RA Salvatore

[Variol (Farseer) Elmwood]

My vote is for chronological order as well. Start with The Dark Elf Trilogy: Homeland / Exile / Sojourn. Find Out what Drizzt is about.

Then carry on through the series. When you get to anything which involves Cadderly, you can pause and see what he is all about by reading The Cleric Quintet.

I just have to share this great line, spoken by Athrogate, the dwarf, in my book last night:

"Oh, by Clangeddin's fartin' arse"

funny stuff..

[Mouse]

http://www.ironworksforum.com/forum/...ad.php?t=39336

[Variol (Farseer) Elmwood]

Mouse is a mod??

Obviously, not where I post...

..and I hope that link is just an FYI. I'm not reading all that!

[Stratos]

I'm probably the only IW member who doesn't read fantasy books in a regular basis. I read a crapload of them in my early teens, but that was just a phase.

[CerebroDragon]

The last one I read was Passage to Dawn; I'd read all previous to that. I've fallen a long way behind now. Maybe I'll pick up some of the later Drizzt stories or Cleric series at some point. I know I've got a couple of his other novels in my collection somewhere as well.

I find Salvatore's writing to be quite entertaining save for his penchant to create odd characters here and there (that wacky hook horror for instance!). Sword fights and classic AD&D derived spectacle is definitely where he excels.

[ZFR]

Since I'm here on the forums I might as well reply here.

Disappointing. Too simple, a bit too childish, characters 2-dimensional. And for someone who's supposedly fighting with preconceived prejudices this is way too cliche'd.

^^Basically I agree with Mouse's opinion.

That said, it's not bad. I'm not regretting I bought it. The story is indeed nicely-told, quick-paced and it makes for a good light read. It's only that with so much hype and all the reviews on Amazon and elsewhere, I guess I was expecting a masterpiece. It's just your average fantasy novel.

Salvatore is a good storyteller but not too good a writer. If you like fantasy, FR and DnD this is for you, but don't expect too much lest you be disappointed.

The above is based on the Icewind Dale Trilogy only. I'm just finishing the third book.

[ElfBane]

Now that you have read some of the novels yourself, I think you will find the RAS style quite similar to Robert E. Howard, author of the Conan books. The REH style is..."one death-defying or quest busting battle after another mixed in with too numerous to mention close shaves and near miraculous victories,,,all because I can't be bothered to think up actual plot devices and twists to keep things moving". And another thing, I wish I could go thru life with Drizzt's saving throws....t'would be a peice of cake!

[SpiritWarrior]

The Cleric Quintet series is better, but the Drizzt novels are just terrible. I agree, no real depth and seemingly taregetted toward young teens. Elaine Cunningham (in Daughter of the Drow) dealt with a dark-elf escaping from the Underdark and all its social confines, ALOT better than Salvatore does. It came off as beliveable, and logical. She is a good storyteller and writer (later on, her novels lost that though).

In RAS's novels, emotionally, I shared nothing with Drizzt, I felt no real sense of the guy and I guess most of the younger audience just liked the fact that he was a Drow elf who dual-wielded scimitars.

[Variol (Farseer) Elmwood]

I just finished the second book of the The Sellswords, of which there are only 2. I thought they were very good. They're about Jarlaxle and Artemis.