Steven C. (SteveTheDM) -
A strong finish to the Transitions trilogy. This one had a lot less politics than the prior entries in this trilogy did, and we finally see the beginning of the Spellplague, which was a welcome thing. (Ive wanted stories of the Spellplague for a while now.)
That lack of politics really let the book focus on just a few core characters. We have our bad guy, the Ghost King pictured on the cover, the cleric Cadderly of Spirit Soaring and his family, and the drow elf Jaraxle, frequent foe of Drizzt DoUrden in the past. Drizzt himself feels more like a minor character this time around, actually, and a number of other Companions of the Hall get little text at all.
But thats all good. Clearly, Salvatore focused on characters he was interested in, and that actually makes for a better book, rather than just an outline filled out. I was kept interested the entire book, and plowed through it at a pace much faster than many recent novels Ive read.
4 of 5 stars.
That lack of politics really let the book focus on just a few core characters. We have our bad guy, the Ghost King pictured on the cover, the cleric Cadderly of Spirit Soaring and his family, and the drow elf Jaraxle, frequent foe of Drizzt DoUrden in the past. Drizzt himself feels more like a minor character this time around, actually, and a number of other Companions of the Hall get little text at all.
But thats all good. Clearly, Salvatore focused on characters he was interested in, and that actually makes for a better book, rather than just an outline filled out. I was kept interested the entire book, and plowed through it at a pace much faster than many recent novels Ive read.
4 of 5 stars.
This is Book 3 of the Transitions Trilogy.
I have to give R.A. Salvatore credit for his latest addition to the Drizzt saga. After his last offering with The Pirate King, I was ready to pronounce this series dead. But Salvatore managed to turn the entire saga on its head by making some pretty permanent and heartbreaking changes.
This book was emotionally engaging in a way that the latest Drizzt books have been sincerely lacking. Due to the changes that all of the Forgotten Realms series have to abide by, Salvatore had to make some drastic adjustments. The entire pantheon is falling apart, magic is deteriorating, and no character, no matter how essential, is safe from the threat of death and destruction.
This book was a solid reminder of what the earlier Drizzt books used to be like, of the reasons why I became such a fan of the series in the first place. After The Pirate King I was ready to be done with Drizzt. I was going to finish The Ghost King and then set the series aside. After 19 books, there wasn't much left to do that had not been done a thousand times before. But now I see that The Pirate King was simply the beginning of a long goodbye, the start of a severance between this series and the next, the cutting of ties and the prelude for what was to come in The Ghost King.
With this book, Salvatore managed to salvage this series from the ashes of my indifference. I finished this book with a lump in my throat and a renewed curiosity to see where the road of adventure would lead the remaining characters next. Kudos to Salvatore for his willingness to find that dark place (like he did for Mortalis) and allow his characters to wallow there for a good long while. I am genuinely curious again to see what will happen next.
I have to give R.A. Salvatore credit for his latest addition to the Drizzt saga. After his last offering with The Pirate King, I was ready to pronounce this series dead. But Salvatore managed to turn the entire saga on its head by making some pretty permanent and heartbreaking changes.
This book was emotionally engaging in a way that the latest Drizzt books have been sincerely lacking. Due to the changes that all of the Forgotten Realms series have to abide by, Salvatore had to make some drastic adjustments. The entire pantheon is falling apart, magic is deteriorating, and no character, no matter how essential, is safe from the threat of death and destruction.
This book was a solid reminder of what the earlier Drizzt books used to be like, of the reasons why I became such a fan of the series in the first place. After The Pirate King I was ready to be done with Drizzt. I was going to finish The Ghost King and then set the series aside. After 19 books, there wasn't much left to do that had not been done a thousand times before. But now I see that The Pirate King was simply the beginning of a long goodbye, the start of a severance between this series and the next, the cutting of ties and the prelude for what was to come in The Ghost King.
With this book, Salvatore managed to salvage this series from the ashes of my indifference. I finished this book with a lump in my throat and a renewed curiosity to see where the road of adventure would lead the remaining characters next. Kudos to Salvatore for his willingness to find that dark place (like he did for Mortalis) and allow his characters to wallow there for a good long while. I am genuinely curious again to see what will happen next.
