Kuninkaan nousu

Companions Codex #2

by R.A. Salvatore, Mika Renvall (translator)

Yhdessä pimeyteen… yhdessä sotaan…

Salin kumppanukset ovat vauhdissa keskellä maailmaa, joka tuntuu ajautuneen loputtomaan vihan ja väkivallan kierteeseen. Kääpiöt ja örkit – ikiaikaiset veriviholliset – kyräilevät taas toisiaan. Tos’un Armgo ja Tiago Baenre yrittävät lietsoa sekasortoa ja tekevät sen niin salakavalasti kuin vain drow voi.

Kun Monen Nuolen kuningaskunnassa valtaan nousee uusi örkkikuningas ja kun itse örkkijumala Gruumsh vaatii taistelua, raakalaisten joukot kokoontuvat. Vuosikymmenten rauhan jälkeen pohjoisessa syttyy sota, jolle ei näy loppua – ei ennen kuin koko Maailmanselkä on verestä punainen.

Kumppanusten kirja -sarjassa seikkailevat Salvatoren kenties rakastetuin hahmo, musta haltia Drizzt Do’Urden, sekä muut jälleen toisensa löytäneet Salin kumppanukset. Kuninkaan nousu on sarjan toinen osa.

Genres: Fantasy, Forgotten Realms, Fiction, Dungeons and Dragons, Audiobook, High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy

350 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2014

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

[Gianfranco Mancini · Rating 3 out of 5]

“A hundred thousand orcs will march, with legions of giants behind them,” Ravel said, his red eyes gleaming in the torchlight.
“We’ll pull goblins and bugbears and ogres from every hole in the Underdark to bolster their lines,” said Tiago, getting caught up in the excitement.
“And darker things,” said Ravel, and Tiago laughed.
They had been sent here to start a war.
The drow were very good at that particular task.

Essentially another setup volume filled with so many recycled themes from previous novels that I was sometimes having an awful feeling of deja vu while reading it.

Why had he done that? Why had he begun something that almost assuredly would leave one of his beloved children dead, and likely at the bloodstained hands of the other?
Tos’un rubbed Doum’wielle’s back and let his hand slide down her side to touch the hilt of Khazid’hea, and there he had his sinister answer.

I understand the Tiago and maybe whole of Menzoberranzan storylines needs a closure at last, but reading again and again about Drow conspiracies and villainess after 29 books, and the fully dedicated 6 volumes War of the Spider Queen spin-off series, when you can send your high-level party exploring Outer Planes at last is sadly getting boring in my opinion.

“And so Hartusk becomes king,” he said.
“No,” Gromph quietly replied.
And indeed, Hartusk lifted his great double-bladed axe as he approached the throne, and proceeded to smash it to pieces.
“No king,” Gromph predicted.
The ferocious orc reduced the great throne of Many-Arrows to kindling in short order.
“Warlord Hartusk!” the orc’s minions cheered.

Besides that, the cinematic action scenes were as good as always, there were a few great inter-characters moments, and it is nice to see the Companions of the Hall alive and united again after the Gauntlgrym saga.

“That war is only your concern if the matron mother says it is your concern,” Gromph calmly corrected. “You duty is here now, and so here you are.”
“I have ridden a dragon!” Tiago protested.
“I have eaten a dragon,” Gromph replied.
I have slept with a dragon—two! Jarlaxle thought, but did not say, though he couldn’t avoid a grin at the pleasant memory of the wonderful copper dragon sisters, Tazmikella and Ilnezhara.

And I still love a lot the fine tapestry of main and secondary characters created by Salvatore  over the years, even when it seems the author is so fond about them that they are really never in mortal danger or coming back from death sooner or later: just read the title of next book if you thought Pwent found peace at last.

“There is no House Do’Urden,” Drizzt said calmly.
“The orcs speak of Matron Mother Darthiir Do’Urden,” the rider from Nesmé accused. “I have heard it myself. Do you call me a liar?”
Drizzt wore a helpless and perplexed expression. He looked to his friends and shook his head, having no idea what any of this might be about. His House, his family, had been wiped out more than a century before!

Maybe no good ones are going to be permanently harmed at all, but the bad guys done lots of despicable things here, and I liked nearly every moment of them, but they still deserve to meet their spectacular ends at last, and I'm still eager to read how the Companions and their allies are going to deliver them.

“This is… Ragfluw Do’Urden,” Regis said, stuttering and clearly—and badly—improvising.
“Ragfluw?” Drizzt mouthed silently.
“Back to the camp at once!” Shaman Kllug cried, waving his arms to the north, herding the group to set off with all speed ahead of him.
“Ragfluw?” Drizzt quietly asked Regis as they fell in at the back of the fast-moving procession.
“I had to come up with something.”
“Ragfluw?”
“Say it backward.”

Onward to book three of this Companions Codex trilogy and to its explosive ending.

[Artemas · Rating 1 out of 5]

*no need for SPOILER tags since nothing new was presented in this book

What are the prime ingredients for a newer Salvatore Realms book?

1. Salvatore reminding the reader that Guenhwyvar weighs 600 pounds.

2. Salvatore providing the reader with detailed mechanical descriptions of Catti-Brie/Ruqiah, the cleric/wizard/archer/seer/fire elementalist/blessed by Mystra/high and mighty Chosen of Mielikki, casting “Flaming Hands” repeatedly.

3. Regis/Spider Parrafin-wax wondrously producing a potion/salve/ointment/poison that conveniently gets him or the Companions out of a tight spot.

4. Salvatore dousing the reader with an unending barrage of fights/skirmishes/battles.

5. And the newest ingredient: Salvatore abusing the exclamation point to terminate a sentence outside of dialogue. For those of you who don’t know what an exclamation point is: it’s what authors use when they don’t think the reader is clever enough to realize the gravity or importance of any given sentence. I didn’t actually count, but if I had to estimate, there were 150-200 instances where an exclamation point was used in this manner. Sometimes two or three were used on a single page. That should bother you, the reader, or I'm a bearded gnome!

With Rise of the King, Salvatore certainly provides all of the ingredients mentioned above. Sadly, if you remove the plethora of combat scenes (which can be enjoyable in moderation), the remaining text that is left standing does not support a story. Recycled themes from previous Drizzt novels abound in the second installment of the Companions Codex, and Salvatore fails to present anything new or substantial.

I’m a Realms completionist, so I’ll continue to read all of the Drizzt books. But it should also be noted that I’m a devout follower of Ilmater as well.

[Alissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another solid installment of the new old adventures of Drizzt and Companions.

The battles and skirmishes are always nice and choreographed, Salvatore has a real knack for describing swashbuckling adventures and I never get tired of his storytelling. However, the overall feeling is the same I once experienced after the nth played hour of a very complex RPG game, when my characters abilities had already reached the highest level and I simply wandered around and around completing the secondary quests.

There was nothing more to prove and little to discover. I was simply content by being with my characters, even if all I got was a pale echo of past excitement.

On the other hand, after the forgettable Neverwinter books, I was very happy about this resurrection-dom/comeback/whatever this literary device is called. The Dark Elf trilogy, Legacy of the Drow and even the original Icewind Dale books were total masterpieces of the genre and with The Companions Codex you get more than a whiff of Drizzt’s golden age thrill: pages of adventures reminiscent of the beginnings but written today, with the current fantasy fashion influences and Salvatore’s full maturity as a writer. The flip side of the coin is that when you (A) are about to hit book #30 of a series and (B) have a new book slated every six months something is bound to be sacrificed, be it quality or innovation, and here it’s kind of both.

I mean, another adventure starring the drows? Anyway, let’s see how it ends. I enjoyed this book as much as its predecessor and I hope the conclusion will be on par.


"In fact, few in the Realms had seen, bartered, battled, befriended, or copulated with a more impressive array of powerful beings and monsters than Jarlaxle."

[Mara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received a copy of this novel from Netgalley in an exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 2.5 stars.

I always look forward to the newest Drizzt novels. After all, I love the world and the characters, especially Jarlaxle. I've read them since I was a girl, and they've always been something I looked forward to every year. But the latest novels in the saga have really been a mixed bag for me. I get that there were changes in the Forgotten Realms setting that Salvatore had no control over, but I can't say that I am totally happy with how he chose to handle them.

I was not overly thrilled with bringing back the dead Companions of the Hall. I honestly wanted Drizzt to move on and find other friends to have adventures with. The reincarnation plot just seemed a little too far-fetched. Another issue is that the characters are still basically the same as they were in their previous life, except for Regis who is more awesome and complex than he ever was in earlier novels. Catti-Sue.. *ahem* I mean Catti-Brie was never a character I was fond of before she died, and she is even more annoying and self-righteous now that she has been reincarnated as a pseudo-goddess/mage/Chosen or whatever. The other Companions of the Hall are pretty much the same as they ever were.

Not surprisingly I found myself far more interested in the other characters, especially the villains. Kimmuriel, Gromph, Jarlaxle, even Quenthel and Dahlia had a much more intriguing plot than Drizzt and Co. Doum'wielle and her father were also interesting but I feel like we could have spent more time with them to understand what their motivations were.

Overall. I didn't like the "Orcs are evil just because they're born that way" thing, because it pretty much cancels out what happened in previous novels like The Thousand Orcs. Over the years, the series has gone from a very black and white morality to having a great deal of shades of gray, and it just feels as if its just going back to the beginning to repeat itself all over again. All-in-all, this book feels like a copy of some of the early novels, with some minor details changed.

I feel like this series is losing steam. As a long-time fan that saddens me, but I just can't bring myself to care as much about Drizzt and his friends anymore. If the next books have a heavy dose of Jarlaxle and maybe Gromph and some other drow, then I might be excited for it, otherwise it will not be at the top of my reading list.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Salvatore's best since "The Pirate King." If, by some chance, you've been bored enough to read all of my reviews of Salvatore novels, you know I've been bothered by the whole storyline involving the reincarnation of the Companions of the Hall. But, now that I've come to accept it, I am much better able to appreciate all of the storylines that had been started in other novels. Multiple characters who had been introduced before the Spellplague, even, have re-emerged in fitting, or even unexpected, roles. It's plotting at its finest. All that really needs closure now is for Kalihye (sp?) to show up with the drow army and pretty much every character's throughline will be addressed.

Going off on a personal tangent here, despite my reservations about the aforementioned spoiler, it really is like having a few of your good friends around. After having just read all 5 of the Song of Ice and Fire novels, I found this foray back to the Forgotten Realms refreshing. Salvatore's battles are more vivid (and frequent) than Martin's, but Salvatore hasn't forgotten the heart of good-storytelling, whereas I wonder about Martin. Salvatore's stories GO SOMEWHERE. That's what makes reading fiction "escapism."

He's been building this confrontation for years, and I have confidence that the confrontation WILL HAVE A PAYOFF. Tiago won't randomly fall of a dragon to his death or be stabbed in his sleep by Saribel for some reason. Drizzt won't be poisoned within the dwarven caves. Tiago and Drizzt will have their be-all, end-all...even if it echoes the Drizzt/Entreri battles through the first dozen or so novels, they will meet. Even with that predictability, it makes for a more satisfying read.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got to say this is pretty bog-standard Salvatore Drizzt fare.

What do we see done here that we haven't seen executed better (or worse) in the preceding dozens of novels?

Still, I enjoyed it as always, and the truth is that even though he is (literally) the cover boy this is not really a "Drizzt" novel in the sense that Homeland or even The Legacy were. The author has created such a rich tapestry of secondary characters that he can't but indulge them, and continues to do so here. No complaints from me! I for one am very intrigued by the, em, intrigues of Gromph Baenre or Kimmuriel, and the wildcard that is Jarlaxle, not to mention whatever is going on with Dahlia or the new direct physical threat of Tiago, who late in the going proves himself as loathsome a Drow as there is.

Bring on the Vengeance of the Iron Dwarf! I think I know which one they are referring to...

[Matthew Ciarvella · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first Drizzt novel came out in 1988, so I'm only two years older than Drizzt. I read my first Drizzt novel much later than that, somewhere around middle school or maybe my freshman year of high school. At the time, it was the most high-octane, intensely satisfying series I'd ever read and I would literally read one late into the night until I couldn't keep my eyes open. More than once, I woke up with a book over my face and I'd pick up right where I left off. I read those early novels so many times I still know the plots by heart.

Despite how much the Forgotten Realms has changed as a result of the Fourth Edition trying to remake everything and Fifth Edition now trying to revert many of those changes, Drizzt still feels the same. He IS the same.

For a while, I thought the series was moving in an interesting direction; the existential crisis Drizzt faced as a result of his elven life span came to pass and his friends from shorter-lived races began to pass away. I wasn't crazy about the new supporting cast of Dahlia, Effron, and Afrefarafaras (or whatever, in my head, I always read his name as Afy), but I liked that there was real change happening.

Side note: it seems like Salvatore's naming conventions are either exceptionally awesome (he created Menzoberranzan and Baenre and Entreri!) or exceptionally irritating and silly (Afafrafere, Dagnabet, even back to the old days with Cordio Muffinhead).

But now we're back to those same characters, doing the same thing, in pretty much the same way.

This isn't a terrible book. But I've already read it.

If you're a Drizzt completionist, you've read this book before even without picking it up. The plot is basically "Siege of Darkness" without the Time of Troubles bit combined with the Hunter's Blades Trilogy (drow agents are manipulating orcs into attacking the surface). This seems to be Drizzt's curse, repeating the same adventures with the same companions, and it's been true for years now. (The quest for Mithral Hall became the quest for Gauntlegrym, for instance; basically the same story).

Why do I keep reading, if I'm unhappy with the direction the series has taken? Two reasons: first, there are some genuinely great moments nestled within this book. The brief scenes with Gromph Baenre, Kimmuriel, Jarlaxle, and the dragon sisters are quite excellent and full of intriguing possibility. My hope is that we'll get to see more of these characters in the future. Second, I've stuck with this series longer than any other in my life. I really just need to see how it ends.

Also, what did the title actually refer to? The only king that really rises is the orc warlord, but he repeatedly says he's a warlord, not a king? The only kings who actually appear in the book are the ones who get killed (Harnoth) or the weak king of Vaasa (can't remember his name). Unless it refers to Bruenor? The book doesn't seem to be leading towards his reclaiming the throne of Mithral Hall.

[Michael Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC provided by Netgalley and Wizards for an honest review:

Anyone who has read any of my previous reviews knows that I have been involved with D&D for 24 years and reading the novels for about the same amount of time. I love fantasy novels and I count R. A. Salvatore as one of my top three authors of all time. I grew up reading the Drizzt novels and I have read every book Bob has written (except Echoes which I am working on...) so I think that I have what might be considered an educated opinion on the current novels. Let’s just get this out of the way The Sundering Novels for the most part were very meh the plot line was inconsistent and there was no real threads to link the novels so I am happy to move past them. Night of the Hunter the prequel to this book was beyond Amazing, read my review of it to get how much I enjoyed it but it made me once again felt like that High school freshman who found R. A. Salvatore. The Rise of the King blows Night of the Hunter (NOTH) out the water; this book is Bob’s best Forgotten Realms work, in my opinion, ever. I do find his Corona novels better but this is right up there with them. There are so many individual plot lines in this book, most of them continued from NOTH and Bob does an absolutely masterful job weaving them together into a story that is quite frankly Epic in scale, but still shows how vulnerable our heroes can be regardless of their upgrades. There are some much unexpected journeys by major characters that take us to lands we have not seen for many years and there is a cameo of a particularly loveable character that surprised me and had me grinning ear to ear. I also thoroughly enjoyed the continuing moral arguments both for and against inherent evil in the subhuman races, not to have too many spoilers but it is nice to see Catti becoming the character she always had potential to be now that she is given a second chance. As per usual Bob shines the brightest during his battle scenes and this book is no different, he even manages to weave in some amazing descriptions of mass scale combat that really lead you to having a great minds eye of the battles and sieges. If you are a fan of Bob’s books this will not disappoint you and I dare say it should serve as a good rejuvenation to a series that is long in the tooth (not that that is a bad thing). By the time the last page (digitally) turned I was left with a feeling of emptiness because now I have to wait till next year to continue this story with my dear friends that have brought me travels since I was 13. Scimitars High!

[Online Eccentric Librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

In this second book of the Companions Codex, we continue the story with the reincarnated Companions of the Hall, with a large war looming with Orcs (again) instigated by the Drow (again).

Honestly while reading the first part of the book, I was pretty sure I had read this book before, so similar is the plot theme to the Thousand Orcs (right down to the bickering of the goodly folk). While in Realm time a century has passed, in real time it's only been some years since the previous Orc war and it feels like an old hat.

Personally, I also find it very irritating that given all the effort given in the previous saga into 'Orcs-are-people-too', now the whole line of Obould and his dream of a real Orc kingdom is swept aside and the whole race is again evil-because-we're-evil. Similarly the conversion of Tos'un back into evil feels forced, almost if the author wanted to drop all the developments done in the past to return things to the way they were - the Companions are young and on the road again, and the only person allowed to be good among the evil races is Drizzt.

This aside, the story flows smoothly, if predictably, and the main characters are themselves. Of special note is Regis, who is finally given things to do and Wulfgar, who is still being given the short stick.

All in all, it's yet another Drizzt book but that is not all a bad thing. I've been reading these for 20 years now and definitel ywill be reading the next one when it comes out. I just wish we got another book like the Companions in the Sundering series - more character development, less descriptions of perfect parries.

[Koji Watanabe · Rating 3 out of 5]

When bob is writing about Drow, I find him in top form. I am interested and absolutely hinging on outcomes. When writing about Drizzt and company, I am getting bored by this point. I liked Drizzt's change in personality in Gauntlgrym and his uneasy alliance with Entreri. That direction was believable. Now, it is back to the same old Drizzt who has not changed in hundreds of years.

That being said, I still want to see a Zaknafein/Jarlaxle prequel. All drow = Most interesting

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Shark. Consider it thoroughly jumped.

[Jess Eats Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun read. 5 stars because Jarlaxle, 3 stars for story, I’ll give it a 4.

Still aghast about the thing Kimmuriel did to Dahlia. What??? Why? He’s in big shit.

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable, if lightweight, fantasy romp.

A little better than the previous volume in that it's got less drow politicking and more dungeons AND dragons. But it's also a little worse because Salvatore devotes a LOT of time and pages to exhaustive battle scenes. I mean, there were battle scenes that lasted for pages upon pages. At some point no writer is strong enough to effectively convey that much detailed movement such that the mind's eye can visualize it. Salvatore CAN write well structured action sequences, but this novel was almost obscene in its excess.

That being said, the basic plot of reincarnated Bruenor trying to reclaim his throne while nearby Orc kingdom of Many-Arrows starts to aggressively challenge the decades old peace with the dwarves (with some help) was enjoyable. Wulfgar and Regis have some fun side adventures though Wulfgar really is Salvatore's whipping boy when he wants one of his characters to suffer.

That being said, I'm becoming less enamored of Cattie-Brie as she's becoming a shade too strident ("Orcs are inherently evil, kill em all!") as a character which reflects poorly on Drizzt himself. Let's see how it plays out....

[Joshua · Rating 3 out of 5]

The following review is based on the ARC received from NetGalley.

I am a big fan of Salvatore, unfortunately, this book brought a sense of deja vu to me that was hard to shake. The universe has changed, the characters are the same with some improvements due to this being their second "go round", but the story itself feels like it's been told before. Regis is more interesting, but almost in a cliched way. The way the drow have started and been successful is almost too simplistic and it seems like there will be a rushed conclusion that sorts everything out. I'm not thrilled with the story so far, but perhaps the third book will be an improvement.

[Lanzz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Salah satu novel dari universe Forgotten Realms (juga siri game Dungeons & Dragons), antara siri novel fantasi yg terkenal dan banyak peminatnya. Merupakan buku ke-2 dalam trilogi 'Companions Codex' - menyambung kisah pengembaraan Drizzt Do'Urden dan rakan-rakannya. Juga merupakan buku ke-26 (dari 34) dalam siri 'The legend of Drizzt'. Buku kali ni banyak menumpukan pada scene2 peperangan. Plotnya laju dan penuh dengan aksi. Sekejap jer dah habis baca.

Dalam novel kali ni, dark elf dari Menzoberranzan telah mempergunakan orc dari kingdom of Many Arrows untuk menyerang 7 negara kota di Silver Marches (Luruar). Drizzt dan rakan-rakan yg ingin pulang ke Mithral Hall telah terjebak dalam kancah peperangan tersebut...

[Hugh Mcnamara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book even more than the first one and I think I have found a new author that I really enjoy their writing. I have already ordered the first three books that he originally wrote in the 80’s, so I can start the series properly from the beginning. I am excited to see how the third book plays out and how everything is resolved. Huzzah!!

[Eddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is odd to have the whole old crew back together again was it wise don’t know I’ll tell you by the time, I’m done with this series, but it’s great to hear the voices hear their dialogue and their adventure!

[Ben Nicholson · Rating 4 out of 5]

(review of the Netgalley digital edition, maybe some mild spoilers)

Rise of the King is the latest instalment of R.A. Salvatore's Companion's Codex; on the plus side, readers of the first part, Night of the Hunter (and indeed pretty much any other of his Forgotten Realms titles), will know what to expect. On the minus side, as a continuing story with many characters & multiple, complex plotlines, it would be bewildering for a reader new to Drizzt & co.

Among the things I liked best about the book were:

1) 'Realistic' Realms.
The various groups of 'good guys' in the Silver Marches were certainly not united; the political fallout from the signing of the treaty granting the creation of the orc kingdom of Many Arrows over a hundred years before was felt now in the atmosphere of distrust, disunity and recrimination. This added to the sense of 'realism', and also to the threat of the bad guys' plans.

2) Complex & interesting characters.
The book sees the return of many of the most interesting characters from Salvatore's earlier works (Jarlaxle, Athrogate, etc), as well as others that I was surprised & pleased to see- I won't spoil them by revealing their name(s). I especially liked the doubt & moral ambiguity introduced - Bruenor's regret (guilt?) about signing the treaty, and its consequences; Cattie-Brie beginning to question her certainty & belief in the rightness of the idea of fighting orcs etc; the struggle of Doum'wielle vs. her dominating sword, and her father's continuing attempt to deny his feelings for her mother.

Also good to see was the continuing plotting of Gromph Baenre, internal politics of among the leaders of Bregan D'aerthe, as well as hapless drow such as Saribel.

3) Battle scenes
Salvatore excels at these, and the many depictions of fighting & gore in this book won't disappoint.

The end of the book is like a giant cliff-hanger - how will the heroes survive? Can the Silver Marches beat back the seemingly unstoppable monstrous onslaught of the drow and their allies?

We're being set up for multiple denouements - the resolution of the war; will Bruenor resume his role as king of Mithril Hall? Will Doum'wielle overcome her evil sword's will, or fully embrace her drow heritage? How will the continuing tragic story arc of Dahlia end - redemption, sacrifice on an altar to Lolth, or spitted on the end of one of Drizzt's scimitars?

I can't wait for the next instalment.

[Joshua John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Led by the ingenious malign strategies of the drow , a powerful force of orc/Frost Giant/Ogre/GoblinFodder/and Dragons [oh my!] begin their blitzkrieg, divide-and-conquer, multi-faceted, all-out domination of the area spun so vibrantly by the Sir Salvatore ! Just finished reading this advanced copy and i sincerely thank NetGalley and and WOTC for the opportunity. Salvatore once again cleverly weaves a tale that builds momentum for what is sure to be an exciting next iteration (May it come out soon !). As a fan and longtime reader of the series I couldn't put this novel down and finished in under 2 days. Some of my favorite things in this installment are: [1] the continued evolution of Regis/Spider, [2] the epic external and internal conflicts e@ of the traditional major ( and possibly soon to be major) new characters [3] and the return of some of the many significant characters outside of Drizzt's inner circle ! I finished the book extrapolating on the possibilities of connections yet to be made... and anxious about the fate of that corner of the FR !
I was hoping for an update on Entreri.. but i guess RAS has to keep some things hidden for now. Will there be a reunion of the new matron mother of House Duorden w/ our favorite Assassin extraordinaire ? or her Tiefling Son ?.. and any interaction between Efferin and the conflicted/influenced Doum'wielle ? will Tiago get his battle with Drizzt? will Drizzt's inner compass move him away from Mielliki? Will there be a Mystra/Tiamat/Lolth battle royale? ... ahh the things that keep us waiting with baited breath for the next installment ! ! Really an excellent read for those already hooked on each swing of the most famous and endeared lavender-eyed, dual-scimitar and lightning bow wielding fighter/ranger/barbarian elf !

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having tied up some loose ends in Night of the Hunter, Drizzt and his companions begin their trek toward Mithral Hall. There, Bruenor hopes to reclaim his throne and rectify what he views as his error in permitting the orc king of Many Arrows to establish a peaceful kingdom that borders the Silver Marches. Little do they realize that the Drow are already moving, and war is coming to Luruar. Orcs, giants dwarves, elves, men, and even dragons clash in this book of conflict and titanic struggle.

This is among the most enjoyable Salvatore books that I've read, and in my view is definitely the best of the Sundering era. The action is fast, furious, and epic. While other books have featured exciting, small squad skirmishes, this one gives us those as well as epic battles for the fates of cities. On top of the battles, we are treated to reconnaissance, espionage, and another hearty helping of political machinations among the Drow.

Regis, who in many ways was the star of The Companions, took something of a back seat in Night of the Hunter. In this book, however, he was back to playing a central role, and in my view has easily become the most dynamic and interesting character in the crew. Furthermore, while Jarlaxle spent Night of the Hunter reacting, in this book he seems to be back on the offensive. As we might expect, of course, exactly what he's after still has yet to become clear. Beyond those two, I'm not sure that we see a lot of significant character development, aside from some continued discussions between Drizzt and Catti-brie on the inherent nature of orcs and goblins.

I really enjoyed the book, and will, of course, look forward to reading the next in the series when it is published in 2015.

[Curtis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've very much been enjoying the story of the reincarnated Companions of the Hall, started in the first book of The Sundering and continued in The Companions Codex (of which this is book two). Drizzt and the Companions always makes for an epic story and what we have here seems largely no exception.

While I've been enjoying the story thus far (Night of the Hunter - Companions Codex, Book I was one of my favorite books so far this year), this one didn't really seem to pull its weight. Much of this story seems to be set up. Instead of continuing along the lines of the epic showdowns that occurred in Gauntlegrym, there's a lot of moving, talking, etc. here but no real major plot points. It's clear to me that it's all moving toward something major in the next book, but I was just struck by how little really seemed to happen in this installment overall.

I do plan to continue with the series - I really need to know what happens next. I just hope the next book brings us back to the type of story we saw in The Companions and The Night of the Hunter.

(eGalley provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was essentially a war between the dwarves and humans against orcs, giants, goblins, and ogres. In between we had some delicious scenes featuring Jarlalxe, the Copper dragon sisters, and the drow. The third faction would be the current hero cast of Drzzt and the companions of the hall.
A perfect middle book to the series leaves the intrepid heroes in dire straits and split up with a war that seems impossible to win hanging there in the middle of the room.
Again, to me, the best parts of the book involve anything relating to Jarlaxle's plots and actions along with anything dealing with the nefarious drow.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book by Salvatore, it centers upon the Companions and their adventures to the north to get to Mithral Hall. They help new friends along the way and see for themselves truly how bad the war has gotten as the orcs, goblins, giants, drow, and dragons wage war and set siege upon the cities of the goodly peoples. It sets the stage for even more action and adventure to follow, can't wait to see what comes next!

[J. Griff · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I'm 4 months in rereading the entirety of the Legend of Drizzt series I'm still enjoying this series immensely, especially with all the Companions of the Hall reunited. Like with all middle books in a trilogy RAS leaves us with the our favourite characters in mild cliffhangers. The one new character that truly annoys me is this upstart fighter, Tiago Baenre. For some reason I thought he & Drizzt had their meet up in this book but. . nope.

[Le'Mon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good.

Love it. Read and enjoy. Not much left to say, R A Salvatore is my favorite writer, don't ever stop creating wonderful adventures.

[Adam Duclos · Rating 2 out of 5]

The prologue is pretty cool. It’s a snapshot of the top drow of the Baenre family noting that they put eternal darkness over the land and going about recruiting evil monsters for their evil war schemes: Frost giants through trickery, powerful white dragons through bribery, and all of the orcs through assassinations.

The first chapter has an oddly ‘yadda yadda-ed’ dwarf vs orc and giant battle… Odd in a Salvatore novel. Still, the way it was described, it sounded like all the dwarves could have just kept going down a staircase into Mithril Hall and closed the doors behind them and been safe. Instead, the dwarf king saw that there were an overwhelming number of enemies and somehow they ended up fighting anyway. Is this just to show how ineffective he is?

Next up is a recap of the last book couched as a reunion with that annoying teifling Effron from the last few books. I had forgotten that Port Last had been ruined and that Cattie-brie had 'killed' Dahlia. This is also a quasi-recap of the comic book series that showed how Tos’un d’Armgo, one of the drow from a previous book that was in a group that instigated the last orc war in the region, who had ended up with an evil intelligent sword, and had scampered off, pretended to be good, hooked up with one of the leaders of the local good surface elves, had two half elf half drow (all elf though) kids, then let the sword mentally dominate his daughter, who then killed her brother and ran off towards the underdark through orc territory, killing allied orcs as she went, followed her with his elf wife, but then attacked his elf wife and left her for dead or to be killed by orcs as a distraction. Well, it turns out the leader of the orc band that came upon her after that was actually lead by the somewhat goodly and very treaty abiding son of the current orc king, and they traded her back. She’s still healing, and with the orcs overrunning the place, she’s realizing that that goodly orc leader is probably dead. I’m pretty sure they killed him in the prologue. (Nope, he got away and turns back up in a later book.)

After that, the story picks up a bit, although not from the ‘Companion’s’ point of view, considering the companions Drizz’t, Cattiebrie, Bruenor, Regis and Wulfgar are slowly making their way north towards Mithril Hall. Still, we get to see two sides of the new conflict brewing up in the north… the drow have destroyed ‘many arrows’ and put it under new leadership, merging the group with more monsters, notably a bunch of ice giants and a pair of white dragons, plus, woo, Dhalia is alive, yay. Meanwhile the dwarves are all under siege, and are ignoring the other kingdoms in the area that are under attack, partly because of the whole siege thing, but also partly because the long lived dwarves were still pissed that the others never helped them with the orcs the first time around a century before. You’d think that wouldn’t be an issue with the even longer lived elves, but they’ve all turned into jerks since then, I guess.

Whoa, Jarlaxle just found out that Kimmuriel, the lone surviving drow psionicist and his second in command, has some kind of infectious mental spy thing going on. The way he explained it sounded like a zombie apocalypse version of scrying, but I guess he meant that when it jumps to a new person, the old person is free. Whatever! In this section, the Author introduces some little kid who was just drafted into service to man his city’s wall while they’re attacked by all the orc/giant/dragon/drow forces, and they just killed off his 10 year old sister. Brutal! Oh, plus I guess white dragon breath puts ice on everything it touches now.

Looks like Jarlaxle, who wants to meet back up with Drizz’t and company, has some kind of alternate plan for the war the Baenres (his secret family, the first family and rulers of the larges drow city, Menzobarranzan) are running.

Oh, plus we find out that Lloth’s side plan of thoroughly dragging Drizz’t’s family name through the mud by forming a new house of the same name and publicly naming them the leaders of the war appears to be working pretty well. We haven’t seen much of how it will affect Drizz’t personally though. Will it hurt his reputation terribly, or will he just be able to shrug it off as he takes violent revenge? (Note from 3 books later: that second one.)

Whoa, chapter long fight from 4 or 5 perspectives! Not all of it was in chronological order, which was jarring. Also, what the hell Wulfgar, you have more than one lifetime of experience to draw from now! A: Stop letting bad guys stab and bite you! B: You aren’t a monk! Barbarians are allowed to wear armor, you idiot! At least do something to protect yourself… the options are endless!

Whoa, that weird dwarf Athrogate showed up again. It’s always weird when the story digresses to these side characters, like this guy, Jarlaxle and for a while Entreri, because they play by different rules. I’m not talking about AD&D, 3.5, 4th or 5th edition, I mean that they actually act as if they’re in a game world by using things like magic items, potions and so on. It hasn’t been mentioned yet, but I believe that in past stories Athrogate has been described as having the magic ‘onyx hell boar’ and dual wields a pair of magic explosive flails, but he’s also got magic armor and some kind of powerful belt of giant strength, at the very least. To make up for all of this, the author makes him a jackass, say ‘bwahaha’ a lot, and have the ends of his beard ‘dipped in dung’ for some damned reason. Gross. Who does that? That opens up so many questions, like, what kind of dung, and why does anyone let him indoors? Meanwhile, how many books is Drizz’t in? I think this is the 26th. Drizz’t basically started out with a magic panther and one magic sword, picked up another magic sword in book 1 or so, then maybe 15 books later he got a pair of lame armbands that made his arms faster in battle, that he then put on his legs, which is just weird. Then 5 books after that he found out his second magic sword protected him from flames, and got a thingy to summon a unicorn to ride. That’s not very good for an epic character who’s been fighting in a magical land for over a century and a half.

Actually, now that I think about it, it’s as if Salvatore can’t do ‘characters’ and ‘the stuff they have’ at the same time. He’s really coasting on Drizz’t, and recently rebooted most of Drizz’ts friends. Of those, they’ve all fallen back to their original characterizations except for Regis, who’s new fallback in any given situation is to either ‘warp step’ or to pull a snake off of his magic dagger, throw it, have a magical ghost use it to strangle his opponent. He’s even done this to his friends! Either way, the whole paragraph long description of this happening has been repeated several times now verbatim, so I hope the author figures out a way to shorten his description of it soon. Thing is… is it really something Regis would resort to? He can only do it three times per day max! I hope he starts saving it for enemies he feels like he’d have difficulty fighting, like maybe these ice giants that keep showing up now.

Interesting! At the end of the fight, Regis is walking alone, just about to remove his magical goblin disguise, when Drizz’t and Guen attack him! Guen knocks him down and hurts him, and after they figure out who’s who, Regis realizes he’s hurt! What does Drizz’t do, but pull out a freaking healing potion for him! Now, I had forgotten that in a previous book, the new and improved Regis had figured out how to do this. I had forgotten it because they never use them! Drizz’t just barely left Wulfgar laying in their wagon with a spear still sticking out of him, having made an agonizing and heroic call to direct the last of Cattiebrie’s healing to a nice horse… they could have used one of those then! What is it, Regis made them so only he can use them or something!

Wulfgar, by the way, is fine the next time we see him… When he tries to walk off with a plate and some silverware! He’s pissed when the innkeeper calls him on it, but why? He wasn’t born in a barn! I mean, yeah, probably a crappy tent somewhere, but he was raised most of the way in a civilized manner! The first time, at least! Anyway, he should know better. Unless he was going to use it as armor?

After reading a bit further, most of the main lineup have gone to Nesme while Regis tricked one third of the evil orc army to overextend themselves by attacking early and during the day. It all worked out, but since then the rest showed up and kept hitting the town with smaller attacks, so the group stayed, for weeks at least. Boring! I think the author is running out of ideas to keep this book going. He even have Drizz’t freak out after being almost but not quite attacked by a regular wolf! Come on! That entire pack of wolves could have chewed on Drizz’t uncontested for hours without hurting him that much! Plus, the author once again forgot that he was wearing those speedy leg band things! Do they work or not? Oh, also, that he's a ranger and could have probably talked them down.

We did get to see the evil Tiago Baenre fly down on a dragon, kill two guards and a king while heavily relying on his magic items, then flying away on the dragon again with the king’s head. At least a few people remember they live in a magical land!

Plus, we finally got some good exposition about the background of the conflict during a conversation between Gromph and Kimmuriel, which appears to be related to a belated background setting update to 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons. They had already relayed that this whole orc war thing was a regular occurrence for the orc god Gruumsh, but now we learn that that Lloth instigated the last war early, let the orc advance grind down to a standstill, then they had a treaty and a peaceful century or so, which was secretly Gruumsh’s go to plan for building up enough orcs for the next war. Now Lloth’s drow have instigated this new war, possibly also earlier than Gruumsh would have wanted. We also knew from prior books that Lloth suddenly wanted Drizz’t on her side again and was contesting his allegiance with Meilikki, and Meilikki won, and that a strong side element of this war involved resurrecting Drizz’t’s old house Do’Urden, populating it with hand picked elements of House Xorlarrin and Baenre and reinstating it at it’s old rank, so that it simultaneously acted as a guaranteed council vote on Baenre’s side and, since they were also in charge of directing the surface war, a stiff dose of character assassination for Drizz’t Do’Urden once everyone connected up the link with his family’s name. Now we find out that this is all a… what, a diversion? Somehow this all works into a scheme by Lloth to take over the newly reinstated weave of magic, the Weave, from the dead goddess Mystra, before someone else can take it, thereby increasing her power immensely. Good luck with that, since in 5E Mystra is evidently alive and well, and back in charge of the Weave! I know I’m reading this book a bit late, but I’m pretty sure that was already common knowledge when this book came out… Anyway, Gromph has some plans up his sleeve to either take advantage of this or prevent it, because either way the male/female dynamic of the predominantly male drow wizard academy would be overturned as it is currently only socially acceptable for females to be clerics (and leaders in general), but that would change if Lolth was also goddess of magic, and that would eventually threaten Gromph’s position as head wizard of the city, since although he is the most powerful, it is also a political position. That’s a lot of plot to drop on you at once after so many books! I like it though! Well, I would have liked it in all of the books, but still.

Hmm, plus Jarlaxle seems to be recruiting the copper dragon sisters from his side series in Vasha to help out the good guys, neat!

Oh, but now Drizz’t and the others are trying to get to Mithril Hall through the Underdark, even though they don’t know the way, and almost made it there when they got herded into a trap! I was actually worried for them because I thought the traps would trigger a cave in or something, but no, it was just orcs coming out of the walls. Obviously, that’s more of a vacation for them than anything else! Then Regis fell down into a hole, and Wulfgar went in after him. Side quest! Then a Juicer came out, which is a dwarven contraption, like a roto rooter for opponents in a tunnel (or that silly thing in the movie labyrinth), which they were worried about, even though you would think Athrogate, who is also there, could just blow it up with his exploding magical weapons, and Drizz’t could punch a hole through to skewer the baddies on the other side with his super magical bow that can punch through rock no problem. Ah well!

Holy what? Salvatore, what the hell? You’re books are all PG13 at most, with only the barest nods to kissing, sex, and while the violence is prevalent and detailed, it’s never been gross… until you started describing all the tortures that Regis and Wulfgar are witnessing the orc army do. The hell? They’re eating toes off and forcing acid down their throats? Were you possessed by a rabid Steven King? Also, is Wulfgar’s easy capture and fatalistic attitude in character for someone who once fought one of Loth’s demonic Yochlol handmaidens one on one, winning by causing a cave in? As for Regis, a rogue who has gained more fighting skills, wouldn’t he have been in a perfect position to drop down on Wulfgar’s attackers and, I don’t know, stab them all to death? Speaking of which, where is Aegis Fang, the teleporting warhammer that should appear right in Wulfgar's hand at a mere call? Come on!

Okay! Random appearance of Ivan Bouldershoulder for some reason. Yay?

Well, the book is over, and I guess the king finally rose? Bruenor had a needlessly long conversation that made him look like a grave robber, then got to talk with the current king, then instead of just having Drizz’t tell them he was a reborn Bruenor, he did it by making an excruciatingly circuitous point about how he knew that old King Bruenor’s grave in Mithril Hall was empty (because he died and was really buried in Gauntylgrim), which he would have known anyway, since he obviously had his old armor and axe, and after all of that, he still had to get a reference from Drizz’t anyway, and even then, only when the new king recognized Cattie-brie! Hah! But still, you'd think they could just ask one of the dwarven clerics to confirm it with their gods...

Wulfgar and Regis are in the underdark, fleeing from random goblins and stuff, but I can’t feel too sorry for them because it turns out Regis has had a full on ‘pouch of holding’ all this time. Maybe put something more in there than just a few days worth of trail rations, idiot! There's plenty of room!

The evil drow Tiago Baenre belatedly heard that Drizz’t was in Nesme, and got there just in time to completely miss him, just like he did two or three books ago. Instead of saving a town though, he destroyed it. Bummer for them!

Jarlaxle and his oddly named friends hitched a ride on some powerful copper dragons to head on over to the region as well, and I was kinda hoping that they’d get to Nesme in time to fight with the white dragon and save the town, but that’s where the book trailed off. Maybe next time! (Nope! Have to wait until the third book in this sub trilogy. Slowest Dragons ever!)

All in all, I’d say that this was a very repetitive, slow moving book!

[Melanie Unger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Das Buch der Gefährten 2 – A. R. Salvatore
Der Aufstieg des Königs
Verlag: blanvalet
Tschenbuch: 9,99 €
Ebook: 8,99 €
ISBN: 9783734161247
Erscheinungsdatum: 21. Mai 2018
Genre: Fantasy
Seiten: 528
Inhalt:
Die Dunkelelfen setzen alles daran, das Reich Silbermarken zu vernichten. Sie überziehen das ganze Land mit einer magischen Dunkelheit und verschaffen so den Orks von König Todespfeil den entscheidenden Vorteil gegen die Silbernen Streiter. Der abtrünnige Dunkelelf Drizzt Do'Urden findet sich mit seinen Gefährten unversehens in einer belagerten Stadt wieder und muss um sein Leben kämpfen. Es gibt nur eine Möglichkeit, die Silbermarken zu retten. Drizzt und seine Freunde müssen der wahren Gefahr gegenübertreten – im Reich der Dunkelelfen!

Mein Fazit:
Zum Cover:
Das Cover passt hier wunderbar zum ersten Band, vom Design her und auch farblich finde ich es sehr passend.
Zum Buch:
Hier war ich ja sehr gespannt wie es weiter geht, nachdem ich Band 1 gut fand wollte ich auch unbedingt den zweiten lesen.
Mir fällt es immer etwas schwer, eine Rezension zu einem Folgeband zu schreiben, da ich niemanden Spoilern möchte.
Auch hier gibt es wieder viele spannende Szenen die sehr gut herausgearbeitet wurden, allein die Kämpfe sind sehr gut dargestellt.
Die Protagonisten sind wieder super schön erzählt und entweder man mag sie oder eben nicht. Wir lernen ein wenig mehr über alte Bekannte aber auch neue spielen hier eine Rolle.Alle sind sehr gut herausgearbeitet und wundervoll dargestellt, egal ob gut oder böse, jeder Charakter hat seinen eigenen Charme. Wobei man hier natürlich den einen mehr und den anderen weniger mag, aber in welcher Geschichte ist das nicht so.
Hier wird die Spannung langsam aufgebaut, was hier aber wirklich gut passt du wer Band 1 gelesen hat, weiß das es dort auch schon so war. Gerade in den kämpferischen Darstellungen ist die Spannung am höchsten, aber so soll das auch sein.
Was mich hier auch störte, wie schon in Band 1, ist die Länge der Kapitel, aber da werde ich wohl bei fast jedem Buch etwas zu meckern haben. Aber dafür gibt es hin und wieder Absätze, wo man ja auch mal pausieren kann. Ich mag es aber eben, wenn sie kurz sind.
Was soll ich euch noch erzählen?
Ich kann es jedem Fantasie – Liebhaber nur empfehlen und ich denke hier ist noch lange nicht Schluss. A.R. Salvatore entführt einen in eine Welt voller Magie und Fantasie und natürlich auch voller Abenteuer.
Ich gebe hier 4 von 5 Sternen und bin gespannt wie es weiter geht.
Ich bedanke mich beim Verlag blanvalet für die Bereitstellung des Rezensionsexemplars und hoffe weiterhin auf gute Zusammenarbeit.

[Tony · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of the Companions reborn continues as the century-old peace between the orcs and dwarves comes to a close, when the dark elves cast The Darkening that blots out the sun. Drizzt must reconcile with the fact that he initiated the peace with the orcs that was doomed to fail.

Regis the halfling almost takes center stage in this novel. In his new life he's acquired many a new magical item including a beret that magically changes his appearance, and a dagger that breeds snakes. Wulfgar continues to take beatings that would surely kill any lesser mortal, but with Regis's endless supply of healing potions and Cattie-brie's healing spells, there is rarely any real danger for the heroes. But this is no surprise to avid readers of the series, and Salvatore's excellent storytelling makes up for it. The story is finally moving in a forward direction after the debacle of the Spellplague and heads to a conflict that is long overdue.

The dark elves continue to be a prominent force as they manipulate the war. But the dark elf Jarlaxle carves a different path for himself and recruits some old, very powerful friends.

Rise of the King ends on cliffhangers across the board but promises to culminate in a grande finale in Vengeance of the Iron Dwarf.

[Dustin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really feel like this book is 3.5 out of 5 stars, but I can't give a half star, so I'm rounding up. The overwhelming feel of this book is oppressive and negative. A problem I notice authors having with huge, epic battles is that they often are one-sided. This happens a lot in anime. One force attacks another and seems to be outright winning on every front. And then when the shift happens and the other force is winning on every front.

This seems to happen with the drow's orchestrated invasion of the Silver Marches. They invade and seem to be invincible, winning at pretty much every turn. Tiago is invincible. We are told time and again that he is unstoppable, except by one or two people. By the end of this book things are looking pretty dire for the kingdoms of the Silver Marches. Kingdoms which were supposedly formidable but have been overrun with seemingly with ease. I understand the drow are sneaky and the orcs, goblins, giants, etc. probably never teamed up to attack before. I also understand that they've divided the kingdoms. But overall it just seemed so one sided.

How can the good guys possibly win? Are the Silver Marches doomed? Are future books taking place elsewhere, so the Silver Marches are being destroyed? Who knows. That's for me to find out in the next book. Victory seems unlikely, but somehow they'll win.

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

I should preface this by saying I just got done reading four straight five star books so my disappointment with this book was probably magnified.

But

I just didn't like it.
Essentially we've got the orcs, goblins, drow and ogres taking over the whole north, attacking villages, laying waste to anything in their path. We've got our heroes trying to stop the endless assault. So, a lot of action, battles, fights but not much actual time with the characters. The reason I love this series is because of the characters and when you take away character interaction, growth, development, romance, tension etc. the enjoyment heads south.

This is a really long series and it has had it's ups and downs so I'm hoping Salvatore gets it together for the next one (which of course I'm going to read, I've already finished 26 Drizzt books plus the Cleric Quintet, it's not like I'm going to stop).