14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Three books in one, July 3, 2007
This review is from: The Hunter's Blades Trilogy Collector's Edition (Forgotten Realms) (Hardcover)
The Hunter's Blades Collector's Edition consist of all three books of this series, Thousand Orcs, Lone Drow and Two Swords. I enjoyed the series quite a bit although I was bit surprised by the end of the third book. This series contained the best and worst of R.A. Salvatore's writing and they are kind of mixed up from book to book, chapter to chapter and story line to story line.
The main characters are the stars here and even although they all have near death experiences, that is close to the end they get. However, Salvatore killed off secondary characters like the wave of black plague or something as everyone who is anyone likable in the series died off. That I thought was his weaker side where he wiped out hordes of under deveoped secondary characters. On the positive side, his writing is still smooth, the story flowed well and his books are never boring to read. It could be possible that his main characters are so well entrenched that the author find it impossible to kill any of them off.
The series ends with more questions then answers. The final solution is not yet available and even after three books, this may only be the first of several series regarding Forgotten Realms.
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20 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Weakest of the Drizzt Series, September 4, 2007
This review is from: The Hunter's Blades Trilogy Collector's Edition (Forgotten Realms) (Hardcover)
This series was perhaps the weakest of all R.A. Savatore's Drizzt adventures. I was excited to see a return to the Trilogy format that appeared to be centered around a common theme. Unfortunately the 3 books turned out to be a long and boring tale that did not evolve well over the series and ultimately did not resolve with the conclusion of the 3rd book. R.A. Salvatore's new book due out this Sept. could very well be book 4 of this series and not warrant a "Transitions" title as it appears to continue right where the previous book left off with no major advancements in the characters or story line. I also feel as if R.A. Salvatore's heart is elsewhere since the passion for his most famous character seems to have faded into an ongoing marketing push for Wizards than any real progression in story line.
If you take a look at the first two trilogies you can feel the danger and excitement of inventive and out of this world dangers that the heroes get exposed to. They have fought much more dangerous enemies than a bunch of orcs and yet it seems that they get their butts handed to them in this book so many times it makes you feel like they have lost their edge. Its almost as if the heroes are in their senior years and the challenges they face are watered down and boring.
Its time for Drizzt to evolve beyond Ice Wind Dale and the team that tags along with him from book to book. Its time for this hero to really shine and reach his full potential. Stop the re-hashing of old story lines and love affairs gone wrong between Wulfgar and Drizzt. Its almost teenish in its description.
Get darker. Get richer. Get more imaginative with these characters.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Some new, some old, still the same great Salvatore style, January 11, 2008
This review is from: The Hunter's Blades Trilogy Collector's Edition (Forgotten Realms) (Hardcover)
While this isn't my favorite of Salvatore's Forgotten Realms series, it would rank close to the top. The Hunter's Blades trilogy is much darker than his previous books, with a pervasive feeling of loss and doom hanging over nearly the whole thing. All of the characters go through pretty extreme emotional turmoil, but Drizzt in particular has a rough time of it, reverting back to the Hunter and struggling with his belief that his friends are dead. Regis, Wulfgar, and Catie-Brie don't know where Drizzt is and are watching Bruenor slowly die through much of the trilogy. And everybody is in very desperate straights as a seemingly unstoppable orc horde grows and grows to where there doesn't seem any way the people of the North can hold back the tide.
This trilogy greatly expands (sometimes temporarily) the host of characters, and is really a character-driven story. New allies such as Banak Brawnanvil, Tred McKnuckles, Dagnabbit, and Nikwillig expand the scope of the story. Also, great new villains are introduced, including Proffit the troll, Gerti Orelsdottr, Tos'un, Ad'non, and of course Obould. We get much of the story told from their perspective, which is a fairly new strategy used by Salvatore.
The first book,
The Thousand Orcs picks up right where 'SEA OF SWORDS' left off. The companions are reunited (with the addition of Delly Curtie and baby Colsen), and Bruenor and the gang are setting off for Mithril Hall where Bruenor will take up the kingship. Unbeknownst to them, a powerful leader has emerged in the orc tribes of the Spine of the World, uniting the orcs and allying with a band of frost giants and renegade drow. As Drizzt and Co. travel to Mithril Hall they encounter many signs of heavy orc activity and decide to patrol the region and warn its inhabitants of the danger. They also make a stop at Mirabar, a rival of Mithril Hall, to stir up trouble and remind Mirabar's dwarves of their heritage. The whole book comes down to a desperate situation with the Companions being trapped in the town of Shallows during a siege of overwhelming strength. The final battle takes up the majority of the second half of the book and is quite intense.
The Lone Drow picks up with the dwarves falling back to Keeper's Dale outside Mithril Hall and Drizzt believing that all of his friends were killed. During his broken-hearted rampages against the orcs, Drizzt encounters Tarathiel and Innovindil, who help bring him back to sanity and then aid him in disrupting the greenskin army. Some characters from Mirabar, introduced in the first book, were further developed here, particularly Torgar Hammerstriker, Shoudra Stargleam, and Nanfoodle. The orc king, Obould Many-Arrows, through blessings from his god and increased support from his kin, becomes a worthy foe for the powerful Companions.
My favorite book of the trilogy was
The Two Swords, in which Drizzt and Obould finally face off and the dwarves of Mithril Hall defend their home against a determined press and link up with their allies. Wulfgar's new wife, Delly Curtie, plays a major role in this one, as do all of the old characters we love so much. Also, we get the reunion of the Companions that we've been looking forward to so long. One very pleasing thing about this book was the emotional (and physical) play between Innovindil and Drizzt, perhaps the first time that we see some weakness in our hero. While the ending isn't as conclusive as I had hoped, I'm sure Salvatore has great plans for the next trilogy, Transitions.
If you liked the other Drizzt books, you'll probably like this one too. Its not really any better or any worse, and doesn't change too much except for possibly becoming a little more mature, with some rather graphic scenes and a couple of uses of the word 'bitch'. I was extremely pleased with this trilogy and look forward to reading the next one.
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