Honestly, R.A. Salvatore is a better writer than people give him credit for. While he isn’t poetic in prose, he has a sense of pacing and fun characters. He is also a master at fight scenes that don’t feel exhausting that I haven’t seen anywhere else.
His characters are stagnant. Drizzt never develops past being generic good guy and creep (that whole cattie brie thing is creepy, he meet her when she was like ten and he was 50) The only character to get any development is wulfgar and it's paced so slowly that I lost interest after worldspine or whatever it was called. Wulfgar gets depressed then cucked that's his character arc after that he's a background character. If the characters developed and faced actually challenges that shape them then I would be less harsh but that doesn't happen. Because the characters don't change the books felt like filler
Based on your reactions, I think I’ll pick these up someday, especially when I’m in the mood for an entertaining read. Also, it’s hard to go wrong with an animal companion, especially if you have a protagonist who is as alone in the world as Drizzt sounds. Thanks, Mike!
I picked up these three books after watching your “why I decided to read” video. Haven’t started it yet but will read these soon! Thanks for sparking the interest in these
R A is my personal favorite fantasy writer! I get a lot of shit for that but it's true.its mostly because in my late teens I found homeland and it opened my eyes to the forgotten realms. D&D.all my now favorites.the legend of Drizzt is like my comfort read.and so many amazing characters. Artemis antrerie!jarlaxle! Reages! Man I could go on forever!....well thanks for a great video man! I'll have to sub.
Happy to see you digging into the Drizzt novels! They are a bit of a guilty pleasure for me that I have been using as a pallet cleanser since highschool.
I’ve heard Salvatore’s action sequences are very well crafted, and that was neat to hear that he adds good banter to them. I’m also a coming-of-age story fan. I think this trilogy sounds like a fun time, and I’m glad to hear your thoughts on it!
The books really are a coming of age thing, because originally they were written to be child appropriate. But as the books and trilogies go by, things really do mature. They life lessons get deeper.
These books are what first got me into Fantasy Adventure, will have to honestly say that Salvatore's action/fighting scenes have spoiled me because after that everything else that I've read have always felt flat and disappointing in comparison.
Such an excellent book series. I can’t say enough good things about these books. These books are the reason I love fantasy books!!!! A must read for any true book lover.
I started book 1 because of this video and gotta admit I'm hooked and already loving the character. The action sequences are amazing, even sparring feels so real and amazing.
I love these books, they have a special place in my heart as some of the first fantasy I ever got into. I knew nothing about d&d when I read them. I always loved the dichotomy between Drizzt’s morals and the world where the only rule is to not get caught. I had a long day at the hospital today, 13.5 hours, no lunch, and getting to watch this tonight was perfection.
I love your reviews being a King lover. These books are among my favorites. I need to find out the book order and find out which book comes next. Love it!
Funny, I loved the third one because it feels like a long adventure with all the different stories. Thanks for this review, I just read this trilogy and its my introduction into fantasy and reading in general (late in life), so its great to hear you chat about it.
Me too. All the books were good. Book 1 was amazing and had me hooked. Book 2 was good. But the way they travel decisions annoyed me a little. I liked 3 a little better. Because it was a slightly new world, great characters and the travelling was more logical. The ending had me scratching my head a little though. There certainly seemed to be time issues. I have just started Icewind Dale Book 1 and so far I am even more confused on the timing of events. All round very good though. Every book has some interesting ideas.
The battle scenes and monster roster are awesome. It’s also surprisingly dark and emotional at times. It’s among the best of popcorn fantasy in my opinion. It has the same vibes as classic sword and sorcery but with more character and world building depth.
I was part of the way through Sojourn when you made your “favorite animal companions” video. I was thinking to myself, man, he really needs to check out this trilogy! Also one of my favorite animal companions ever!
Thanks, I read these like 15 years ago and now I feel compelled to read them again, one of my favorite authors R.A Salvatore, hope you keep enjoying them, you will find some similarities with known stories but with its own flavor and way more.
Hey Mike, I am currently reading Homeland to follow your footsteps into the series and I am really enjoying it! Looking forward to the next books in the series. Thanks for the review!
Please keep reading these just got back into these and I just started rereading them. Hope you are enjoying them as much as I am. These are great books
I think the “monster of the week” aspect is heavily influenced by D&D as that’s kind of what D&D is. With the Drizzt books largely having an established target audience of D&D players when they were released, it makes sense that they would feel like a classic D&D adventure to read. I personally really loved that about this trilogy, but I know that isn’t everyone’s thing. Looking forward to more reviews of the later books!
For the most part, they do end with a battle against a big bad at the end. Often it will seem as if that's going to be a dual of some sorts for Drizzt with someone challenging him.
I read the original Dark Elf Trilogy when they first came out and completely loved it! (have the three books sitting here...and really need to reread). Also own the Icewind Dale Trilogy which happens after the Dark Elf Trilogy. Also own some hardcovers of Drizzt continuing stories, but they did start to get watered down after a while. I must revisit these again! Was also a big fan of Dragonlance in the day. Those characters just stick w/you.
Watered down? Oh, well, you want every book to be an apocalypse. There,are a,few books that are highly non descript villians and a generic adventure. But most of the series is world changing events. Demons, gods, & war. If you think the watered down stuff is bad, wait till you see the reruns after Neverwinter.
Yes! The action sequences are seriously some of the best good ol' fun types we had in a while. Very glad that you are enjoying this and yay for Guenhwyvar for making it to your top animal companion list!
@@Wanderwilderreading Start with "The Chronicles trilogy" then "Legends trilogy" Bare in mind Chronicels was the first, legends is written when the authors had more experience so they're "better" I could say pick up The Soulforge and start there to get the story of the twins growing up before going to The Chronicles trilogy. In fact, I do recommend getting that book first. It's well written, and it gives you the fantastic backstory to the twins Caramon and Raistlin.
Been reading these since I was a kid. So glad to see you covering them. I am reading Malazan right now and think I’ll pause after House and revisit Homeland-IWD. Thanks for the inspiration! Keep ‘em coming.
Loaded the Drizzt books on my Kindle. Will be using these as pallet cleansers between some other things I'm in the middle of right now. Appreciate all the exposure to these books I would never have found on my own.
I just picked the first 6 ebooks in Amazon, I will start reading them as soon as I finish reading “Before they are hanged” by Joe Abercrombie, the second installment of “The First Law” trilogy.
Love to see these comments, I remember back then when I first actually see the 3 books while playIng D&D. The only book that I've read. And now I'm digging the audio book by Russell. EPIC! RUMBLE BELLY!
As you you continue on with the series there are some characters coming that I absolutely love. I won't say any names I just hope you find them equally as interesting.
Homeland is my all time favourite book, read all the books 4 times now and agree doesn’t require much thought just enjoyment so I use it to cleanse my pallet between books for higher fantasy reads. The whole series is worth the reads and does get better and better once you get to about book 20
I'm not sure if Homeland being your fav is a,good thing. I would think that might feel downhill after that. The books do seem to get better. Albiet after around book 30, Salvatore just runs out of ideas and recycles old stories.
I started with the Icewind dale books. I just loved them. I would say, I think those books are where Salvator found his voice. He wasn't ready as a writer to write the Dark Elf trilogy when he was writing Icewind Dale. More fun action... a little less introspection. I still love the first 3 even though I do think the Dark Elf trilogy surpassed it from a writing stand point... enjoy!
It’s so nice to see somebody discussing this series. I read the Icewind Dale trilogy years ago and enjoyed it. The omnibus is still on my shelf, and I hope to re-read it someday. The Dark Elf trilogy is on my TBR as well. Thanks for sharing!
These were already on the TBR, but you’ve made me move them a little higher on the list. Glad you enjoyed these and I look forward to picking them up soon!
Yeah I’m currently reading the 10th book (Passage to Dawn) and I’ve been taking my time. If you’ve enjoyed the Dark Elf Trilogy then I think that you’ll really love the Icewind Dale Trilogy. As you’ve already said, Salvatore is so good at describing action and that is really what got me into his books.
For me The Icewind Dale trilogy is the hardest trilogy in all the Drizzt saga to get through. But what comes before and what comes after are both gold.
The hardest part of the Icewind Dale trilogy for me was the amount of spelling and grammatical errors. I think the editor went on vacation when it was time to work on the books lol
Hey Mike, I have only come across your channel in recent months and I gotta say I really enjoy your content. I suddenly want to get into Dragonlance books and just started doing some research on all the Dungeons & Dragons books that are out there and this series might also be apart TBR if and when I finally I get into this world.
Back in the day, when I was getting my feet wet in the fantasy genre, I used to get books from the Science Fiction Book Club. That's where I got the first four Harry Potter books. And that is where I was introduced to this world. Each trilogy or series came in one volume, so I had 3 massive books containing the first 10 stories in the Legend of Drizzt. I enjoyed reading those books, and I'm glad you enjoyed them as well. Knowing what's to come, I'm excited to see how you react to those books.
Salvatore imo is one of the best at writing fantasy fighting sequences. I am easily able to see the action in my head as if I'm watching a fight in a movie. I have a high recommendation for you. You should get the Legend of Drizzt Anthology. It is a collection of short stories, one of which is the origin of Guenhwyvar which is awesome. Another is "The First Notch" which I really enjoyed. I think they are good little quick reads to scratch in itch when you want more forgotten realms. I thought about sending you my copy of it but figured by now someone else might have done the same or you could get a copy in new condition. Thanks for getting into FR and Drizzt and thanks for doing what you do. You're the best. Take care.
These books are like rewatching your favorite show to me. It is comfort at this point. But at the same time it is still going. I have really enjoyed the latest books. There are so many great characters you haven't even met yet.
Salvatore is by far my favorite fantasy author and I’ve been following the saga of Drizzt since 1990-91’ I own every book and have read all of them multiple times. 😊
I read this trilogy back in early 2000s and absolutely loved it. I wanted to see if it still held up, so I reread it last year. It 100% does. R.A. Salvatore is the original action in book format. He's been doing fight scenes right since the beginning, and I've always felt that's where Brandon Sanderson picked up some of that style. All the praise that the Dark Elf trilogy gets is well deserved.
The audible versions are great as well. It's one narrator except one of the books in the series. I started these in high-school and have kept up ever since. I decided to revisit them using Audible, and it's been a great experience. Would recommend for sure
lol Menzoberanzen. This is probably the fourth different way I've heard it pronounced. I started reading Forgotten Realms when I was 8 in 1990. I never made the connection between Forgotten Realms and D&D until about 3 years ago, and had never played a game of D&D until last year. Now, 33 years later, with hundreds and hundreds of fantasy books / series under my belt I started re-reading all of my Forgotten Realms novels. I can absolutely say that I notice the 'newness' of his writing with the Crystal Shard books.
First book I ever got for my 10th birthday right after a move to a new school. Homeland gave me an escape it's fast paced easy to read. The characters have alot of depth to get lost in throughout the 18 or so books along the series. I think entry level fantasy is a great name for this series. I still go back and read the first 6 every few years. It's my comfort series! Notable mention by R.A. Salvatore if you're about action you'll find it with Luthien Bedwyr in the Crimson Shadow series. I enjoyed it more in my adult years than I do going back and reading Drizzt.
Glad to hear you enjoyed these books. I marathoned the whole series a few years ago, couldn't get enough. Totally agree with some of your thoughts, it's not groundbreaking by any means but it's a fun action packed high fantasy series. You've got some great characters and stories ahead. They definitely have their peaks and valleys but I don't think Salvatore has ever written a "bad" Drizzt book.
I read them when I was younger and loved the action sequences and the dialoge. I read them again recently, still loved the action and the dialoge, but I do have some of the same criticisms as you, esspecially on that third book. But overall, still a fun read for sure.
Dark elf series was always the best 3 books in terms of story in my opinion but the most memorable characters occur in the later books. Particularly the Sell Swords series with my boy Jarlaxle.
Spoiler for newbies Who would have thought when we 1sr read that assassin Artemus in Icewind Dale that he would be risking his life to fight Chrinshinobon.
I knew very little about d n d but enjoyed this series. Tip for any not famiar with dnd universe: I found a second hand copy of the graphic novel Dark Elf omnibus. It was supposed to be for my teenager haha. It was great to see what the monsters looked like.
When i think of these of entry level what i mean is they are short and fun without say the complexity of more advanced series. Also generally you get a complete story with less commitment because most of these series are only 3 books and some are one offs.
When I was younger (around 12ish) I read this trilogy and really enjoyed it. Especially Homeland and Exile. I went right into Icewind dale trilogy and...its not the same thing, obviously. It's very much pulp adventure, and I was wanting more of the Dark elf trilogy. I hope that later Salvatore is on par with Dark Elf trilogy, but I have no idea when that happens because I stopped after Halfling's Gem. Couldn't make it past page like 10 of Streams of Silver. Maybe I'll feel differently now, but when I was younger I really just wanted more of what Dark Elf trilogy was giving me. To clarify, it's not the DE trilogy isnt pulp adventure, but theres a decent amount of character depth to Drizzt and his struggles that I feel are just not a thing yet in IWD trilogy.
Keep reading, there's (literally) a world of wonder to come. You will love the 4 books that are The Legacy Of The Drow. From there it only grows and gets better. Well, it gets better till Transitions. Then gets weird. Then goes downhill.
I have been catching up on my Salvatore in these last few weeks and I saw this review pop up, what a happy coincidence. I hope you stick with it. As much as you may love Drizzt now, I feel that he is actually one of the weakest ones (journal entries aside). It keeps getting better and better over time from what I've experienced. And with the longevity of elves you can really see the far reaching ramifications of actions over the course of decades. It's a lot of fun, would recommend to any traditional fantasy fans out there.
Homeland's my favorite, then Sojourn, then Exile. I found Exile not that interesting, but is still pretty good. I still like this trilogy more than pretty much everything else that I've read. And R.A. Salvatore seems like a good writer to me based on these books, which is nice.
RA is really good. I honestly am upset he ran out of ideas for Drizzt, but much respect to him doing so many good books. Each one of the books in this trilogy is different. We each have different styles.
The Icewind Dale trilogy will always have a special place in my heart. Fully aimed at teen audience and just lots of fun. The entire second half of the Halflings Gem is a riot of fun excitment and action , just a joy to read. I liked the Dark Elf Trilogy but for me it was not as enjoyable as the original trilogy.
There was a reason it felt like many stories in the third book. It gives the reader the same feeling of Drizzt. He was constantly settling down to a story only to be cast out over and over. The reader goes through the same jarring effect. The third book was finding acceptance.
Excellent series, began reading Forgotten Realms in 2013, after Dragonlance. Salvatore is my favourite, but I’ve read the series in publication order, so read Icewind Dale 1st. Cleric Quintet is also a fun read, and is relevant in later series. The dark elf books by Elaine Cunningham and War of the Spider Queen are also fun ones.
I tried once to read a Salvatore's book. And the first page was something like "an elf, a dwarf and a human were walking in a forest" and I dropped it right there.
In the past few years I’ve been introduced to D&D and fell in love with it! I had never known that there were book series based in and around those places and characters and jumped at the opportunity. I have only read Exile and was very conflicted. I loved the characters and the overall plot! But as you mentioned, his disregard of time made me feel like certain plot lines were just ramped and ramped throughout the beginning of the story and when we finally got there, it was jumped through in a nonchalant way and fell very flat. Overall I liked the story and hope to continue the series!
I will say this does a great job summarizing the best and worst parts of the first three. I am currently on book 31 and the only thing I can really add is that I think he didn’t quite cover the relationships that Drizzt builds, and those are the real best parts of the series as a whole. However, these start to come into play more in book4, so I’m not complaining that he completely missed them. Salvatore also does get better explaining times in later books as most of the later books cover a quite short timespan relative to the first three.
The series as a whole is great and the prequel trilogy especially is awesome. Homeland is in my top 10 books for sure. Drop society is so cool and interesting to read about.
These are the types of fantasy books that I love. I think that alot of authors these days have made fantasy too complicated. Plus the great thing about these are that they are simple enough for everyone but they don't insult your intelligence
Going through The Crystal Shard right now by Salvatore so these are next. Reading it in pub order though I think I should have started with these since they take place before the Icewind Dale.
I think you are fine either way. I read them as they were released. I enjoyed the DE trilogy so much because I knew what Drizzt became. But I think you can start in the DE trilogy and still love it.
I know you have a lot on your TBR already, but if you are enjoying D&D fiction, I am going to plug again Troy Denning's Prism Pentad, which is set in the D&D setting of Dark Sun on the desert world of Athas. Great read, and it's only five short books (far fewer than the Drizzt books)! If nothing else, go take a look at the Dark Sun world art by Brom. It is absolutely beautiful.
I am super jelly of that book collection... my meager collection of the Silmaril, LOTR, Harry Potter, and the first 8 of Legend of drizzt... doesn't even compare
You'll need to branch out a little to the side and read The Cleric Quintet by Bob Salvatore - it does tie in and have a little interweaving in the Drizzt Saga.
15:40 This was ground breaking. It broke the mold. Back in those days all orcs were evil, all drow were evil. The good guy wore white, the bad guy wore black, etc. This was unheard of. DRIZZTs character arc was ground breaking. Way before world of war craft. You need to look at the date it was first introduced 1988. And compare it with the times. It was very new. It set the stage for what we have today. A grey fantasy world, no longer black and white. If not the first, Drizzt was one of the first evil race to break the mold. And out of all the races, no race was more evil than the drow. They were the stark contrast to the surface light elves. The drow were even compared to demons. You shoulda read the forward of the book. In it RASalvatore explains how his secretary thought he was joking. Back in those days, they were not even viewed as a race. Drow were the monsters you faced in the final levels of the dungeons. They were monsters, not a race. The icewindale trilogy made the fans very curious about Drizzt. Drizzt was not intended to be the main character. The main character was supposed to be Wulfgar. But the ppl were intrigued with a Dark elf(seriously a freaking monster??!) as a hero. They wanted to know more, why, and how he became what he is. So RA Salvatore wrote the Dark elf Trilogy. DRIZZTs character arc shocked the world of fantasy back then. He then later added stuff like the letters of drizzt into the icewindale trilogy.
Icewind Dale was the deciding factor for me to push through the entire series. After Icewind Dale, The Thousand Orcs is the next major mini trilogy in the series that is done very well in my opinion.
It's called "The Hunters Blades" trilogy. And while I was at 1st disappointmented in who was starting the conflict, where it went was,really good. What comes right after that in Transitions was just plain Fking epic.
Ed Greenwood is the man who created the entire world of Toril (the planet that hosts Faerûn, the continent that the Forgotten Realms is on) and has written novels based in the world, I believe the first series he wrote was the Elminster Saga
Honestly, R.A. Salvatore is a better writer than people give him credit for. While he isn’t poetic in prose, he has a sense of pacing and fun characters. He is also a master at fight scenes that don’t feel exhausting that I haven’t seen anywhere else.
His characters are stagnant. Drizzt never develops past being generic good guy and creep (that whole cattie brie thing is creepy, he meet her when she was like ten and he was 50)
The only character to get any development is wulfgar and it's paced so slowly that I lost interest after worldspine or whatever it was called. Wulfgar gets depressed then cucked that's his character arc after that he's a background character.
If the characters developed and faced actually challenges that shape them then I would be less harsh but that doesn't happen. Because the characters don't change the books felt like filler
Welcome to the Forgotten Realms, the best fun palate cleanser out there. Love just travelling to Faerun and having an adventure.
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Based on your reactions, I think I’ll pick these up someday, especially when I’m in the mood for an entertaining read. Also, it’s hard to go wrong with an animal companion, especially if you have a protagonist who is as alone in the world as Drizzt sounds. Thanks, Mike!
As opposed to being in the mood for non- entertaining read? 😜
@@matthewbeaty4344 Alas, it happens to me frequently, and then I read the manual to my blender or an old phone book. 😁
These books have the most detailed and exciting combat sequences I've read in any book.
@@my_cousin_mose9782 That’s a plus!
It's a great set of books. Salvatore's other works are really fun and enjoyable reads too.
I had not heard of this series until you mentioned it a few weeks ago, and after your recent praise it is going high up the list!
Will
I picked up these three books after watching your “why I decided to read” video. Haven’t started it yet but will read these soon! Thanks for sparking the interest in these
R A is my personal favorite fantasy writer! I get a lot of shit for that but it's true.its mostly because in my late teens I found homeland and it opened my eyes to the forgotten realms. D&D.all my now favorites.the legend of Drizzt is like my comfort read.and so many amazing characters. Artemis antrerie!jarlaxle! Reages! Man I could go on forever!....well thanks for a great video man! I'll have to sub.
Happy to see you digging into the Drizzt novels! They are a bit of a guilty pleasure for me that I have been using as a pallet cleanser since highschool.
I’ve heard Salvatore’s action sequences are very well crafted, and that was neat to hear that he adds good banter to them. I’m also a coming-of-age story fan. I think this trilogy sounds like a fun time, and I’m glad to hear your thoughts on it!
The action scenes play out like a movie in your mind. And the stories.... they just get better and better..
The books really are a coming of age thing, because originally they were written to be child appropriate.
But as the books and trilogies go by, things really do mature.
They life lessons get deeper.
These books are what first got me into Fantasy Adventure, will have to honestly say that Salvatore's action/fighting scenes have spoiled me because after that everything else that I've read have always felt flat and disappointing in comparison.
@@Typojon1313,
I agree, so much.
I have tried other fantasy even other D&D (AKA Forgotten Realms) and its not as good.
Such an excellent book series. I can’t say enough good things about these books. These books are the reason I love fantasy books!!!! A must read for any true book lover.
I started book 1 because of this video and gotta admit I'm hooked and already loving the character. The action sequences are amazing, even sparring feels so real and amazing.
I've been reading these books as they come out since the 80's. They are my favorite books.
I love these books, they have a special place in my heart as some of the first fantasy I ever got into. I knew nothing about d&d when I read them. I always loved the dichotomy between Drizzt’s morals and the world where the only rule is to not get caught.
I had a long day at the hospital today, 13.5 hours, no lunch, and getting to watch this tonight was perfection.
I love your reviews being a King lover. These books are among my favorites. I need to find out the book order and find out which book comes next. Love it!
Funny, I loved the third one because it feels like a long adventure with all the different stories. Thanks for this review, I just read this trilogy and its my introduction into fantasy and reading in general (late in life), so its great to hear you chat about it.
Me too. All the books were good. Book 1 was amazing and had me hooked. Book 2 was good. But the way they travel decisions annoyed me a little. I liked 3 a little better. Because it was a slightly new world, great characters and the travelling was more logical. The ending had me scratching my head a little though. There certainly seemed to be time issues. I have just started Icewind Dale Book 1 and so far I am even more confused on the timing of events. All round very good though. Every book has some interesting ideas.
The battle scenes and monster roster are awesome. It’s also surprisingly dark and emotional at times. It’s among the best of popcorn fantasy in my opinion. It has the same vibes as classic sword and sorcery but with more character and world building depth.
I was part of the way through Sojourn when you made your “favorite animal companions” video. I was thinking to myself, man, he really needs to check out this trilogy! Also one of my favorite animal companions ever!
Have you read the short story anthology?
It has the back story to Guen.
Thanks, I read these like 15 years ago and now I feel compelled to read them again, one of my favorite authors R.A Salvatore, hope you keep enjoying them, you will find some similarities with known stories but with its own flavor and way more.
Good ol Drizzt. I grew up reading most of the series, it was always such a fun enjoyable read as a teenager
Hey Mike, I am currently reading Homeland to follow your footsteps into the series and I am really enjoying it! Looking forward to the next books in the series. Thanks for the review!
Hey, Mike. Really great to have a new fan for the adventures of Drizzt and Guen⚔🐆
The series has been among my favorites for almost 25 years.
Please keep reading these just got back into these and I just started rereading them. Hope you are enjoying them as much as I am. These are great books
I think the “monster of the week” aspect is heavily influenced by D&D as that’s kind of what D&D is. With the Drizzt books largely having an established target audience of D&D players when they were released, it makes sense that they would feel like a classic D&D adventure to read. I personally really loved that about this trilogy, but I know that isn’t everyone’s thing. Looking forward to more reviews of the later books!
For the most part, they do end with a battle against a big bad at the end.
Often it will seem as if that's going to be a dual of some sorts for Drizzt with someone challenging him.
Icewind Dale Trilogy is a lot of fun too. They feel more like a novelization of a D&D campaign than the Dark Elf Trilogy does.
RA Salvatore and Paul Kemp my favorite Forgotten Realm writers. Salvatore is a master story teller when it comes to sword combat.
I read the original Dark Elf Trilogy when they first came out and completely loved it! (have the three books sitting here...and really need to reread). Also own the Icewind Dale Trilogy which happens after the Dark Elf Trilogy. Also own some hardcovers of Drizzt continuing stories, but they did start to get watered down after a while. I must revisit these again! Was also a big fan of Dragonlance in the day. Those characters just stick w/you.
Watered down?
Oh, well, you want every book to be an apocalypse.
There,are a,few books that are highly non descript villians and a generic adventure.
But most of the series is world changing events. Demons, gods, & war.
If you think the watered down stuff is bad, wait till you see the reruns after Neverwinter.
Yes! The action sequences are seriously some of the best good ol' fun types we had in a while. Very glad that you are enjoying this and yay for Guenhwyvar for making it to your top animal companion list!
I just want pages of Drizzt & Guen play fighting.
This was my favorite book series as a kid. Its hard to find a lot of reviews on it just to see other peoples reactions . You have a new subscriber !
I never would have heard of these if it wasn’t for your channel, and I love dungeons and dragons!
You should check out Dragonlance then, if you haven't. They're in the D&D universe as well.
@@Twistedstar0320 thanks, I definitely will!
@@Wanderwilderreading Start with "The Chronicles trilogy" then "Legends trilogy"
Bare in mind Chronicels was the first, legends is written when the authors had more experience so they're "better"
I could say pick up The Soulforge and start there to get the story of the twins growing up before going to The Chronicles trilogy. In fact, I do recommend getting that book first. It's well written, and it gives you the fantastic backstory to the twins Caramon and Raistlin.
@@Wanderwilderreading oh, and I subscribed in hopes there will be a review on your channel 😀
@@Twistedstar0320 well if that’s not pressure to read them I don’t know what is!!
omg drizzt!!
i read this series like 4 times over in jr. high lol. really excellent books for all the reasons you outlined!
thanks for this video
This was my daughter's favorite series for several years (only recently usurped by Riyria Revelations!), so I'm glad to hear you enjoyed them!
Been reading these since I was a kid. So glad to see you covering them. I am reading Malazan right now and think I’ll pause after House and revisit Homeland-IWD. Thanks for the inspiration! Keep ‘em coming.
Loaded the Drizzt books on my Kindle. Will be using these as pallet cleansers between some other things I'm in the middle of right now. Appreciate all the exposure to these books I would never have found on my own.
Check out Dragonlance also, they came out around the same time. Great characters. Raistlin Majere is one of the best fantasy characters.
@@Twistedstar0320 I love dragonlance, those books were a huge part of my childhood
I just picked the first 6 ebooks in Amazon, I will start reading them as soon as I finish reading “Before they are hanged” by Joe Abercrombie, the second installment of “The First Law” trilogy.
Hopefully you'll review more classic Fantasy stories :) great review !
Love to see these comments, I remember back then when I first actually see the 3 books while playIng D&D. The only book that I've read. And now I'm digging the audio book by Russell. EPIC! RUMBLE BELLY!
As you you continue on with the series there are some characters coming that I absolutely love. I won't say any names I just hope you find them equally as interesting.
Homeland is my all time favourite book, read all the books 4 times now and agree doesn’t require much thought just enjoyment so I use it to cleanse my pallet between books for higher fantasy reads. The whole series is worth the reads and does get better and better once you get to about book 20
I'm not sure if Homeland being your fav is a,good thing. I would think that might feel downhill after that.
The books do seem to get better.
Albiet after around book 30, Salvatore just runs out of ideas and recycles old stories.
I sorta agree, loved reading each one the first time guess it’s nostalgic for me lol
I started with the Icewind dale books. I just loved them. I would say, I think those books are where Salvator found his voice. He wasn't ready as a writer to write the Dark Elf trilogy when he was writing Icewind Dale. More fun action... a little less introspection. I still love the first 3 even though I do think the Dark Elf trilogy surpassed it from a writing stand point... enjoy!
It’s so nice to see somebody discussing this series. I read the Icewind Dale trilogy years ago and enjoyed it. The omnibus is still on my shelf, and I hope to re-read it someday. The Dark Elf trilogy is on my TBR as well.
Thanks for sharing!
These were already on the TBR, but you’ve made me move them a little higher on the list. Glad you enjoyed these and I look forward to picking them up soon!
Be aware that the 2nd trilogy feels more like a novelization of a D&D campaign. Similar to the feel of The Dragonlance Chronicles.
The Icewind Dale trilogy could be the hardest trilogy in all the Drizzt saga to get through.
@@kyrosv1289 Good to know going in - thanks!
Yeah I’m currently reading the 10th book (Passage to Dawn) and I’ve been taking my time. If you’ve enjoyed the Dark Elf Trilogy then I think that you’ll really love the Icewind Dale Trilogy. As you’ve already said, Salvatore is so good at describing action and that is really what got me into his books.
For me The Icewind Dale trilogy is the hardest trilogy in all the Drizzt saga to get through. But what comes before and what comes after are both gold.
The hardest part of the Icewind Dale trilogy for me was the amount of spelling and grammatical errors. I think the editor went on vacation when it was time to work on the books lol
Just checking in on how your progress is coming on the series. Bout to start 28 myself.
Wow! I’ve only just started Spine of the World myself. Seems pretty good so far.
Just picked this trilogy up recently I cant wait
Enjoy!
2nd fav book series of all time for me
And can't wait for you to get to Icewind. So much amazing stuff you are going to experience
Hey Mike, I have only come across your channel in recent months and I gotta say I really enjoy your content. I suddenly want to get into Dragonlance books and just started doing some research on all the Dungeons & Dragons books that are out there and this series might also be apart TBR if and when I finally I get into this world.
Welcome aboard! Glad you enjoy the channel.
I love all your different mugs 😁
Help, it's a drizzit !!!😂😂 Read these books about 20 years ago and that one stuck with me. If you know, you know
Back in the day, when I was getting my feet wet in the fantasy genre, I used to get books from the Science Fiction Book Club. That's where I got the first four Harry Potter books. And that is where I was introduced to this world. Each trilogy or series came in one volume, so I had 3 massive books containing the first 10 stories in the Legend of Drizzt. I enjoyed reading those books, and I'm glad you enjoyed them as well. Knowing what's to come, I'm excited to see how you react to those books.
I feel conflicted.
These books were awesome, but then after Neverwinter they go nowhere.
One of my fav trilogies in the series, and of all time
Salvatore imo is one of the best at writing fantasy fighting sequences. I am easily able to see the action in my head as if I'm watching a fight in a movie. I have a high recommendation for you. You should get the Legend of Drizzt Anthology. It is a collection of short stories, one of which is the origin of Guenhwyvar which is awesome. Another is "The First Notch" which I really enjoyed. I think they are good little quick reads to scratch in itch when you want more forgotten realms. I thought about sending you my copy of it but figured by now someone else might have done the same or you could get a copy in new condition. Thanks for getting into FR and Drizzt and thanks for doing what you do. You're the best. Take care.
Adding these to my extensive list
My best friend got me into Drizzt since day one .. i remember it like yesterday.. so good
These books are like rewatching your favorite show to me. It is comfort at this point.
But at the same time it is still going. I have really enjoyed the latest books. There are so many great characters you haven't even met yet.
Man, I love Montolio. He's such a great person and mentor to Drizzt.
Salvatore is by far my favorite fantasy author and I’ve been following the saga of Drizzt since 1990-91’ I own every book and have read all of them multiple times. 😊
I wish you would read the first one day, Moonshae Island stories also VERY short :D Thanks for making this wonderful channel :D
I read this trilogy back in early 2000s and absolutely loved it. I wanted to see if it still held up, so I reread it last year. It 100% does. R.A. Salvatore is the original action in book format. He's been doing fight scenes right since the beginning, and I've always felt that's where Brandon Sanderson picked up some of that style.
All the praise that the Dark Elf trilogy gets is well deserved.
Salvatore really makes you miss guenhwyvar when she leaves for periods.
I'm currently reading the trilogy and enjoying it so far this is a great candy read for me.
Great review! I can't wait for you to review the Icewind Dale trilogy. Lots of action/adventure and cool characters and settings.
Superb Trilogy! I have the soft cover large edition and it’s well worth reading.
as the books go on R A Salvatore ages and it really shows in the monologues.
Had a lot of fun with these! Taking a bit of a break, but I think I'll enjoy the story from here quite a bit.
The audible versions are great as well. It's one narrator except one of the books in the series. I started these in high-school and have kept up ever since. I decided to revisit them using Audible, and it's been a great experience. Would recommend for sure
glad you liked the books , I thought you would, there a great simple read wich can sometime be just what you need :)
lol Menzoberanzen. This is probably the fourth different way I've heard it pronounced. I started reading Forgotten Realms when I was 8 in 1990. I never made the connection between Forgotten Realms and D&D until about 3 years ago, and had never played a game of D&D until last year. Now, 33 years later, with hundreds and hundreds of fantasy books / series under my belt I started re-reading all of my Forgotten Realms novels. I can absolutely say that I notice the 'newness' of his writing with the Crystal Shard books.
First book I ever got for my 10th birthday right after a move to a new school. Homeland gave me an escape it's fast paced easy to read. The characters have alot of depth to get lost in throughout the 18 or so books along the series.
I think entry level fantasy is a great name for this series. I still go back and read the first 6 every few years. It's my comfort series!
Notable mention by R.A. Salvatore if you're about action you'll find it with Luthien Bedwyr in the Crimson Shadow series. I enjoyed it more in my adult years than I do going back and reading Drizzt.
The first book was the crystal shard. It was written in 1988. Homeland, the first book in the dark elf trilogy was written in 1990.
Glad to hear you enjoyed these books. I marathoned the whole series a few years ago, couldn't get enough. Totally agree with some of your thoughts, it's not groundbreaking by any means but it's a fun action packed high fantasy series. You've got some great characters and stories ahead. They definitely have their peaks and valleys but I don't think Salvatore has ever written a "bad" Drizzt book.
Man, I loved these books back in high school. I need to read them again, just for the nostalgia.
Haha yeah and there's like 12 more now unless you just graduated.
@@my_cousin_mose9782 Yeah, I read some of the ones that came after. I think I got to The Hafling's Gem, but that was 20 years or so ago.
I read them when I was younger and loved the action sequences and the dialoge. I read them again recently, still loved the action and the dialoge, but I do have some of the same criticisms as you, esspecially on that third book. But overall, still a fun read for sure.
I had a blast with it.
Dark elf series was always the best 3 books in terms of story in my opinion but the most memorable characters occur in the later books. Particularly the Sell Swords series with my boy Jarlaxle.
Spoiler for newbies
Who would have thought when we 1sr read that assassin Artemus in Icewind Dale
that he would be risking his life to fight Chrinshinobon.
I knew very little about d n d but enjoyed this series. Tip for any not famiar with dnd universe: I found a second hand copy of the graphic novel Dark Elf omnibus. It was supposed to be for my teenager haha. It was great to see what the monsters looked like.
I’ve often wondered what the quality of the D&D books was. I’m glad they are still entertaining.
When i think of these of entry level what i mean is they are short and fun without say the complexity of more advanced series. Also generally you get a complete story with less commitment because most of these series are only 3 books and some are one offs.
When I was younger (around 12ish) I read this trilogy and really enjoyed it. Especially Homeland and Exile. I went right into Icewind dale trilogy and...its not the same thing, obviously. It's very much pulp adventure, and I was wanting more of the Dark elf trilogy. I hope that later Salvatore is on par with Dark Elf trilogy, but I have no idea when that happens because I stopped after Halfling's Gem. Couldn't make it past page like 10 of Streams of Silver.
Maybe I'll feel differently now, but when I was younger I really just wanted more of what Dark Elf trilogy was giving me.
To clarify, it's not the DE trilogy isnt pulp adventure, but theres a decent amount of character depth to Drizzt and his struggles that I feel are just not a thing yet in IWD trilogy.
Keep reading,
there's (literally) a world of wonder to come.
You will love the 4 books that are The Legacy Of The Drow. From there it only grows and gets better.
Well, it gets better till Transitions.
Then gets weird.
Then goes downhill.
I have been catching up on my Salvatore in these last few weeks and I saw this review pop up, what a happy coincidence. I hope you stick with it. As much as you may love Drizzt now, I feel that he is actually one of the weakest ones (journal entries aside). It keeps getting better and better over time from what I've experienced. And with the longevity of elves you can really see the far reaching ramifications of actions over the course of decades. It's a lot of fun, would recommend to any traditional fantasy fans out there.
Weakest?
Homeland's my favorite, then Sojourn, then Exile.
I found Exile not that interesting, but is still pretty good. I still like this trilogy more than pretty much everything else that I've read. And R.A. Salvatore seems like a good writer to me based on these books, which is nice.
RA is really good.
I honestly am upset he ran out of ideas for Drizzt, but much respect to him doing so many good books.
Each one of the books in this trilogy is different. We each have different styles.
The Icewind Dale trilogy will always have a special place in my heart. Fully aimed at teen audience and just lots of fun. The entire second half of the Halflings Gem is a riot of fun excitment and action , just a joy to read.
I liked the Dark Elf Trilogy but for me it was not as enjoyable as the original trilogy.
There was a reason it felt like many stories in the third book. It gives the reader the same feeling of Drizzt. He was constantly settling down to a story only to be cast out over and over. The reader goes through the same jarring effect. The third book was finding acceptance.
Excellent series, began reading Forgotten Realms in 2013, after Dragonlance. Salvatore is my favourite, but I’ve read the series in publication order, so read Icewind Dale 1st. Cleric Quintet is also a fun read, and is relevant in later series. The dark elf books by Elaine Cunningham and War of the Spider Queen are also fun ones.
I tried once to read a Salvatore's book. And the first page was something like "an elf, a dwarf and a human were walking in a forest" and I dropped it right there.
going to try it. thank you.
In the past few years I’ve been introduced to D&D and fell in love with it! I had never known that there were book series based in and around those places and characters and jumped at the opportunity. I have only read Exile and was very conflicted. I loved the characters and the overall plot! But as you mentioned, his disregard of time made me feel like certain plot lines were just ramped and ramped throughout the beginning of the story and when we finally got there, it was jumped through in a nonchalant way and fell very flat. Overall I liked the story and hope to continue the series!
The passage of time is not the most important factor.
Though in later books they are adding years of when they take place.
I will say this does a great job summarizing the best and worst parts of the first three. I am currently on book 31 and the only thing I can really add is that I think he didn’t quite cover the relationships that Drizzt builds, and those are the real best parts of the series as a whole. However, these start to come into play more in book4, so I’m not complaining that he completely missed them. Salvatore also does get better explaining times in later books as most of the later books cover a quite short timespan relative to the first three.
The sword fighting descriptions are unparalleled.
The series as a whole is great and the prequel trilogy especially is awesome. Homeland is in my top 10 books for sure. Drop society is so cool and interesting to read about.
Read it back in HS you’ve sold me on going back to it!
These are the types of fantasy books that I love. I think that alot of authors these days have made fantasy too complicated. Plus the great thing about these are that they are simple enough for everyone but they don't insult your intelligence
Going through The Crystal Shard right now by Salvatore so these are next. Reading it in pub order though I think I should have started with these since they take place before the Icewind Dale.
I think you are fine either way. I read them as they were released. I enjoyed the DE trilogy so much because I knew what Drizzt became. But I think you can start in the DE trilogy and still love it.
I know you have a lot on your TBR already, but if you are enjoying D&D fiction, I am going to plug again Troy Denning's Prism Pentad, which is set in the D&D setting of Dark Sun on the desert world of Athas. Great read, and it's only five short books (far fewer than the Drizzt books)! If nothing else, go take a look at the Dark Sun world art by Brom. It is absolutely beautiful.
Ok I was going to demand you read Cradle, especially with everything you're saying, but looks like you already did. Time to hear another video
I am super jelly of that book collection... my meager collection of the Silmaril, LOTR, Harry Potter, and the first 8 of Legend of drizzt... doesn't even compare
You'll need to branch out a little to the side and read The Cleric Quintet by Bob Salvatore - it does tie in and have a little interweaving in the Drizzt Saga.
Best books I have ever read to be honest
I might check out this series someday 🤔
15:40
This was ground breaking. It broke the mold. Back in those days all orcs were evil, all drow were evil. The good guy wore white, the bad guy wore black, etc.
This was unheard of. DRIZZTs character arc was ground breaking. Way before world of war craft.
You need to look at the date it was first introduced 1988. And compare it with the times. It was very new. It set the stage for what we have today. A grey fantasy world, no longer black and white.
If not the first, Drizzt was one of the first evil race to break the mold. And out of all the races, no race was more evil than the drow. They were the stark contrast to the surface light elves. The drow were even compared to demons.
You shoulda read the forward of the book. In it RASalvatore explains how his secretary thought he was joking. Back in those days, they were not even viewed as a race. Drow were the monsters you faced in the final levels of the dungeons. They were monsters, not a race.
The icewindale trilogy made the fans very curious about Drizzt. Drizzt was not intended to be the main character. The main character was supposed to be Wulfgar. But the ppl were intrigued with a Dark elf(seriously a freaking monster??!) as a hero. They wanted to know more, why, and how he became what he is. So RA Salvatore wrote the Dark elf Trilogy. DRIZZTs character arc shocked the world of fantasy back then. He then later added stuff like the letters of drizzt into the icewindale trilogy.
thanks Mike
Speaking about characters, I was always a fan of Jarlaxle.
Icewind Dale was the deciding factor for me to push through the entire series. After Icewind Dale, The Thousand Orcs is the next major mini trilogy in the series that is done very well in my opinion.
It's called "The Hunters Blades" trilogy. And while I was at 1st disappointmented in who was starting the conflict, where it went was,really good.
What comes right after that in Transitions was just plain Fking epic.
Ed Greenwood is the man who created the entire world of Toril (the planet that hosts Faerûn, the continent that the Forgotten Realms is on) and has written novels based in the world, I believe the first series he wrote was the Elminster Saga
I prefer Salvatore’s books over Greenwoods.