R.A. Salvatore's works.

InvictusCobra

So after playing BG and encoutering Drizzt, getting to know the Drow society and it's customs through the game and Viconia's romance (still underway in ToB), Drizzt's story piqued my interest. I've heard from a friend of mine he's got a huge fanbase and I'd like to know if reading his saga is worth it. Now, I'm not a book person, only ones I've read are a few Sherlock Holmes short stories and a full book, so I'd like to know if the Drizzt books are good and worth it. Thank you for reading this.

DreadKhan

He's more accessible than lots of 'better' fantasy, like Tolkien. Its a great bunch of novels for new readers, really aimed at the young adult demographic imho. My biggest complaint, all his characters are kinda overpowered. But this is universal nearly in fantasy.

I would generally recommend the stuff, especially to people not big on reading.

kcwise

I'd recommend The Dark Elf Trilogy: Homeland/Exile/Sojourn. It's probably the best of the entire saga (which is into the double digits these days), and it delves into the origin of Drizzt himself. If you want to know about his other companions then the original Icewind Dale Trilogy: The Crystal Shard/Streams of Silver/The Halfling's Gem is a good place to start.

For those who are more fond of fantasy in which important characters can die and the heroes don't necessarily win every battle Salvatore's Demon Wars series is very good as well.

Squire

I personally don't particularly rate his works, but that's a matter of opinion. Drizzt and his friends are a little too OP for my tastes, I prefer heroes who are a bit more down-to-Earth (and who actually have flaws beyond "I'm a drow, nobody trusts me, oh woe!"). Not keen on his fight coreography scenes either - being a re-enactor, I find this annoying in most fantasy books now, because it's almost always written by somebody who doesn't know anything about actual swordfighting.

Still, if you like high-fantasy hero stories, you may enjoy them. If you like more gritty fantasy where the heroes have flaws and can die, avoid the Drizzt series, as well as the Spirit Soaring series. I haven't read Demon Wars so I can't comment on that.

Aristillius

The drizzt books are super fun, like holywood blockbusters Id begin with Homeland.

kiwidoc

try to borrow one of his books from your local library and then read it. His stories are quite good, and fun but his writing does have some flaws. As @Squire said his fight scenes can be pretty bad at times, but most of the time they aren't too bad. He also has a bad habit for getting his words wrong - like using piquant to mean potent. If these don't bug you too much the books are great fun.

Mind you his magic words can be fun in a different way. In our household the word Bivvrripp! isn't a word of power, its a word of flatulence

Walstafa

I actually prefer starting in "print order" with the Icewind Dale trilogy (The Crystal Shard, Streams of Silver and The Halfling's Gem), then going back to the Dark Elf Trilogy, then working through the rest of the series in order. I say this simply because the DE trilogy can be fairly dark and tragic, and you don't get enough of the exciting swashbuckling action that Salvatore does so well. Plus, if you do the Dark Elf books after the Icewind Dale ones, then those characters are fresh in your mind for The Legacy of The Drow.

TarotMaster

Best books ever I have ever read. However it can be a bit dry here and there.

element

the benefits of these books is that they are very easy reading, i don't personally think they're great but if your not that into reading they may well be a good thing to get into from your perspective. I personally think the best choice is the dark elf trilogy of those ive read i felt it was by far the strongest.

Daunt

InvictusCobra said:

Now, I'm not a book person, only ones I've read are a few Sherlock Holmes short stories and a full book, so I'd like to know if the Drizzt books are good and worth it. Thank you for reading this.

While I haven't read a whole lot of fantasy (mainly Dragonlance, Salvatore's Drizzt books, some of Terry Brooks's "Shannara" books), I'd say they're certainly entertaining and light reading.

I think out of the whole series, The Silent Blade is the best hands down though. Still my favorite book from Salvatore.

elminster

I read the Legacy of the Drow series a really long time ago. It was enjoyable enough I suppose at the time.

ThatTwitchyGuy

I'm of the mind that his earlier works were better. A lot of his recent stuff just gets bogged down in unnecessarily long, overly descriptive fight scenes.
As a character, Drizzt is fairly simplistic. I found him rather boring but I know a lot of people that love him so it's up to taste really.
I would seriously recommend them however. I read from "The Crystal Shard" all the way up to his "Transitions" series before I stopped, and I enjoyed most of them despite their faults.

Moomintroll

For tales of the underdark and the exoticism that goes with that, they are pretty fun. If you want to read books that reference all things forgotten realms, look no further; for a Baldur's gate enthusiast maybe thats all the reason you need.

Daunt

ThatTwitchyGuy said:

I'm of the mind that his earlier works were better. A lot of his recent stuff just gets bogged down in unnecessarily long, overly descriptive fight scenes.

I would seriously recommend them however. I read from "The Crystal Shard" all the way up to his "Transitions" series before I stopped, and I enjoyed most of them despite their faults.

I think after The Sellswords trilogy, the series does drop a few notches. The Hunter's Blades trilogy and Transitions books were "okay", but hardly as good as, say, Legacy of the Drow and everything leading up to it.

However, The Companions felt like a breath of fresh air for the series, and surprisingly so. Especially after the Neverwinter Saga -- I understand Salvatore had to deal with WotC's change to Forgotten Realms and how that affected his cast of characters, so those four books kind of get a pass, but at the same time, the ending to The Last Threshold had some big issues and wasn't all that great imo. So I wasn't sure what to expect after it in terms of quality, really.

Back to The Companions though, it was surprisingly good, I dug the whole concept of it, and it felt the closest to breaking 'new ground' with the characters since The Silent Blade/Spine of the World/Sellswords. Salvatore finally takes the characters to some new places (figuratively of course) while setting the stage for the rest of the series, which is nice to see the potential for uncovering additional character growth, after all this time.

Like turning over a familiar gem that you thought honestly couldn't hide anything else, to find new facets; another side or two previously unseen/unimagined, and worth exploring.

I haven't read Night of the Hunter yet, so I don't know if the writing from here out with the Companions Codex series improves, but hopefully there's still some quality storytelling and character-development to squeeze out yet.

But seriously, I'd say the Drizzt books are worth giving another shot. /rant over!

Wandering_Minstrel

Am I the only one here who prefers The Cleric Quintet over the Drizzt books?

DreadKhan

Probably not, and Cadderly had a better BG cameo.

Daunt

@Jepatrienosaksen‌ What did you enjoy more about TCQ? I went through them a couple of years ago too, worth reading for sure.