Customer Reviews

The Silent Blade (Forgotten Realms: Fantasy Adventure)

5 star:		(152)
4 star:		(58)
3 star:		(33)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

I have grown to genuinely feel for the characters in Salvatore's Dark Elf Series. The characters are almost real, their trials becoming the reader's trials.

This book was excellent, and paved the road for many more to come (hoping, of course, that Mr. Salvatore has no intention of ending the series).

The ending was slightly confusing, since Entreri's burning need to face his arch-nemesis once and for all on fair ground is brought into play. The end of this fight seems a bit anticlimactic, however, unles it plays a larger role later. Jarlaxle communicates to Drizzt after the fight the Entreri will no longer bother him because Drizzt is believed to be dead.

The problem as I see it with this line is this: In a world where Drizzt Do'Urden has made such a far-reaching impression as to be accepted almost universally despite his drow heritage, news of his still being quite alive and well would not be long in reaching the ears of Artemis Entreri.

Future conflict? Perhaps, but how many more continually unresolved fights can there be between them?

As for Wulfgar, he always took far too much of the world upon his shoulders. His apparent descent into the world of evil is a fitting continuation for a man haunted by demons he has created for himself. These can be far more effective than the tortures of the Abyss...

I loved the book. It's excellent as are all of Salvatore's books.

The only reason I gave it 4 stars is because someone is really slipping up in the editorial part of the book process. It just makes it seem like a rushed book to have so many glaring grammatical errors. It seems to be becoming a more common occurrence with his books.

Other than that, the book is a must read for anyone who is following the series or even the author.

If you've enjoyed R.A. Salvatore's books of the past, prepare to be blown away.

Salvatore takes his action packed series and turns it up a notch or six. This book is just so cool. Its superbly written, both storywise, characterwise, and battle-wise. If you've found Salvatore's battles a little confusing before, fear not, this time he gets it perfect and they read super smooth. I can't stress how good this book is. Excellent job Mr.Salvatore.

After reading, "Passage to Dawn," I was a little tried of the Drizzt series and decided to read a different set of books. The different set didn't do it for me, so I went back to Drizzt and I was blown away by the Silent blade. The writing is ten times better then the "Legacy Series," the characters have much more depth and emotional ties (Artemis, Wolfgar), and I could tell (Don't ask me how) Mr. Salvatore was enjoying himself more when he was writing this series rather than the "Legacy series."

If you don't like the legacy series or not find it as enjoyable as the previous books, just read them because the "Paths of Darkness" series will make more sense and the stories will be ten times better.

This, in my opinion, was a great book when put up next to what happened in Salvatore's previous series. Many people found many reasons to criticize those books, clearly expecting more from an author who had shown so much promise early on. It seemed to some that they were purely books written for the money, that R.A. Salvatore had not really felt like writing, and I came to agree with those words.

I think that this was quite a bounce-back from that previous feeling I got from those books. I suddenly couldn't put the book down. Characters were more in depth, especially Wulfgar who is trying to recover from his torment he suffered at the hands of the demon Errtu, the plot was better and well planned out, and I thought that even some of the action was better.

I think that anyone who enjoyed any of R.A. Salvatore's earlier books would enjoy this book a whole lot, maybe even as much as those earlier books.

This book concentrated on Wulfgar much more than the other characters, but it was a necessary glimpse of the turmoil this character was going through. All in all, a fantastic book.

This book was absolutely Salvatore reborn! It took me back to the days of the Crystal Shard and Dark Elf trilogy (IMHO his BEST series) in spades. The aventurers were together again and best of all Drizzt's equal(?), Artemis Entreri, was back as well! I enjoy the books with Artemis the best because of the fact that there is no overwhelming foe to defeat, ie... a whole drow city or the minions of a demon, just a man seeking to know the truth about who is the best, as "equals" go. The final battle was an artwork in itself. I was able to imagine every detail through the expert writing of Salvatore. If you quit reading Salvatore after the Drow series...START AGAIN! This book is a must! I can't wait for the future books!

What can I say to help someone better understand the book....READ ALL THE OTHERS FIRST. I read SILENT BLADE, and it made me want to pick up all the others of Drizzt & Co. and read them all over again. What I am wondering is why some big time screen producer has not jumped on this yet? If I had Lucas or Spielberg's movie making prowess, I would be all over this like black on a Drow Elf! This has got STAR WARS potential all over it (not to say Mr. Salvatore should sell out) but this is great stuff. READ THIS BOOK, then buy the others and read them if you haven't. Preferably buy them first then buy this one...I read Streams of Silver before I read The Crystal Shard. Mr. Salvatore, your the greatest, keep it up....

It's been a little while since I read TSB, but there are a few things I remember. The biggest problem that sticks out in my mind, is I remember it reading somewhat erratic. I've never been a fan of switching locales and central characters, so this might have just been me. I like what has happened with Wulfgar. I'm sure I'm in the majority of the readers in saying that I like the Drizzt character, but I also really like what happened with the big barbarian. 6 years of torture is going to destroy most personalities, and having Wulfgar go off on his own seems like the best option for him. And with the arrival of Spine of the World, we get an idea of how Wulfgar's struggles are going. I was briefly upset about the big, climactic battle. Another Drizzt vs. Entreri fight. We've seen a lot of those now. But this one had a different flavour than the others. The end, the true end of this fight was not a matter of who owned what magic, or what poison, or who planned the fight. It came down to a simple battle of skill, which was what Jarlaxle had intended to do with the arena. Drizzt beat Entreri in the swordplay. I don't think that the assassin will stay in the dark about Drizzt's survival, but I don't think he's going to hunt down Drizzt for another scuffle. The point has been proven, and Artemis has to live with knowing that Drizzt was the better swordsman. Of course, Artemis walked out... well was TK'd out of the room still conscious because he had the more powerful allies. So he won the fight, just not the swordplay. Being a poor college student, I have to wait for Spine to come out in paperback before I buy it, but I'm hoping to get some time to read a borrowed copy soon. :) Oh yes, and I would really like to see SOME kind of resolution for Catti-Brie. In Passage to Dawn she confessed to Danica some interest in our drow hero. Yes with the arrival of Wulfgar she had to rethink things, but it'd still be nice to see something happen there.

-Astanos

One of the best things about this book is that we see the inner torments suffered by Wulfgar and Artemis Entreri. We see how entreri copes with life on Calimport's streets and how Wulfgar faces the horrid memories of imprisonment at the hands of Errtu. Without spoiling much, the final battle between Drizzt and Entreri is very intense and somewhat surprising. Bruenor is also great, particularly when he keeps getting his axe stuck in various goblins. mind you though, there are some gorey details so be forwarned.