Exile - R.A. Salvatore

    1990; 307 pages.  New Author? : No.  Book 2 (out of 33) in the Legend of Drizzt series.  Genres: Epic Fantasy; Dungeons & Dragons; Sword & Sorcery.  Overall Rating: 8*/10.

 

    The dark elf Drizzt Do’Urden is fleeing for his life.  All sorts of people want him killed.

 

    Some of them are his own kin.  There’s his three sisters: Briza, Vierna, and Maya; and his older brother, Dinin.  Briza’s the most dangerous.  She’s a high priestess, capable of some powerful, deadly spellcasting.

 

    Right now, Drizzt’s siblings are after him at the behest of his mother, Malice Do’Urden.  He’s to be caught and brought back to face judgment.  Malice is not someone you want mad at you.  Her proper title is “Matron Malice”, and she's the leader of House Do’Urden, one of the most powerful houses in Menzoberranzan.

 

    Still, Drizzt’s chances of eluding capture are decent.  He’s traipsing around in a huge maze of underground tunnels and caverns called The Underdark.  He’s explored the area a lot more than any of his siblings.  Alas, Drizzt has offended a more powerful foe than anyone in his family.  Lolth, aka “The Spider Queen”, the main deity of the Dark Elves.

 

    And let's face it: when a goddess is after you, you’re doomed.

 

What’s To Like...

    Exile is the second book in R.A. Salvatore’s Legends of Drizzt series.  It takes places ten years after the events in Book One, Homeland, which is reviewed here.  That means Drizzt’s been on the run for quite some time, although a decade is admittedly a small part of a dark elf’s lifespan.  His only companion is a magical panther named Guenhwyvar, but the cat lives on an astral plane and only comes when danger threatens Drizzt.  The loneliness of his exile is slowly killing Drizzt.

 

    The main plotline chronicles Lolth’s efforts, through Matron Malice, to destroy the renegade warrior.  But we also watch Drizzt try to make friends and find companions to join him in his wanderings.  That’s a difficult task, since befriending someone cursed by the gods generally means being marked for death as well.

 

    The story takes place almost entirely underground, with lots of critters and other races to cross paths with and often cross swords with as well.  The book cover shows Drizzt being threatened by a pack of illithids, nasty creatures whose name translates into “Mind Flayers”.

 

    I liked R.A. Salvatore’s lighthearted approach to naming some of the characters.  Yes, this is Epic Fantasy at its finest, but you have to smile when being introduced to someone named Belwar Dissenguip, Elviddinvelp, Bristan Fendlestick, and my favorite, King Schnicktick.

 

    The book is divided into 26 chapters, plus a very helpful prelude which gives a brief backstory of Book One.  The ending is spread out over the last three chapters.  As you’d expect, Drizzt successfully overcomes the threats to his life, but at some terrible and unexpected collateral costs.  Things close with a teaser for the next book in the series, Sojourn, with Drizzt contemplating a trip to the aboveground part of his world, to get better acquainted with what is perhaps the strangest race of creatures he’s met thus far.

 

    Humans.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon:  4.7/5 based on 6,828 ratings and 557 reviews.

    Goodreads: 4.23/5 based on 66,013 ratings and 1,522 reviews.

 

Excerpts...

    “Get me information from Menzoberranzan, and quickly.  I like not the prospect of dark elves wandering about my front door.  It does so diminish the neighborhood.”

    Councilor Firble, the chief of covert security in Blingdenstone, nodded in agreement, though he wasn’t pleased by the request.  Information from Menzoberranzan was not cheaply gained, and it as often turned out to be a calculated deception as the truth.  Firble did not like dealing with anyone or anything that could outsmart him, and he numbered dark elves as first on that ill-favored list.  (loc. 1734)

 

    “Why do human wizards practice the art of magic at all?” Drizzt asked.

    Belwar shook his head.  “I do not believe that any scholars have yet discovered the reason,” he replied in all sincerity.  “A strange and dangerously unpredictable race are humans, and better to be left alone.”

    “You have met some?”

    “A few.”  Belwar shuddered, as though the memory was not a pleasant one.  “Traders from the surface.  Ugly things, and arrogant.  The whole of the world is only for them, by their thinking.”  (loc. 2555)

 

Kindle Details…

    Right now, Exile is selling for $7.99 at Amazon.  The other books in the series go for that same price.  R.A. Salvatore occasionally discounts a book or two, usually (but not always) from the first dozen books in the series.

 

“We do not consider friendship a debt.”  (loc. 1779)

    There’s very little profanity in Exile.  I noted less than a dozen cusswords throughout the whole book, most of which were “damn”.  When the circumstances called for swearing, the favorite phrase used was “magga cammara”, which means “by the stones”.  I don’t recall any “adult situations”.

 

    Overall, I found Exile to be a quick, yet entertaining read.  The pacing was quick, there was action aplenty, and the worldbuilding was once again fantastic.

 

    8 Stars.  One last plaudit for Exile.  The structure of the Dark Elves society is conspicuously matriarchal.  Women hold all the positions of power; there are high priestesses but no high priests; and Goddesses call the heavenly shots.  Males are generally regarded as dolts when it comes to spellcasting, and are really only useful when fighting is necessary.  I found this to be a refreshing deviation from the norm.

Homeland - R.A. Salvatore

 

    1990; 315 pages.  New Author? : Yes.  Book 1 (out of 37, soon to be 38) in the Legend of Drizzt series.  Book 1 (out of 3) in the Dark Elf Trilogy series.  Genres: Epic Fantasy; Dungeons & Dragons; Sword & Sorcery.  Overall Rating: 8*/10.

    Some drow elves are born great.  Some achieve greatness.  Some have greatness thrust upon them.

 

    For the drow elf Drizzt Do’urden, the first isn’t true – he's the third son (“thirdboy”) of a minor House of Elves in the city of Menzoberranzan, and they normally are sacrificed immediately to the Spider Queen deity Lolth.

 

    It’s also doubtful that anyone will thrust greatness upon him.  More likely a dagger will be thrust between his ribs by one of his elder brothers as a preventative measure against Drizzt doing the same to them to climb up the House’s succession ladder.  Such things are natural occurrences in familial politics in Menzoberranzan.

 

   That leaves achieving greatness as the only option.  But only under a strictly-monitored upbringing: starting with being a house servant until age 15, then 5 years under the tutelage of a weapons master, followed by 10 more years at the Tier Breche Academy learning all about fighting, wizardry, and properly serving the merciless goddess Lolth.  Drizzt quickly becomes a stellar student there.

 

    Except for obeying the “properly serving” aspect.

 

What’s To Like...

    Homeland is the first book in R.A. Salvatore’s epic fantasy series “The Legend of Drizzt”.  There are now 38 books in this series, which are further divided into subsets consisting of 2-5 books apiece.  The setting ties in closely with Dungeons-&-Dragons’ (“D&D”) Forgotten Realms role-playing games.  This is epic fantasy at its finest, with lots of fantasy races (at least 20 of them here), artifacts, magic, Houses of Nobility, and schools of learning to keep the reader’s attention.

 

    Homeland serves as an introduction to the series.  The story commences with the Matron Malice, ruler of House Do’urden, pregnant, and eventually giving birth to Drizzt, whom we then follow through his three decades of training and first couple of combat operations on behalf of the goddess Lolth.  That might sound like a significant portion  of someone's existence, but the typical lifespan of an elf is a millennium or so.

 

    The world-building is superb.  The realm of the drow elves is entirely underground (“the Underdark”) and spending any time aboveground where the hated “surface elves” dwell (you and I would call them “faeries”) is a grueling experience, due to a big orange ball of fire in the sky.  The drow elf realms are matriarchal, which is a pleasant change of pace.  The ruling matron usually takes a (male) patron, mostly for offspring purposes, and can dump him for another at any time if he becomes boring.

 

    Daughters comprise the ruling succession line, with the non-eldest ones becoming prime candidates for the roles of high priestesses.  Females are generally much better at magic than males, and are also usually (but not always) more powerfully built as well.  High priestesses are clairvoyant, which means a male drow elf with a rebellious streak has to be careful of both what he says and what he thinks.  Drow elves are almost always paranoid – all other races are enemies to be slain, and all activity must be guided by the dictates of the Spider Goddess Lolth.

 

    The major characters here - the drow elves (including Drizzt’s family) and their scheming and competing Houses – are essentially “black hats”.  The main plotline is Drizzt coming to grips with that, the problems this realization causes him, and the difficult decisions he then has to make.  He crosses paths with a couple characters in the same quandary, which helps him try to resolve these difficulties.

 

    The ending is epic, exciting, D&D-ish, but without any plot twists to throw things askew.  That may sound like a criticism, but if you’ve ever participated in a D&D roleplaying game (I have), you’ll appreciate devising a well-thought-out plan of action that results in a well-deserved conclusion.  The book’s primary goal is attained – Drizzt is born, trained, introduced to the combat and intrigue of the Underdark, and is now ready for (at least) 37 more adventures.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon:  4.7/5 based on 3,964 ratings and 1,076 reviews.

    Goodreads: 4.25/5 based on 81,356 ratings and 2,777 reviews

 

Kewlest New Word ...

Weal (n.) : well-being, prosperity, happiness.

 

Excerpts...

    He put his head down and charged the mirror.

    Perhaps it was a teleportation door to another section of the city, perhaps a simple door to a room beyond.  Or perhaps, Alton dared to imagine in those few desperate seconds, this was some interplanar gate that would bring him to a strange and unknown plane of existence!

    He felt the tingling excitement of adventure pulling him on as he neared the wondrous thing—then he felt only the impact, the shattering glass, and the unyielding stone wall behind it.

    Perhaps it was just a mirror.  (loc. 623)

 

    Only twenty-two of the original twenty-five in Drizzt’s class remained.  One had been dismissed—and subsequently executed—for a foiled assassination attempt on a high-ranking student, a second had been killed in the practice arena, and a third had died in his bunk of natural causes—for a dagger in the heart quite naturally ends one’s life.  (loc. 2370)

 

Kindle Details…

    Right now, Homeland sells for $7.99 at Amazon.  The other 37 books in The Legend of Drizzt series run anywhere from $7.99 to $14.99, with the newer books being the more expensive.  $14.99 is the pre-order price for Book 38, which is scheduled to be released this coming August.

 

“I do not wish to waste my time conversing with a magical mouth.”  (loc. 808)

    There’s not much to gripe about in Homeland.  The book was surprisingly clean: I counted only nine cusswords in the first 33% of the book, all of them eschatological (“hell” and “damn”).  There is some violence, naturally.  I don't recall any “adult situations”.

 

    Most of the “made-up words” (piwafwi, thoqqua, svirfnebli, illithid, yochlol, et al.) are clearly explained when they first appear, but it took me a while to figure out what a “dweomer” was.  It’s a magic spell or ward.  I suspect I neglected to highlight its meaning when it first cropped up.

 

    Thanks to the book's cover image, the fate of Guenhwyvar was pretty obvious to me.  I was surprised though that it is not a made-up name, being a variant of the girl’s name “Guinevere”.  Now I just need to figure out how to pronounce it.

 

    That’s about it for the nit-picking, and those are all pretty miniscule.  I’ve been meaning to read something by R.A. Salvatore for quite a while now, and this introduction to his signature work lived up to my expectations.  I have a feeling that the Drizzt books get even better now that the worldbuilding is done and the (initial) main characters have been introduced.

 

    8 Stars.  Homeland is a standalone novel in addition to being the start of a 38-book series, full of magical beings, dodging life-threatening monsters and nasty spells.  There's even a subtle strand of humor woven into the story, as the first excerpt above demonstrates.  I think I'm gonna like The Legend of Drizzt.