I started reading about Drizzt back in 2007 on the caltrain while on my way into grad school. This was one of my first audiobook series on an iPod. Now- 7 years, 3 iPhone models, and 19 books later I get to the end of my dark elf protagonist's Second Life, and beginning of his Third Life. I stopped this series in '09 to start The Wheel of Time and Dresden books. Coming back to this crew was a bit of a homecoming, and ultimately a fond farewell. No Spoilers. Like most of these stories- the reader benefits by knowing the entire narrative. While the book of course tries to bring new readers up to speed- 19 prior novels, seriously?!- it cannot. Nor should new readers jump into this one. IMHO.Nothing of literary magic here, just a satisfying continuation of a story with characters I have come to know like friends. Or better, like gaming buddies. On to the next! When I'm done with the neverwinter series- I'll take another break from Drizzt. :) After a gap of many years I decided to try and catch up on Forgotten Realms before the end of the current Sundering storyline (which I believe will reboot the world in-line with D&D Next). With far too many titles to read them all I've used hindsight to see which authors are writing the Sundering and gone back through their works to see which ones tie in the most. Obviously Salvatore's Drizzt is one of the key players and I had always enjoyed his stories before. This book, like the last few Drizzt novels, keeps leaping forward in time as it's set a good while after the Spell Plague (the 4th Edition D&D reboot storyline). I found this a bit pap and disconcerting (like in the last few books) making them more like a short story anthology, but once you know and expect that it flows quite well. We see a few more characters die during the course of the book and it's epilogue is lovely.
What do You think about Gauntlgrym (2010)?
Not the best SF I've ever read, but not bad. I can do without all the detailed battle moves though.
—Iyf7
Rough start but good payoff in the end.
—HungerGames
