The R. A. Salvatore Thread

[Stonehelm]

I read the Crimson Shadow series when I was younger...I liked it then, but I dont know if I would like it now. I guess to be honest, I dont really remember the writing style of those books, so I wanted other opinions. I dont know if I should re-read them or read some of the other Salvatore books.

I always appreciate your opinion.

[Asa]

R.A. Salvatore is capable of creating an immersive world. But, the characters are no where near as complex as stories like ASoIF, and the over all complexity for that matter is very low.

I'd classify his stuff as 'Low Grade Fantasy' it's the generic fantasy with lots of fighting just for the sole purpose of fighting.

The plots tend to be very poor imo.

[Slick Mongoose]

Loved him as a kid, but he's nothing special. The Dark Elf trilogy was particularly good, iirc.

[RaceBannon42]

My personal favorite of his work is the Cleric Quintet.

But there is sooo much better stuff out there.

Read something new.

[Ser Paladin]

Ditto. He's enjoyable, in a C+ sort of way. Nothing excellent or particularly thought provoking, but not "avert your eyes" awful either (Kevin Anderson).

[Galactus]

Yeah.

And I'd add that I'd take a solidly crafted series with low ambition rather than a bad one with high ambitions

Yeah, I'd rather read Martin than Salvatore, but I'd rather read Salvatore than nothing, or Salvatore than Goodkind for that matter.

When I think about i'd rather carve my heart out with a spoon than read Goodkind.

[oneeye]

His dwarves are great in the forgotten realms books. Drizzt, artemis, cattie brie and his representation of the underdark are great too.

I tried reading his demonwar saga but got bored though.

He seems to have moments of brilliance but it's not consistent

[Krafus]

The Crimson Shadow trilogy was too much like real-world Scotland vs. England (complete with Hadrian's Wall, raiding Vikings and the French just overseas). That, plus the lameness of the main evil race (dumb Cyclopeans who, for obvious reasons, have no depth perception and thus can't hit a barn at three meters with ranged weapons), has made me think of it as his weakest series.

Still, the battle choreography is best I've found anywhere, and when it works, it really works. I'll always remember the Drizzt vs. Entreri duels in The Legacy and the Drizzt vs. Dantrag fight in Starless Night... He also has some really good novels among his Forgotten Realms ones - notably the Dark Elf trilogy, the Legacy of the Drow (four books) and now the first two books of the Sellswords trilogy.

[Monboddo]

He's at best a pedestrian writer. Doesn't strike me as the type of writer to grow better with time.

However, he's obviously popular. For now, that is. He'll be forgotten in time. Which is not at all bad, when you think about it.

[Vinyard]

I share the same sentiment as the majority of people who've replied thus far. He is not the greatest fantasy writer out there and he is not the worst. I read some of his books when I was younger and found them fun but too predictable (not unlike most fantasy though). Drizzt is probably my favorite character that he has written about. All in all, he has some enjoyable books so you won't be wasting your time reading his works.

[Lightning Lord]

I found I liked reading his stuff, but it was more in a "It's a way to pass the time, and I might as well finish the series." sort of way. Not like with Martin, which I read because I have to know what comes next. I never brought myself to finish the Demonwars saga, just got a little bored after the first 3.

[Barba]

Still, the battle choreography is best I've found anywhere, and when it works, it really works. I'll always remember the Drizzt vs. Entreri duels in The Legacy and the Drizzt vs. Dantrag fight in Starless Night... He also has some really good novels among his Forgotten Realms ones - notably the Dark Elf trilogy, the Legacy of the Drow (four books) and now the first two books of the Sellswords trilogy.

I didn't read much, but I know this.

[Stonehelm]

So...is it safe to say that most of you think it would be worth my while to read more of his work? If so what series?

[Werthead]

Really? Passage to Dawn was dire, really weak and lacking much in the way of a point save it allowed a fan-pleasing Drizzt/Cadderly crossover.

The Crystal Shard is the best thing Salvatore has written by far and it's a shame it wasn't used as a basis for the official D&D Movie (as was rumoured a few times). Some of the other books are enjoyable: the other two Icewind Dale books, The Dark Elf Trilogy, Starless Night, but I couldn't get into his later books. Servant of the Shard was just dire.

The battle chreography is good, but challenged by Steven Erikson, particularly in a lengthy running battle at the end of The Bonehunters. Astonishing stuff. Salvatore has no skill at all with full-on army-on-army fights though, and is beaten hands-down in this department by Erikson and Martin.

[williamjm]

The Crystal Shard is the best thing Salvatore has written by far and it's a shame it wasn't used as a basis for the official D&D Movie (as was rumoured a few times).

It would make quite a fun movie. Certainly better than the Dungeons & Dragons movie they did make.

I read quite a few of the Drizzt books (I would say 'most' but I'm not sure how many there are now). They're fun light reading for a while, although you probably want to stop reading the series at some point, maybe after "Starless Night", or somewhere around there, I forget which book is which.

[PhelanArcetus]

Salvatore was decent, I think. Maybe it's just that I matured, but I started to find his writing getting lackluster. It certainly didn't improve. Not that it went downhill, it just never changed.

He does good battle choreography, definitely. I've read the majority of the Forgotten Realms books, and the Demonwars Saga. The thing that got me most irritated, and therefore the biggest factor in my putting him off of my list of authors to get the new books by, was this:

In every single book, he continues to harp on the same moral themes. Now, I'm all for there being a message in the book (though when it's given via a journal entry it feels a tad blatant), but if an author has twenty books on my shelf, there should be more than three unique messages. The repetition was what really drove me away.

An increasing sense that circumstances were being twisted to actually create a challenge where no challenge should have existed is another, as I read The Thousand Orcs, and honestly couldn't understand how Drizzt's party could have any issue with 1,000 veteran orcs and a scattering of giants, considering the power level the party seems to have from the earlier books.

You can't stop after Starless Night, as Siege of Darkness contains the most powerful writing Salvatore has. But Siege felt like an ending to the saga, and picking it back up with Passage To Dawn was probably a bad idea. Drizzt's done enough, he was due to fade into the background for a while. Bringing him back for more books was just "Drizzt sells, why bother creating a new character?", I think, on the part of the publishers. Passage is where things really started going downhill in my opinion.

[DanteGabriel]

I've read all the Icewind Dale trilogy, all of the Dark Elf trilogy, and most of the Legacy/Starless Night/whatever series. I can't remember which of the later ones I read and which ones I just didn't bother with.

I think The Crystal Shard was the best of Salvatore's books. I was a big fan when I was a teenager. I don't think that much of Drizzt as a character. Sorry, the "good guy from an evil race" thing just doesn't do it for me. I found Zaknafein and Jarlaxle (at least Jarlaxle before he came to the surface) much more interesting characters.

I have a real issue with a few of Salvatore's habits:

1. Repetitious turns of phrase. I don't want to hear any more about how Guenhwyvar is a "black-shafted arrow," or how something moved "with an explosion of power beyond anything so and so had ever imagined," or "the whirling blade of Drizzt Do'Urden."

2. Some of the names are just awful. "Khazad'hea" (the sword) and "Berg'inyon" (the young Baenre fighter) -- please tell me you did not name your characters Quesadilla and (Beef) Bourgignon.

3. The endless and clumsy moralizing. Spare me the Deep Moral Lessons of Drizzt's reflection chapters, thanks. I got the message five books ago.

[Tagot]

I loved the Dark Elf Trilogy, liked the Icewind Dale Trilogy, liked the Legacy of the Drow, and got bored and couldn't finish The Thousand Orcs.

The writing wasn't awful, although Salvatore used the word "savage" way too much.

[Derfel Cadarn]

I hated The Crystal Shard at first although after lowering my expectations I've found it pretty enjoyable on re-reads. In a way I prefer Drizzt as he was then, reckless and carefree, compared to the philosphising semi-reluctant fighter he became later. Homeland is the best book, it's excellent. Exile was a bit of a disappointment, Sojourn was okay. Siege of Darkness was very good too.

Passage to Dawn is one of the weaker books (almost as bad as the Wulfgar book set after The Silent Blade) but is semi-forgivable in that Salvatore had fallen out with TSR and he thought it would be his last Drizzt book and some other author would take over the character. If he'd known otherwise I suspect the book would have been done differently.

I quite liked The Thousand Orcs though the time-scale doesn't seem quite right. Siege of Darkness is set in 1358 (the Time of Troubles), Passage to Dawn is set 6 years later, The Silent Blade is about a year after Passage to Dawn starts, Sea of Storms is about 2 years after that making the year roughly 1368. The Hunter's Blades trilogy is therefore around 1369 yet the orc invasion should really be a couple of years later according to the Forgotten Realms campaign info.

[Blaine]

It reminds me of what my old fiction prof called "true pornography." It's indulgent, wish-fulfillment writing where the hero is essentially bullet-proof, no one really dies, etc, etc.

It's boring and it's predictable and I don't understand why anyone who would read it once they're past age 14. It's also a pretty good indication of why role-playing games do not equal good writing.