La Columna del Mundo

Paths of Darkness #2

by R.A. Salvatore

Un alma atormentada no puede esconderse eternamente, ni siquiera en las brutales calles de una traicionera ciudad. El bárbaro Wulfgar emprende un peligroso camino hacia su redención cuando un viejo amigo lo encuentra en Luskan. Este camino lo lleva a las cimas de la Columna del Mundo azotadas por el viento. Y Wulfgar perseverará, porque al final le espera su más preciada posesión: la vida que creía perdida para siempre.

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

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

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

[Markus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, would you look at that?

The Spine of the World is solidly one of the best books that I have read in the Legend of Drizzt. Which is almost absurd, considering that Drizzt is not part of it. Nor are most of the other major characters. It mostly serves as an interlude depicting the life of Wulfgar during the lowest parts of his life, and as attempts to cope with his pains, sorrows and failures. Another POV is provided by a poor peasant girl whose life is turned upside down in all the worst ways possible.

Unlike the previous books in the series, this one is practically a grimdark story set in the Forgotten Realms. There's all kinds of doom and gloom, not as much emphasising evil villains as much as the horrors and hardships of everyday existence.

It overall reads as a depiction of the dark side of life in the rather feudal Realms. And it's a fantastic change of pace from the standard course of the series.

Original "review":
A question for my Drizzt enthusiast friends: do I have to read every book in the series to understand later events?

There have always been issues with the series for me, but Paths of Darkness is a clear low point where it seems I am too fed up to motivate myself to keep going. However, there are later books I really do want to read because of their geographical settings (Neverwinter saga in particular).

Wondering if I should skip ahead or suffer through...

[Wanda Pedersen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite a shift from previous Legend of Drizzt books, in that Drizzt doesn't appear in it. He provides some commentary, rather like voice over in television, but other than that he appears only in Wulfgar's memories.

And that was the rub for me, for this is very much Wulfgar's book and he is not my favourite character in this series. I must admit that I now like him better, since he has been tested by life and is emerging from darkness. He has faced awful torment and returned to his essential honourable nature and I can appreciate that strength of will.

Like so many of these rather medieval fantasy worlds, the Drizzt universe is very patriarchal. Cattie-Brie is the rare woman who can run her own life. In this installment, we watch peasant girl Meralda graduate to being the wife of a nobleman. Apparently sexual misadventure is the only source of plot conflict “conceivable” for women by most authors, but for me that is so boring. It reduces women to only their sexual aspect, a very narrow role. Nevertheless, these limitations were and are a reality where birth control and women's rights are missing.

On the plus side, Salvatore has continued with grittier plots with more moral ambiguity and I'm liking that. It will be interesting to see how he integrates previous plot details into this new version of Drizzt's world.

Book number 393 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project.

Cross posted at my blog:

https://wanda-thenextfifty.blogspot.c...

[Jeremy Stephens · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was without a doubt one of the best Forgotten Realms novels I have ever read. Too often, I read these as a way to kill time or because there is nothing else to read and although there are variations and plot specifics, the stories usually have the same general idea- some hero (or group of heroes) goes off in search of some magical item or to stop some supernatural bad guy or occasionally to rescue a friend. The Spine of the World brakes away from the basic cookie cutter motifs and presents a story that is at once realistic and yet fitting with the Forgotten Realms series. The basic story deals with Wulfgar's problem with alcoholism, his struggles with PTSD brought upon by terrible memories and his quest to reclaim some semblance of the person he was before hitting rock bottom. All the typical fight scenes and magical encounters one would expect from such a book are also present but they serve as a sort of back drop to the main story and are by no means the focus. Overall, I was very impressed by this book.

[Lance Peterson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did someone else write this novel? Some people may like it but I found it almost completely depressing and such a slog to get through. It's completely unlike all of the other Drizzt books which have been a joy to read. Until the last 1/4 of the book it tells 2 completely unrelated stories. The part with Wulfgar is just depressing. He's going through PTSD from his torture by Errtu and we get to experience page after page of self-loathing, despair, anti-social behavior, etc. And the side story is just there to provide Wulfgar with a reason to redeem himself after his horrible behavior. I should have stopped reading but I kept hoping it would get better. Which is does in the last 20 pages or so.

[Nico · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a little disappointed by this one. No Drizzt. The focus lies on Wulfgar and his character development. The other plot line is a very predictable love/"poor girl turns princes" story I really disliked, but I think it serves as a basis for many future plot strands. Although the story about Wulfgar was well done it just couldn't carry the novel.
Off to next book!

[Aja: The Narcoleptic Ninja · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I had some trepidation when I started this book mainly because it's a Drizzt book and... Drizzt isn't in it. I actually ended up enjoying this one more than I expected to though. It's broken into two separate stories, the first following Wulfgar as he tries to find himself and heal from his experiences, and the second follows a peasant girl, Meralda, and the love triangle that she's fallen into. Both stories were pretty interesting and I didn't really find myself getting frustrated with the point of the view changes.

I did have some issues with the book overall. Firstly, Wulfgar's story got a little stale in some parts. He's wrongly imprisoned and tortured, but then he escapes. And then he's wrongly imprisoned and tortured and escapes, and THEN... is wrongly imprisoned and tortured... again, for pretty much the duration of the book. And Wulfar's done plenty of not great stuff, but every time he's imprisoned and tortured, it's for a crime that he's innocent of committing. And when they PROVE he's innocent, the results are pretty underwhelming.

Secondly, I was mistaken. Drizzt IS in this book a little bit in the form of his usual journal entries, but I had a bit of a problem with them this time. They're largely a commentary on everything happening with Wulfgar, but the tone was a little off-putting. Drizzt kind of took on a holier than thou attitude here. For instance, Wulfgar deals a lot with alcoholism, trying to come to terms with his past, but rather than focusing on that, it's just kind of "all alcohol and drugs are bad, and you're a bad person if you ever partake, and I never did and it goes against all my morals and I pity everyone who's ever experienced these things." And Wulfgar has some lady problems which leads into another rant of "sex before marriage is a no-no and it cheapens any encounter you have with someone that you really care about."

And that leads me into my last issue: Delly Curtie. She's a barmaid where Wulfgar picks up a job and both she and Wulfgar have a lot of problems and they come to a mutual agreement to sleep together because they both "need each other" in a way. Okay sure. But things start to develop and Wulfgar notices that Delly is getting a little too attached. She's developing feelings for him and she needs him in a way he's not wholly comfortable with so he pulls away from her and cuts things off. And this is met with a Drizzt rant and some commentary from other characters about how he's leading her on and using her. I'm sorry, but what!? She's an adult and they both consenting to what was happening, and when the terms change, Wulfgar puts an end to things. So how is that leading her on? Why is he the bad guy here? And in the end he comes back to apologize and ends up taking her with him so they could build their lives together though there's never really been anything between them and no indication that that's changed, and it kind of feels like a really forced resolution to things just to make Wulfgar into more of a good guy.

The real high point of this book was the ending where Wulfgar and Meralda's story finally come together to tie the book off with a nice and neat little bow. I was so fricken happy about the ending of this book and once the stories came together, I never wanted to put the book down. And honestly the last chunk of this book has a lot to do with the rating that I gave it because it was just such a satisfying way to end the story. But there is one other high point here: Deudermont. How is it that Deudermont, a man who met Wulfgar ONCE, showed him more compassion and understanding than Drizzt, Cattie, and Bruenor COMBINED!? He helped Wulfgar a LOT in this book and really helped turn things around for him all while asking for nothing in return and not immediately getting frustrated and throwing his hands up when things didn't work out. Honestly, he's the real MVP here and I've really come to appreciate him a lot in this book.

[J. Griff · Rating 4 out of 5]

The main focus of this book was for Wulfgar to dig himself out of the drunken life he created for himself in Lusken working as a bouncer in a seedy bar. Unable to cope with his years in the Abyss being tortured by Errtu Wulfgar lets his situation become worse & worse. I was in my early-mid 20s when I read this book for the first time & didn't understand the nuance of the story, I was just annoyed that Drizzt wasn't in the story. I bought the audio edition in 2017 I was in my late 40s & had a different view on this story having gone thru my own PTSD issues. I very much could understand the anger/loathing/apathy he was going thru. I enjoyed this book even more, while I've stated in my previous reviews of this series, Wulgar is my least favourite character of Drizzt's friends. Wulfgar became a lot more relatable to me.
The other part of this book about a young peasant girl named Meralda becoming the local lord's object of desire despite his family's objects puts Meralda in the path of Wulfgar in a very unexpected way by her own poor choices caused by youth & confusing lust with love.
This was a better story than I remembered when I read it originally in 2000.

[Allen Werner · Rating 3 out of 5]

It pangs me to give 'The Spine of the World' by author R.A. Salvatore only 3 stars because I love so many of Salvatore's books. 'The Spine of the World' is the second book in the Paths of Darkness series. I loved the first book 'The Silent Blade.' So what happened?
Well, while I love the barbarian Wulfgar, Drizzt and the rest of the crew disappear from this offering.
Wulfgar, sinking ever lower in his self-imposed exile, drinking himself to an attempted path of forgetfulness, which doesn't ever work, the demon Errtu's torture following him still, is framed for murder. Wulfgar and his only remaining friend, Morik the Rogue, who has to stay by his side thanks to some pesky dark elves threats, are tortured in the Prisoner's Carnival in Luskan. The torture, for my taste was way over the top and lengthy and unbelievable. It is fantasy but some of the things done would have life-long consequences.
Meanwhile, the book veers off to the uninteresting kingdom of Auckney, a backwards little castle and a love triangle between Lord Feringal, a peasant girl he spots in the streets and desires named Meralda, and her love interest Jake Sculi. The whole story is slow and unexciting and I wanted to tear my hair out reading these parts.
There are plenty of fight scenes with giants and orcs and magicians etc... and Wulfgar is still a great character as is Morik, but the pace and direction of this book was weak overall. It is still good enough to get the reader to book three, which I hope and pray will find the return of the other characters. I'm not sure I could take too much more of Auckney.

[Caio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Odd thing to say about the lowest rated book from the entire Drizzt series, but: this is my favorite since Homeland. Here's what it's about:

A Hero is no hero because he slays monsters. Nor just because he saves Peasant John. A Hero can only be a hero because Peasant John's life has a meaning of its own, the whole of its woes and joys known only by Peasant John himself. He is a Hero because, despite knowing little about Peasant John, he is willing to sacrifice himself for him anyway.

This is a great story for Wulfgar. It renewed my faith in Salvatore as an author. Prolific commercial authors such as him are bound to have highs and lows, and that's definitely a high. This book has a courageous shift in narrative that breathes some much-needed life into the world around his characters.

[Alekzander · Rating 3 out of 5]

Depression: now in book format

[Ricky Ganci · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was a surprisingly fast read (just more than two days), considering that Drizzt had no part in the story whatsoever, save the thinly placed reference to him; it was a story in which his legacy did the driving and other characters affected and were affected by the plot. Wulfgar’s climb back to humanity couldn’t have been done any better than it was: Salvatore did a sparkling job, allowing Wulfgar’s horrible (and to me, utterly disturbing) experiences to shape the man he is going to be here in the newer Drizzt novels. No recycled plot, no tripish return to the “old days” of tIDT: this novel is the continuing part of a very good story about a dark elf and his friends, and the changes that they go through in their lives together. I felt the victory of Wulfgar’s battle with alcoholism, his ability to take courage from Meralda’s brave act of releasing him from the jail, and especially in the humanity and growth he showed in admitting to himself that there had been moments of weakness in the Abyss, and that that was OK. He chose to learn from his painful experiences, and he really stepped up to a whole other level in taking the child to raise as his own as a result of them; of all the characters most likely to do this, he may have been the last on that list, perhaps. But it is logical that he would foster a baby, considering his own father’s aptitude for taking in strays. The promise of hunting his hammer perhaps continue to restoration process. My hope is that he doesn’t revert back to the way he used to be, and that his new baby daughter is a huge part of his part of the story from now on. Salvatore’s a master, and this installment of the Drizzt books ranks among the best.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two storylines that come together in the end to tell a pretty good tale.
One storyline follows Wulfgar as he continues to try to come to terms with his years of torture by a demon - he tries living in the bottle, he tries breaking friendships, he tries being on the wrong side of the law and not much works but we are given a bunch of fights, battles and some colorful characters along the way.
The other storyline follows the life of a peasant girl and what happens when the local lord falls in love with her.

That's it.
No Drizzt, no Cattie-brie, no Breunor, no Regis - all Wulfgar, all the time.

I've heard that Salvatore's writing has peaks and valleys later on but so far he's been consistently good. His writing is sharp and engaging.

I really liked this one and would recommend it, although if you've never read the previous 11 books in the series then this might not be the best place for you to start.

[Jupe Matilainen · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first read, the Spine of the World, I hated it. Changing the main character from Drizzt to Wulfgar, drunken ass of a Wulfgar for that matter, felt really stupid. But after reading the book couple of times, I really started appreciating the story.
Unlike other books in the series, The Spine of the World isn't as high fantasy as all the others. It has less magic and monsters and more political scheming. You could compare it to a Song of Ice and Fire. It's a nice breath of fresh air during the series.
Although The Spine of the World does have one of the most annoying characters I have ever faced in literature.

[Melissa Leyva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adventuring is awesome, but I live for the political machinations behind the scenes. This book was a nice departure from the series thus far in that it’s not a Drizzt-centric story and that we get some juicy realm drama that we haven’t really had since the events in Menzoberranzan at the very start of the series.

[Lanzz · Rating 3 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 'Paths of Darkness' - menyambung kisah pengembaraan Drizzt Do'Urden dan rakan-rakannya (Bruenor Battlehammer, Wulfgar, Cattie-Brie, dan Regis). Juga merupakan buku ke-12 (dari 34) dalam siri 'The legend of Drizzt'. Novel kali ni lebih tertumpu pada watak Wulfgar, watak Drizzt hanya disebut jer. Kalau novel2 sebelum ni banyak fokuskan pada aksi pertarungan, novel kali ni pula 180° bezanya, banyak elemen2 drama. Tapi scene2 aksi pertarungan tetap mantap.

Plot novel kali ni mengisahkan tentang Wulfgar yg masih trauma dengan kisah silamnya dan menjadi pemabuk. Setelah dihalau dari bandar Luskan, dia dan rakan barunya, Morik si pencuri memulakan pengembaraan di sekitar kawasan pergunungan Spine of the World. Side-plot turut mengisahkan tentang 'love drama' antara 3 anak muda - Meralda, Lord Feringal, dan Jaka Sculi...

[Nicolae-Gheorghe Cojocaru · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, be warned - a bit of hinted at spoilers ahead !
More than halfway through the book, I went back to the cover to make sure I was reading a Salvatore book, you know - the ones following Drizzt and his friends. By the page, the book devolved more and more into a Sandra Brown romance novel, pretty spicey here and there I might add !

What I didn't count on, though - was that I would be rooting for the characters the way I did by the end. Congrats to Salvatore for a change in style, even for just one book, and for showing me that a genre shouldn't completely define a writing style, or the story itself.

I understand people dropping stars from the reviews, but I pity them in a way - they came in with certain high expectations - and instead of staying for the story, they where just looking for the familiar. As an old sage said - "...stay a while, and listen..."

[Phillip · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have been bad about reviewing the books I've read and have taken to just slapping star ratings on them and moving on. I did want to briefly comment on this one and hope to do better in the future.

I'm taking my response to this book as a sign that I need to move on from the Drizzt books at least temporarily, to avoid burnout on them.

My biggest complaint with them is that they are often simplistic, with villains smiling evilly and the heroes charging in heroically and saving the day. And then this one comes along and is an honest attempt at introducing some more complicated 'grey' areas, with Wulfgar trying(?) to recover from the trauma of his past at the bottom of a bottle, plus an unexpectedly large amount of time devoted toward a young peasant woman in a small hamlet who has to navigate the unwanted advances she gets from the ruling lord. There's a lot of focus on gender roles and class dynamics, sexual mores, etc.

And... I was less interested than when Drizzt was fighting giants and orcs and whatnot. So I guess I don't know what I want from this series? I applaud the effort and I think the Wulfgar character study was mostly successful but I'm sad to say that I was mostly just looking forward to the book's end so that characters I'm more interested in would come back.

[Jesse Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely entertaining fantasy book that departs from the typical narrative. Opposed to a singular, oppressive villain, Wulfgar and Meralda battle tirelessly against the challenges of poverty, trauma, and feudal society. As my first forgotten realms book I do not know where it stands in the series, but I’m excited to find out more.

[Jeremy Blum · Rating 5 out of 5]

On my edition of The Spine of the World, there's a quote on the back attributed to RPG.net. Putting aside the fact that the people marketing this edition jacked a praise quote from a tabletop gaming message board (and attributed it to the board and not the user), the words sum up my take on this book perfectly: "The Spine of the World...was easily my personal favorite. In fact, I dare say it is one of the best Salvatore has written. The story is about people, about complications, about relationships, about trust and honor and love."

All of this is so true. This is perhaps the best Legend of Drizzt book I've encountered yet, and Drizzt appears nowhere in these pages aside from his journal entries to punctuate each part. Rather, it's the story of tortured Wulfgar coming to terms with PTSD, alcoholism and bitter memories of torment at the hands of the demon Errtu, and rarely have I read in fantasy fiction a better depiction of a man plowing through the mental aftermath of torture. He's joined in this journey by Morik the rogue, a guy I didn't expect much of in the last book, The Silent Blade, but who quickly becomes Wulfgar's foil in a buddy cop movie kind of way as the two are exiled from the city of Luskan.

Told alongside Wulfar's story of struggle is a tale full of romance and political intrigue that deals with the power struggles between nobles and peasants, male privilege, unplanned pregnancies and the plight of a young girl named Meralda who finds herself the apple of a lord named Fernigal's eye. Forced into a marriage with a man that she does not love, Meralda has to navigate the complex ways of a small fiefdom's court...and her path inevitably becomes intertwined with Wulfar's as both characters go through ups and downs and ultimately find salvation.

Like that RPG.net poster wrote, this isn't a book about fighting orcs or dragons, which is probably why it's gotten low reviews on here. I reject every single one of these reviews, because I think the people who disliked this book perhaps needed to let the author breath outside of his usual formula. The typical swashbuckling nature of Salvatore's writing is absent, replaced with something deeper - and dare I say it - more satisfying. Battle scenes against legions of foes might be the bread and butter of these Forgotten Realms books, but an emphasis on action means that the protagonists of these novels sometimes come across as 2D superheroes, with nary a realistic flaw. (Pretty boy Drizzt himself could be accused of this, and his exclusion from The Spine of the World shows how complex Wulfgar can be when he isn't being outshone by a dark elf.) Furthermore, many times do the villains of the Forgotten Realms sometimes veer into cartoonish Scooby Doo bad guy territory, so terrifically evil that they can barely be taken seriously. (I'm looking at y'all, every drow aside from Jarlaxle.) Not so here, because this book doesn't really have VILLAINS, persay...just people, acting on their whims and desires, which often veer from black and white into startingly complex shades of grey.

This is a book about that grey, about the intricacies of human nature, and it is indeed one of the best that Salvatore has written.

[Mike Bertrand · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since deciding to go back and read the Legend of Drizzt in its entirety, I have found it difficult to be engaged in the story and care about what is even going on. It wasn't until this book that I truly felt engrossed in the story and was actually glued to the book, wanting to know what was going to happen next. Heres to hoping that the rest of the books in the series can keep me as glued as this one did.

EDIT: This is probably the best book in the Legend of Drizzt series - Which is why it is surprising that it's the lowest rated one on here. Then I thought about it, both the reasons why I loved it so much and why it is rated so low is simply because it does not follow the model of the other books. This one is much darker than the rest of the series, with Wulfgar coping with life after being tortured in the Abyss and Meralda's story arc it is a far cry from the usual "Drizzt & friends run around going on adventures and killing monsters"

Even though the books after this pretty much go back to the typical Drizzt formula they do seem to deal more with shades of grey now than the typical black & white/Good & Evil typical in fantasy novels.

[John Driscoll · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think it's fairly well known to Forgotten Realms fans by now, but when R.A. Salvatore began writing what would eventually become his first Legend of Drizzt novel, The Crystal Shard, he originally envisioned Wulfgar the barbarian as the main character, and Drizzt as part of the supporting cast. Apparently he changed his mind almost immediately and reversed the two. The Spine of the World proves to me beyond any shadow of a doubt that Salvatore made the right decision back then, because Wulfgar absolutely cannot carry a story by himself. Wulfgar's new and temporary companion Morik the Rogue is probably the most interesting part of this book, and that's really not a good thing because Morik is incredibly generic.

Anyone who got through the first few series of Drizzt books and is a huge fan of Wulfgar might enjoy this deep dive into his character during the lowest point of his life. Everyone else can skip this one and go straight on to Servant of the Shard without missing anything important.

[Meredith Katz · Rating 1 out of 5]

Listen. I love the drizzt series as a whole, but fuck this book in particular. It's full of grimdark torture, domestic violence, and rape, and for what?? Oh, yeah, and the death of a popular tertiary character as a way to make a miserable character's life worse. Notably, Drizzt *and* Jarlaxle -- the two different protagonists of this series -- don't even show up in it, this is the Wulfgar show, costarring a peasant girl with two abusive and terrible possible love interests. Was it a plot given to Bob by someone else that he was paid to write? Was it ghostwritten? Was Bob going through something? IDK but I got to the end of Part 1, read a bunch of summaries to confirm that I wasn't missing anything, found it continues like this throughout and learned what I needed to know going into later books, then gave up and DNF'd it. Can't wait until we get back to some decency and kindness.

[Anthony · Rating 2 out of 5]

After enjoying the preceding volume, The Silent Blade, this was a bit of letdown in the Drizzt series. Let's be frank: this isn't high art or great literature, but I don't read Salvatore's stuff for great literature. I read it for some swashbuckling escapism. But this book, well, wasn't that good. The chapters with the nobleman going after the peasant girl...uh...really? Did we need that much set-up for paper-thin side characters? I don't think so. The whole thing could have been cut way down with that side plot, for sure. The focus should have been on Wulfgar more solidly. Meh, hopefully the next one will have more action than pathos and attempts at "complexifying" a plot.

[Sean · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book contains two miserable stories. One about Wulfgar being a miserable drunk, making poor decisions in life, and sometimes suffering consequences, but usually not. The other is a miserable romance with childish actors in a new cast of horrible characters. A petty lord in his 30s who acts like a teenage virgin. The peasant girl he is smitten with no sane reason. The peasant boy she likes. The dying mother providing a purpose for the girl. I swear, if I was better read, I would say this is a farce based on a more famous work, but I don't know. It just feels that way. Fortunately by the end of the work when these two stories finally converge, it does get interesting again.

[Alesha Montgomery · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book felt out of place and not only because its a legend of Drizzt book with out Drizzt. I hated everyone in this book. Some characters that I liked at the end of the last book seemed to retroactively become worse people. Delly is the best case where as she went out of her way in the previous book to save Wulfgar was mostly just a terrible person in the book.
This is easily the worst book in the series.

[Rebecka · Rating 1 out of 5]

50% through this book I gave up and read a summary of the remaining chapters. I understand that this book explains the pain Wulfgar is suffering through and shows his long (oh so very long and very dreary) road toward recovery. The problem is that I didn't find any of the main characters likable and the pacing was rather dragged out and boring. I hope the next book will be better.

[Sarah-Grace (Azrael865) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was confused for most of this story. Drizzt and his group are not mentioned at all. The story is about Wulfgar and a side story of new characters.

The ending redeemed the story and Wulfgar's dreadful decline in his actions and personality due to his tortured memories. The ending took a story I was going to rate at 3 stars and brought up to 5.

[Russell Bright · Rating 1 out of 5]

Legend of Drizzt tale my @$$.

[Hanna (lapetiteboleyn) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was so difficult to read. On the one hand I really appreciated Salvatore's commitment to exploring how trauma can push us into becoming the worst versions of ourselves, but on the other hand I really did not enjoy reading this at all. I found the plot weak and none of the side characters were engaging enough to hold my attention.

[Simon Pegg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, I didn't realise I'd get so much enjoyment out of a Drizzt book that has literally no Drizzt in it :')