I can see where this would have been an extremely popular book in its time. It does, however, very much show its status as first published book by this author and as a high fantasy published in the 1980s. It reminded me strongly of the Shannara series by Terry Brooks, which started off very dependent on The Lord of the Rings for races, imagery, and even some plot points, but which eventually moved off in its own direction. I think nowadays we could refer to works like these as LOTR fan fiction.

How many books do you know that a side character has more time than the main character then becomes the main character? That was the way for this book, which mean the character of Drizzt rather than for Wulfgar. One of the many reasons that why this book is different from most books in fantasy. This reason is the biggest reason that this is different from most of the book out there.

I'm not a big fan of the novels. I read 'The Crystal Shard' a few years ago when a friend lent it to me (and now I think on it I need to return it). I believe it was R.A. Salvatore's first book and dear god I hope so, it was dreadful. It doesn't help that I loathe Forgotten Realms, viewing it as a rip-off of Greyhawk (where drow, duergar etc. originate from) and Lord of the Rings (meddling pipe smoking wizards anyone) with a smorgasboard of whatever else people were working on for TSR at the tim...

After reading a chapter or two, I realized to my surprise that I have never actually read this first Salvatore novel before. It's a strange experience, because I know the story of Drizzt so well from other books and other media, to the point that it feels like I must have read this previously...but I definitely hadn't.Back when TSR published this novel in 1988, it was trying to distance itself from a lot of the pre-existing gaming properties that it had published when Gary Gygax was running the

Review of the audiobook narrated by Victor Bevine.Between 10 and 20 years ago, back when I only read a handful of books each year, I read through most of this series (up to book 17 of The Legend of Drizzt). With my recent re-introduction to reading thanks to audiobooks I've had the opportunity to get to know a few of the more contemporary fantasy writers. With this, my first re-read in many years, I wanted to compare the old and the new with more than just faded memories.The best part of this bo...

MY BLOG: Melissa Martin's Reading ListIt doesn't matter. I will always ♥ love ♥ Drizzt & his trusted companion, Guenhwyvar Drizzt Do'Urden trotted along silently, his soft, low-cut boots barely stirring the dust. He kept the cowl of his brown cloak pulled low over the flowing waves of his stark white hair and moved with such effortless grace that an onlooker might have thought him to be no more than an illusion, an optical trick of the brown sea of tundra. In the first part of the book we find...

I’m glad to be back with Drizzt and his pals. This was a very fun tale filled with battles, evil wizards, giants, dwarves and a crazy demon. Can’t wait to start the next one!

This book sucked. Seriously, this is a classic? The story is good, and I can see why the character is popular among 12-year-old boys. He's a tormented drow! So he's cool-looking, but good! And he has a magic panther! And he can do just about anything, including run for days and command demons and all that.The story, overall, isn't horrible. It's better than the base narrative of The Hobbit. But the writing, the writing, the overwrought writing, the exposition, the journal entries... argh. Salvat...

This harks back to an earlier age of fantasy -- before "gritty," "grey" and "gory" became the norm -- where the heroes are larger than life, good and evil are clearly defined, and the fate of many hangs on a singular magical macguffin. Seen through this lens, this novel is a rousing success. The setting, Icewind Dale, was surprisingly well developed, with ten towns surrounding multiple lakes, and clans of dwarves and barbarians living on the outskirts. Our heroic party contains Drizzt the dark e...

An elf, a dwarf, and a halfling walk into a bar...wait you've heard this one before?Yeah, okay. There's nothing truly original here. Nothing we haven't encountered before. But I like it.A little different than the usual "quest" style of fantasy this one concentrates on a group of settlers trying to save their home from an invading wizard who has been possessed by an ancient artifact.If you've read Homeland, Exile, and Sojourn first you will notice a difference in style. The Crystal Shard was wri...

" A dark elf! Sorcerous dog!... a decrepit race!" -Wulfgar meeting Drizzt for the first time.The beginning of Drizzt's journeyIt's been over twenty years since i first read this the beginning of my journey with Drizzt and his companions. I've read every book in this series. Salvatore's writing does improve. This was lite fantasy. A group of vignettes disguised as a book. It was like reading a AD&D module. The book doesn't have the depth of his later books and the characters don't have the person...

This beginning to the Icewind Dale trilogy is a guilty pleasure at best. I fully admit that I've read eight books in the entire Drizzt series, and that this kind of novel is just the thing I need to curl up with sometimes. But the sad truth is that it is books like this one that, in my opinion, sometimes give fantasy a bad name. Mr. Salvatore is undoubtedly more talented in writing than the format of these books might suggest (I'm sure he's writing for a fairly young audience), and the success o...

Meant to read this about 30 years ago. That is a looong time for a book to sit on a tbr shelf. Well, I'm glad I finally got around to reading this. It was a lot of fun. A good, solid adventure with dwarves, elves, giants, goblins, sorcerers, and what have you.

Definitely not my favourite so far; things felt a little too coincidental and almost silly at times. I'm hanging out for more appearances from Jarlaxle tbh.Proper review to come later when I'm not tired AF.Also: I love this world a lot, but the series reaaaaally needs some more well-rounded female characters. Catti-Brie has a few appearances, but the only other female characters are unnamed 'womenfolk' (who are treated like damsels in distress at best and 'seen but not heard' burdens at worst) a...

Ah, the very beginning of the Drizzt saga. Such trope-ridden, archetypal innocence.When a disgruntled and incompetent mage apprentice comes into contact with one of the most twisted, manipulative and overall evil artifacts in the Forgotten Realms, things go south quickly for the population of Icewind Dale. Enter Bruenor Battlehammer, Wulfgar the Barbarian and last, but certainly not least, Drizzt Do'Urden.Having recently run The Legacy of the Crystal Shard, set a century later, for the 5th Editi...

My first dive into the Forgotten Realms, written in 1988. Salvatore‘s first novel. You can tell that he must be a huge Tolkien fan. For example Regis (cough*Bilbo*cough) sounds awfully familiar with his short height and furry toes... And we get an elf and a dwarf engaging in funny banter.... right!Spine of the World twanged my memory as well. I checked and the first Wheel of Time novel was published two years later. That book also very heavily copied elements of LOTR.Ok, so we have a halfling, a...

It took me at least 100 pages to feel fully engaged with the story but the lengthy intro was truly necessary character and story development. Even with his brief introduction of Drizzt, Bruenor and Regis, Salvatore created tangible characters that colored the war tactics, battles, and subsequent survival (since "victory" is only in the eye of the beholder) with clear depth and breadth. He was true to their character throughout the entire story and it allowed for the events that took place to be

After starting my adventure with Drizzt through the Dark elf Trilogy Iam back to the books that started it all. Icewind Dale. Although you can feel that this was Salvatores first book its still a great story and fun ride. It kinda feels like playing Baldurs Gate or Never Winter Nights:) All the side characters are cool in their own way but I think i like Bruenor the most:)These books are a great way to clear your head from the more "epic" stories out there.I will continue to read this series for...

After several years I did return to the roleplaying games, especially, Dungeons & Dragons. One of my favorite campaign settings over there is Forgotten Realms, known because of its diversity and how it portraits the best of High Fantasy tropes (and, of course, its clichés). But of all Forgotten Realms, I've always liked Icewind Dale.Icewind Dale has this name because of the unrelenting snow storms and the harsh life style at the faerûnian tundra. The Ten-Towns can be seen as the last bastion of

Very much a solid 4 but upgraded for the impact it had on how I read, play and search out fantasy to this day. I've never read past Sojourn amazingly. I'm hoping to change that at some point.-I'm certain this was my first FR book as a teenager and solidified a lifelong pact with all things Realms.-Though I couldn't recall specific plot before my readthrough I could name every character. First, last and nicknames...I'm horrible with names.-RA Salvatore's first novel.-Drizzt has spawned over 30 bo...