Slam your head on a keyboard, and you have the name Drizzt. The main character of The Legend of Drizzt by R.A. Salvatore. A book series with 36 books depicted in the world of the Forgotten Realms. These stories might be more famous for the RPG game Dungeons and Dragons, no matter if you like the board game or the computer game, this is a classical fantasy in many ways reminiscence of Tolkien’s books. Though, I would argue that The Forgotten Realms have far more lore than the Hobbit and Lord of the ring series.
“Station is the paradox of the world of my people, the limitation of our power within the hunger for power. It is gained through treachery and invites treachery against those who gain it. Those most powerful in Menzoberranzan spend their days watching over their shoulders, defending against the daggers that would find their backs. Their deaths usually come from the front.”
― R.A. Salvatore, Homeland
Even the style of the writing is classic, feeling old and poetic if not very heavy and difficult to read. Many of the sentences are long and filled with beautiful wordings and structures but feels very unnecessary. Often leaving you feeling confused why the writer did not just write whatever he wanted to write directly instead of this net of words you have just read. Whether you like or not depends on your taste. I do not mind as I’m used to that kind of writing style, but this is not for those who aren’t used to the fantasy genre or have read older books from the olden days like Jane Austen or Tolkien.
This book feels very long, not really starting until far later in the book. I was completely lost at the start of the book. Running around in the chapter long battle where character after character was introduced. House after house followed suit. Do you know who was missing? Drizzt. I was trying desperately focusing on the story and finding the character. It wasn’t until later when I was nearly crying in confusion that a child was born. Drizzt.
I stared at the child with a grimace, well, that explained why I couldn’t find him. He hadn’t been born yet. From here the story was far more focused as it followed Drizzt as he grew up in a cruel society were all men are mere slaves in a society ruled by women who fights for power. Drizzt himself struggles as he sees the cruelty of his world not wanting to be a part of it. He seeks freedom while trying to survive countless dangers on the path to freedom.
This is a compelling first part of Drizzt story. It is filled with battles, intrigues and sorrows. The book is filled with strong character all with their own motives and view of the world. The one thing that might either interest you or deter you from reading this book is that the majority of the people in this book is evil. This is a story about villains so if you prefer a story filled with heroes then this one is not for you.
As my joke in the start of this review might have hinted, the names in this book is ridiculous. I listened to the audio book and pitied the poor man who had to read all the names. Though common in classic fantasy books and games, they are hard on the eyes and even harder to remember. This is not a good thing in a book with so many characters and intrigues. Most of the times, I would be confused when a character suddenly shouts.
Character: Remember when you did this to me!
Me: No, who are you?
Fortunately, the writer always seemed to repeat the incident for the dear readers who can not remember what the characters talking about. But this means that there is a weakness in the story. When complicated intrigues are depicted then it’s important that you can remember the name of every character involved and that is very hard when the characters names are nonsensible.
Lastly, I would say that this story has a large amount of unnecessary dialog or information not essential for the story. I remember a part where Drizzt training with his mentor and they have this lengthy dialog about a certain move. The advantages and disadvantages of the move was explained. Not only was I bored by it but it was also unnecessary as they continued by showing after telling the advantages and the disadvantages of the move. Which was a common thing in this book. It tells you a lot of information instead of showing it. Not uncommon in traditional fantasy but it might be a negative for those who don’t like that sort of writing style.
This story is not finished, as it is followed up by more books, but I would give this one an 8 out of 10. I would have given it a ten but considering that it was not a book for those who hasn’t read fantasy before as the style of writing is hard to follow and the names were to ridiculous for me not to remove a point. Overall it was a good book, interesting and one I would recommend for the more experienced fantasy reader. But I would suggest starting with another fantasy book for those new to fantasy as this one might be too difficult for some.
With Kind Regards
Senefer
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