Customer Reviews

The Lone Drow (Forgotten Realms: The Hunter's Blades Trilogy, Book 2)

5 star:		(59)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

To summarize my review before I get into it: R.A. Salvatore's Drizzt-books have evolved into Saturday morning cartoons rather than staying as the Tolkein-esque stories they first started out to be.

I have been a Salvatore-Drizzt-book reader ever since 1990 when I read The Crystal Shard. I have read every Drizzt-book since then, but with this last book I have decided to give up the series until some drastic changes are made. Instead of an exhaustive review of this book, I'll just point to 6 ways as to how this entire series is on its death-bed. Salvatore can cure these maladies by listening to the following:

1.) DRIZZT AND HIS FRIENDS HAVE BECOME SATURDAY MORNING CARTOON CHARACTERS - In cartoons the main characters never die, they are invincible, they are unflawed. In The Drizzt books, no main character can ever die. They fight hundreds and hundreds of "bad guys," only to score perfect victories each time. If it seems that one of the main character has died, or will, it's only a red herring that sets you up for that character to inevitably "save the day."

2.) DRIZZT'S ENEMIES HAVE TURNED INTO THE "VILLAIN OF THE WEEK VARIETIES" - In cartoons, the heros are usually pitted by a different villian each week. The villians are rarely fleshed-out, and they're just around for the purpose of getting killed by Drizzt and Co. If a villian is fleshed-out, Salvatore becomes attached and cannot kill him, only send him away (Artemis Entreri, Jarlaxle, etc).

3.) SUPPORTING CHARACTERS ARE LIKE THE "YOMAN" CHARACTER FROM STAR TREK - Remember in Star Trek how Captain Kirk would beam down to a planet with some unnamed officer, and inevitably, the unnamed officer would die while Kirk would be unharmed? Okay, now substitute "Captain Kirk" with "Drizzt" and you have Salvatore's new books. A seasoned reader knows that when a character is introduced, he's not likely to be a permanent fixture.

4.) YOU CAN'T GO 2 PAGES WITHOUT BEING REMINDED THAT DRIZZT & CO. ARE THE TOUGHEST, BADDEST CHARACTERS IN THE WORLD - It's not that you see this through their actions, but Salvatore spells it out for you before every fight. Hypothetical example: "The orcs were heavily armed and outnumbered the weakened drow twenty five to one. But this was Drizzt Do-Urden, and he was no ordinary drow!" Please ...

5.) SALVATORE'S EDITORS NEED TO BACK OFF OF HIM AND LET HIM WRITE - if you've noticed in the past several books, Salvatore paces the story nicely, then has to suddenly end the story because the editors limit the number of pages he can have. When you get 4/5s the way through it, you think "wow, I'm almost finished, and there's so much left! Hell, (enter character's name) isn't even within a 10-day ride from the others?!" ANSWER: Robillard the mage shows up and magically teleports the character wherever they need to go.

6.) THE FIGHT SCENES ARE A BIT TOO DETAILED - Everyone knows Drizzt is a bad mutha-sucka, but when Salvatore gets carried away and writes, "Drizzt then shifted his balance to the right and pivoted low with a perfect center of gravity, slicing his left scimitar right, then feinting back, swinging his left scimitar in a downward arc, pulling back, then upward pivoting to his right, bringing his swords at a downward V-angle, parrying each blow, then rolling to his left, followed by an inverted cone flip to the front, slicing diagnally with his left right-ended scimitar...." I just find myself skimming paragraphs.

MY SUGGESTION FOR SALVATORE & DRIZZT:
-------------------------------------
Set the next series some 100 years into the future. Drizzt, as an elf, will continue to live for several more centuries. Cattie-Brie, Wulfgar, Regis and Bruenor will not. Go ahead and jump forward and write the novel that you wanted to with THE LONE DROW. It's time for Drizzt to move on.

I think Salvatore knows that. He toys with the ideas of Drizzt and Cattie-brie's grim future, but I don't think he has the nerve to actually kill anyone off. So just jump to the future and make it happen.

And get rid of those annoying dwarf brothers! They are the Jar Jar Binks of the Drizzt world. I would welcome any feedback from Salvatore fans. I still am one, but I feel like I'm watching a good thing go down the tubes.

Be critical, people. Don't just throw praise at a book because teh main character is cool and has potential. I can tell by the writing style of the majority of these reviewers that they are somewhere between 10-16 years old. That's how old I was when I read The Crystal Shard. I want to feel the same way about these new books as I did when I was that age reading the early adventures. I've matured, so now must the Drizzt storyline.

The Lone Drow was one of the best Drizzt books out there. The writting style of Salvatore is amazin' and the character interaction and emotion put into the characters is beyond words.

The book starts right off where the first book in the trilogy, "The Thousand Orcs," leaves off. Drizzt left alone with the thoughts of his friends dead and his scimitars hungry for vengance! The Dwarves, along with Wulfgar and Catti-Brie, fighting for their lives and for their home aganist the unrelenting orcs. Every page was wonderful and never filled with a dull moment between the two main storylines. And the characters were spectacular. Some of the highlights were: (can't write them all because there were just to many) The obvious one is Drizzt and his tale. Salvatore was able to take Drizzt back to the days of the hunter and his life in the underdark. And The emotional baggage Drizzt was carrying and the amazin' detailed action scenes were spectacular.

The next hightlight was the other main storyline, Dwarves vs, Orcs, LET'S GET IT ON! All the character in this battle and around it were just some much fun to read. Salvatore is not only the master of the Drow society, but the master of the Dwarves society as well.

Many characters in the,"Thousand Orcs," (or in other Drizzt books) annoyed me, but in the, "Lone Drow," they shined. The characters sure as Tarathiel, Innovindil, Pikel, and Pwent. the two elves interaction with Driztt and what happen in this brought out the elf characters. The interaction between Drizzt and Innovindil was a great way for Salvatore to go, showing Drizzt a life he never had or never really thought about (can't wait to see what happens).

The last and final highlight came from the character Obloud Many-arrows. I liked this character in the thousands orcs, but I loved this character in this book. the image Salvatore painted in my head of Obloud was beyond words, well no, one word came to mind, Badass!

"Lone Drow," is one of the best Drizzt books I have read, fill with action, drama, and twists and turns all weaving around one other. the characters are some much fun to read about and it's not a hard read either. The writing style and the flow of the book is very smooth and there is not one dull moment. If you want a book about Dwarves, Drow, Orcs, and many other races, a book filled with action, drama, and unforgettable characters, a book with an awesome storyline, "The Lone Drow, " is for you. But you have to read all the other Drizzt books first....you must, for they are great! All Hail Drizzt Do'Urden and R.A. Salvatore!

One more thing, the ending was awesome!

I have read every published work I know of by Salvatore. I read the Icewind Dale series (still the best by him) starting in '88. I really began to like Salvatore because, unlike most fantasy at that time, he wrote long, descriptive combat. But now, Salvatore has become a cash cow for various folks, and his early unheard of success (if not in fantasy in general, D&D type fantasy in specific) in the fanatasy market has been milked dry. So many of us read Salvatore out of loyalty, and too many of us give great ratings and buy the books brand new when they simply aren't that good. I still have the last book of that awful DemonWars Saga only partially read.

The Lone Drow is _OK_. But it isn't great by a long shot. And the poster who wrote a list of improvements for Salvatore was correct in many spots of the list. The Lone Drow is one of the better Salvatore books in more recent times. I really think Mr. Salvatore needs to finish his contract requirements and go offline for a while and JUST WRITE. See what he can do. Forget the marketing, the rules, the formulas. The publishers like the formulas because they get about $25x3 out of us. Most of these series can easily be combined into one book.

My rant is complete. I hope my long term favorite fantasy author can get something fresh going. No more Tarzan or Star Wars and no more milking. Just some good, epic, fantasy.

I have read many of Salvatore's books over the years and I must say that this book is the worst that I have read. As many reviewers have mentioned, there is very little plot or character development. Many of the battle sequences seem overly ridiculous (Gutbuster brigade charges orc defensive post, easily overwhelming while taking few, if any, losses) or repetitive (reading about orcs assaulting dwarf lines loses its appeal after 15 times). Surprising, since the plot is virtually nonexistent, there seems to be so many plot holes that you, as Schwarzenegger would say, "could drive a hummer through it".

Anothering disappointing feature is Drizz't. Even though he's a drow master swordsman, he acts like an distraught emo-kid during this book. Reading his internal dialogue which consists of "I'm hurt. Get angry, turn on Hunter mode..." gets boring fast. The rest of his crew have subjugated their roles to being "invulnerable" soldiers killing dozens (perhaps hundreds) of orcs while merely taking the occasional glancing blow.

Also, almost all of the supporting characters are exceptionally annoying, especially Pikel and Nanfoodle. Even more annoying are some of the character names. If Nanfoodle doesn't sound ridiculous enough, Cordio Muffinhead is definitely testing the limits of naming convention.

I highly discourage anyone from reading this very poorly written series. Newcomers to Salvatore's work should start with the excellent Dark Elf trilogy to see Drizz't in all his glory without the baggage that is Cattibrie, Regis, and Bruenor (I never much liked his one-dimensional companions much, probably due to the fact that they are so one-dimensional; except for when Wulfgar was going through his psychological trauma but even then, he still wasn't very interesting).

Although new readers might not enjoy this novel very much, die hard fans who have read about this unusual Drow from the beginning will no doubt enjoy this story. Salvatore's work in this series seems to be losing a bit of steam, but it is a fine read and a good product of the genre.

The story is not too complicated, but there are highs and lows. Reading the other reviews will likely reveal too much about the story and take away from your enjoyment of the story. One of the reviews here on Amazon revealed a major event of the story that leaves the reader waiting for it to happen rather than being surprised.

This book is well written and complete. Hardcore fans (like myself) will hold this second book of the Hunters Blades Trilogy in the same category as R. A. Salvatores best works that got us hooked in the first place (i.e. the Dark Elf Trilogy). Never boring, full of surprises, with political intrigue and conspiracy between-and within-kingdoms, Salvatores amazing, detailed trademark battle scenes, and some serious character development and soul searching all mixed into one book. The only thing that will leave you disappointed -- the next book won't be out for a year.

I love R.A. Salvatore's Dark Elf books. Drizzt is a brilliant creation, and the series is very well written. The Dark Elf trilogy hooked me (Homeland is one of my favorite books), the Icewind Dale Trilogy was great too, and the Legacy of the Drow quartet was brilliant. And while I liked the Paths of Darkness series, it never felt as magical as the first 10 books, with the exception of Servant of the Shard.
I felt the same with 1000 Orcs. It was good, but it felt...like an intro. Maybe the cover had me expecting more excitement, but it did not live up to my expectations.
Not so with the Lone Drow. It has more action than any Drizzt book since Seige of Darkness (again with the exception of Servant of the Shard, but that didn't star Drizzt), but it is NOT simply a hack and slash. It reaches depths in character that Salvatore is so good at, while still being incredibly entertaining. I haven't like the battle scenes this much in a long time.
So in other words, buy this book, even if you were a bit disapointed with the previous Drizzt books.

This book continues the Hunter's Blades trilogy started in The Thousand Orcs. While Salvatore's stories are usually fairly simple, his overall task of making an essentially immortal character more interesting is difficult. Drizzt has become too central a character and his legend too large for us to believe that he will be killed in any of these books. Yet Salvatore writes as if this possibility could happen and I suppose that is what keeps us coming back for more. Most often the possibility for drama in the books revolves around one or more of the supporting cast. This time it is Bruenor Battlehammer who lies at death's door for most of the book.

The book is a quick read except in the chapter interludes where Drizzt gets more introspective. I'm not sure that these illuminate Drizzt's character in any new ways. His thoughts often revolve around battle or his friends and his constant worry over living long past some of them (which is certainly going to come to pass at one time or another).

At the start of the novel Drizzt is convinced that his friends are dead (or mostly dead) having been killed by events he witnessed at the end of the last book (should you really be reading this review if you haven't read the first one?). Under this assumption he goes native and starts waging a guerrila war on the various orc tribes in the area. The progression of the Orc hordes is examined and most of the book follows their assault on the dwarven stronghold of Mithral Hall and the surrounding area.

Salvatore's older characters are central to his story, but overall the interest comes from his rendering of new characters around those old ones and the occasional shakeups in the old character's roster.

While there aren't any major events that happen to the established crew in this book there are certainly enough things happening to hold the reader's interest and to stimulate a Salvatore fan. I'd say that while new readers would be slightly lost, overall it is still a fun read and most of the gaps would be filled in by reading the first book before this one.

As an aside, I think the best book Salvatore has written in recent years is Servant of the Shard which examines the Artemis Entreri character more closely. In that book Entreri is revealed to be much more interesting overall than Drizzt as he becomes less of a one-dimensional bad guy. If Salvatore really wanted to take a new tack with Drizzt it would probably involve examining a timeline a few hundred years in the future when the less long lived supporting characters had died. As it stands the Lone Drow is fairly standard fair for Salvatore, but still worth picking up and certainly there is foreshadowing of possible shakeups and momentous events to come in the third book. While I'm not sure that such things would come to pass, as I say it's really the thought that it might that keeps us coming back for more.

As much as I agreed with the poster that listed the six points that would make a better story, I rank the book slightly higher then he does. Perhaps it's because I picked it up as a light read, not expecting a great work, just checking in to see what was new with old friends I had last read about ten years ago in high school.
The Superman syndrome has indeed taken over and to be blunt, the plot and story telling is extremely cartoony. Despite their being bloodied and wounded numerous times in the course of the story our heroes charge on without fail. Characters suffer arrows to the chest and shrug it off, are impailed and keep going, and so on.
There's never a sense of danger, and the one death you seem certain or is reversed in the final chapters.
However, it's a Forgotten Realms book, which is not to belittle it, but just to point out that it is a franchise and just like comic book franchises, not much tends to change the status quo (anyone ever think Spider-man will really die? Would Superman ever really stay dead? Or even Jimmy Olsen?).
It's a flawed book, and by this late in the series it seems a trifle phoned in, but if you just want to waste a day reading about the invincible heroes you read about in high school, give it a shot.
One fan said that the stories should mature as the audience matures, and I agree with it, but we shouldn't judge Salvatore too harshly because out tastes mature and change as we do.
Something really has to be done about the names though. "Muffinhead"? "Daggnabbitt"? Please, it makes it seem like the author laughing at the readers by showing us the absurdity of it all.

Well, I went with four stars, because three just did not feel right. I really like this book as an exhibition of the style that kept me buying and reading Salvatore's books since I first read The Crystal Shard: fast-paced (for the most part), good exposition, lots of action.

As mentioned by other reviewers, the title is misleading in that not only is Drizzt not the sole focus of the book, but he never really is alone! Salvatore apparently decided to inject a love triangle thanks to some latent cowardice in Dizzt and the racial [age] difference between elves and humans. While it is certainly valid, I can see that in the third installment there are two ways to go. Either love will conquer all or jealousy will tear apart. I felt that the lead-in, while necessary to attain this plot direction, was somewhat out-of-character. Recall from The Thousand Orcs that there were two surface elves who together aided those opposing the orcs and giants. Well, apparently the make decides to venture alone for the first time in the book and winds up causing some problems later. In all other cases, the two were inseparable, so I felt that this was simply a machination to set things up and it was not the disaster as made out.

I love the combat sequences, including the innovative battle techniques that Salvatore seems always to interject. There is savagery and cunning on the part of the orcs, who rely on weight of numbers to sway the course of battle, while the dwarves rely on tactics, strength and compassion to oppose the monsters. Deception plays a large roll in the many battles, as well as plain old butchery. It seems that there is a growing lack of suitable and/or believable enemies for the Companions to face, so Salvatore provides a deity-aided enemy in this one. It takes some time for the scope of this enemy's abilities truly to be revealed, but we learn that this opponent is quite able to stand against the Companions of the Hall. He is not Artemis Entreri, though, who was one of the best villains I have ever read and loved to hate.

There is little in the way of surprise, save for one late development, which I will not spoil. Self-sacrifice gets played up a little TOO much, but it is done faithfully in character. Drizzt gets in touch with his elven side a bit, but the notion of him coaching someone to be like the Hunter I found ludicrous (since it took him a decade in the Underdark to attain that level of detechment and survival instinct). Some glaring contradictions present themselves, but they are not totally out of character.

This book had very little in the way of typos, exceptional among first printings in my experience. There was some pronoun mixups early, but they were largely consistent and correct later. There were a few misspellings, but a lot of grammar errors (split infinitives, anyone?). However, I chose to ignore that in my rating, else it would have been three stars, since it detracted from the reading for me. But this was a good, fast read, despite being ~350 pages. Hopefully the third and final book in the series will deliver some more great enjoyment!