“Joy multiplies when it is shared among friends, but grief diminishes with every division. That is life.”
― R.A. Salvatore, Exile
The second book of the the Dark Elf Trilogy and the second book of The Legend of Drizzt. It continues the story of the Dark Elf Drizzt. Now exiled from his home but still hunted for his betrayals. Much like the first book, it lacks a real goal. It merely tells the story of Drizzt almost like it knows that the story will end with his death.
The main plot is about Drizzt finding himself and him being hunted by the reanimated corpse of his father. He meets a drauger named Belwar, a man from his past, they become friends saving each other from memories haunting them and go on a journey to find a new home. On the way they also meet the sad character of Clacker, a cursed Pech who slowly losing his mind becoming the monster his body has been turned to.
The friendship of Belwar and Drizzt is believable and does pinch my heart and the tragedy called Clacker made me cry. This is a dark fantasy filled with tragedy along with the constant presence of insanity of Drizzt who has nearly lost every sense of himself in the ten years he has spend alone in the darkness.
The characters are without a doubt the strongest point of this story. They are vivid and you will care for their fears and pains. As you start to realize that some of the people most likely will not survive, you will anguish and hope that they will live at the end of the book. At least, I did for I truly enjoyed the story of these character.
The biggest problem is that the plot is almost ridiculously simple with no real red string. It is similar to the Fellowship of the Ring, in that it is a story of a journey. They walk, meet something, overcome it and repeat the process over and over again. It has plenty of faced paced action to make up for the predicable plot.
If you can enjoy the character without caring for the lack of a goal of the story, you will enjoy this book. Otherwise, you might be bored by the constant repeat of the same patterned throughout the book.
I liked this book better than the first one. The first one had better plot but had to many characters. Most of them had confusing names and I constantly tried to remember who this character is. This one had not the same problem since the characters was narrowed to only the most essential. Introducing some new characters, most of them did not have a large role in this book but will most likely in the future. The old ones are expanded and felt more alive than before.
The language also felt easier, more fluent than the first book but is still in a traditional style so those who doesn’t like an older style might not enjoy it. The names are still ridiculous but fewer in number so it made it easier to remember.
All leaving me pleasantly surprised and satisfied. I would recommend it but warn that you will need to read the first book for this is a clear continuation of the first book and might leave you confused if you start with this one. I gave the first book an 8 out of 10 and will give this book the same rate. Though for different reason. Here the characters are intriguing and the writing easier. The plot was emotional, mostly because the characters are well written, but simple and keep following a path that repeats over and over again. All of this makes the story lose some points according to me but I can see if other might like it. Especially since it has plenty of action to make up for the lacking story.
With Kind Regards
Senefer.
Read with Senefer 