and moves from storyline to storyline naturally. At times "Exile" is unputdownable
A buddy book, a book of adventure, a book of sympathy, hospitality, friendship and love. Could Salvatore have out d0ne himself in his second book of the Legend of Drizzt? In my opinion, "Exile" is even better than "Homeland", and to me that is saying something.
I would highly recommend this to anyone who has read the first book (and what are you waiting for, get after this one) and any SF/FAN enthusiast or D&D fan. A high four star... show less

I read the Icewind Dale trilogy quite a while ago and I found it uninteresting and totally unmemorable. So this was quite a pleasant surprise. I think I liked this book for a similar reason as I enjoyed Feist and Wurts' Daughter of the Empire, a fantasy novel that belongs to a totally different franchise: both explore a strange society where our taken-for-granted norms are chucked out the window. The Feist and Wurts' work is the better of the two; it takes a more anthropological, less judgmental view (here Salvatore makes it clear this society is EVIL). I fear I will enjoy the rest of the books in this trilogy less, as the hero leaves Drow society and roams the surface of Faerûn and we get more of the stock high-fantasy cardboard show more characters that irked me with the Icewind Dale trilogy. show less

I sincerely thank fellow SPSFC judge Kerry for lending this book so that I could enjoy it!!!

Contrary to most Sci-Fi & Fantasy readers that reside in English speaking countries, the only die-hard classics I have ever read growing up were The Hobbit + LOTR trilogy, all 7 Narnia books and the 2nd Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy series book. And it isn't necessarily out of a pompous sense of disdain for older trad books. More like these books never got Spanish translations to be sold in Latin America.

Some of the classics are on kindle, but I have heard plenty of complaints this specific book's digital editions are borderline unreadable and to find any way possible to read it in paperback. So, when I visited Iceland a few years ago, I was show more squealing in joy because the used bookstore had an inordinate amount of old paperback books from the Drizzt series (seems like they are the 2005 edition). BUT! They didn't have book 1. Knowing how hard it would be for me to get the sequels, I bought them anyways and hoped to read the first book sometime. Which I finally did!

Since I didn't read this book growing up, I am entering it with a different viewpoint from other authors that see it with a nostalgia lense. Is it better or worse to read the book for the first time at my present age? I am not sure.

So, what is the verdict?

Well, from the 4 stars in the review, it is obvious I enjoyed the book, but didn't reach the gush level to make me suggest it to every passersby. It isn't a bad book and I totally adored the harsh backstabbing culture of Drow society. In that sense, the book is certainly 5 star material. I also enjoyed Drizzt as a character quite a lot.

However! I felt that the book's age is showing. An indie book published today would be torn to pieces with reviews saying the prose abuses exclamation marks a... lot. I felt like Elaine Bennes in the muffin episode of Seinfeld whenever an exclamation sentence popped up courtesy of the narrator for no reason. Instead of increasing tension, they made the book hard to take seriously when in every instance it is supposed to not be a satire.

While I will offer insane accolades for the immersive worldbuilding and the enchanting cast of characters that are devious, other things didn't work for me. I liked the matriarchal society which felt quite surprising given the book is over 30 years old. But the orgy scene? It felt both out of place for the overall tone of the book and I felt troubled female priestesses who normally wield so much political power can't decide for themselves to partake or not in this event.

It also seemed weird fully trained soldiers in the academy aren't trained to kill the most common wild beasts that venture into their caverns. The absurd lack of training for these expected threats didn't increase tension, it only made Drizzt occasionally fall into the Gary Stu trope.

However, outside of these specific greviances, I enjoyed the author's prose, the personalities of each antagonist and the friendships Drizzt forms with a few peers along the way. This book entertained me from start to finish and I feel quite excited to read book #2 soon. show less

I've been playing D&D for about a year and a half but was hesitant to read these books due to a stigma against all books licensed from other mediums especially games. When I actually started the book I thought I wouldn't enjoy it further when I found out it was an origin story. I should have started with The Crystal Shard, the first official book with Drizzt, but to my surprise I enjoyed this book. I still think Drizzt is a silly name but after running D&D games there have been much worse.

Salvatore goes back into the past of his hero, Drizzt, and explores his childhood in the Underdark. He does a great job of describing the drow society, and the machinations of its leaders. This is the story of how Drizzt became good, and why he fled from his homeland.

Reading this again, it reminded me of how much Salvatore did describing the setting of the Underdark and the drow. 15 pages in, he's already described a completely unique environment and city and given us a great glimpse of drow mentality and magical powers. Such good stuff.