Rise of the King

Great book from salvatore again! The build up for the next book orbooks was superb. Id love to see the series go for another five books. With everything happening I'm not sure how the companions will win the day or if some new heroes step forward.

Things are happening on Toril and Mr. Salvatore is building the suspense like a master guitarist strums the chords (or perhaps more relevant the way a sword master measures his thrusts and parries). While it's not uncommon in Drizzt books to see the story building into a series with a grand ending as opposed to each single book having a single adventure, goal and ending this book feels more like a build up book than any before it. There are a variety of storylines, characters both new and old and groups all working towards certain goals. Readers are sure to recognize and delight in a few old faces that we didn't expect to see again. This is a big story and we don't get to see many endings in this book, instead we see the beginnings of what looks to be a convergence. This in no way lessens the enjoyment of reading it. Once people finish the last page they will immediately start looking for the release date of the next book. There is as always a lot of action in Rise of the King. Great battles and small skirmishes with the strike for strike writing that is a staple of mr. Salvatore s. There is a group with clear goals that act out in the open trying to achieve them and then there are characters who the reader will be unsure about. When planning to read this book I would advise people to take the day off of work for its not one that you are going to want to put down.

This is possibly the best book I have read in a long time. Salvatore continues to raise the bar with every book he writes.

Scimitars high! This book is a fast paced easy read as those who know the author know what he is about. Intrigue and deception abound around every corner as the dark elves tighten their noose around the surface world and our beloved Companions of the Hall. Do not look for any earth shattering reveals in this book as this is the quintessential middle book, setting up the end for a major grand finale pitting our heroes against his seemingly many enemies.

No spoilers from this reviewer. You will be lost like a dress on prom night if you attempt to read this book without consuming any of the 30 some odd books that precede it. You will need the context to piece together the many moving parts in this book. The writing is fabulously done with Bob's trademark swordplay battle scenes highlighting the story. There is no shortage of death (quite descriptively I might add) and the overall tone is not a general one of happiness and happy go lucky. Same bad stuff is brewing and it's made our Companions none too happy.

Please get the book. It is well worth your time and Trouble

I love this series, the books are much better now that the gang is back together!

I enjoyed reading Mr. Salvatore's second novel in his new trilogy. Even though I'm not a D&D follower, I found the book to be exciting and entertaining. The plot was complicated enough to hold my interest. The characters were interesting and well-developed.

Since this is the middle book in the trilogy, it follows the usual pattern of the second installment being the dark segment. The ending is suspenseful and quite naturally creates the desire to read the final book.

I have no criticisms of this book. It was well written and plotted, Good job, Mr. Salvatore!

Rise of the King is the type of R.A. Salvatore novel that all his fans crave. It is quite simply a tour de force of action with fights scenes galore, warfare on a regional scale, personal acts of valor, and even a little time in between sword blows for some emotional interaction by the Companions of the Hall. Or to put it another way, everything that readers love about tales about Drizzt is on center stage here with none of the usual negatives to drag them down. Honestly, it is about as perfect a Forgotten Realms story as I think Mr. Salvatore can deliver, which means it is pure sword and sorcery fun.

As the second volume of the Companions Codex, this novel picks up were Night of the Hunter left off. The drow of Menzoberranzan under the control of Matron Mother Quenthel Baenre have unleashed their plan to destroy the Silver Marches and blame it upon Drizzt’s former House of Do’Urden. With a magic induced darkness covering the land, the orcs of the Kingdom of Many Arrows and their allies fall upon the dwarves, humans and elves of the region in overwhelming numbers.

As disaster after disaster mounts against the surprised defenders, they turn upon each another: human blaming dwarves, dwarf blaming human, elves blaming dwarves and humans, and everyone blaming dead King Bruenor. And with this animosity standing in the way of the formation of a coordinated defense, the great cities of the region find themselves isolated and alone, facing an enemy that is stronger than they ever imagined.

Into this situation stumble Drizzt, Bruenor, Catt-brie, Regis, and Wulfgar. Soon, they find themselves trapped in a besieged city, desperately trying to hold back their enemies, and hoping to discover some way to help stem the rising tide. But even as they confront the orcs of Many Arrows and Bruenor continues to tell Drizzt “I told you so” about the orcs, the drow and his wife Catt-brie attempt to come to term the idea that some races are beyond saving and must be hunted down and annihilated – an idea that chills Drizzt to the core, making him wonder at the fate of his own people.

In the background of our heroes struggle, the story of Drizzt’s former comrades Ambergris the dwarf cleric, Dahlia Sin'felle the elf warrior, and Afafrenfere the human monk continues to play out, promising that they will soon reappear to take a role in this titanic struggle taking place in the Silver Marches. And as always the ever mysterious and conniving Jarlaxle lurks in the background, pushing pieces around on the game board – his motives, as always, his own.

As I mentioned, this is about as good a Drizzt story as I can imagine Mr. Salvatore penning. Besides the stellar action sequences, there are the scattered interludes with Drizzt passing along his inner thoughts, the slowly budding friendship of the new Companions, and just enough of the drow political machinations to keep a reader turning pages. At the same time, Mr. Salvatore inserts enough references to old adventures by Drizzt and companion to make these people truly feel like old friends newly reacquainted. Because, honestly, wouldn’t Drizzt tell his wife and companions about struggles he went through or exciting daring-do they missed during their sojourns in the realms of death? Of course, he would, and while it does interrupt the narrative flow a bit, these tidbits of history really ring true for this resurrection of the Companions of the Hall.

All in all, Rise of the King is sword and sorcery at its finest. Mr. Salvatore might not be reinventing the wheel here, but what he does do is craft an entertaining tale that will sweep a reader away to the Forgotten Realms for a few hours. And isn’t that what most Drizzt fans really want? Yeah, it is, so go read this book already.

I received this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. I’d like to thank both of them for allowing me to receive this review copy and inform everyone that the review you have read is my opinion alone.

ARC copy from Netgalley.
Ladies and gentlemen, all races of Faerun, welcome to "The Two Towers" of the Drizzt universe.

Once again, I delve deeply into the pages of Salvatore, welcoming another adventure as a proxy pseudo-"Companion of the Hall", as I have done at least once a year for more than 20 years. This time, we begin in post-Darkening Luruar (previously known as the Silver Marches, at least to me) and WAR is upon the land. The first third of this book is aftermath and catch up from "Night of the Hunter", showing the logical next steps of our various bands. The second third... felt a lot like "Hey! Let's get together practically everyone we've ever talked about in any previous Drizzt book, and figure out a way to get them in this storyline". But the third part... this not only made the book, but makes it worthy of my previous "Two Towers" comment.

As any fantasy fan knows, Tolkien's "Two Towers", while it stands greatly on its own, is largely a set up for the epic battle we know is coming in "Return of the King". This book is exactly like that AND why I am salivating heavily for Companions Codex III: "______ ______ ______ ______"! (Will it live up to the epic, life-changing level of tale like Homeland and Mortalis did?) That being said, this book is an amazing entity all its own, with plenty of action, laughs and camaraderie to keep us along with the Companions. As the master wordsmith that Salvatore is, the events of this book, draw so many almost finished pictures, that I am actually concerned that many of "my friends" will not make it out alive next time.

You'll get no spoilers from me in this review, but let me say this: HANG ON TIGHT. If you have been a life-long Salvatore fan like I am, you'll know that death plays a major part in his books, and always as a surprise. The next book in this series just may break more than the skies over Mithril Hall.

This book is an absolute MUST READ for Drizzt fans and Salvatore readers in general.

Even better than the first book! No sophomore slump with this series. The characters and world are fantastic and I can't wait for the next book. If you haven't picked up this series yet, you are missing out on a great story.