Customer Reviews

Promise of the Witch King (Forgotten Realms: The Sellswords, Book 2) (Bk. 2)

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

R. A. Salvatore just has a gift for creating memorable characters, whether they are protagonists or antagonists. In fact, when I sit and think about it I can name nearly every character he's ever created. But the obvious one is Drizzt, and perhaps second to him is Drizzt's mortal enemy Entreri. Any fan of Salvatore knows this name, and no doubt hates (in a good way, to be sure) this character as much as they love Drizzt.

Promise of the Witch King is the sequel to Servant of the Shard, the first book that contains Entreri but no Drizzt, and it was a brilliant book. In fact, it still ranks highly among my all time favorite action fantasy books.

In Witch King, Salvatore does even more to separate Entreri from Drizzt by placing him and his partner--or manipulator--Jarlaxle in an entirely new setting (it can be found in Demon Stone, a video game written by Salvatore). Still, it has the Salvatore touch with action scenes written as easily as we would sign our own name, and a stream of new, lovable characters.

Now, without spoiling, I will attempt to describe the plot of this story. In the wild lands of Bloodstone, only recently freed from the dark clutches of an evil lord, Entreri and Jarlaxle are attempting to make a name for themselves while also acting as double agents for two dragons. In the opening, they are battling in a magically created tower, which had once belonged to the terrible and powerful Witch King, who long ago died yet still has a grip on the land. When a second tower is magically constructed, warriors seeking fame and fortune decide to defend the realm and perhaps save two dying souls that are directly tied to the tower. But with the rag-tag band comes clashes and plenty of secrets, and as these secrets unravel, disaster eventually strikes and the heroes becomes enemies with each while they are still battling the evil forces of the Witch King. In the end, it leaves a few more revelations about Entreri that weren't there before, and he ends up, I think, as a more likable character. And, of course, Jarlaxle is up to his same old mischief.

What's best about this novel is not the book itself, but the promise (ironic, really) of the future to come for these two characters, for by the end an entirely new element is introduced and should end up making the Sellswords series as good as any Salvatore has written before.

I'd recommend this to long-standing fans of Salvatore, fans of Dungeons and Dragons--though it's not required, as I'm no such fan--or lovers of classic swords & sorcery stories, as Salvatore is easily the best there is right now. I can't recommend this to anyone seeking to get into Salvatore now, however, because you will be left lost among the characters and history, which is long and deep.

Like many, I can fondly recall cutting my teeth on R A Salvatore's early Forgotten Realms novels. I recently even tried rereading the Icewind Dale trilogy after over 15 years, and found it to be a little dated. Yet as my tastes seem to have grown over the years, so too has Salvatore's skill.

Servant of the Shard was the first Forgotten Realms book I've read in years, and after reading such masters as Martin, Cook, Hobb, and Brust... I wasn't sure if Salvatore could keep up with my new favorites. He is still the master of high-action.

Jarlaxle and Entreri were two of the best villains from my early fantasy reading days, and their exploits in the newest books are outstanding. There are never enough novels with villains as protagonists. Promise of the Witch King was one of the best I've read in some time.

Jarlaxle is always out for power and wealth, but here, he and Entreri take on the guise of two capable, but not-too-ambitious adventurers. They are in the land of Vaasa, helping with the region's indigenous beast population. They are bounty hunters, earning gold for goblin ears and such. By all appearances, they seem to be here just for the adventure and fame, but Jarlaxle has information of mighty artifacts hidden within this mountainous land.

One such artifact IS found, and it takes on a life of its own- soon threatening the whole kingdom. Jarlaxle and Entreri offer their assistance in dealing with this great danger, but does everyone realize that Jarlaxle only wants that power for himself? Some memorable characters are also on the quest, and some of them may be as shifty and dangerous as our duo.

The assassin and the dark Elf have a fascinating relationship, and the plot keeps you guessing steadily throughout. I had no problem finding excuses to keep reading long after I should have gone to bed. Are the two going to turn on each other? Is Entreri becoming a hero? Just what are their motives, and what exactly are these two dangerous men capable of? You'll enjoy finding out, and I won't enjoy waiting for book three. I am impatient to learn what happens next. Keep `em coming, Bob!

I am a bit surprised by the vitriol in some of the other reviews. I enjoyed this one, even if it was a bit formulaic. In fact, I'd go so far to say that you don't read RA Salvatore, Ed Greenwood, or William Shakespeare for that matter, without encountering some fairly predictable events and outcomes.

I enjoyed Entreri as an anti-hero. I have liked him as a character for a long time, but in truth, he was always somewhat two dimensional: an emotionless killer whose only purpose was the next job. When he became obsessed with Drizzt, another aspect of his personality came to the forefront, and it did not seem much of a stretch. After all, he cares nothing of worldly possessions, so professional pride is all he cares about.

Since Entreri has finally exorcised his Drizzt demons, he is lacking direction. Going back to simple assassinations would not be enough for him. He is looking for something, and he is doing it while facing his own mortality...not from an enemy's blade, which he has never feared, but simply from age. Salvatore emphasizes that Entreri has reached middle age in a genre in which people are generally either young adults or immensely long-lived. That alone would be mechanism enough to induce introspection in Entreri, but Salvatore combines that motivation with magical compulsion (which I will not spoil here) and I think those two plot elements make Entreri even more believable.

Personally, I found Entreri's ruminations to be much more enjoyable than Drizzt's monologues. Entreri is a simple man in his emotional infancy, trying to come to grips with powerful issues like death, love, and the meaning of life. Where Drizzt is a philosopher, Entreri is just confused and impatient. It resonates because Entreri has evolved. He is not the same person he was 20 years previously. He knows who he was then, but he does not know exactly who he is now.

If Holden Caulfield had been a taciturn trained killer travelling with a flamboyant pathologic liar, he would have been Artemis Entreri.

As you can discern, I enjoyed this book because of the insight into an aging, evolving anti-hero who is developing some complexity. It made up for what the book is lacking in other regards. The "dungeon-crawl" aspect of this book is somewhat boring to me. It is the problem with epic charcters in the AD&D world, and, in fact, throughout fantasy writing: as they become more and more powerful and acquire more powerful artifacts, it becomes difficult to write a suitable challenge for them. The castle construct is basically an endless monster-generator, like Halastor's Undermountain. It lacked emotional impact.

There were several new characters, only one of whom was particularly compelling: an aspiring paladin with some shady underworld contacts. I would have liked to learn a lot more about her, but that plot line was addressed in only a limited fashion. That's too bad. I would have liked to learn about her motivation and how she tried to reconcile the roles of her double life, but after it seemed as though she was going to become a parallel story to Entreri's, she became relegated to the supporting cast.

Overall, I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. I would like to give it 4.5, but I'm stuck with these darned integers. If you are willing to forgive a little predictability, you have read the Drizzt novels with Artemis Entreri, and you like to see characters develop over time, give this book a read.

If you're looking for Dr'zzt style character development, introspection and thought provoking monologues, you will be disappointed with this book. If, on the other hand, you're checking up on the exploits of two of your favorite characters I think you'll be more than satisfied with this novel.

I knew going in what to expect from Jarlaxle and Artemis. Jarlaxle is like a dark elf McGyver - he has a magical contrivance for everything. Artemis is in his 40s and acts very much like a moody, petulant teenager still trying to find his place in the world. All that said, I enjoyed the pace of the book and the sheer entertainment value of two of my favorite characters running around slashing and bedding everything in site.

Is it the best of Salvatore's works - probably not. But even the best can have an off day and overall the book doesn't disappoint. I'm looking forward to the next installment of the Sell Sword series to see what more trouble those two can get into.

An interesting note to all of this is the power base that Jarlaxle is building on the surface through his exploits. He runs the Underdark, has a foothold in Calimport and now is setting up shop in Vaasa. Not bad for a sacrificed third son (now that is a story I can't wait to read).

This is by far one of Mr. Salvatores best stories since the Dark Elf Trilogy. I liked the other books since but I love this book. Drizzt is a fantastic hero but he has become too winy and a cry baby. He over analyzes everything and really no fun to be around.

This book on the other hand shows what 2 great characters that are not morally bound to save the whales and hug a tree can do. I couldn't put it down. The witty banter with the adventure backdrop made this a fun read. It also has the old wanderlust/friendship theme going on that makes you like the characters. There were a few times I laughed out loud at some of the dialogue and startled my sleeping wife who was next to me.

There are a lot of good point already made in the other reviews and I don't want to spoil anything about the story. As for the bad review about this being cliché, it's a fantasy book. It contains elements of a diversified fantasy setting. Its no different if you read a Clancy book it will have politics and military involved. If you don't like fantasy then don't read fantasy books and don't waste peoples time by telling us you don't like them.

If your like me and was getting a bit tired of the preachy self imposed guilt that Drizzt seem to carry around in the latest books, read this one. It's a return to adventure without guilt. A lot of fun things await you if you do.

Have fun and safe travels

First off, I would like to declare myself a hardcore fan of the fantasy author Salvatore and his books. That being said, I am also very critical when it comes to rating his work; (Call it tough love, if you will). I believe Salvatore is an amazingly talented man at what he does. However no one is perfect. Once in a while he tends to miss his mark and release a mediocre book. I believe this is one of them.

Although Salvatore packed action into the book from beginning to end, his originality and creative thinking seem to be at an all time low. The story plot and setting, as well as the supporting characters, all have one thing in common: They are borderline boring, predictable, and sometimes downright irritating. The only thing that will keep you turning the pages is the seemingly endless battles, as well as the amusing interaction of the two main characters, Jarlaxle and Artemis. Which, by the way, is starting to remind me of a similar love-hate relationship between two old friends on a TV sitcom. (The Odd couple ring a bell?) That is disturbing to say the least. I only hope Mr. Salvatore can evolve it back into something more sinister, i.e. interesting.

Overall, one thing was apparent to me when I finished reading this book: It was a far cry from the masterfully woven and wonderfully executed novels we have come to expect from Salvatore. Instead it turns out to be more of a garden variety D&D type dungeon crawl quickly patched up and shipped out to please the loyal fans like me. Is that such a bad thing? Maybe not, but I did expect much more from this book and was sorely disappointed.

From the first page on, this story is a relentless, hack-and-slash masterpiece. While it may lack some of the depth of character of some of the author's other novels, the action is top notch. And I'm not suggesting that the characters are completely flat, either. There is some introspection on the part of Artemis Entreri that one who is familiar with that character might not expect. Same goes with a few of the other, minor characters. Just don't expect the heartfelt soul-wringing of Drizzt Do'Urden or some of the other principal characters this author has written about.

Frankly, I found this to be a welcome change. Because in this story, such deep ponderings would have only slowed down the great action. If you're one of those who feels that matters with Drizzt, Wulfgar, Catti-brie have become somewhat redundant or staid, then you too might welcome the straightforward, butt-kicking nature of this book, which essentially amounts to a dungeon siege. There is almost no chance to plot or plan or catch your breath. It's all about surviving the next trap or creature around the corner.

I thought about deducting a star for that same reason. After all, books aren't getting any cheaper, and you can read through this one pretty quick. As I said, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of obvious depth, as there is in some of the author's earlier works. But then, Salvatore has been around long enough to prove that he knows what he is doing. So I'm not going to criticize what must have been a conscious decision on his part to keep things hopping.

Action, humor, character interaction -- all are top notch, and can be enjoyed by anyone who enjoys these sorts of adventures. That said, this story will be much more enjoyable to those who are familiar with Salvatore's earlier work. There is little to no setup to explain how and why these characters have come together at this point in time. But fans of the series already know. And trying to explain it all in detail to newcomers would have been rather tedious.

Short, yes. But fast-paced, adrenaline-pumping excitement from the very beginning. D&D fans, and readers in general, can't ask for much more than that.

In Jarlaxle and Entreri, Salvatore has established the most enjoyable team yet. The relationship is always upbeat (thanks much to Jarlaxle's quirky sense of humor) and developing in a promising direction. The action in this book is vintage Salvatore, with a new setting and new peripheral characters to give it seasoning. My best praise for a book goes to this one...it was FUN to read.

Promise of the Witch-King is the long awaited sequel to Servant of the Shard by R.A. Salvatore. PotWK follows the exploits of Jarlaxle and Entreri as they strike out on their own in a quest for `mysterious benefactors'. You can read about the mysterious benefactors in Wickless in the Nether, a short story by Salvatore in Realms of the Dragon anthology.

From the opening scene on the book fans of Salvatore are given what they have learned to love, great, descriptive battle scenes. Overall, the story is a nice compact plot, with several subplots to kept he readers on their toes. We are introduced to several new characters along the way, but not enough to make it seem overwhelming. One of the new characters is a dwarf named Athrogate, who in typical Salvatore fashion provides some much needed comic relief, but also grates the nerves of Entreri throughout most of the book.

The plot in this book while being fairly compact, still has a very nice twist to it towards the end of the book. This plot twist, is rather shocking when you first read it, but as Jarlaxle sorts it all out and presents his logic, it makes sense and the reader is left feeling foolish for not catching it sooner. I have read that Salvatore describes this book as a dungeon crawl and as such there isn't a whole lot in the way of differing scenery, but that doesn't slow the book down at all. One of the subplots in the book is the slow reveal of some of Entreri's past. Nothing is told for sure, but several hints are dropped about him.

The character development in this book may frustrate some Salvatore fans, mainly due to the fact that very little is resolved in the way of "Here it is and this is why" type of statements. It is more, "So and so shot character X a look over what was said". If you understand that going into this book the development will make more sense. Towards the end of the book there is also a lot of development in the way of the relationship between the two as well as Entreri by himself.

All in all this is another very good book by Salvatore and he proves once again why he is in the upper echelon of fantasy writers today. If you are a fan of Salvatore have no fear over reading this book, but make sure you at least read Servant of the Shard before reading this one. Now, the wait is one for the next book set to release in October 2006.

Hats off to Mr. Salvatore on taking a step away from Drizzt. I really enjoyed the way in which he fleshed out some of his characters in a bold new adventure. Nice to see other life within the Realms and the Wizards has given R.A. some breathing room to explore new stories. As he said in his interview with Wizards, it is a dungeon crawl and a very good one.
Whenever I see new questions and doors opened up with his characters, especially Jarlaxle, it only leaves me wanting more. A vivid image comes to mind of a halfling casting detect magic on Jarlaxle and the vivid details that R.A. plays out.
With these two characters and an open line of adventure anything is possible to flesh out more of the Realms. Lets wait and see!