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47 of 50 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Yet another solid novel from Salvatore, September 30, 2007
The Orc King by R.A. Salvatore is the first book in his new trilogy titled Transitions. The second book in this trilogy is titled the Pirate King and will be published in October, 2008; the third and final book of this trilogy is titled the Ghost King and is set to be published in October, 2009. For fans of the Mr. Salvatore's trademark character, Drizzt, this novel picks up right after the events of the The Hunter's Blades Trilogy Collector's Edition (Forgotten Realms)Trilogy, in particular The Two Swords (The Hunter's Blades Trilogy, Book 3). If you are just happening among the Drizzt saga, I highly suggest you go back and start from the beginning of his story with Homeland: The Dark Elf Trilogy, Part 1 (Forgotten Realms: The Legend of Drizzt, Book I) which is book one of the The Dark Elf Trilogy, Collector's Edition (Homeland, Exile, Sojourn). Of course, you can most likely read this book without the entire history, but several references and stories will lose most of their luster and meaning.
As I said above, the plot of this book picks up right after the events of the Two Swords in that Obould still has his orc army camped, and fortifying, outside of Mithral Hall. The main storyline of this book is how the dwarves want to deal with an uneasy peace between the two groups. There are also several subplots sprinkled throughout this novel as well. Things such as political infighting within the orc ranks, there is the story arc of Wulfgar and Cattie-brie trying to find Colson - and just what do they do with her if they find her, and then there is Breunor's quest to find the lost dwarven city of Gauntlgrym. There are also a couple other subplots included, but I will refrain from discussing those due to the spoiler potential. As with almost ever Salvatore book, the plot lines and overall story are well conceived and executed to near perfection. The pacing of this novel is also spot on. It's written in such a way as to defy the reader to put the book down. Fans of Salvatore will most assuredly appreciate the depth and scope of this novel.
The characters in this novel are largely the characters that fans have become familiar with over the past several years. Mainstays such as Drizzt, Cattie-brie, Bruenor, Wulfgar, and Regis all make appearances in this novel. While this book is billed as a Drizzt novel, and he is certainly front and center of many scenes, it appears that this book is really more about Obould and his situation. One drawback of reading about certain characters for so many years, is that the characters tend to become complacent and bland. After all, one can assume that there is really only so much character development that can go into a character. However, with this novel, Mr. Salvatore throws that out the winder and appears to be reshaping a few of his characters. There is a great deal of character development for several of the `big name' characters. Just who they are, and what those developments are, you will have to read the book for. I don't want to spoil anything. It is nice to see the sometimes subtle changes occurring, along with the blatantly obvious changes. It adds a sense of realism to the characters, but more importantly it adds a sense of uncertainty. All through the Hunter's Blade Trilogy I never felt that any of the main characters were in any danger, however, this book (and hopefully the trilogy) gave me a sense of uneasiness towards the characters. I didn't have that feeling that the characters were invincible. A subtle change, but a very important one in my opinion.
Traditional Forgotten Realms fans will be particularly interested in the prelude of this novel. It offers readers a glimpse of Drizzt's life one hundred years into the future. The title of this trilogy, Transitions, is a harbinger of things to come, both in the life of Drizzt and company, but also to the Forgotten Realms as a whole. It appears there are dramatic changes in store for the Realms, time will tell just how dramatic they truly are.
Fans of Salvatore will no doubt enjoy this book. It offers everything that he is known for; solid characters, enjoyable plots, and well choreographed fight scenes. Mr. Salvatore's prose is like wearing an old pair of shoes. No matter how many times you wear them, they are just as comfortable as before.
This novel is a very good addition to the Drizzt saga. It furthers the story of many characters and resolves several issues that have been left hanging over the past couple books. It also advances the Forgotten Realms a little, which is something that Salvatore does not always do. I am fairly confident that most Forgotten realms fans will enjoy this novel, I know I certainly did. You may be asking yourself, if I liked this book so much, why only a four start rating. While I really enjoyed this novel, I didn't feel the wow factor. I like to try and save the five stars for truly special books, and while this is certainly a very good book there is something missing, not sure what but there is just something missing to make it truly a great book. Never-the-less, I would still recommend this book to most fantasy fans.
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18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not Salvatore's greatest, but still a decent read, October 14, 2007
First off, the book opens with a scene from a future that is a good leap ahead of the prior storyline. From that brief glimpse, a great deal of the bulk of the book is rendered dull since the suspense is gone. (I look at this the same as with various prequel movies. There is no suspense since we know who lives into the later movies, so a great deal of the drama is muted.)
Picking up where the prior novel left off, along with the tidbit in a short story in a recent anthology, Salvatore furthers the development of the orc kingdom growing outside Mithral Hall. I was pleased that there is actually some storyline resolution from prior books, though they are such a minor part of this book that they could have been omitted. These include the path that Wulfgar chooses even before setting off to recover his adopted daughter. If the reader had not read Spine of the World, then the details of Wulfgar's story might seem a bit confusing, but a decent enough job is done of filling in that blank.
We see Catti-Brie dealing with the severe injury she suffered in the last book, and perhaps choosing a completely new path as he abilities as a warrior are impacted perhaps beyond recovery. It's strange to think of her in the role that Salvatore seems to have chosen for her, though.
Drizzt and Bruenor get some actual development in this book, which is a nice thing to see from such well-established characters. Rather than allow them to coast, he again delivers significant challenges to them, both in terms of their philosophies and their opponents in combat.
Salvatore delivers his typically-detailed and well-written battle scenes, which despite my earlier complaint about knowing the outcome in advance, still kept me turning the pages without pause.
I liked this book, but I am hoping that the next in the series does a better job of moving things forward without having so many peripheral bits tacked on here and there. I think that his previous book (with Entreri and Jarlaxle) was a better read than this one, but I had no regrets in this one.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The 4th Book of Hunter's Blades Trilogy..., October 13, 2007
Excellent book which picks up where The Two Swords left off. Salvatore writes in his usual action packed style here, and the flow is good. What I especially liked about this book was that we see each of the companion's inner struggles as they move on to the next chapter of their lives. Truly, there are transitions occurring, at many levels.
The prelude and epilogue are glimpses of the future, which really leaves me wondering what the second book of this series will be about, and how this will affect each character's continued journey.
Fans of Forgotten Realms will be intrigued by the changes occurring in the world, while fans of the stories will be excited by the changes in the characters.
As a side note, this is really the 4th book of the Hunter's Blades Trilogy, which neatly sews up that series. It really should have been a quartet, with this being the final book. Highly recommended for all fans of fantasy.
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