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Spearwielder's Tale #3
Dragonslayer's Return
After his father dies, Gary Leger, the Dragonslayer, longs to take his wife back with him to Faerie and the friends he had made there years earlier and finds his wish coming true when a cruel king threatens to plunge Faerie into war. Original.
336 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 1, 1995
78 people are currently reading
899 people want to read
About the author
R.A. Salvatore
607 books11.3k followersAs 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...
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...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
February 10, 2015
Third installment of our story. As noted I read the first in the series years ago and had sort of "filed it away" in my memory. I picked it up by accident recently and then completed the series.
This is another good, serviceable fantasy with a "sturdy story". It fills all the blanks and tells us a somewhat familiar but enjoyable tale of a young man (and this time woman) who gets swept in to the Land of Fairy (Faerie).
Having become somewhat of a hero there and being the Dragon Slayer Gary Leger in in many ways less than enchanted (get it ,"enchanted"...oh well) with his mundane life. Longing to go back and wishing to take his wife (his girlfriend in earlier books) when the chance comes he jumps at it.
When he gets there however there are times he has reason to question his decision.
Not a bad book, not a bad series of books. Good escapist fantasy brain candy. Enjoy.
This is another good, serviceable fantasy with a "sturdy story". It fills all the blanks and tells us a somewhat familiar but enjoyable tale of a young man (and this time woman) who gets swept in to the Land of Fairy (Faerie).
Having become somewhat of a hero there and being the Dragon Slayer Gary Leger in in many ways less than enchanted (get it ,"enchanted"...oh well) with his mundane life. Longing to go back and wishing to take his wife (his girlfriend in earlier books) when the chance comes he jumps at it.
When he gets there however there are times he has reason to question his decision.
Not a bad book, not a bad series of books. Good escapist fantasy brain candy. Enjoy.
April 14, 2018
Probably a 2.5 but I'll round up to 3 stars because the characters are so good.
Gary (and also his wife this time) is back in the land of Fairie to don the armor and save the day.
Although I really enjoyed the parts of the book where Gary tells stories about his life and those stories are actually real stories from Bob Salvatore's life...this is obviously a book from Salvatore's early career where he was still figuring out his craft.
Great characters and good plot but I could never get immersed in the book. Something was just 'off' in the writing that didn't pull me in. It's that thing that you get good at with experience that Salvatore just didn't have yet in this book.
Glad I read it.
Glad that the next Salvatore that I am reading was written 15 years after this one because Salvatore is one of my favorite writers and he's really really good now.
Gary (and also his wife this time) is back in the land of Fairie to don the armor and save the day.
Although I really enjoyed the parts of the book where Gary tells stories about his life and those stories are actually real stories from Bob Salvatore's life...this is obviously a book from Salvatore's early career where he was still figuring out his craft.
Great characters and good plot but I could never get immersed in the book. Something was just 'off' in the writing that didn't pull me in. It's that thing that you get good at with experience that Salvatore just didn't have yet in this book.
Glad I read it.
Glad that the next Salvatore that I am reading was written 15 years after this one because Salvatore is one of my favorite writers and he's really really good now.
April 9, 2012
This is actually a joint review for this and the second in the trilogy, the dragon's dagger.
Short Summation
Book Two:
Well, Gary’s an accountant now. Five years after his first trip to Faerie, he’s called back to find that only a couple of weeks have passed on that alternate plane. It’s time to slay the dragon they thought they had banished, but Gary happened to tuck a dagger into his belt in Book One that counted as part of the dragon’s hoard. Thus, the banishment was forfeited.
Book Three:
I will feel bad for no spoilers on that second book, as the title of the third book is spoiler enough. In the trilogy’s completion, Gary goes back to Faerie another four years after his second return, again to find that only a couple of weeks have passed for his other-worldly friends. This time, his wife comes along for the big war and final battles to subdue the witch.
How'd it go?
Man, when Gary’s about to go back and he tries to take his new girlfriend with him, everything inside of me was yelling, no! How male chauvinistic am I? I thought a woman would just muck the whole thing up. I base that assumption on the fact that most of the female characters I’ve read in Salvatore’s work are evil.
Understand that the other Salvatore works I have read were all in the the Dark Elf Trilogy which is all about dark elves—a matriarchal and evil race.
I actually took a moment to cheer when the pixies refused to bring Diane over. I would find out in the third book, when Gary did manage to bring her over, that I liked Diane a lot. Turns out, I like Salvatore’s female “good guys.”
The thing that bothered me the most about the second book was the appearance and death of a blacksmith. I have no idea what the point of that was. He appeared and decided to go along with the group on their mission just after they dropped off this lord dude. Best I can tell, he was there to take up the extra horse and then die so that when Gary's horse died, he had one. It's the only thing I can come up with. And it made me mad because I thought surely he'd do something to make Gary's helmet fit so it'd stop twirling about his head every time he got into a battle. But no. I had to deal with helmet twirling all the way through the entire trilogy.
I finally figured out what this is all about. Action. Action, action, action. The drama gets reduced to a paragraph of, “And after some debate, they convinced the others to see things their way.” My personal preference is to see all that, but I came to realize that I’m probably one of the very, very few of Salvatore’s readers with that preference. Once I conceded to the style, I enjoyed the rollicking read.
Okay, the plots are completely foreseeable, if not totally predictable in the methods toward the conclusions. That didn’t bore me, though, because I never stopped enjoying the group of characters. The way they played off of one another and earned one another’s respect was what kept me reading.
There are a lot of hardcore fantasy readers that’d be upset with Salvatore’s lack of scenery, but the only place it bothered me was in the elfish forest. I just wanted to know if and where the damn elves (sorry, “elfs”) slept, where they ate, and what their queen looked like.
My biggest surprise was in my enjoyment of Diane, Gary’s wife, coming along on the third adventure. She brings a couple of cameras and the polaroids she snaps off see through the illusion that hides the monster that’s parading around as the king. Because of her, we get to see that the king’s not evil—he’s just missing. Still the monster uses the king’s forces to parade over the land, conquering all that oppose him.
My favorite element, or rather it would have been, was the turning of the king’s son, Geldion, to “our” side. That was Diane’s doing, with her pictures and with Geldion’s doubts about his father’s behavior. But most of her work on Geldion in the persuasion department was skipped over with short paragraphs of, “Diane rode beside Geldion and talked with him most of the time.”
The weird thing is, I don’t mind so much. I don’t mind because I know most readers that pick up a Salvatore book are looking for the action—and there is oh so much of that, with battles and skirmishes and whatnot. I don’t mind, also, because I possess something called an imagination and I can put the book down and wonder through how I thought Diane’s talks with Geldion went. I had forgotten how to do that, what with most of the things I read these days laying it all out for me.
Don’t get me wrong, I still love to see that stuff in the things I read, but coming up with how it went for myself in Salvatore’s work makes me feel a little like I get to contribute to the writing of the tale. It’s as if I get to tailor it to me—what I enjoy—as I read. It also means the book sticks with me even while I’m not reading it, as I rethink the way I envisioned one scene or another. I know it's written this way for those that are bored by all this stuff and just want to get to the action, but it works for people like me, too. I just really find that sort of thing cool whether or not the author intended for that to happen, m'kay?
Perhaps it’s not inspiring in the usual sense, but it did give my brain a story to rearrange and ponder. And because it wasn’t my work, I didn’t have to scramble for note-taking utensils when I thought up a good one. I could enjoy it while I held it and then let it slide away, as I knew it was a part of someone else’s world. In a way, I feel as if some great jumbled writing desk in my brain has been cleared off and wiped clean. It’s nice and pretty and all the notes are in neat trays at its sides. Now I can sit and pull out what I need to work on in the order I see fit, instead of having a wild wind blow random sheets in my face. Awesome.
Short Summation
Book Two:
Well, Gary’s an accountant now. Five years after his first trip to Faerie, he’s called back to find that only a couple of weeks have passed on that alternate plane. It’s time to slay the dragon they thought they had banished, but Gary happened to tuck a dagger into his belt in Book One that counted as part of the dragon’s hoard. Thus, the banishment was forfeited.
Book Three:
I will feel bad for no spoilers on that second book, as the title of the third book is spoiler enough. In the trilogy’s completion, Gary goes back to Faerie another four years after his second return, again to find that only a couple of weeks have passed for his other-worldly friends. This time, his wife comes along for the big war and final battles to subdue the witch.
How'd it go?
Man, when Gary’s about to go back and he tries to take his new girlfriend with him, everything inside of me was yelling, no! How male chauvinistic am I? I thought a woman would just muck the whole thing up. I base that assumption on the fact that most of the female characters I’ve read in Salvatore’s work are evil.
Understand that the other Salvatore works I have read were all in the the Dark Elf Trilogy which is all about dark elves—a matriarchal and evil race.
I actually took a moment to cheer when the pixies refused to bring Diane over. I would find out in the third book, when Gary did manage to bring her over, that I liked Diane a lot. Turns out, I like Salvatore’s female “good guys.”
The thing that bothered me the most about the second book was the appearance and death of a blacksmith. I have no idea what the point of that was. He appeared and decided to go along with the group on their mission just after they dropped off this lord dude. Best I can tell, he was there to take up the extra horse and then die so that when Gary's horse died, he had one. It's the only thing I can come up with. And it made me mad because I thought surely he'd do something to make Gary's helmet fit so it'd stop twirling about his head every time he got into a battle. But no. I had to deal with helmet twirling all the way through the entire trilogy.
I finally figured out what this is all about. Action. Action, action, action. The drama gets reduced to a paragraph of, “And after some debate, they convinced the others to see things their way.” My personal preference is to see all that, but I came to realize that I’m probably one of the very, very few of Salvatore’s readers with that preference. Once I conceded to the style, I enjoyed the rollicking read.
Okay, the plots are completely foreseeable, if not totally predictable in the methods toward the conclusions. That didn’t bore me, though, because I never stopped enjoying the group of characters. The way they played off of one another and earned one another’s respect was what kept me reading.
There are a lot of hardcore fantasy readers that’d be upset with Salvatore’s lack of scenery, but the only place it bothered me was in the elfish forest. I just wanted to know if and where the damn elves (sorry, “elfs”) slept, where they ate, and what their queen looked like.
My biggest surprise was in my enjoyment of Diane, Gary’s wife, coming along on the third adventure. She brings a couple of cameras and the polaroids she snaps off see through the illusion that hides the monster that’s parading around as the king. Because of her, we get to see that the king’s not evil—he’s just missing. Still the monster uses the king’s forces to parade over the land, conquering all that oppose him.
My favorite element, or rather it would have been, was the turning of the king’s son, Geldion, to “our” side. That was Diane’s doing, with her pictures and with Geldion’s doubts about his father’s behavior. But most of her work on Geldion in the persuasion department was skipped over with short paragraphs of, “Diane rode beside Geldion and talked with him most of the time.”
The weird thing is, I don’t mind so much. I don’t mind because I know most readers that pick up a Salvatore book are looking for the action—and there is oh so much of that, with battles and skirmishes and whatnot. I don’t mind, also, because I possess something called an imagination and I can put the book down and wonder through how I thought Diane’s talks with Geldion went. I had forgotten how to do that, what with most of the things I read these days laying it all out for me.
Don’t get me wrong, I still love to see that stuff in the things I read, but coming up with how it went for myself in Salvatore’s work makes me feel a little like I get to contribute to the writing of the tale. It’s as if I get to tailor it to me—what I enjoy—as I read. It also means the book sticks with me even while I’m not reading it, as I rethink the way I envisioned one scene or another. I know it's written this way for those that are bored by all this stuff and just want to get to the action, but it works for people like me, too. I just really find that sort of thing cool whether or not the author intended for that to happen, m'kay?
Perhaps it’s not inspiring in the usual sense, but it did give my brain a story to rearrange and ponder. And because it wasn’t my work, I didn’t have to scramble for note-taking utensils when I thought up a good one. I could enjoy it while I held it and then let it slide away, as I knew it was a part of someone else’s world. In a way, I feel as if some great jumbled writing desk in my brain has been cleared off and wiped clean. It’s nice and pretty and all the notes are in neat trays at its sides. Now I can sit and pull out what I need to work on in the order I see fit, instead of having a wild wind blow random sheets in my face. Awesome.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 12, 2025
It felt a little stale for me in comparison to the previous two entries, but I appreciated the very real themes it addressed.
July 8, 2021
I liked this better than the other two. It has a strong start, and the ending is fairly as expected. I did end up feeling the same lost feeling as I neared the end though. Many things occurring just happened to quickly for me.
January 1, 2013
I was a little disappointed, as I have read some of Salvatore's later work, particularly those about the dark elves (Drow). Some of those are excellent, and I expected something similiar from Dragonslayer's Return.
I enjoyed that this book, like most of the books by this author, contain little profanity, no sex, and shared gender themes, where the role of the male/female is not defined by the number of X chromosomes. However, this book was not up to the standards I expected, as it read more like the notes someone playing an aggressive game of Dungeons and Dragons woudl make as they developed their characters, rather than a true building of the characters.
There is obviously a strong influence by Tolkien, especially in the sharing of the Tolkien books across the Faerie lines.
I enjoyed that the wife (Diane) was willing to indulge her husband's idisyncrasy, but also that he was willing to let her decide on part of the journey. I especially liked the introduction to Faerie where he dragged her without her knowledge or consent. (Is that a spoiler? If you think so, don't read on).
I enjoyed that Diane voiced her dissatisfaction at being placed in what she obviously felt was a subservient "female" role, but was later convinced, at least it felt that she was, that the role was due to her lack of knowledge not her gender.
I felt that the overall story was very good, but there was too much hack and slash and not enough characterization to make this a really great read, but overall I enjoyed it.
I enjoyed that this book, like most of the books by this author, contain little profanity, no sex, and shared gender themes, where the role of the male/female is not defined by the number of X chromosomes. However, this book was not up to the standards I expected, as it read more like the notes someone playing an aggressive game of Dungeons and Dragons woudl make as they developed their characters, rather than a true building of the characters.
There is obviously a strong influence by Tolkien, especially in the sharing of the Tolkien books across the Faerie lines.
I enjoyed that the wife (Diane) was willing to indulge her husband's idisyncrasy, but also that he was willing to let her decide on part of the journey. I especially liked the introduction to Faerie where he dragged her without her knowledge or consent. (Is that a spoiler? If you think so, don't read on).
I enjoyed that Diane voiced her dissatisfaction at being placed in what she obviously felt was a subservient "female" role, but was later convinced, at least it felt that she was, that the role was due to her lack of knowledge not her gender.
I felt that the overall story was very good, but there was too much hack and slash and not enough characterization to make this a really great read, but overall I enjoyed it.
January 15, 2017
This is the final installment of RA Salvatore's "Spearwielder's" trilogy. It wraps up the series nicely and resolves some of the inevitable tension faced by the hero, Gary. Although the silliness of the series continues, the characters are very likable and imaginative, and you end up actually caring how it all will end.
Salvatore is good at describing his fantasy world and excels at describing swordplay and battles. If you want to see his best writing, check out his "Legend of Drizzt" series, which is excellent. However, he is less comfortable with the "real world" and there his narrative falls flat, but is good enough to set the stage and create a satisfying resolution.
Salvatore is good at describing his fantasy world and excels at describing swordplay and battles. If you want to see his best writing, check out his "Legend of Drizzt" series, which is excellent. However, he is less comfortable with the "real world" and there his narrative falls flat, but is good enough to set the stage and create a satisfying resolution.
June 5, 2022
Nice Story, Heavy Celtic Influence
So I read this book out of order in the series, first even though its third book. That said throughout there are callbacks to previous books where necessary to explain things, and it really holds up well stand-alone.
The book opens with a prelude where Gary Leger is working through his father's death, and searching for a way to get back to Faerie. To revisit his friends Mickey the leprechaun, Kelsey the elf and Geno Hammerthrower the dwarf.
Its been four years since his last adventure.
Cut to the faerie realm. Those self-same three are dealing with a rogue king Kinnemore, fighting a series of losing battles. They explain some of Gary's previous exploits in terms of how he impacted others and events in the world in a pretty seamless way.
Gary killed the dragon. Gary imprisoned the evil witch Ceridwen. Only Gary could wear the legendary magic armor and wield the legendary magic spear.
Gary continues to press to find a way back to Faerie. He inlists his wife Diane.
Geldion the prince, Kinnemore's son, follows his father's orders even if they become ever more harmful to the populace. Geldion gets recruited by Ceridwen who calls Kinnemore her puppet. Things don't go Ceridwen's way as Kinnemore takes things into his own hands.
Gary and Diane go to England in hopes it will reveal a gateway to Faerie. Eventually Mickey hear's Gary's calls, and after discussions with Kelsey, decides to bring Gary back. Gary drags along Diane, with her camera gear.
Diane takes a picture of Kinnemore and figures out he is actually some other creature covered in illusion. After discussions they figure out that Kinnemore is the Haggis, and must be under the control of Ceridwen. They theorize the real king has been forced into the Haggis's form and home range.
The assemble a party, pursue the faux-haggis, battle him and fail, get a gnome to help build a haggis-containment device, fight the haggis again and capture him, slowly get him to realize he is really Kinnemore (and he reverts to his correct human shape).
Then they have to confront the real haggis and prove he is a false king, forcing him back to his home range and letting the true king take over. There is resolution between Geldion and Kinnemore, the father-son resolution Gary had missed.
Ceridwen summons a vast army of fire newts. The good guys have to divide, Geldion organizing the armies of men to fight the fire newts, while a smaller strike team goes to confront Ceridwen in her Island fortress.
Diane uses her camera gear to see through illusory magics several times at key moments.
Victory and resolution. Gary and Diane decide reluctantly to return to their normal life, despite friendships and Gary's promotion to the king's champion. They want to have kids and aren't sure how that would work in Fairie.
So I read this book out of order in the series, first even though its third book. That said throughout there are callbacks to previous books where necessary to explain things, and it really holds up well stand-alone.
The book opens with a prelude where Gary Leger is working through his father's death, and searching for a way to get back to Faerie. To revisit his friends Mickey the leprechaun, Kelsey the elf and Geno Hammerthrower the dwarf.
Its been four years since his last adventure.
Cut to the faerie realm. Those self-same three are dealing with a rogue king Kinnemore, fighting a series of losing battles. They explain some of Gary's previous exploits in terms of how he impacted others and events in the world in a pretty seamless way.
Gary killed the dragon. Gary imprisoned the evil witch Ceridwen. Only Gary could wear the legendary magic armor and wield the legendary magic spear.
Gary continues to press to find a way back to Faerie. He inlists his wife Diane.
Geldion the prince, Kinnemore's son, follows his father's orders even if they become ever more harmful to the populace. Geldion gets recruited by Ceridwen who calls Kinnemore her puppet. Things don't go Ceridwen's way as Kinnemore takes things into his own hands.
Gary and Diane go to England in hopes it will reveal a gateway to Faerie. Eventually Mickey hear's Gary's calls, and after discussions with Kelsey, decides to bring Gary back. Gary drags along Diane, with her camera gear.
Diane takes a picture of Kinnemore and figures out he is actually some other creature covered in illusion. After discussions they figure out that Kinnemore is the Haggis, and must be under the control of Ceridwen. They theorize the real king has been forced into the Haggis's form and home range.
The assemble a party, pursue the faux-haggis, battle him and fail, get a gnome to help build a haggis-containment device, fight the haggis again and capture him, slowly get him to realize he is really Kinnemore (and he reverts to his correct human shape).
Then they have to confront the real haggis and prove he is a false king, forcing him back to his home range and letting the true king take over. There is resolution between Geldion and Kinnemore, the father-son resolution Gary had missed.
Ceridwen summons a vast army of fire newts. The good guys have to divide, Geldion organizing the armies of men to fight the fire newts, while a smaller strike team goes to confront Ceridwen in her Island fortress.
Diane uses her camera gear to see through illusory magics several times at key moments.
Victory and resolution. Gary and Diane decide reluctantly to return to their normal life, despite friendships and Gary's promotion to the king's champion. They want to have kids and aren't sure how that would work in Fairie.
August 2, 2022
This was, to an extent, better than the first two books, and I might have enjoyed the series more if all three books had been more like this one. Once again a few years have passed for Gary Leger while almost no time at all has passed in Faerie, with that fantasy realm on the brink of war. The king tries to conquer the territory he doesn't already hold in service to his real master, the evil witch Ceridwen. And yet the Faerie heroes are resistant to calling in Gary again, even though he wants to come back.
The big improvement is that when Gary finally does come to Faerie, after a bit more of the book than really necessary, he brings his wife Diane along. He'd tried to bring her in the second book, but didn't succeed, which I found annoying. It's nice that she's actually here this time, and she adjusts to the fantasy world relatively quickly. Conveniently, this time the people from Real Earth were brought over while on vacation, so Diane has cameras and other bits of touristy stuff that she can use to almost magical effect in the other world.
In fact taking a photo proves to be the key to solving the plot of this book, as it reveals that the evil king is actually an imposter. He's a monster who's been swapped with the king, prompting a quest to find the real king and return peace to Faerie. The book doesn't retread things nearly as much as it did last time and in fact the quest narrative takes up only part of the story, as it's sandwiched between two wars. So the plot overall is a bit less cliche and less standard fantasy, and the battle scenes are generally enjoyable. I did find the last section of the book, about the assault on Ceridwen's castle, to be somewhat weak as it's rushed and things don't get permanently resolved, but on some level I was just glad to be done with the series.
There isn't really too much to say about this that I haven't said in previous reviews. Inclusion of Diane aside, the book really is largely more of the same, and while I liked it a little better it doesn't do enough to elevate it. I'm a fan of portal fantasy and I remember being a fan of RA Salvatore when I was younger, but it's safe to say this isn't a shining example of either.
The big improvement is that when Gary finally does come to Faerie, after a bit more of the book than really necessary, he brings his wife Diane along. He'd tried to bring her in the second book, but didn't succeed, which I found annoying. It's nice that she's actually here this time, and she adjusts to the fantasy world relatively quickly. Conveniently, this time the people from Real Earth were brought over while on vacation, so Diane has cameras and other bits of touristy stuff that she can use to almost magical effect in the other world.
In fact taking a photo proves to be the key to solving the plot of this book, as it reveals that the evil king is actually an imposter. He's a monster who's been swapped with the king, prompting a quest to find the real king and return peace to Faerie. The book doesn't retread things nearly as much as it did last time and in fact the quest narrative takes up only part of the story, as it's sandwiched between two wars. So the plot overall is a bit less cliche and less standard fantasy, and the battle scenes are generally enjoyable. I did find the last section of the book, about the assault on Ceridwen's castle, to be somewhat weak as it's rushed and things don't get permanently resolved, but on some level I was just glad to be done with the series.
There isn't really too much to say about this that I haven't said in previous reviews. Inclusion of Diane aside, the book really is largely more of the same, and while I liked it a little better it doesn't do enough to elevate it. I'm a fan of portal fantasy and I remember being a fan of RA Salvatore when I was younger, but it's safe to say this isn't a shining example of either.
December 22, 2017
This book was a little more like the Salvatore I was expecting. While #1 was disappointing and #2 was a modest improvement, this book demonstrated a much polished product and delivered a decent story.
The character list remains effectively the same, with the very positive addition of Gary's wife to the story. This small addition was creatively done and really enhanced how the plot moved along. The annoying folks were far less involved, and the dialog was improved upon enough to make very few cringe-worthy moments occur. That gave me a much more enjoyable reading experience, since I could allow myself to drop into the story and not be critical about some bad lines in the book.
This series is certainly one of the weakest by Salvatore, but it ended on a high note, truly worthy of the 3.5 Stars score to be rounded up. Sadly, one must muddle through the other 2 books to get to this fine ending, but overall it wasn't too bad of a read.
The character list remains effectively the same, with the very positive addition of Gary's wife to the story. This small addition was creatively done and really enhanced how the plot moved along. The annoying folks were far less involved, and the dialog was improved upon enough to make very few cringe-worthy moments occur. That gave me a much more enjoyable reading experience, since I could allow myself to drop into the story and not be critical about some bad lines in the book.
This series is certainly one of the weakest by Salvatore, but it ended on a high note, truly worthy of the 3.5 Stars score to be rounded up. Sadly, one must muddle through the other 2 books to get to this fine ending, but overall it wasn't too bad of a read.
May 10, 2021
Gary's adventures in the land of Fairie come to an end in this story. R.A. wraps up all the character plotlines, sometimes rather quickly, of the primary characters in this series.
While Kelsey and Mickey fight for the forest, Gary pines to return to the land of Fairie. However, urban development has closed off many of the bridges that once existed. He and his wife, Diane, travel to England, and later Scotland, looking for an intact bridge. They find one but are dropped right into the heart of battle. Wearing the armor once again and using the spear of Sir Cedric, Gary helps his friends fend off the attack. Then, the real battles start.
They go off to the Craghs looking for a Haggis. They go to Ceridwyn's home island and fight her as well.
I really enjoyed the series. The battles become more detailed as the story goes on. A great escape from today's world.
While Kelsey and Mickey fight for the forest, Gary pines to return to the land of Fairie. However, urban development has closed off many of the bridges that once existed. He and his wife, Diane, travel to England, and later Scotland, looking for an intact bridge. They find one but are dropped right into the heart of battle. Wearing the armor once again and using the spear of Sir Cedric, Gary helps his friends fend off the attack. Then, the real battles start.
They go off to the Craghs looking for a Haggis. They go to Ceridwyn's home island and fight her as well.
I really enjoyed the series. The battles become more detailed as the story goes on. A great escape from today's world.
June 19, 2019
Creative Fun Adventure
Final book in the Spear Wielder trilogy - and an absolute blast/joyride to read. Mr. Salvatore’s take on the possibility fantasy worlds exist today and how we might deal with this reality has been an enjoyable exploration.
If you are a fan of other R.A. Salvatore media/books - do yourself a favor and get all 3 books in this story and enjoy the ride!
Final book in the Spear Wielder trilogy - and an absolute blast/joyride to read. Mr. Salvatore’s take on the possibility fantasy worlds exist today and how we might deal with this reality has been an enjoyable exploration.
If you are a fan of other R.A. Salvatore media/books - do yourself a favor and get all 3 books in this story and enjoy the ride!
February 25, 2017
Cussing continues so unlike his other books (other than this 3 book series.
November 22, 2017
This was a much easier book to rad than the first two, good series, fun read, not sure if I would read them again though.
July 14, 2018
Great story, but too a quick read.
This book is like a small fine meal. It left me satiated but it also left me wanting more.
Thanks for the story R.A
This book is like a small fine meal. It left me satiated but it also left me wanting more.
Thanks for the story R.A
March 5, 2021
Favorite character name: Mickey McMickey.
December 9, 2024
This book was good up until right before the ending and then it felt kind of rushed. It was a good ending to the series once it finally wrapped up.
Read
August 2, 2025Dnf
September 26, 2025
Great finish of this Triology
A perfect way to finish the Trilogy. With that said, I wouldn’t be upset if he wrote a fourth in the series. Maybe bringing a son back to Fairyie.
A perfect way to finish the Trilogy. With that said, I wouldn’t be upset if he wrote a fourth in the series. Maybe bringing a son back to Fairyie.
December 16, 2024
As an aside; I read the re-release of this book titled "Haggis Hunters" as it was the kindle version.
Yeah, so the series has finally reached it's ending. I won't retread the premise of the book as that is in the description, so I will say this; everything is wrapped up, and there aren't any loose ends.
Gary returns to the world of Faerie, and has to deal with the machinations of the King of the world of faerie who want's to bring everyone under his thumb. This book is more focused on large scale battles with the king amassing his forces to march upon the smaller towns, but those small towns not "bending the knee" so to speak. Luckily this isn't like Salvatore's other series The Crimson Cloak; where that series devolved into a more military fantasy affair. It focuses on our group of characters, and their exploits.
This book is the shortest of the three with the kindle version being just over 200 pages, and it works. You might think a short book means everything feels rushed, but that is not the case. The world, and all the main characters have been established in the previous two books with the only new character being Gary's wife Diane. She doesn't change the narrative too much aside from being a more "modern thinker" to solve problems. What I mean is that she looks at things from a rational perspective as opposed to how Gary may still think of things from a fantasy geeks perspective. That being said the story moves quick, things are set into motion, and our cast needs to figure out a way to come out on top.
This is a great trilogy, and likely one I will eventually pick up in physical print form. With space at a premium in my home me getting physical copies of a book/series mean I genuinely enjoyed it.
Yeah, so the series has finally reached it's ending. I won't retread the premise of the book as that is in the description, so I will say this; everything is wrapped up, and there aren't any loose ends.
Gary returns to the world of Faerie, and has to deal with the machinations of the King of the world of faerie who want's to bring everyone under his thumb. This book is more focused on large scale battles with the king amassing his forces to march upon the smaller towns, but those small towns not "bending the knee" so to speak. Luckily this isn't like Salvatore's other series The Crimson Cloak; where that series devolved into a more military fantasy affair. It focuses on our group of characters, and their exploits.
This book is the shortest of the three with the kindle version being just over 200 pages, and it works. You might think a short book means everything feels rushed, but that is not the case. The world, and all the main characters have been established in the previous two books with the only new character being Gary's wife Diane. She doesn't change the narrative too much aside from being a more "modern thinker" to solve problems. What I mean is that she looks at things from a rational perspective as opposed to how Gary may still think of things from a fantasy geeks perspective. That being said the story moves quick, things are set into motion, and our cast needs to figure out a way to come out on top.
This is a great trilogy, and likely one I will eventually pick up in physical print form. With space at a premium in my home me getting physical copies of a book/series mean I genuinely enjoyed it.
April 24, 2016
This book is interesting because of its personal significance to me – it’s the third book in a trilogy, and it took me years to track it down. In fact, I pinched the first two books from my dad’s collection was a kid, and had to wait until I had an Amazon account of my own to be able to get hold of it.
It follows the events that surround Gary Leger’s final return to the world of Faerie, and a lot of stuff is going down. The interesting thing about these books, and I guess in this book in particular, is the way that things can advance so much between books in the world of Faerie, and yet how little can change for Gary. See, Gary is just a regular guy, and he has what we would recognise as a regular life, until he gets summoned back to the magical realm.
Once there, he’s the Spearwielder, a man of legend with a job to do. We can expect some honest to goodness sword and sorcery here, with the usual cast of characters thrown in. Salvatore is something of a master in the genre, and a reasonably prolific author from what I’ve been able to gather. He also wrote a series of books based in the Forgotten Realms setting of the popular Baldur’s Gate and Icewind Dale games, for example, which in turn are based on Dungeons & Dragons. Salvatore certainly has an exceptional pedigree.
This book won’t change the way that you look at the world, but if you need a fictional universe to disappear into for a while then you could certainly do much worse. But I must admit, despite re-reading the first two books in the trilogy a bunch of times, I never came back to this one. Make of that as you will, and read away.
It follows the events that surround Gary Leger’s final return to the world of Faerie, and a lot of stuff is going down. The interesting thing about these books, and I guess in this book in particular, is the way that things can advance so much between books in the world of Faerie, and yet how little can change for Gary. See, Gary is just a regular guy, and he has what we would recognise as a regular life, until he gets summoned back to the magical realm.
Once there, he’s the Spearwielder, a man of legend with a job to do. We can expect some honest to goodness sword and sorcery here, with the usual cast of characters thrown in. Salvatore is something of a master in the genre, and a reasonably prolific author from what I’ve been able to gather. He also wrote a series of books based in the Forgotten Realms setting of the popular Baldur’s Gate and Icewind Dale games, for example, which in turn are based on Dungeons & Dragons. Salvatore certainly has an exceptional pedigree.
This book won’t change the way that you look at the world, but if you need a fictional universe to disappear into for a while then you could certainly do much worse. But I must admit, despite re-reading the first two books in the trilogy a bunch of times, I never came back to this one. Make of that as you will, and read away.
March 8, 2015
Good closing to the Spearwielder's Tale. I enjoyed the book and the ending. If there were more in the series, I would still read them as I'm a fan of R.A. Salvatore. The book is in on of the genres that I love, and I really enjoy the take a guy from our world and thrust him into another. Multiple plot twists with the king and the witch.
March 20, 2009
This was a nice conclusion to Salvatore's Spearwielder's trilogy. An enjoyable read altogether, this book was the best of the three. In one sitting I read about 135 pages cause I just couldn't put it down. Good stuff.
August 3, 2011
I was a little worried when I bought this book, with the girl on the cover and sequels generally getting worse as they go. I was pleasantly surprised and it even made me reread the Woods Out Back again.
August 18, 2011
This was the same as the second one. Some profanity, no sex, generally not-good writing. It felt contrived and strongly, obviously mimicked Tolkien. Generally not amazing, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it all might be based on the first one.
November 1, 2013
This one was a bit better than the last... which isn't saying much. But the middle was almost interesting.
I got excited for awhile because it looked like in this book nobody would be hit on the head and "look at the pretty stars!" .. but I was wrong.
I got excited for awhile because it looked like in this book nobody would be hit on the head and "look at the pretty stars!" .. but I was wrong.
January 7, 2014
I am generally a fan of R.A. Salvatore's work but this was not my favourite of those that I have written thus far. One thing I did like about this story compared to some of his later titles was this one did not feel rushed as the end. Generally, a decent book but not hsi best.
November 22, 2016
The Tale comes to an end..
The final book in the Spearwielder's Tale.. a fitting and satisfying conclusion to the series.. was thinking Gary was named after Gygax and that D&D was the "bridge to Faerie in the mind's eye"..
The final book in the Spearwielder's Tale.. a fitting and satisfying conclusion to the series.. was thinking Gary was named after Gygax and that D&D was the "bridge to Faerie in the mind's eye"..
March 11, 2013
Yet another WIN by my dark elf author....had NO doubts!
December 16, 2015
good series, not to deep and not to shallow. Great audio book for a long trip with the kids
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