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D-brane
Learned Scribe
United Kingdom
140 Posts |
 Posted - 31 Oct 2009 : 11:37:06
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Can I read this trilogy without reading most of the other Drizzt books? I stopped with Salvatore's Drizzt books around the time of Starless Night. But I recently picked up the other two books of "The Sellswords" trilogy and I'm wondering whether I can fully appreciate and enjoy them without having read any of Salvatore's books that might have led up to this trilogy.
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"Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence." |
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Lady Fellshot
Senior Scribe
USA
379 Posts |
Posted - 31 Oct 2009 : 15:32:43
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| I think you can read the Sellswords books without bothering with the rest. There is some lead-in in [i]The Silent Blade{/i] though to give it a better context, but other than that The Sellwords, is thoroughly divergent from the Drizzt books. |
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scererar
Master of Realmslore
USA
1618 Posts |
Posted - 01 Nov 2009 : 15:30:47
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| I fully concur with Lady Fellshot's assessment. they can be read without the others, but you may out on some of the backstory. |
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Kyrene
Senior Scribe
South Africa
758 Posts |
Posted - 02 Nov 2009 : 08:19:51
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| I have never read any of the Drizzt or Cadderly main novels and had no problem. It was in fact quite refreshing to only read about the Entreri/Jarlaxle doings in The Sellswords series. |
Lost for words? Find them in the Glossary of Phrases, Sayings & Words of the Realms
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Sandro
Learned Scribe
New Zealand
266 Posts |
Posted - 02 Nov 2009 : 08:44:24
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| May I inquire how it was "refreshing" to read only about Entreri and Jarlaxle while not having read any of the other books involving them? Seems an odd way to put it, with the information you put forward. |
"Gods, little fishes, and spells to turn the one to the other," Mordenkainen sighed. "It's started already..." |
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Alisttair
Great Reader
Canada
3054 Posts |
Posted - 02 Nov 2009 : 15:51:25
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| Would be better if you keep reading up until at least Servant of the Shard first IMO |
Karsite Arcanar (Most Holy Servant of Karsus)
Anauria - Survivor State of Netheril as penned by me:
http://www.dmsguild.com/m/product/172023 |
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Kyrene
Senior Scribe
South Africa
758 Posts |
Posted - 03 Nov 2009 : 07:10:01
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Edit: Formatting, nothing else.
quote:
Originally posted by Sandro
May I inquire how it was "refreshing" to read only about Entreri and Jarlaxle while not having read any of the other books involving them? Seems an odd way to put it, with the information you put forward.
"Refreshing" as in no Drizzt, Wulfgar, the girl (I forget her name) or the Mithral Hall dwarves. No Menzo, no endless, overpowered, haughty drow (exept to the extent that they feature in Servant of the Shard) and very little Drizzt monologues. The backstory of how Entreri dueled Drizzt and therefore hates him (and *MILD SPOILER* Jarlaxle's involvement in that) is sufficiently explained to not have required me wading through any of the Drizzt main novels. Also, while Cadderly, Danica (I think it's her name) and the Bouldershoulder twins also feature in Servant of the Shard one needn't have read the Cleric Quintet either.
To put it another way: while I'm not a great fan of RAS, the three books (and some of the accompanying short stories that were published in anthologies of the same time: I'm thinking of That Curious Sword, Wickless in the Nether and the other one where they decide to depart for/from the Bloodstone Lands) were so well written that one didn't mind reading only a 'chapter' of their lives. And that 'chapter' is three of my most favourite Realms books because of it.  |
Lost for words? Find them in the Glossary of Phrases, Sayings & Words of the Realms
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Edited by - Kyrene on 03 Nov 2009 07:13:20 |
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Sandro
Learned Scribe
New Zealand
266 Posts |
Posted - 04 Nov 2009 : 06:58:45
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| I was referring to the first part of your post -- "I have never read any of the Drizzt or Cadderly main novels and had no problem". By this, did you mean that you hadn't read them at the time of reading The Sellswords? |
"Gods, little fishes, and spells to turn the one to the other," Mordenkainen sighed. "It's started already..." |
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Kyrene
Senior Scribe
South Africa
758 Posts |
Posted - 04 Nov 2009 : 08:16:49
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quote:
Originally posted by Sandro
I was referring to the first part of your post -- "I have never read any of the Drizzt or Cadderly main novels and had no problem". By this, did you mean that you hadn't read them at the time of reading The Sellswords?
No, you were referring to my use of the word "refreshing". 
To answer your new question, I meant exactly that (first part you quoted), and it was in response to the OP's question:
Can he/she attempt The Sellswords trilogy (not really, more like three linked books) without reading many other Drizzt books?
My response, thus:
I hadn't at the time and still haven't read any Drizzt or Cadderly novels. I had no problem reading The Sellswords and enjoyed them a lot.
To clarify even further, I never will read any Drizzt or Cadderly novels, but will and have re-read parts of The Sellswords. I will also not read any of the Drizzt or Cadderly novels even if they feature scenes with Entreri and/or Jarlaxle in them. Those scenes are not a pre-requisite to reading or enjoying The Sellswords.
All of the above of course IMHO.  |
Lost for words? Find them in the Glossary of Phrases, Sayings & Words of the Realms
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Sandro
Learned Scribe
New Zealand
266 Posts |
Posted - 04 Nov 2009 : 19:51:18
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I'm still slightly confused -- how can you find the lack of "Drizzt, Wulfgar, the girl (I forget her name) or the Mithral Hall dwarves. No Menzo, no endless, overpowered, haughty drow (exept to the extent that they feature in Servant of the Shard) and very little Drizzt monologue" refreshing if you have not read any of the novels about them? Are you basing this on what you've heard, or reviews you've read?
What you're saying now seems to come out something like this to me: "After running the marathon, I found a glass of water most refreshing. However, I've never ran a marathon".
I'm sorry if we're talking past each other here, and please don't feel as if I'm insulting you with these posts -- I am merely curious. If you feel we're getting nowhere, I'll happily terminate this conversation. |
"Gods, little fishes, and spells to turn the one to the other," Mordenkainen sighed. "It's started already..." |
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Kyrene
Senior Scribe
South Africa
758 Posts |
Posted - 05 Nov 2009 : 08:16:45
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quote:
Originally posted by Sandro
Are you basing this on what you've heard, or reviews you've read?
What you're saying now seems to come out something like this to me: "After running the marathon, I found a glass of water most refreshing. However, I've never ran a marathon".
No, I'm basing it on the Drizzt-centric stories (in the Realms antholgies I own) that I have read and on the sheer amount of data about Drizzt out there on the internet one can run into without even looking for it. Here's a quick few questions you can simply answer without posting it here: Name four of Superman's powers and have you ever read more than ten Superman comics? Would you be able to form an opinion about Superman based on the answers to the previous two questions?
Your analogy is only partly correct: After I ran a kilometer or so of the marathon, I found the glass of water most refreshing and vowed never to attempt a marathon again.  |
Lost for words? Find them in the Glossary of Phrases, Sayings & Words of the Realms
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Arion Elenim
Senior Scribe
933 Posts |
Posted - 06 Nov 2009 : 22:24:51
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| Shouldn't really be an issue. As long as you understand that (ARTEMIS' FEELINGS ON DRIZZT SPOILER) Artemis believes Drizzt is dead, then you have no worries. :D |
My latest Realms-based short story, about a bard, a paladin of Lathander and the letter of the law, Debts Repaid. It takes place before the "shattering" and gives the bard Arion a last gasp before he plunges into the present.http://candlekeep.com/campaign/logs/log-debts.htm |
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Hordak
Acolyte
17 Posts |
Posted - 07 Nov 2009 : 20:04:10
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quote:
Originally posted by Kyrene
[quote]Originally posted by Sandro
Are you basing this on what you've heard, or reviews you've read?
What you're saying now seems to come out something like this to me: "After running the marathon, I found a glass of water most refreshing. However, I've never ran a marathon".
QFA I hear exactly the same. |
You're so dull |
Edited by - Hordak on 07 Nov 2009 20:05:57 |
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Question about "The Sellswords"
