I have read most of Salvatores books about about Drizzt and his companions and up until Servant of the shard I thought that they were fantasy standard plot 1A. Drizzt is a quite boring onedimensional supergoodietwoshoes character not to talk about his boring companions. When i read the spine of the world i was ready to give up. That was one of the most boring books I have ever read and Wulfgar the least interesting character that have ever had a main role in a book. I didnt even read the whole book, I just skimmed the pages to make sure i got the main plot right and hoping Wulfgar would die or something.

But here comes the big but, the reason I have continued reading Salvatores book was two characters, Artemis Entreri and Jarlaxle of Breagan D´aerthe every time one of these characters made an appearance Salvatore showed me that he could make interesting characters that you couldnt really figure out after half a page of reading.

And after reading Servant of the shard I am compeletely blown away, why have Salvatore written so many books about shallow always do the right thing characters when he could have been writing books like this all the time. This book goes up into my top ten right away. And Entreri and Jarlaxle are two of the most intriguing characters I have ever read about. Sure they became "good" in this book but Salvatore didnt fall for the tempation to make them all out good, he didnt give them an urge to redeem themselves that I feared he might do.

So to all of you that have been reading Salvatores book for no other reason than that they were competent fantasy books and you were waiting for the new Jordan or Martin book go read Servant of the shard and me as amazed as me when you see what Salvatore can accomplish when he puts his mind into it.

Let us just hope that we havent seen the last of Artemis Entreri the worlds best assassin and Jarlaxle the Rogue, the one person Zaknafein counted as his superior.

"the one person zaknafein counted as his superior" just curious, but where'd you get this? I've seen Jaraxle claiming he was zak's friend, but never zak claiming zak as his superior. And amen, Drizzt is one boring, introspective putz. Thank GOD I wasted him in BG1 and am putting his armor and scimitars to good use :grin: Jaraxle and Entreri are really the best things salvatore's books have got going. I particularly liked Entreri's orgin in Realms of Infamy. Beautiful story. And the clincher in Shard where they revealed Jaraxle's house name.

I agree, I LOVE these two! They're great... SotS is my all-time fave of Salvatore's books.
I like the 'Third Level' story as well.
I believe Artemis Entreri is the greatest character ever walk the Realms. Period. He is simply wonderful.
And... you can cheat him into your party as well. But there's no character script so...
:(

Ara
(Playing thorough BG2 with a Lawful Good assassin... can we say wannabe?)

R´syil, read the sentence in the shard right before Jarlaxle reveals his house name and you should get your answer. Zaknafein never said anything about it but I trust in Jarlaxle.

I read this book some time ago and I must agree, it's the best book I've read yet by mr. Salvatore. And Drizzt is indeed boring and one-dimensional. If he would just give up Drizzt as soon as Wulfgar's hammer is retrieved, and continue writing about these two, possibly even stories about the younger years of Jarlaxle, when he was friends with Zaknafein, I for one, would be sure to read them.

Drizzt was not so boring and one-dimensional before. Alas...

I was just wondering what the very first book i should read is cos i want to start reading all of them but im a bit late so i dont know which one to start with.

Chronologicaly the first book would be "Homeland", followed by "Exile" and "Sojourn", that's the "Dark Elf" trilogy.

The first book Salvatore wrote however, was "The Crystal Shard", followed by "Streams of Silver" and "The Halfling's Gem", that's the "Icewind Dale" trilogy.

You can start with either series.

If you're really bent on reading all of them I would suggest reading them in the order they were written. "The Crystal Shard" is by far the lousiest book of the lot, and by reading it first you'll have no disappointments later on.

I have them all listed in the order they should be read at http://www.sorcerers.net/Books/index_fr.htm

Starting with the books on that page is a good idea. ;)

Servant of the Shard redeemed Salvatore in my eyes. Maybe he can work some of the magic there on his next books... Anyone read Sea of Swords or whatever it's called?

Thanks guys i think i will start with the IWD trilogy.

BTW where can i get the Dark Elf Trilogy Gift Set cos amazon.co.uk dont have it in stock any more.

Get the Collector's Edition instead, then. The only difference is that here all 3 parts come in one book.

so wots the difference betweeen the two?

Um... I just said. The collector's edition is 3 books in 1.

The Gift Set is the three separate paperbacks sold in a bundle.

Oh right i thought besides that there might have been additional art/maps/other info.

No, nothing else. The text from Salvatore is all that you get. :D

That's good enough for me thanks Tal.
By the way i read that neverwinter nights post from that bain croix or whatever guy and im glad you gave him a pasting and kicked him out, you're a good guy and don't need the bother.

Yes, Drizzt is one of the most boring fantasy heroes I've ever met. But Salvatore isn't that bad writer, so I hope, that he will drop this pathetic character.

Savaltore is a horrible writer!! and i think drizzt is a wicked character!

Drizzt may look like a cheese character to a lot of people nowadays, but back in the times he's been yet a wee hero, he was a new idea. And Salvatore may be anything but a horrible writer.
For me, his books are hypnotizing. It took me about 2 weeks to read all Drizztology and the Cleric Quintet, just for one reason: as soon as I read the first page of any of his book, it's impossible for me to stop until I'm done, and next day I take the next book of the series and the story goes on. (When I was done with the Servant of the Shard, it's been a painful wait for the Sea of Swords. :D)
My idea on this is that RAS' books are very much unlike Greenwood's books. Ed's epics may be interesting, but for me they are not as easy to read as RAS'. Battle scenes by Rob flow, create images of what's happening in mind, while Ed's battle scenes make me reread the lines for several times to understand what's happening (I find myself charting flowcharts of the events in mind in this case ;)). Speaking for myself, I never managed to read more than 100 pages per attempt in any of Greenwood's books... Troy Denning is also close to Salvatore in the art of sticking the reader to his books, I think.
Any opinions?

RAS books is very easily read. And they are enjoyable but for me thats not the same thing as "good". I like it when books make me think and I must struggle to understand what is really happening. When I read Salvatores books it is like reading a comicbook easy straight up entertainment but not a great reading experience. Servant of the Shard changed that a bit, here the characters were deep and interesting and I caught my self thinking about the book even when I was not reading, something I have never before done with RAS´books.
I have never read Greenwoods book except the Making of mage wich I read several years ago.

This is kinda off topic, but does anyone know who is that on the cover of Sea of Swords? i've read SotS 3 times and i got it last week, i loved it!

Drizzt himself is on the cover.
If we mean the same cover.

http://lookinside-images.amazon.com/Qffs+v35lepfYILjzlmvfI2rE2 jH604S9s9rS4o6YOvg2+n4e7qG68BJDs/aGRj/Wj5waGolD1M= (http://lookinside-images.amazon.com/Qffs+v35lepfYILjzlmvfI2rE2jH604S9s9rS4o6YOvg2+n4e7 qG68BJDs/aGRj/Wj5waGolD1M=)

[This message has been edited by Skedaddle (edited February 24, 2002).]

What about the Cleric Quintet? It any good?

I've only read The Crystal Shard and the 2nd IWD book, IIRC Streams of Silver.

I thought they were above-average, especially the battle scenes. However the character development was thin. Perhaps if I read Homeland et al I will be contradicted by RAS, but I doubt it.

'Sides, Weis/Hickman are 10x RAS. :)

I hear Cleric Quintet is better than his Drizzt books.

About Cleric quintet - it's good. I've read it all on one breath, so captivating it was.

Maybe it's the focus which Salvatore put on the characters this time, not on the action, as in Drizzt's books.

I've read the first of Cleric Quintet and it's good, so i can really recomend this one!

What is the name of the oter four? :mommy:

Sea of Swords is a little better than some of the other Drizzt books because you get to see what happens to the characters buts its kindof a let down because it just dribbles off really. Now don't get me wrong I loved Drizzt in the Dark Elf Trilogy and in a couple of spots in the rest of the books where he lets his drow show through and simply slaughters things. Great spot in SoS where Drizzt tries to rent a cave from some goblins but decides that they are evil and completely destroys the clan. Thats about the high point of the book. About he almost dies but his goodie two shoes friends give him a healing potion:(

Why does Drizzt ALWAYS win his battles, I've never seen him lose.

Ok... I'm a fantasy-addict but haven't started with the Forgotten Realms books.... We have a shop that has all FR-books for sale... but I don't know where to start. Soon I'll buy one book... with wich one should I start?

How about making a new topic for that? Not all FR books are Salvatore's. Anyway, you know where the SP FR books page is. Start on page 1...

arahar: Drizzt always wins because he`s supposed to be simply the greatest swordsman in all the realms.
It`s stupid, i know, but losing a fight would most likely mean death, and that wouldn`t make much of a hero, would it?

I've read everything except Sea of Swords.
The books are really great, especially Servant of the Shard, Starless Night and The Dark Elf Trilogy.
I thought that Cleric Quintet wasn't even close to Drizzt series, not only cos of legendary Drizzt, but also Artemis and Jarlaxle.
Actually, Artemis IS Drizzt's fighting equal.

Servant of the Shard is really an Artemis book, and it was fantastic.
(....thanks Ara...) :)

generaln- even the greatest fighter in the world can be beaten by a novice. Simply because the novice isn't thinking two or three attacks ahead. He's attacking/defending with whatever he has and will throw it all at the master. The master won't understand what just happened because he expects an attack/defence that could be just the opposite.

As if a real master swordsman couldn't find out that the other one is a novice after 5 minutes...

What I'd really like to see though is Drizzt deflect a catapult boulder:)

Hey, the drow make miniature crossbows, so why not miniature catapults?

:)

Anyways, let's just say that I am drooling while waiting Realms of Shadows... it has a short story of Artemis & Jarlaxle....

Ara
(Life is cheesy)

I enjoy Salvatore's books, but I enjoy them for what they are, books that promise a few exciting battles, and some incincible(but still interesting in my opinion) characters. Just because Drizzt is seemingly invincible does not mean that his books are not worth reading. I also believe that artemis and Jarlaxle have much potential if salvatore would only write more about them.