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41 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
As Salvatore's readers mature, so should the storylines, December 29, 2003
To summarize my review before I get into it: R.A. Salvatore's Drizzt-books have evolved into Saturday morning cartoons rather than staying as the Tolkein-esque stories they first started out to be.I have been a Salvatore-Drizzt-book reader ever since 1990 when I read The Crystal Shard. I have read every Drizzt-book since then, but with this last book I have decided to give up the series until some drastic changes are made. Instead of an exhaustive review of this book, I'll just point to 6 ways as to how this entire series is on its death-bed. Salvatore can cure these maladies by listening to the following: 1.) DRIZZT AND HIS FRIENDS HAVE BECOME SATURDAY MORNING CARTOON CHARACTERS - In cartoons the main characters never die, they are invincible, they are unflawed. In The Drizzt books, no main character can ever die. They fight hundreds and hundreds of "bad guys," only to score perfect victories each time. If it seems that one of the main character has died, or will, it's only a red herring that sets you up for that character to inevitably "save the day." 2.) DRIZZT'S ENEMIES HAVE TURNED INTO THE "VILLAIN OF THE WEEK VARIETIES" - In cartoons, the heros are usually pitted by a different villian each week. The villians are rarely fleshed-out, and they're just around for the purpose of getting killed by Drizzt and Co. If a villian is fleshed-out, Salvatore becomes attached and cannot kill him, only send him away (Artemis Entreri, Jarlaxle, etc). 3.) SUPPORTING CHARACTERS ARE LIKE THE "YOMAN" CHARACTER FROM STAR TREK - Remember in Star Trek how Captain Kirk would beam down to a planet with some unnamed officer, and inevitably, the unnamed officer would die while Kirk would be unharmed? Okay, now substitute "Captain Kirk" with "Drizzt" and you have Salvatore's new books. A seasoned reader knows that when a character is introduced, he's not likely to be a permanent fixture. 4.) YOU CAN'T GO 2 PAGES WITHOUT BEING REMINDED THAT DRIZZT & CO. ARE THE TOUGHEST, BADDEST CHARACTERS IN THE WORLD - It's not that you see this through their actions, but Salvatore spells it out for you before every fight. Hypothetical example: "The orcs were heavily armed and outnumbered the weakened drow twenty five to one. But this was Drizzt Do-Urden, and he was no ordinary drow!" Please ... 5.) SALVATORE'S EDITORS NEED TO BACK OFF OF HIM AND LET HIM WRITE - if you've noticed in the past several books, Salvatore paces the story nicely, then has to suddenly end the story because the editors limit the number of pages he can have. When you get 4/5s the way through it, you think "wow, I'm almost finished, and there's so much left! Hell, (enter character's name) isn't even within a 10-day ride from the others?!" ANSWER: Robillard the mage shows up and magically teleports the character wherever they need to go. 6.) THE FIGHT SCENES ARE A BIT TOO DETAILED - Everyone knows Drizzt is a bad mutha-sucka, but when Salvatore gets carried away and writes, "Drizzt then shifted his balance to the right and pivoted low with a perfect center of gravity, slicing his left scimitar right, then feinting back, swinging his left scimitar in a downward arc, pulling back, then upward pivoting to his right, bringing his swords at a downward V-angle, parrying each blow, then rolling to his left, followed by an inverted cone flip to the front, slicing diagnally with his left right-ended scimitar...." I just find myself skimming paragraphs. MY SUGGESTION FOR SALVATORE & DRIZZT:
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Set the next series some 100 years into the future. Drizzt, as an elf, will continue to live for several more centuries. Cattie-Brie, Wulfgar, Regis and Bruenor will not. Go ahead and jump forward and write the novel that you wanted to with THE LONE DROW. It's time for Drizzt to move on. I think Salvatore knows that. He toys with the ideas of Drizzt and Cattie-brie's grim future, but I don't think he has the nerve to actually kill anyone off. So just jump to the future and make it happen. And get rid of those annoying dwarf brothers! They are the Jar Jar Binks of the Drizzt world. I would welcome any feedback from Salvatore fans. I still am one, but I feel like I'm watching a good thing go down the tubes. Be critical, people. Don't just throw praise at a book because teh main character is cool and has potential. I can tell by the writing style of the majority of these reviewers that they are somewhere between 10-16 years old. That's how old I was when I read The Crystal Shard. I want to feel the same way about these new books as I did when I was that age reading the early adventures. I've matured, so now must the Drizzt storyline.
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by R. A. Salvatore
by R. A. Salvatore
by R. A. Salvatore
by R. A. Salvatore
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