Betwixt Two Worlds

by R.A. Salvatore, Victor Bevine (Narrator)

2 hours and 58 minutes

A sweeping adventure of the Forgotten Realms to mark the 50th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons, written by New York Times best-selling author R.A. Salvatore.

When Drizzt Do’Urden first entered Icewind Dale in 1347, he found a place quite unlike anywhere he had ever known, a land of freezing winds and ferocious monsters, of dramatic vistas and unrelenting challenges. Most of all, though, he found a land populated by folk who knew all too well the price of a misstep, whether walking into a yeti den or trusting a stranger.

Making his way in those early days was no easy task, but Drizzt would find focus and joy in watching the antics of a girl and a bunch of dwarfs trying to keep her from getting herself killed. A girl who would become his friend, who would become a woman, who would become his wife.

When Breezy Do’Urden, the daughter of that marriage, enters Icewind Dale more than 150 years later, she finds a land no more tamed. And while her father’s reputation has mostly smoothed the way for her among the ever-suspicious people, she carries her own concerns, confusion, and a trauma realized in the difficult journey through the Spine of the Word Mountain.

She also carries the blood on her hands.

Genres: Fantasy, Audiobook, Forgotten Realms, High Fantasy, Fiction

3 pages, Audible Audio

Published October 24, 2024

About the author

As one of the fantasy genre’s most successful authors, R.A. Salvatore enjoys an ever-expanding and tremendously loyal following. His books regularly appear on The New York Times best-seller lists and have sold more than 10,000,000 copies. Salvatore’s original hardcover, The Two Swords, Book III of The Hunter’s Blade Trilogy (October 2004) debuted at # 1 on The Wall Street Journal best-seller list and at # 4 on The New York Times best-seller list. His books have been translated into numerous foreign languages including German, Italian, Finnish, Greek, Hungarian, Turkish, Croatian, Bulgarian, Yiddish, Spanish, Russian, Polish, Portuguese, Czech, and French.

Salvatore’s first published novel, The Crystal Shard from TSR in 1988, became the first volume of the acclaimed Icewind Dale Trilogy and introduced an enormously popular character, the dark elf Drizzt Do’Urden. Since that time, Salvatore has published numerous novels for each of his signature multi-volume series including The Dark Elf Trilogy, Paths of Darkness, The Hunter’s Blades Trilogy, and The Cleric Quintet.

His love affair with fantasy, and with literature in general, began during his sophomore year of college when he was given a copy of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings as a Christmas gift. He promptly changed his major from computerscience to journalism. He received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Communications from Fitchburg State College in 1981, then returned for the degree he always cherished, the Bachelor of Arts in English. He began writing seriously in 1982, penning the manuscript that would become Echoes of the Fourth Magic. Salvatore held many jobs during those first years as a writer, finally settling in (much to our delight) to write full time in 1990.

The R.A. Salvatore Collection has been established at his alma mater, Fitchburg State College in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, containing the writer’s letters, manuscripts, and other professional papers. He is in good company, as The Salvatore Collection is situated alongside The Robert Cormier Library, which celebrates the writing career of the co-alum and esteemed author of young adult books.

Salvatore is an active member of his community and is on the board of trustees at the local library in Leominster, Massachusetts. He has participated in several American Library Association regional conferences, giving talks on themes including “Adventure fantasy” and “Why young adults read fantasy.” Salvatore himself enjoys a broad range of literary writers including James Joyce, Mark Twain, Geoffrey Chaucer, Shakespeare, Dante, and Sartre. He counts among his favorite genre literary influences Ian Fleming, Arthur Conan Doyle, Fritz Leiber, and of course, J.R.R. Tolkien.

Born in 1959, Salvatore is a native of Massachusetts and resides there with his wife Diane, and their three children, Bryan, Geno, and Caitlin. The family pets include three Japanese Chins, Oliver, Artemis and Ivan, and four cats including Guenhwyvar.

When he isn't writing, Salvatore chases after his three Japanese Chins, takes long walks, hits the gym, and coaches/plays on a fun-league softball team that includes most of his family. His gaming group still meets on Sundays to play.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/rasalv...

Reviews

[Connor French · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok, so I did like this despite the rating. It’s our first glimpse of Breezy as an actual character, and it’s a brief one. I am very excited about a potential spin-off series with her taking the focus. The reason I gave it such a poor rating is that it is an Audible exclusive, and yet it was very poorly done. Many times, they did that thing where the narrator comes back and re-records a phrase, I assume because it didn’t edit well, but their voice is a little different, or in this case, a lot different. Victor Bavine is excellent as a narrator IMO, and I love that he has been consistent with narrating these books, but he needed some more time on this one. The plot isn’t anything crazy; it’s genuinely just a random D&D encounter where we get to see what class she is and how the companions are a bit overprotective.

[Adam Coekin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although I am a fan of Dungeons and Dragons, I still found myself a little lost at times with this. Not a great jumping on point as there’s a lot of lore, this is most likely explained in more detail in other stories, but unfortunately it doesn’t go into much detail here. The overall story wasn’t very thrilling and the narrator was not great, I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had read it myself or if the narrator had a bit more enthusiasm. I have read other books inspired by Dungeons and Dragons, and really enjoyed them. Sadly this didn’t quite cut it for me, as I was hoping for a bit more excitement given the books setting.

[Silas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a long-time fan of this book series. I have seen some other reviews mark this book down for not being a good place to come in cold. I'm personally not aware of any reason why one would think it would be, but understand that I know all of these characters to start with. The book has two parts, a flashback adventure to Drizzt's early adventures in Icewind Dale, and a more current one focusing more on Breezy (who is now becoming more of a real character of her own, rather than just a child like in some previous books), and the ways in which those experiences of a young character compare and contrast. They also seem to be introducing an elven character I don't seem to recall (though I did read the Icewind Dale books some time ago). I expect she will be important in future books. The Drizzt section has a very different vibe from the newer books, because while he is capable, the scale of that is much smaller. It showcases a yeti hunt and some of the ways that other local groups viewed him warily as a lone drow, but accepted him in part because of his actions. Breezy's story is quite different, with a longing for adventure after being given a great deal from her powerful parents. There are a few fight scenes, despite the short length, and they are rendered in the usual detail, featuring old favorites. Breezy is shaping up to be something of a monk/wizard multiclass sort of character, and I can see some potential for fun action writing from that when she is a bit more active in later books. There were also some interesting character moments for several characters dealing along the way. If you have enjoyed these characters before, I expect you will continue to enjoy this, despite its brevity. If you don't know who they are... this isn't awful, and does give you the basics for a lot of the characters, but isn't entirely beginner-friendly, either. I'm glad I picked it up, to get to know a new character or two, since they are all likely to show up at some point in the future (like they did with the comic books, short stories, and that one other audiobook).

[Gilbert Stack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Drizzt Do’Urdan has become a classic character of fantasy. Grounded in the Dungeons and Dragons game system, Salvatore has been writing stories about Drizzt's exploits for decades. He is a dark elf who was inexplicably disgusted by his people's extraordinarily evil ways and decided to abandon them to seek a path not built on deceit and treachery. His choice was made more difficult by the intense suspicion that the other races had toward the dark elves—who, to be fair, are really, really bad.

This novella explores two sets of choices—one set made by Drizzt as he decides to carve out a new and better life for himself. The other, decades later, made by his daughter who also faces difficult choices regarding her future. It's a fun story for those familiar with the characters, but I don't think it's a great jumping in point for those not familiar with other books in the series.

[Marty Solotki · Rating 3 out of 5]

My introduction to Drizzt was book 2 of the original Crystal Shard trilogy; and despite not having read the first, the book was set up so that you could jump in and hit the ground running. This story does not do that. The first half is like “scenes from last season” review of Drizzt when he first arrived in Icewind Dale, and the second half is us being introduced to his petulant teenage daughter.

The battles are great and there’s some interesting plot points, but then it just ends abruptly. Also the editing by Audible was extremely poor, exposing Victor Bevine and making him sound like a weak narrator…which he is it. Not the best Drizzt tale, but that’s obviously a high bar to keep hitting.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reviewed as a first timer to the series due to it being free on audible, also having not read the summary before listening.

A short story of two halves loosely connected. The time jump is not clearly laid out until we are reintroduced to an older version of Drizzt as a parent.

Rapidly and only briefly introduced to a host of side characters with little description. Similarly the action lacked depth beyond just what happened.

[Bain Lindeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

While this audiobook was really short, I thought it was a wonderful introduction to these characters and their world.

I have been wanting to get into these books, and this felt like a perfect taste to leave me wanting more.

I really enjoyed the descriptions of battle and the interactions between characters. I can’t wait to read more from this world!

[Tyler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Victor Bevine does not do a great job of narrating this, in my opinion. I think I would have liked this more if I had read it. Still it only being about 3 hours made it an easy listen. Worth a listen for anyone who's a fan of Legend of Drizzt.

[J. Griff · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great audiobook containing 2 stories: 1st one is a tale of Drizzt early on during his first months living in Icewind Dale & the 2nd a tale of Drizzt's daughter, now a teenager. Definitely worth listening.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed these stories. Great way to tie the two distant worlds together. More stories of Drizzt in Icewind Dale are great. The narration was decent but I'd rather have read this in print, and making it an Audible exclusive was fairly annoying.

[Justin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't really like it that much, it was hard to get into and it kept skipping to different perspectives and was a little confusing to follow. Even the overall story didn't really keep me that interested.

[Prone to Crushes on Boys in Books · Rating 2 out of 5]

I completely agree with another reviewer... this is not a good starting point if you are unfamiliar with the world and characters. It's a very short listen, but unfortunately, I was lost for half the story.

[Sherry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Any chance I get to spend time with Drizzt and the Companions of the Hall is time very well spent! Getting to know his daughter, Breezy, is fun as well as she is the perfect combination of him and her mother. So much fun!

[Jo Forresten · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kjedelig

[Atleb]

Fun lightweight celebration of DnD and Drizt, reminder both of why was fun to read early books and why stopped

[The Book Eclectic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short and sweet. Mostly a battle, but it's nice to be in Drizzt's world again.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25

[SpiritualKungFu · Rating 2 out of 5]

didn't interest me

[Wren · Rating 2 out of 5]

Three hours of nothing happening. Also I'm not buying Jarlaxle being a "listen to your parents, you'll understand when you're older" uncle, sorry lmao
1.5 stars rounded up because it at least wasn't badly written.

[HamsterGod · Rating 5 out of 5]

hehe uncle Jax