Customer Reviews

The Crystal Shard: The Icewind Dale Trilogy, Part 1 (Forgotten Realms: The Legend of Drizzt, Book IV) (Bk. 4)

5 star:		(112)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

This was the first ever public offering of R. A. Salvatore's writing ability. It's no wonder he's written so many others since! He's a great author, and this book showcases his writing ability. It's filled with plot twists & subplots & everything else that makes a story interesting. Anyone who is interested in reading through the Drizzt Do'Urden storyline, I advise reading "The Dark Elf Trilogy" first to get more of a chronological progression in the character's developement, however, nothing is lost by reading this book first. It's a great story by a great storyteller.

Salvatore knows how to create truely unique and interesting characters. Drizzt Do'Urden is my favorite by far, his fight agaisnt racial walls is intriguing and its interesting how Salvatore makes Drizzt react to it. The Crystal Shard continues directly after the book Sojourn, in the tundra of Icewind Dale. Drizzt, Wulfgar, Bruenor, and countless leaders and people of Ten-Towns fight in a famous battle that made me read for hours straight, wondering waht would happen next. The pure cunning and trickery in this book is both interesting and humerous, I reccomend this book to any D & D fan, and even those just interested in Fantasy books.

This is one of those books you just can't help loving in spite of yourself. This was Salvatore's first book ever, and it shows. The plot is workaday, the writing is uneven and amaturish, and the characters are stereotypes. Even so, Salvatore brings such sincerity and honest exuberance to this tale that you will find yourself getting caught up in the excitment anyway. Ultimately, the characters have such humanity that they transcend the sterotypes that they are and the plot is damn exciting in spite of itself.

From the beginning Salvatore shows the mastery of writing action scenes and creating memorable characters that has made him famous and so beloved as an author. This book is the first in a very entertaining series that is up to 13 books and counting. I've read it three times now and it's still my favorite book in the series despite its faults.

I first came upon this novel thinking very little. I expected it to be nothing more than some typical fantasy trash. I just could not stand "The Hobbit" at all, yet I wanted to venture into fantasy, so a friend (who hasn't read this) referred me to the novel itself. He had mentioned that "Homeland" by Salvatore was better than decent. But still, I was rather skeptical. All in all, this is a tremendously great read.

Adventure Value: 9/10- This book contains numerous battle scenes and heroic combat moments

Romance Rating: 3/10- Wulfgar the Barbarian does do a little hitting on the female protagonist, but nothing more.

Character Development: 7/10- Drizzt, Bruenor, Regis, and Wulfgar are well developed, but there is some slacking on the antagonist: Akar Kessell.

Climax: 8/10- The ending of the read draws to a beautiful close.

Plotline: 6/10- The plotline was thin at random points, though at times it was as thick as molasses...

Creature Feature: 8/10- there are barbarians, goblins, orcs, ogres, giants, and even an ice dragon...it's well done...

My overall commentation on this book is that it is very good, and I recommend anyone new to the genre read it soon!

"Night befell the tundra as orcs crept near. One could have smelt their foul stench as far as a poronkusema* away. The threshold of the forecoming nocturnal slaughter was broken in a sudden fiery fury, however, as a belch and a battlecry manifested the sudden arrival of the Savior of the Ten-Towns, Bruenor Battlehammer. With the skill and prowess of a veteran of a thousand battles and more, he drove is blood-stained axe into the very guts of an orcish invader after another. As the snow-dust finally settled, the Field of Honor hosted a hundred slain orcs and more, the slaughter manifesting the grim deadliness of the warrior that had brought these vile monsters to their deaths; lying as once-alive-and-breathing monuments of the cruel might of Bruenor Battlehammer." (This is no quote from this book, but rather a personal praise from me for Bruenor Battlehammer.)

Bob Salvatore's first novel, taking place in the Icewind Dale, a paradise of frost hidden in the very northwest corner of the Forgotten Realms, is a captivating saga about friendship, adventure and heroism. The debute of such legendary champions as Drizzt Do'Urden, Artemis Entreri, Wolfgang and Bruenor Battlehammer, this story once reset the standards of fantasy literature for generations to come and created the concept for adventures that would reshape the Realms.

All the way from the epilogue to the epic climax of incidents, the reader is kept in a firm grasp by thrilling battle scenes, touching manifestations of loyalty and true valor, and crystal-clear descriptions of the enchanting sceneries of the everwinter in the Icewind Dale. Salvatore's indisputable skill of creating dazzling battle excitement and profoundly inspiring contemplation makes this book, as well as a long line of its successors, an unforgettable experience of reading pleasure. Salvatore's ability of ingeniously finding his characters a way out of the deepest pit of trouble and through the deadliest of monsters also fascinates me over and over again.

And finally, one individual indeed worth mentioning is Bruenor Battlehammer. Whenever he grasps his deadly axe and raises it to strike, whenever he proudly roams wearing his glittering mithril armor and the shield of Foaming Ale Mug symbol, whenever he opens his mouth for a brief grunt of experience and wisdom - then I know that is all I have ever wanted to be. To become him is the purpose of my life. Thus this Dwarven hero shall always dwell in my heart as the repsesentative of everything good and pure in the world.

* Poronkusema (Finnish): "An ancient Lappish measure of distance, equal to the length of journey a running reindeer can make between two urination sessions."

The great thing about this book is that you can accept and agree with many of the negative comments and still shrug your shoulders, say "who cares" and enjoy this fun book. Believe me, its not a great investment of time to read this book, because you'll breeze through it pretty quickly. Yeah, its got problems: the dialogue can be silly at times, plot twists can pop up without much development, and the characters aren't as well developed as some posters argue. And yet, in spite of all its faults its a very fun read! The plot is quick paced and covers a lot of ground. Salvatore's first novel shows terrific style (which he develops and masters later on). "Shard" is like a large popcorn at the movies: Its not a full course meal, but if you are in the mood for something light, it will satisfy your hunger better than you think. Pick it up, you won't be disappointed.

I have read many, many books in my lifetime, and the Icewind Dale trilogy is some of the best I have ever read...second only to (or tied with) the Dark Elf trilogy. I personally believed it was much better then Lord of the Rings - I just enjoyed it more. R.A. Salvatore seems to let us get closer to the characters, and feel more emotion, then any of Tolkein's works. That's just my opinion, however.

These books have a great storyline. It kept me turning the pages from the first to the last. You can feel the evil that is the Crystal Shard, and you quaver as the thousands upon thousands of monsters attack the people of Ten-Towns, who must ally with each other in order to defeat them. You feel poor Drizzt's agony as he strives to gain acceptance in the surface world. You laugh as proud Bruenor hands Wulfgar the mighty warhammer, then tries mightily to make it appear as if it doesn't mean much to him. You really understand the tentative bond and fierceness, and the heirarchy, that keeps apart (and ultimately brings together) the towns around the three lakes - Ten-Towns.

All in all, these are three books that I am very glad to have read. However, if you don't like fantasy, I would perhaps steer away from them - first, read the Dark Elf trilogy and see if you fall in love in Drizzt, as I did.

Oh, and by the way - the very last scene caught me by complete surprise, and sent me from tears to laughter like no other book did in a very, very long time.

I finshed reading the Crystal Shard for the seconed time this year and it was great, I love all the Characters in this series. My favorite is Drizzt, all of them remind me of the Characters from Dragonlance The Companions Tanis/Drizzt,Flint/Bruenor,Riverwind/Wulfgar,Tas:the kinder/Regis, and Tika/Cati-brie. the friendship between Drizzt and Brurenor is like Tanis and Flint and the same goes for Brurenor and Regis, like flint and Tas. altough like the characters from Dragonlance, the charactors from Drizzts and company each have there own identity that make them different.allin all a good story and I can't wait to read the rest of the series.

Sure, the Icewind Dale trilogy is not the next Lord of the Rings, but it was not intended to be. I gave it 5 stars because I think it is a wonderful fantasy adventure. Don't expect to find insights into life, or allegories. The characters themselves are not very well rounded but I do not believe that detracts from the overall value. I read the Crystal Shard looking for a good fantasy adventure to get lost in for a while, and that's what I found. Salvatore stays true to Forgotten Realms and anyone who plays Dungeons and Dragons in that setting will appreciate his wonderful descriptions. I heartily recommend this book to anyone wants to take a break from deep, engrossing literature, and is looking for some pure fantasy fun.

I would have loved this book as a teen, for adults though its a bit marginal. I didn't think the characters were very interesting, at least not the way they were portrayed. The combat scenes also seemed silly in lots of places, I mean these guys aren't just fantasy heroes, they are superheroes right up there with superman, the hulk, etc... Don't get me wrong, I like the superhero genre, I just think its a different genre then fantasy, even high fantasy. It also tends to get old hearing how awesomely unbeatable certain heroes of the book are, then see them get in a fight and yep, sure enough, the bad guys didn't stand a chance. I normally like to see my heroes challenged a bit more than that. Bottomline, if you are going to read it to see what all the fuss is about and you aren't a teenage boy then I'd say don't. Lastly, for those criticizing R.A. for stealing from tolkein, don't blame him, most of the stuff complained about is hardwired into the AD&D game and forgotten realms setting, which were pretty much based on tolkein's world in the first place.