Customer Reviews

The Two Swords: The Hunter's Blades Trilogy, Book III

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(15)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

'The Two Swords' is the third volume of the 'Hunter's Blade Trilogy.' Interestingly enough, R.A. Salvatore decided not to resolve most of the plot lines started in the first two novels of this trilogy. The focus of the novel is how Drizzt will reunite with his friends, whom he believes dead, and how his friends are struggling to deal with the massive orc presence outside the gates of Mithral Hall.

The only major plot line to reach a conclusion in this novel is that of what Drizzt will do about Cattie-Brie. There has been a bit of a love triangle between these two characters and Wulfgar since early on in the series. Finally, Drizzt makes his decision. Just when it appears resolved, events in Wulfgar's world cloud the picture. Any more details than that will spoil the story.

Other than that, the novel fails to resolve the rest of the major plot lines, and instead resolves a few more minor ones. Drizzt and the surface elf Inovindil bring their quest for the captured pegasus to a conclusion. A few more characters meet their demise in this novel. However, none of them were really major characters in the trilogy.

Ultimately, the novel keeps open the major plot lines for future novels, and introduces a few more. For instance, anxious to read about how the heros deal with Obould? Although there are confrontations, nothing is resolved here. Same for the presence of the Orcs outside Mithral Hall.

This novel ends with essentially the introduction to the next novel or trilogy in the series. I did find that irritating. While I don't mind authors setting up future novels or trilogies in their current trilogy, it seemed a bit odd to not conclude this trilogy within the trilogy. There may not be a conclusion to this trilogy in the next few novels either because Salvatore has already introduced new plot lines that promise to shape the next novel or two.

All this being said, I still enjoyed the book. There are plenty of detailed and expertly woven fight scenes. Salvatore seems to be the master of dark elves and dwarves and has created a very identifiable species stereotype for each. Salvatore's characters are classics, if not a bit invincible. If the reader had a dime it appeared one of the five major characters received a fatal blow, then nobody would have to buy his books. Still, they are familiar, unique, and occassionally imitated but never really duplciated. Fans of the Drizzt series will enjoy this book, but the one they'll really be looking forward to will be coming a bit farther down the line.

Grade: 4 stars.

Well, as indicated by the other reviewers, despite this being book three of the trilogy, the end is very free of resolutions. Rather, more avenues are opened up and not addressed.

Drizzt and Innovindil continue their efforts to fight the orc legions, with Drizzt and Obould the orc-king finally meeting in combat. However, Salvatore changes gears slightly and makes this enemy beyond Drizzt's normal abilities. Salvatore does, however, make no secret of getting to Drizzt the tools needed for the job. While the battles show some of Salvatore's old flair, the inability of Drizzt the Invincible to defeat this blessed orc grates against me, especially given the inner rage Drizzt feels for this orc having killed (so Drizzt believes) his closest companions.

The nonexistent love quadrangle between Catti-Brie, Wulfgar, Drizzt and Delly Curtie is played too far, as well as some cliched use of a newly-childless mother in her grief, to move this story along. It almost seemed like the cast might have been too large, and some of the chaff needed to be separated from the grain. Suffice to say that a number of consistent supporting characters do not survive this book intact, though the primary players of the Drizzt series come through for the most part. There is also still some notable lack of appreciation from the Nesmeans despite the efforts of those from Mithral Hall to aid them, selflessly.

The end of this novel, though, leaves nothing finished. A new quest is planned, Wulfgar must travel down the river to seek a lost child, Catti-brie and Drizzt finally get to business, the orcs are still holding sway over the northland and the surface region of Mithral Hall, the humans are surprisingly willing to let the orcs stay put and dig in, there is new cooperation among Dwarven nations, and there is still strife between the frost giants and the orcs. But most of that was true at the end of the second book. While the writing of this story was fine, and perhaps the best in this trilogy, the necessity of flipping back and forth between so many disparate storylines seemed to give short shrift to them all. Yes there are clever and well-written fight scenes. Yes, there is sword and sorcery goodness. Yes there is stupidity and sacrifice. But there is no resolution. I think that loyal readers would not have minded wrapping up some of the many loose ends before starting a new series, we still would be willing to buy it. But leaving so much hanging, for a year at least, is really beneath a good author, in my opinion.

I looked over some of the reviews here and I was truly shocked. I understand that everyone has his or her own tastes and opinions, but R. A. Salvatore is a truly talented writer. So many times, while reading "The Two Swords", I caught myself reacting verbally as the story unfolded. From ooos and ahs to mimicking Pikel's "uh oh" or "hee hee hee". The story did take on a different edge that I found very refreshing, but not so drastic as to alter the storyline. I think that perhaps some are overlooking the message. The ending to the book couldn't have been more perfect! The companions know who they are and where they belong. The road to adventure lies before them... always. They each learned more about themselves and each other. King Obould is a villain with a vision. In some ways, I thought he was similar to Drizzt when he first wandered out of the Underdark. I was thrilled with the way in which R. A. Salvatore handled the end of his story as well. It was a solution to an impossible battle that everyone (for now) has to live with. Would you rather that Drizzt settle every problem at the end of his blades? Even when it isn't something that's even feasible? I feel that I have grown with the characters over the years and I have come to know them as I would know a friend. So seeing the changes and growth and reading about the near death experiences keep me spellbound, NOT disappointed! Through the years we saw Wulfgar escape the bonds of hell and we walked with him during his turmoil till he found himself once more. Catti-Brie is no longer the confused teen, caught between her emotions and the same could be said for Drizzt. We learned and grew through their experiences and Drizzt's reflections and, in many ways, perhaps became better people ourselves. R. A. Salvatore has been a mentor, a guide, an entertainer, and a cherished friend all through his tales. I personally anxiously await a movie on the silver screen!

I can't believe the number of people that are actually COMPLAINING that some of the main characters haven't died off! I for one, cannot imagine enjoying these books nearly as much with Bruenor, Regis, Wulfar, Drizzt, or Cattie Brie dying. This is, after all a fantasy book, and I believe that RA Salvatore has been able to create enough suspense regarding the fate of the characters without having to resort to killing them off for the sake of killing them off simply because they have "been around so long." That is really what it comes down to for those that have called for the deaths of these characters: It has been a long time, so they MUST die.

I found this series to be absolutely compelling. In fact, I read the whole trilogy in less than a week. The only real problem that I had with this trilogy was the fact that the Obould situation was not resolved. I thought it would be much better had Obould died, but maybe the storyline could have turned to the succession of Obould and how the orc nation may have had a series of orc's vying for ultimate supremacy and the effect that it has on the area surrounding the northland. Tribes could be in fighting as well as attacking nearby lands in order to achieve ultimate supremacy over the lands and the orc tribes.

I thought Wulfgar's wife brought little to the story line, and although I did not like the genesis of her character from supporting wife to one that ultimately betrays wulfgar in such a short time to be a bit stretched, I believe that she brought little to the narrative line.

All in all, this was a fantastic series, with many twists and turns and some real suspense. The more I read it, the more interested I became in dwarves and dwarven culture. I actually find dwarves to be the most interesting of all the races that populate the forgotten realms.
Again, I repeat, these are fantasy books, and I read them because I care about the main characters. If even one of them dies, I think it brings the whole series down with it.

Kudos to RA Smith, the best ADD fantasy writer in the world.

Unlike some other reviewers, I'll say the first 2 books in this trilogy were much better than the previous series, so I was very excited about this book.

Big let down. I hope you didn't expect anything big to happen or anything. I hope you didn't become interested in any of the new characters like Nanfoodle or the dwarves who basically vanish from this book. I hope you didn't see into any of the foreshadowing about the good Drow goddess that's in FR 3.5 (Elliastrae sp?).

It's just pretty bad. Everything seems rushed, characters aren't fleshed out at all. The only interesting part comes TOTALLY out of nowhere and has nothing to do with the previous 2 books. (Khazad'hea's adventure).

I kind of wonder if Salvatore wishes he could just let Drizzt go.

The epilouge lays the groundwork for the next series though. Let's all hope Salvatore finds some inspiration between now and then.

There are a few spoilers in this review but it is nothing that you would not have figured out from the other reviews of the Hardcover edition. However, I will mark any paragraph with spoilers if it has any.

Most of what has been written about the book in the Hardcover edition is pretty much true. On one hand, you do have some character growth in the form of Buenor actually acting somewhat like a king than in previous books. Regis, for the few times he actually appears, is a lot more calm and settled than he was when he first appeared.

However, most of it is the same old, same old. Drizzt is still engaged in a lot of navel gazing when he isn't chewing through the enemy as an unstoppable force. Catti Brie is moving back towards her usual "Which one do I love?" persona. Wulfgar....Well, he twirls a hammer a lot.

[Spoilers]

A few secondary characters die without much comment, chief among them is Dellie. Her death is long expected as, after playing her part in Wulfgar's redemption, it is as if R.A. Salvadore had no idea what to do with her. Wulfgar's almost complete lack of reaction to her death would be callous if it were not representative of how little she was actually developed.

[End spoilers.]

In the end, we are left with nothing much having changed from the end of the second book and that might be the most intriguing development of all. One of the reasons that I don't read much in the way of Forgotten Realms books is that they are always pretty much the same. A great evil arises, heroes band together, evil loses a god/kingdom/a whole mess of wizards (with the attendant loss of henchmen), and that's that. In fact, back in college, I commented that, given Evil's track record, how noone with a survival instinct would become evil in this world.

With this book, evil, for once, has not been neatly defeated. Obould's kingdom is still going strong at the end of the books. If the authors of the Forgotten Realms novels really wanted to write something new and different, they would incorporate this into their novels and not just as an excuse to have orcs to bash. Instead, have the leaders have to gradually deal with the kingdom. Perhaps have Obould become a civilizing influence (as he already has to a degree). Examples abound as to how this could be written ranging from the Zentraedi Control Zone from the Robotech Universe to the very real world example of Israel being surrounded by the various Arabic nations. Introduce some shades of grey into the situation (If Obould's orcs do stop and actually settle the land to build their own life, is it really "good" to slaughter them?).

While nothing new was really written in this trilogy, there is potential for a new and fresh perspective to be brought to the world of Forgotten Realms than the usual "same old..." that has plagued these books for years.

Finally united by their god-king Obould, the Orcs stand at the gates to Mithral Hall--the great Dwarf kingdom and mining center. But when his initial attack falters, Obould pulls back--he'd rather defend the world's first Orc kingdom than waste his resources attacking the well-prepared and heavily trapped Dwarf caves. With his giant, dark-elf, and troll 'allies' repeatedly proving to be undependable, Obould knows that hanging onto what he has already conquered will be challenge enough.

Renegade dark-elf, Drizzt Do'Urden, falsely believing that his friends and allies have all been killed by Obould, joins with an elf to rescue a pegasus, then makes single-handed war on the orcs. He knows that if he can somehow kill Obould, the orcs will shatter--as they have shattered so many times before. What he doesn't count on, though, is that Obould really does manifest the Orc-god--and killing a god is a tough challenge, even for a dark-elf.

Author R. A. Salvatore delivers a mix of heroic action and introspection. Drizzt continues to evolve, slowly learning to leave his drow preconceptions behind him and become a true-elf. Obould is almost a sympathetic hero, holding his people together and helping them build their first kingdom despite attacks by elves, humans, dwarves, and the backstabbing by the ice giants and especially the drow. Salvatore's writing is always professional and smooth--and doesn't falter in THE TWO SWORDS.

Fans of the movements of dwarf armies, clever dwarf traps, and of Drizzt Do'Urden will definitely not want to miss this one. If you aren't already a Salvatore fan, however, you might want to give THE TWO SWORDS a pass. There isn't enough character development or story arc to appeal to those not already deeply involved.

I have to admit to being somewhat strange, in that I love the Dark Elf books, but find Drizzt himself to be a completely unentertaining character. It is the people around him that I find intriguing. Perhaps that is the reason this book is one that I have mixed emotions about. For most of the book, it seemed that R.A. was going to 'right the wrongs' that have plagued the series up to this point - Delly and Colson out of the picture, Wulfgar and Catti-brie together (as they should be), Drizzt and perhaps Innovindil together, etc. At the very rushed feeling end of the book, however, Drizzt and Catti-brie are together and Wulfgar is left all alone following Delly's death and Colson's disappearance. Also, the Orc storyline is completely left up in the air - dramatic changes to the Northern part of the Realms have been made. It will be interesting to see if they follow up on them. Lastly, for Drizzt to be the nigh-invincible fighting machine he has been portrayed as for so long (along the lines of Snake-Eyes in GI Joe, honestly!), to see him struggle against and ultimately fail against the orc Obould was laughable. The redeeming parts of this book? The almost-renewed relationship between Wulfgar and Catti-brie, the excellent characterizations of some occasionally badly named Dwarves, and the fact that the next set of books (which are clearly set up at the end) seem to take the entire group out on the road again - perhaps a return to the great, rollicking adventure feel that the original Icewind Dale trilogy had, but that has been lacking and overshadowed by Drizzt's 'poor pitiful me' routine of the last 6-10 books or so. If you're a fan of the series, it's worth keeping up with the exploits of the crew - otherwise, you may be better served to stick with the current well-written War of the Spider Queen series for your drow 'fix'.

Much has been said of R.A. Salvatore's Forgotten Realms novels in the last few years, and most of it is negative. Are Drizzt and his friends seemingly invulnerable? Yes. Has Salvatore failed to introduce much in the way of interesting new characters? Yes. Are his books generally getting repetitive? Yes. Are they boring?
...well, no.

Most of the fantasy I read is in the Forgotten Realms world. Take that as you will, but Salvatore still wipes the floor with the majority of the Realms writers. Usually Salvatore, Elaine Cunningham, Troy Denning, and Douglas Niles are reliable writers of fun fantasy novels (for those angry readers who want to see a bloodbath in which scores of good-guy characters die, look no further than the Moonshae Trilogy by Douglas "Grim Reaper" Niles). The others range from passable to excruciating. But I know what to expect from Salvatore. I don't read his books to be enlightened - I read them to be entertained, and Salvatore does it again in "The Two Swords."

The story finds Drizzt Do'Urden spending most of his time trying to free a captured pegasus from the bad guys - orcs, trolls, frost giants, but especially King Obould Many-Arrows, a clever orc who appears to have become the avatar of the orc god Gruumsh, and is pretty much invincible. If this sounds like boring stuff for Drizzt, it is - but remember Drizzt is wallowing in self- loathing because he believes all his friends are dead, so he's trying to find something to do besides return to Mithral Hall and face the music (or so he thinks). Plus, he's trying to impress Innovindil, his moon-elf sorta-girlfriend (who has lost her horse! Sounds sort of like the plot of a Barbie comic!). In spite of this, Drizzt finds plenty of time to puree orcs, not to mention (and I don't think I'm spoiling a thing here) fight King Obould.

Innovindil, although not a particularly original elf character, does deliver a cool soliloquy on 'what it is to be an Elf.' Drizzt buys into this and decides that his life doesn't suck so much after all. But most likely the best part of the interaction between these two is Drizzt's response to Innovindil's speech about all the noble reasons why Obould should be killed: "Maybe I just want to kill him."

As for Drizzt's friends, they're imprisoned inside Mithral Hall by about a billion orcs (give or take a few zeros). Bruenor, recently returned from the dead (yeah, I know, keep reading), leads his dwarves in devising all kinds of A-Team like devices to turn orcs into chunky orc salsa. Wulfgar is having serious marital issues with his jealous wife Delly, and Cattie-Brie is torn between wondering what became of Drizzt and flirting with Wulfgar. All fairly typical of Salvatore's subplots in his last few novels.

The story, however, moves along at a fast pace despite all these apparent obstacles- it is really only dragged down by the pathetic Galen Firth and his inability to kill the trolls that want to slaughter his kinsmen from Nesme. Salavatore spends a decent amount of time bringing secondary characters to an unpleasant demise, but he neglects to introduce Galen's face to 20 or so orcish arrows. Too bad the interesting mage Shoudra had to be turned into cat food by Obould in "The Lone Drow;" she would have been a much better character in this book than the loser Galen. Also, the frost giants in the book, though led by the supposedly brilliant chieftain Gerti, serve little purpose besides chucking boulders into unfortunate places.

Honestly, I think most of this book's enjoyability comes from the dwarves. Drizzt put Salvatore on the map, but I think he writes dwarves better than just about anyone. Let me add a caveat by saying the *names* he gives those dwarves are often horrifying (quick, spot the REAL Salvatore dwarf name! *Cordio Muffinhead* *Kragg Weaselface* *Alebrain Forgefarter*), but the dwarves are easily the most likeable characters in the book, mostly for their selflessness, love of life, and the fact that they don't give a... . Ivan and Pikel Bouldershoulder, formerly of Salvatore's lousy Cleric Quintet, are probably the best of the dwarves because their personalities aren't quite so cookie-cutter as those of the others.

Finally, Regis the halfling finds ways to be useful as always, although his role is a bit diminished here and he is more or less on injured reserve for most of the book. I still think Regis, who usually wins with brains vice brawn, is one of Salavatore's best characters. He appears useless but often displays unmatched courage and innovativeness.

Perhaps the most significant thing about this book among Salvatore's novels is that there isn't a happy ending of any sort. Drizzt slugs it out with Obould, and dwarves turn lots of orcs into hash, but Salvatore does a good job impressing upon the reader that Bad Things are happening to the North of Faerun, things that will outlast a novel trilogy or two. Obould, for his part, is a calculating and formidable opponent. Although very evil, his bloodthirstiness is limited by his tact, and exactly what the limits of his power are are not explored in this book. Among Drizzt's enemies, Obould is not as interesting as Artemis Entreri, but he is more dangerous. Expect Obould to be around for awhile.

Unsurprisingly, the book sets up for a sequel or new trilogy, but the good news for weary Salvatore fans is that it looks like he's going to venture into some interesting territory with Bruenor and Drizzt. I never thought Drizzt was done with Ellifain, the elf girl whose life Drizzt one saved only to have her attempt to murder him decades later, and it looks like he's going to try to put those demons to rest. Bruenor seems to be heading off to find some ancient dwarven Moradin-given wisdom that might destroy Obould. I think that road will end with Bruenor's death, so those of you who want to see one or more of Salvatore's main characters buy the farm ought to stay tuned.

Should you read this book if you have enjoyed Salvatore's past novels in the series? Sure! Don't expect, well... *any* loose ends to be tied up, but this is a typical fast-paced, enjoyable book from Mr. Salvatore. If you absolutely hated every Salvatore novel since 'Streams of Silver,' you can skip this one because you'll probably just have an aneurysm. You could instead go read 1500 pages to see if Robert Jordan writes about anything but womens' clothing this time, or maybe even go read some Ed Greenwood if you really want to get mad while reading a Realms novel.

Otherwise, enjoy 'Drizzit's' exploits - and don't feel guilty about it.

Disclaimer:
I really enjoy R. S. Salvatore's writing in general, Drow World/culture, Forgotten Realms, RPG gaming and good character development.

Review:
The book is not a great book by any stretch of the imagination. It is entertaining if you enjoy stories in the Forgotten Realms but you will not get much in the way of plot resolution. Obould takes his war against the humans, dwarves and elves to the next level. He prepares to seige Mithral Hall with support from Frost Giant allies (translate: Stupid artillery). The Seige is successfully forces Clan Battlehammer back into Mithral Hall, breaking down the front door and uniting the three Dwarven kingdoms against the Orc threat. Obould makes the effort to hold the ground he has won to date (I liked the fact that he is not a mindless animal. It is nice to see a villian with some level of reason and pragmatism.)

The story does a bit to help resolve some of the "love triangles" -- if you can say any of the characters have love for each other, not fantasy in lust or high school crushes. The childishness of the relationships is frankly a bit insulting. I really wish the author would go back to developing the characters as he had done when he created Drizzt. For the most part, the characters are two dimensional in a soap opera way...the writing should grow with the maturity of the average reader.

I have come to really enjoy the Dwarven characters(in general). I am looking forward to the next book due to the Dwarven underdark exploration for lost friends/allies. King Bruenor will make for great reading -- he has character and is not politically correct all the time.

Drizz't really needs to get over himself and move on with his life. The book tries to help with that but it is a very slow process facilitated by an interesting Elf character, Innovindil. The lessons learned by Drizz't should have been clear a very long time ago.

It is kind of sad that the author needs the evil, sentient sword, Khazid'hea, to move the plot along. The sword even started to be interesting even though it is painfully obvious in its actions. The characters have become that weak.

Galen Firth is one of the most annoying characters ever created. In the world of Forgotten Realms, he should have been cut down a very long time ago. His annoying factor and stupidity is not quite on bar with Jar Jar Binks of Star Wars fame (the only character that I know of to have an entire audience at a local movie premiere to chant -- 'Die Jar Jar! Die!' at his first appearance on screen). The fact Galen survives is just down right painful when interesting characters like Dragna die needlessly.

I hope that R. A. Salvatore takes time before writing the next book in the series / involving Drizz't. He needs to get his creative juices flowing again. Please focus on developing interesting characters and a solid plot line...the rest will all fall into place. Please do not continue to use the same formula as used in this trilogy.