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Julian Grimm
Seeker
86 Posts |
 Posted - 18 Dec 2009 : 01:58:13
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Are the new Drizzt books any good? I have heard both good and bad and I am leery that they will be more about the changes that would be coming than an actual story. Without spoilers, can I hear some opinions of them?
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Sandro
Learned Scribe
New Zealand
266 Posts |
Posted - 18 Dec 2009 : 07:49:58
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Well, it would help if you defined "new". 
Assuming you mean the Transitions trilogy, I'd happily recommend them. The Orc King is very much the fourth book of the Hunter's Blades Trilogy, The Pirate King is super awesome (though opinions are divided, I believe) and The Ghost King is (in my opinion, of course) awesome in a way few other Salvatore novels are. |
"Gods, little fishes, and spells to turn the one to the other," Mordenkainen sighed. "It's started already..." |
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Lady Fellshot
Senior Scribe
USA
379 Posts |
Posted - 18 Dec 2009 : 07:53:29
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My opinions in a nutshell...
The Orc King feels very much like the close of the Hunter's Blades Trilogy. The prologue is a bit off putting and I found some of the plot justifications very, very thin. I felt that more focus was needed on the political and strategic situation between Mithril Hall and the kingdom of Many Arrows. Instead it felt like most of the book focused of the Drizzt/Catti/Wulfgar romantic triangle. I was not thrilled.
I liked The Pirate King better, but then Drizzt was not the main focus of the novel. Duedermont and Robillard of the Sea Sprite take center stage instead. The book almost could be a stand alone. Drizzt's part when not with them are like barely related short stories. I thought the episode in Longsaddle very funny (there's mention of a vorpal rabbit). Anyway, Duedermont and Robillard are an interesting pair. One of the antagonists, Arklem Greeth, is almost likeable. The problems I had were that the plotting gets a bit muddled, the text bleeds names and a lot of those named characters didn't have enough traits to differentiate them from other characters with similar names. It got somewhat confusing to me at times.
As for the The Ghost King... Well if you are familiar with what the spellplague does and the pantheon changes, then certain things won't be completely unexpected. This book is also, pretty close to being a stand alone. I found the last fight scenes rather dull and drawn out, but that's more of a continuing issue for me. I found the villain triple revenge reunion tour lacking. Also, putting Drizzt and Cadderly in the same room whilst philosophizing made me long for a horde of rampaging geese to start biting them. Read this for dwarves being awesome in every role they are granted. Bruenor, Athrogate, Pwent, Ivan and Pikel were all great in their own ways. Jarlaxle was the picture of common sense and tolerance and acted much less like a deus ex machina with a large hat. The last few scenes are extremely disjointed, in my opinion.
I hope that helps you and I apologize if I seem a bit snarky at times. I'm not the biggest Drizzt fan.  |
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Alisttair
Great Reader
Canada
3054 Posts |
Posted - 18 Dec 2009 : 14:40:46
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quote:
Originally posted by Julian Grimm
Are the new Drizzt books any good?
YES! They are VERY good! |
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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The Red Walker
Great Reader
USA
3567 Posts |
Posted - 19 Dec 2009 : 15:31:06
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The "Old Drizzt Novels", I find are vastly superior. Just good stories with great fighting, and D trying to figure it all out, written by a really good author making a name for himself.
The "New Drizzt Novels"(ie, last 3) I wish I had never read. In my humble opinion they are the works of a well established author who can pretty much get away with anything.(Well earned I understand).
i found all three to be chock full of parralels and analogies to present day world issues(politics, etc....I dont want to use examples and thus spoil anything!). I just dont want that in a FR novel...I want to read about D kicking ass, Dwarves being Dwarves, Orcs being Orcs, etc. But thats just me... |
A little nonsense now and then, relished by the wisest men - Willy Wonka
"We need men who can dream of things that never were." -
John F. Kennedy, speech in Dublin, Ireland, June 28, 1963
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swifty
Senior Scribe
United Kingdom
517 Posts |
Posted - 19 Dec 2009 : 19:16:58
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| i havent read transitions yet but the hb trilogy was very very poor. |
go back to sleep america.everything is under control.heres american gladiators.watch this.shuttup. BILL HICKS. |
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BEAST
Master of Realmslore
USA
1714 Posts |
Posted - 20 Dec 2009 : 10:15:16
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I loved the early Drizzt books ("The Icewind Dale Trilogy" and "The Dark Elf Trilogy") for introducing us to the characters and RAS's style of writing. Everything was new and fresh and fun. There is a lot to be said about the value of nostalgia.
I am lukewarm about the middle mini-series ("Legacy of the Drow" and "Paths of Darkness"), because these books seem to be repetitive and episodic, with the characters never seeming to develop much, and the conflicts never really exciting much, and everybody just seeming to spin their wheels. My two least favorite Drizzt books are part of this bunch (Passage to Dawn and Sea of Swords).
The most recent Drizzt mini-series ("The Hunter's Blades Trilogy" and "Transitions") are pretty good again, because the characters do display changes. In "Transitions", we have three books ending unpleasantly, despite the fact that these heroes were previously essentially cartoonishly invincible. There is a poetic justice in this contrast to the way things went with the middle series of books. I've read a book review of one of the books of "Transitions" that compared The Orc King to RAS's non-Realms "DemonWars" books, in terms of being darker and more willing to defy convention than previous Drizzt books, and I would agree completely.
That said, I consider The Orc King to be the lowlight of the "Transitions" mini-series. It's various plotlines don't really seem to fit together, other than seemingly being jammed together in order to prop up the unsatisfying ending. RAS provides great characterization, and some decent fight scenes, per the usual, but the story is all over the place, and I am still left wondering why Bruenor ever agreed to what he did in the book. Perhaps a subsequent book might alleviate me of my lingering disgruntlement with this one, but for now, it still irks. |
"'You don't know my history,' he said dryly."
--Drizzt Do'Urden (The Pirate King, Part 1: Chapter 2)
<"Comprehensive Chronology of R.A. Salvatore Forgotten Realms Works"> |
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dwarvenranger
Senior Scribe
USA
428 Posts |
Posted - 28 Dec 2009 : 16:37:08
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| I'm afraid that I didn't care for the Ghost King at all. The whole novel felt very forced to me. But that's what I guess I have to expect from 4e novels. Shame really. |
If I waited till I knew what I was doing, I'd never get anything done.
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Arion Elenim
Senior Scribe
933 Posts |
Posted - 07 Jan 2010 : 02:31:17
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| I really enjoyed Pirate King. A great read that really put Drizzt out of his element. |
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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Julian Grimm
Seeker
86 Posts |
Posted - 07 Jan 2010 : 02:39:22
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| Sadly it looks as if I will have to consider the end of Hunter's Blades as the end of Drizzt's saga. |
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Hawkins
Great Reader
USA
2131 Posts |
Posted - 07 Jan 2010 : 17:03:04
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quote:
Originally posted by BEAST
That said, I consider The Orc King to be the lowlight of the "Transitions" mini-series. It's various plotlines don't really seem to fit together, other than seemingly being jammed together in order to prop up the unsatisfying ending. RAS provides great characterization, and some decent fight scenes, per the usual, but the story is all over the place, and I am still left wondering why Bruenor ever agreed to what he did in the book. Perhaps a subsequent book might alleviate me of my lingering disgruntlement with this one, but for now, it still irks.
quote:
Originally posted by dwarvenranger
I'm afraid that I didn't care for the Ghost King at all. The whole novel felt very forced to me. But that's what I guess I have to expect from 4e novels. Shame really.
I have not read the Ghost King yet, but I have a feeling that the helter skelter and forced feelings in these books is not due to RAS's writing and storytelling abilities, but more to the 4e Realms agenda that was most likely being forced upon him by the WotC editors and/or story managers. I know when he was writing Vector Prime he was forced to kill off Chewbacca because the Star Wars book editors and/or story managers told him he had too. Despite this, many Star Wars fans revile him as the murderer of Chewbacca. |
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The new Drizzt novels
