Starless Night (Forgotten Realms: Legacy of the Drow, Book 2) (Paperback)

~ (Author) "The mercenary leaned against the pillar anchoring the wide stairway of Tier Breche, on the northern side of the great cavern that housed Menzoberranzan, the..." (more)
Key Phrases: burrow warden, spider mask, surprised drow, Matron Baenre, Mithril Hall, Drizzt Do'Urden (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Starless Night is part of the continuing "Forgotten Realms" saga, which includes the author's best seller, The Legacy (Random Audio, 1992). Still shaken by the death of their comrade, Wolfgar, the companions, Regis, Brunor, Catibri, and Drizzt, mourn in their own ways. For Drizzt, however, sorrow turns to vengeance. Drizzt decides that he must return to the Underdark city of Menzoberranzan and see for himself that the drow do not again spread their evil on the surface world. Much like a fly who is caught in a spider's invisible web, Drizzt, too, finds himself entangled in events that he cannot control. Starless Night is good sword-and-sorcery fare and keeps a lively pace throughout. Narrator Simon Jones offers a solid performance that is occasionally marred by hokey sound effects. Those who are Dungeons and Dragons players will appreciate seeing the genre come to life. Recommended for "gamers" and listeners interested in fantasy.
- Adam Paul Hunt, "California Bicyclist," San Francisco
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

Starless Night

I can find no answers in Mithril Hall . . . The apparent serenity of Drizzt Do'Urden, the brooding quiet, will show me nothing of the future designs of the drow. Yet, for the sake of my friends, I must know those dark intentions. And so I fear that there remains only one place for me to look . . . .

The Underdark. A place of brooding darkness, where no shadows exist, and where Drizzt Do'Urden does not wish to go. The noble dark elf must return there, though, must go back to find his friends in the gnome city of Blingdenstone, and on to Menzoberranzan, the city of drow. Only then can Drizzt discern what perils might reach out from that dark place to threaten his friends in Mithril Hall.

He finds allies where he least expects them and enemies he thought long gone. His scimitars slash at monsters too evil to reside under the sunlight of the surface world, while his inner strength wrestles with the tumult of emotions assaulting the noble drow when he looks once more on his dreaded homeland. All the while Drizzt must fend off the weight of guilt he carries for a dear friend lost to him forever.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 331 pages
• Publisher: Wizards of the Coast; 4th printing edition (August 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560768800
• ISBN-13: 978-1560768807
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (59 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #736,926 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A change in pace, August 17, 1999

By	angelis_90 "angelis" (Alabama) - See all my reviews

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.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars R.A ceases to amaze..., February 13, 1999

By	[e-mail] (Kentucky, USA) - See all my reviews

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.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intrigue, great characters - Do not miss this book!, July 1, 2004

By	J. Stoner "Plants and Books" (Parkville, MO United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.