Exile

I have come to the solid realization that I can not stand anything about the way this man writes. The story itself would be tolerable, even passably enjoyable at times, if it weren't for the fact that Salvatore is, in fact, one of the worst writers on the face of the planet.Aside from completely redefining the term "infrared", having random, previously unmentioned possessions materialize out of nowhere, and apparently allowing the main characters to "listen in" on the narration (several characters don't know anything about a species at the first encounter, yet call them by name at the second, with no introduction other than the narrator's description to the reader), half the story doesn't even make sense. Drizzt nearly falls off a cliff show more to his death when Drizzt is capable of magical levitation. A reanimated corpse, supposedly both without emotion AND retaining the warrior instincts of its previous life, hacks up a bunch of stuff (which didn't exist before being hacked up) belonging to its prey when it finds the camp unattended...The list of ridiculous inconsistencies present in Exile (even more than Homeland, first in the series) leads one to believe that Salvatore's copy editor was stoned out of his mind or dead.How this drivel got published is beyond me, and its popularity is a distinct testament to the deplorable tastes (not to mention comprehension skills) of the American populace. show less

tbh despite enjoying the first book i wasn’t looking forward to this one as much as i wanted to because i read a preview chapter of it and it was just drizzt surviving various perils in the underdark and idk man. it was well-written & exciting if you’re into that kinda thing, but it’s just super not usually what i go to d&d and fantasy in general for?

like, it’s rare that i want a lonely survival story at all, but in a world like d&d especially i really want to see groups of people adventuring together and like villages of elves or orcs or whatever. a dude who’s really good at fighting things wandering through tunnels full of dangerous monsters is just… not that compelling, imo? and i especially didn’t love that idea in a show more sequel to homeland, a book in which the worldbuilding around the drow and all their politics were one of the things i liked the most about it.

fortunately, very little of the book is actually just drizzt wandering around/surviving the various perils of the underdark. in fact, the whole beginning of the book is about how much doing that sucks, the toll it takes on him, and eventually getting him to the point of risking surrendering himself to a city of deep gnomes just to have a chance of having a normal life where he can interact with other sentient beings.

honestly after reading these two books i just kind of implicitly trust r.a. salvatore to write exactly the kind of fantasy shit i want to read even when it initially seems like he’s doing the opposite. it’s all so character-driven. i love the relationship that forms between drizzt and all the companions he finds along the way. i knew from hearing people talk about it that the place this was eventually leading was drizzt realizing he needed to brave the surface world, something he had been taught to fear since infancy, but the way he got to this point was super believable, and it’s also a great story in its own right.

it’s funny, because when people used to gush about the drizzt books i never entirely got the appeal? but now that i’m actually reading them, i super get the hype. i’ve wanted to get more into high fantasy for literally decades and never knew where to start, and hilariously one of the series that a lot of people recommend starting with ended up being the perfect place to start. crazy, right? 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. This audiobook was again read by Victor Bevine who just does a fantastic job! A high four star... show less

I honestly expect the entire rest of the series to be solid three star reads. It's a fun adventure, you care what happens to the characters, you're along for the ride. I remember in my first read being way more devastated by the fate of Zaknafein, but this time around I was somewhat underwhelmed, I think because I already knew what happened next.

I'd like to add an observation that hit me about halfway through this book, that I had not realized in my previous reads as a younger person: there are no good female characters. I don't mean here that the female characters are written poorly, for the most part I think they match up well with the rest of the characters, in terms of depth and complexity. I just mean to say that every female show more character or entity we have encountered thus far has been evil. I know that's typical of drow society, but what of the svirfneblins? Are there no svirfneblin ladies? Based on Drizzt's experience, it doesn't seem like it. I don't know, it just feels like a glaring omission. I'm not asking for a main character, or even really a speaking role, but honestly, there isn't even a stereotypical matronly type in the svirfneblin city, despite it being mentioned that there are youngsters, nor is there mentioned a queen opposite the king, nothing. It doesn't even need to be a good, as in alignment, character. I'd have settled for a neutral female wizard or bandit or even helpless victim, anything. It's honestly not that dire, it was just something that I started looking for and never found. It's not enough to make me stop reading or anything, I'm moreso bemused that I just never noticed previously. show less

Exile was the very first Forgotten Realms novel I read. I picked up a battered cop, reinforced with clear tape, at the local library and was enchanted. I became a huge fan of Salvatore and of the Realms. My bookshelves were stuffed with the novels even if I seldom played D&D.

This is a pretty faithful adaptation of the original. It captures all of the major plot points I remember and knocks down some of Drizzt's navel gazing monologues (always my least favorite part).

The art is quite good2. I was disappointed in the deep gnomes, the human wizard and his tower, and Zaknafein. They aren't badly done, just much different than I pictured them. The gnomes are too lumpy and ugly, the wizard is too young and his tower is too shiny, and Zak is show more too bulky.

Overall pretty good. I can't give it five stars because it isn't as good as the novel, but it is a very good adaptation. show less

I was wondering why I liked this novel's predecessor (Homeland) while the Icewind Dale trilogy (books 4-6) made so little impression on me, and now reading Exile I think I know why. In Homeland, Salvatore focused on a character's relationship to his society, and Salvatore exploited this to enhance characterization and drama. In Exile and Icewind Dale, he focuses on a party of adventurers essentially making their way through a D&D module and character and drama take a back seat. The titular Dark Elf is now joined by a companion, svirfneblin Belwar, and both characters are essentially the epitome of goodness so their interactions grow rather stale pretty quickly. The bulk of the novel is them killing a variety of fearsome beasts making show more their home in the Underdark which is not compelling. show less

Muy buena la lectura del segundo libro sobre el Elfo Oscuro, Drizzt Do'Urden, El Exilio. Han pasado 10 años desde su salida de Menzonberranzan y la novela se centra en las aventuras de Drizzt en la Antipoda Oscura tratando de sobrevivir a su madre Malicia Do'Urden. También podemos leer sobre su lucha interna contra todo lo que los elfos oscuros son y la nueva visión que Drizzt quiere para su vida. Como en La Morada (Homeland) es muy facil de leer y contiene muchos elementos de Calabozos y Dragones (Dungens and Dragons) que me hicieron reir al recordarlos, muy buena la novela. Tal vez sino conoces el mundo de Calabozos y Dragones no sea una novela para ti.