The Thousand Orcs (Forgotten Realms: The Hunter's Blades Trilogy, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

He is known for being a great author, especially of fantasy. He's especially well-known for the many novels centering around Drizzt and company, and for the novels set in his world of Corona. The Thousand Orcs falls into the former category, dealing with the latest from Drizzt and his companions.

His battle scenes are vivid, but not so weighty as to take away from the story. The characters are realistic and intrigueing, and the "action" in any given part of one of Salvatore's books might be a battle, political subterfuge, a character's emotional conflicts--in short, Salvatore isn't limited to skillful portrayel of battle. He can, and does, include a variety of gripping situations in his works. The Thousand Orcs is no exception, boasting all three of those things and more.

If you're a Salvatore fan, I shouldn't need to tell you to buy this, because you've probably already got it on your wish list. If you aren't, this book is as good a place as any to get started!

Even so, that The Thousand Orcs (the fifteenth full-length novel in roughly as many years to feature characters introduced in the Icewind Dale trilogy!) stands as one of the finest installments in the series is nothing short of breathtaking.

I write this review for the purpose of assuring any follower of the series who doubts that it can possibly go on for much longer that not only is this tale not showing its wear and tear, but, incredibly, taking full advantage of the ground gained (and, more importantly,loose ends tied up!) in Sea of Swords to
begin weaving something very new... at a truly remarkable pace.

This is the tightest, fastest presentation since Starless Night, yet its attempt to cover a broad scope of intrigue, action, and personal relationships is the most ambitious since Siege of Darkness.

The result is a nearly flawless creation that should set the heart of any true fan beating at life-threatening speeds.

What do you know?

We did need another trilogy after all.

As with all of the books in this series, there are great combat action sequences. The gist of the story is that there are numerous orcs and giants uniting in the north to menace the goodly races (human, dwarf, elf). This happens as the companions are returning to Mithral Hall for Bruenor to reclaim his crown. They are diverted from this course to avenge the deaths of those early victims of the orc/giant alliance. This diversion leads the companions into significant danger, with Wulfgar acting as counselor to Catti-Brie at one point. This and the event that precipitated it give some conflict and depth to her character which persists the rest of the novel. Regis continues acting contrary to his early ways, and his inner reasons for this are discussed. Drizzt, meanwhile, is Drizzt, narrating the book through section introductions. He does not play any larger a part than the other characters, though he does shine as per his usual.

There is significant inclusion of previous Salvatore characters, not only those originally from this series, as the Dwarven brothers from the Cleric Quintet appear. New characters are also introduced, on both sides of the conflict. Salvatore manages to weave political intrigue into the mix, again on both sides, to great effect.

The climactic battle of this novel occurs in the defense of a remote village against the evil hordes. This takes a good portion of the end of the novel, but it flies past. Facing insurmountable odds, the companions battle on. Humor even finds its way into the mix before all is done.

As the title of this review indicates, I thought that the book started slow, but this was mostly due to the introductory process I noted earlier. The several segregated storylines are united in the end to a satisfying conclusion. I truly think that this book will appeal to both new and established readers of the series. And trust me, you, like me, will be dismayed that another year will pass before the next book in the series is released.