Customer Reviews

Starless Night (Forgotten Realms: The Legend of Drizzt, Book VIII)

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

After reading a lot of the reviews for this book, i thought i would add my own opinion of it. So far i have been a loyal fan of salvatore's. i have, in fact read every book of the drizzt series from the first to the most recent several times, and starless night, i think, is one of the best ones. salvatore places some of our favorite, non-drow characters into the drow's infamous home city. it was a nice change of setting for the reader as well as the characters, especially since i love reading about the extraordinary city of menzoberanzan. i think that drittz acted completely in character in his actions when you consider all that he has been through that led him up to this point. i see no problem with him wanting to sacrifice himself to save his loved ones, when he believs that all he has ever done was brought harm to everyone he cared for. I liked this book because it brought back some old characters from drizzt's childhood, as well as some new ones from the city. and it also put his dearest friend and greatest enemy in a dangerous, yet intriguing situation. as always, salvatore was excellent in his battle scenes and small exepected twists that turn the whole storyline around. I think this is one of the better books to the series,but will always belive that Homeland is the best yet. I agree with most people that the cover art is the worst i have seen, although the most recent books haven't been much better. You would think that someone would know how to draw an elf by now! And as to drittz's age, if you follow his age throughout all of the books, as i have done many times, you will find that he is somewhere between 60 and 70.

My hats of to you R.A., for this excellent sequel to "The Legacy". The mood of the book was quite different from some of Salvatore's previous books, completely imersing the reader in the characters' minds, showing the dispair that they feel from previous events. I would almost venture to say that this book is *too* depressing in the tone it takes. But then again, it only makes it all the more real. As Drizzt ventures back to his homeland, Salvatore shows that he still has the eye for writing evil, portraying the drow to the utmost perfection. Salvatore's character development, as it has been shown in some of his later books(this included), is arguably some of the best in fantasy(possibly contemporary literature, dare I say?). Not just because of the depth he takes his characters into, but the twists he puts on them to make them unique to his stories. The fact that he also shows the development of his characters more often than telling of it truly amazes me. The equal development of his secondary characters such as Jarlaxle and Entreri, portraying them as not so much the antagonists puts an interesting plot twist on this book. Overall, "Starless Night" is a must for any Salvatore fan's library.

I imagined it would be hard to follow up after a book like "the Legacy" but this book (the second in the series) is extremely good. Drizzt runs off to confront his heritage in order to save his companions from future terror and attacks by the dark elves. Little does he know that the dark elves have other plans for the surface dwellers and the legendary Mithril Hall. This book mainly features Drizzt and Cattie-Brie, along with some of the classic drow - some of which have become my favorite characters in the books.

It is amazing finally getting into the underground city of the drow (I have not yet read the "Homeland" books). The inner workings of the city are facinating and unlike anything I had ever imagined. They truely seem to be pure evil (or most of them at least). The political intrigue in this book is exceptional. It is nothing like the politics in a huge epic (like "Song of Ice and Fire") but still pretty good and facinating at face value for a such a small book and a vastly different target audience. This book never let me down and was quite fun and enjoyable to read. My only reservation about this book is that Breunor and Regis are not that involved in the story (they are definately not involved in the main story, and their side plot line is very slim). But Salvatore proves that he doesn't need all of the companions to make a great book, and also proves that he still has a lot of fire under him and some surprises still up his sleave.

As always, the battles are fierce and exciting. Also the assasin (one of my favorites) is back and "integrated" into the drow society. Very interesting watching the strong and powerful get pushed around.

Read this book - this sub series in the Drizzt series is my favorite so far and is filled with more action and adventures than the others I have read.

The R.A Salvatore books for the Drow series is the first books i ever pick up and read. Me not being a reader thought i would never sit a read a book on its entirity, well i was wrong. since the very fist books i just kept reading. Salvatore puts the material in such a vivid way that you get involve in the story and you feel each character and their way of life since i started i read 9 books and working on my ten book. Thats how great the books are i Would recomend to everyone but specially to those people who think they will never read. Last i would like to say i hope that you soon be enjoying the books They're Greatness all aroundLegacy of the Drow Gift Set: The Legacy, Starless Night, Siege of Darkness, and Passage to Dawn (Forgotten Realms: Legacy of the Drow)

I did enjoy this book, it was a nice escape from other, more serious orginal fantasy and of course there was always Drizzt to fall back on. That is really the entire reason I am reading FR to begin with. Because DRIZZT IS THE COOLEST! Even though he is really cliched and the entire world is really cliched, I still love him. Everyone that interacts with him gets boosted up from the dull lives as cliched fantasy characters. It is magic at work.

However, this book (as well as Legacy) is pushing my resolve to want to read these books.

CHARACTERS:

Well what can you say, Drizzt still rocks and he does go through character development, something that really surprised me. His 1st person narratives really are a nice touch. Catti-brie was somewhat cool and not as annoying as she can be. The whole Artemis thing about him living was really cheap and was a bad short-cut that should not have been taken. However Jarxele (sp?) was defiently the best described character and a whole reason to read this quartet.

My major beef was with the drow. Before reading this book I had read some other reviews complaining about how weak they seemed and etc., but I didn't pay any mind. Boy, was I wrong. I believe that the drow should have been able to rightfully kill of all three of them in a heartbeat, as "evil" and "wicked" as they are. It was so annoying to have them "surprised" at how tough a fighter Catti-brie is (which she isn't really) and how cunning and fast and strong and brillant and godly Drizzt is. I just wanted to the trio really get sliced up and more importantly CARE!!!

*SPOILERS*

That was another thing that bothered me. After Drizzt went this horrible torture, he is back up on his feet and fighting female drows in near-perfect condition. He doesn't make any reference to it ever again. I have read other books where a torture session has changed the entire character, but Drizzt doesn't really care. Completely ridiculus.

PLOT:

Herein lies the major flaws of the story. Everything was too damn easy for the motly trio. Way too easy. *SPOILERS* It seems whenever there is any kind of challenge (like Catti-brie seeing the dark or tracking Drizzt) RAS thinks up this wonderful little item that instantly takes it away. The list is ridiculus, the Cat's Eyes, the healing dagger, the locket, the ruby pendant, the spider mask, the other mask that changes ones shape, the magic healing potions, the list goes on.

*SPOILERS CONT.*

AND WHAT IS WITH HEARTSEEKER???!!! I was so irratated at that stupid bow and arrow. I swear it is like a gun. RAS is bringing a freakin' gun into fantasy, because NO ONE can outdistance, outmanufer that thing. Having Catti-brie use that thing (it doesn't even run out of arrows!!!) makes her so much more powerful then she really is. It is cheating, just plain cheating and shouldn't be tolerated.

Those were my major problems with the plot. The actual plotline (with Drizzt leaving and such) wasn't so bad, except for all the cheating using magic items.

CONCLUSION:

Well, if you have read all the Drizzt books up to this point, nothing I say will stop you now. All I want to say is that if you are a lover of un-cliched orginally work then you will be very annoyed. In general I have found that RAS's drow society is quite orginal, very interesting. But not really in this book. So read ahead, you probably will. I just warned you.

Starless Night, book 8 chronologically in the Drizzt series, shows the main characters still suffering from the death of one of their own in the previous book. Because of this guilt, Drizzt ventures back to the underground world of Menzoberranzan, to determine the true drow threat himself. Catti-brie follows, once she finds that he has slipped out on his own.

I thoroughly enjoyed the character development of Jarlaxle, the mercenary drow, and it was great to see a small glimpse of strong Belwar again. My only problem with this series is that characters just won't stay dead once killed (or twice killed!), as Artemis Entreri shows up again. Mr. Salvatore keeps the readers guessing that Entreri and perhaps Jarlaxle are not as evil as they seem.

As with the three initial books in the series, the drow homeland is well described, as are the political machinations that keep the drow world in check.

Not as good as the first three (which are classics), but moves the character development forward and brings Jarlaxle, a very interesting character, to the fore.

Definitely GREAT Fantasy epics and my personal favorites, The Dark Elf Trilogy-Homeland, Exile, and Sojourn, as well as The Icewind Dale Trilogy- The Crystal Shard, Streams of Silver, and The Halfling's Gem bring to life the story of the good hearted dark elf ranger Drizzt Do'Urden and his adventures in the magical World of Faerun. Legacy, Starless Night, Siege of Darkness and Passage to Dawn are the continuation of these adventures in a way that you keep coming back for more and more and more... The books are all so incredibly well written that the reader feels that they have been transported to another universe and are actually present among the characters, seeing what they see, feeling what they feel, sensing what they sense. RA Salvatore has truly outdone himself and has presented us with a masterpiece of literature the likes of which we have seen only in JRR Tolkien's work and in authors Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman's Dragonlance Chronicles and Legends trilogies. Duty, honor, bravery, magic, and swordfights are all about. A great trilogy indeed and a "must read" along with RA Salvatore's The Icewind Dale Trilogy! One should seriously start thinking about maybe turning them into movies...

I really enjoyed this book. I think it is one of best books in the Drizzt series rating closely with Homeland and Exile. This novel details Drizzt's return to Menzoberranzan to end the perceived threat that the city has for his friends. The book has many twists and lots of intrigue along with the awesome battle scenes that Salvatore is known for. There was a lot of discussion in the other reviews about this book just following the same old plotlines. I think for the most part this is mostly false. Some of the things that happen in this book are the direct result of great character development. I thought the whole idea of Drizzt returning to Menzoberranzan was ludicrous probably the dumbest thing that Drizzt has ever done. However, I could understand where he was coming from; he was driven by his guilt he carried for the death of his friend Wulfgar.

What I liked best...beyond the great battle scenes was probably the development of the villains in this book. Artemis Entreri is definitely only a shadow of his former self. He is for the first time is in his life lost. He has lost his confidence and in the presence of the drow feels true fear and even pities himself, not what you expect from the wily assassin. But, beyond Entreri is the new power behind the scenes, Jarlaxle. He is truly the most cunning and intelligent villain I have ever read about. Watching Jarlaxle manipulate the other characters in the book like pawns really gives me chills. I love these characters and can't wait for more.

The only thing, other than the obviously inaccurate cover art, that I disliked about this book was the actions of Catti-brie. For a character that Salvatore always described as wise beyond her years and always able to look inside people and tell them about their biggest flaws, Catti-brie really does some dumb stuff. Yeah she had a part in the ending of the book, but she should have never made the trip. She is always yelling about people for putting themselves in danger for her and not thinking clearly then she goes off and chases after Drizzt. Someone needs to slap the stupid witch to give her a taste of reality or at least quit helping her (meaning Alustriel). Oh well just my point of view.

Anyways, if you have enjoyed the Drizzt series so far this one will not disappoint you. If you haven't read the books before this one...you can probably get by just fine, but you won't truly enjoy it. At least read the Dark Elf Trilogy and The Legacy before this novel.

This set was nicely packaged, make sure you read your Drizzt in order, there are a good number of posts on Amazon for this, as Salvatore consistently refers back to his previous works in the stories. So my high recommendation is to read these in order. This is a good series, Passage to Dawn is awesome, but I recommend reading Claric Quintet before reading Passage to Dawn.

As usual, excitment and intense action dominate this installment in the Legend of Drizzt. As Drizzt and Cattie-Brie journey to the city of dark elves, they face impossible odds time and again. Without unexpected help from old enemies, the friends would be doomed to a gruesome death at the feet of Lloth. A nice change of scenery from the past few books is found here, with nearly the whole book taking place in the Underdark. The characters continue to be brilliantly developed, particulary Jarlaxle and Entreri, and the overall plot of the series is progressed, with some big events in the making.

If you've enjoyed the other Drizzt books, you'll enjoy this one too. I'd say it is one of the best I've read. Looking forward to reading the rest of Legacy of the Drow.