Janel Brubaker's Blog, page 3

Book Review – Thunderbird by Dorothea Lasky

This is the second or third book I’ve read by Dorothea Lasky. I first read her poetry while in grad school; one of my faculty mentors suggested her collection Milk as a study in poetry. I enjoyed that book as I enjoyed this one.

Lasky’s way with words is unlike anything I’ve seen from other poets. She uses simple language, and yet her poems reverberate with meaning and depth. “People cannot keep air in,” she says on page 1. A keen observation of the human body and what it means to live, to choose to keep living. There’s an honest reverie in her reflections, something that beats with the heart of nature and of people. “Things are wild here / Everything around the green” (51).

But inside the honesty is also deception, a low growl of what exists within all of us that holds fast to mystery. “My body is dark red paper tonguing / the Sun of the grave that I am in” (56). And it is this blend of honesty and mystery that builds tension in the reader’s soul. It points to why we need poetry at all.

I gave this book 3 stars because the imagery in these poems was very basic. I think they were supposed to be, but I still found myself wanting something surprising, something unexpected to jump off the page, and it didn’t. Still, I do recommend this book.

A Kiss of Glass Audiobook

It’s been a genuinely awful last couple of months — and especially the last couple of weeks — but one bright spot in all of it has been the production of my very first audiobook.

The production of the audiobook for A Kiss of Glass started back in February, and I have been sitting on pins and needles every since, counting the days until the project would be done and I could release it to the world. The narrator I chose is absolutely phenomenal and I am still so impressed by her abilities. There was one chapter near the beginning where my main character, Nasya, has a dream sequence and she’s talking to a mysterious voice, and the narrator gave me fucking chills with one of the voices she used. I gasped out loud as though I hadn’t actually written the book and didn’t know what was happening.

THAT is when you know you’ve struck gold with your narrator.

And every subsequent chapter, she continued to impress with her growth in the character’s voices, her understanding of their emotional expressions, and her immersion in their lives and experiences. I am genuinely thrilled to have worked with her and I am beyond excited to work with her again on the sequel (once it’s actually done and published, of course).

So, is the audiobook available? YES!

Can you purchase it now? YES!

Do I have a link for you? I sure do!

You can find the audiobook here. Please purchase, download, listen, and rate and review when you’re done.

And thank you for all of your support!

Spring Has Sprung in the Pacific Northwest

Hello!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted. Honestly, things have been really busy and not entirely good, so I have been running on a very limited amount of energy.

Firstly, some health updates:

I can’t remember if I told you or not, but back around the beginning of March, I started struggling with some pretty severe insomnia. I think there were a lot of different reasons for this: the state of the world as a whole is absolutely awful (#FreePalestine) and I am overwhelmed by how much death and suffering has been observed in multiple countries, and very little has been done about it. It’s been weighing on my mind and, even though I continue to contact my representatives to demand that they push for a permanent and lasting ceasefire in Gaza, it’s clear that our government isn’t listening and likely never will. Another thing causing the insomnia is an increase in overall stress. Money has been tight, there has been a ton of drama going on in our condo complex over repairs that need to be done on each unit in each building, my car crapped out on me, and work has been chaotic. All of this on top of writing and marketing and house chores, have left me completely drained.

But, the insomnia has been getting better. I finally got health insurance, and so I set up an appointment with a psychiatrist, and he was able to prescribe some medications to help me. They have certainly done their job, because I have actually been getting a good night’s sleep for the last week. Usually, I would self-medicate with edibles, but they stopped working some time ago, and now I’m not on any marijuana products. To be clear: I am not at all against the use of marijuana, and I think it should be legalized in every state, and I’m sure I will go back to using edibles once I have fully adjusted to the new meds.

The car situation is very nearly resolved, and that’s a relief. I was feeling very stuck because I don’t have the money for a new car, nor could I afford to get my car repaired, and I had already sunk more money into the car than I actually paid for it, and at that point, decided to just let her die. My partner is likely going to give me his car (it’s a Prius), and he’s going to purchase himself a new one. So at least I don’t have to empty my meager savings to cover the cost of a down payment.

Money is definitely still tight, and it’s only going to get tighter as the year goes on. Publishing my own novels is expensive; cover design, interior design, formatting, paying for advertisements, mailing out copies when people order directly from me, etc. all add up. And when you’re planning on releasing three novels and potentially two novellas in a single year, the costs really add up. And while I can write them off as business expenses at the end of the year, it doesn’t mean that I don’t feel the scarcity in the interim.

However, on the flip side of that, last year when I released my debut novel, I did make several hundred dollars in sales the first few months. And while I’m not guaranteed to make that again, I am a more experienced author and marketer now. I have more ideas and a better understanding of the industry (though I still have a lot more to learn). So the likelihood of me making some money on my upcoming book is fairly good, and that money will go right back into funding the costs of these other projects. And, of course, there’s always the chance that the next book will go viral and my career will be made. It may not be a huge chance, but it still exists.

And I am still getting writing done. It’s been slow going, but I am on track for the writing schedule I’ve given myself, and hopefully as we go into April, I’ll have firmer footing and a bit more energy, especially now that I don’t have to keep stressing over the insomnia.

Plus, it’s officially spring! Winter is gone. Spring is here. And my allergies are trying to suffocate me, but I hardly even care because the flowers are blooming and the sun is shining. That, alone, makes me happy. And I always write more often/more intentionally in the spring, summer, and autumn months, so the next…8ish months will likely be very productive, indeed. And even though I am working on 3 novels — well, 2 now that my upcoming novel is with my formatter — and 2 novellas, I am also always working on poetry. I’ve had several acceptances for publication this year already, and I’m hoping that I’ll have another manuscript of poetry traditionally published very soon. No confirmations yet, but I’m hoping! I also joined a Facebook group called The 365 Poetry Prompt Challenge, and it’s been really inspiring me to write poems often. I’ve written 52 or 53 poems in that group alone already this year, and I’ve written probably 5 or so on my own.

The greatest gift I ever gave myself was choosing to study poetry in my M.F.A. I don’t think I’ll ever get over how much that one choice changed the entire course of my life. And that isn’t hyperbole.

Anyway, I hope you’re all doing well!

I’m sending light and love your way!

The Duke of Ithaca Cover Reveal and Virtual Book Launch

We are getting so close to the release of The Duke of Ithaca!

I cannot believe that we’re even here, or that I even got this novel written! It feels like so much has happened since I started this novel, and so it feels almost surreal to say that we’re only 52 days away from releasing The Duke of Ithaca! 52 days! I’m still going through the last round of edits and then I have to register the manuscript with the Library of Congress, and then I have to send it to the interior designer and formatter, but at that point, the book will be ready.

I’m hoping that pre-orders will go live on April 1st! I’m honestly so excited to get this book out to all of you. As much as I love A Kiss of Glass (and I do), and as much as I have enjoyed writing A Shift of Crimson (and I have), there’s something special about this book/series, something magic and music and romance and history and nostalgia. These characters are iconic and beloved for a reason and, while I’m definitely adding a twist to them, I also feel like I’m doing them justice.

And, of course, writing a story inside of a faux Regency period is just the most exquisite fun!

One update I have is that the cover of The Duke of Ithaca is officially here! Check it out!

I mean, look at it! Not only is it just a beautiful cover in general (the colors, the softness of the image, the fonts), it also speaks to something that I think we all relate to, and that’s a desire for love and belonging. The woman is expressing vulnerability and sexuality through being partially nude, and indie of the vulnerability and sexuality, there’s something else, something subtly implied and yet glaringly vibrant: a need for love and belonging.

I loved the cover that my designer created for A Kiss of Glass. It was utterly perfect and has been praised as such by nearly every person who has seen it. I am sitting on pins and needles, waiting to see the upcoming cover for A Shift of Crimson because (obviously) my cover designer is seriously incredible at what she did. But she has outdone herself this time. This cover isn’t just perfect, it’s a true reflection of the novel itself. And that’s not to say that the cover of A Kiss of Glass isn’t a reflection of the novel, but there is something undeniably different in this cover. I’m not even sure if I can put it into words, to be honest, but I feel it strongly.

That’s why I cried when I first saw the rough draft of this cover. I audibly gasped, completely blown away by it, and then immediately cried for joy. I don’t know that I will ever get used to the feeling of seeing someone else’s cover design for my novel, especially when that design captures the whole of the novel’s essence. It feels like a kind of love letter or tribute to the book and its characters.

I also have a set date for the official book launch of The Duke of Ithaca! It will be a virtual launch. I’ll be hosting both a Facebook Live event and a TikTok Live event simultaneously to celebrate the launch of my new book. The details can be found here. I will likely read a couple of excerpts of the book, talk about its inception and the process of writing it, and then open it up to discuss what everyone’s favorite Greek myths are and would like to see in the coming books! So you definitely won’t want to miss out!

I hope you’re all doing well. If you’ve been working on a creative endeavor of some kind, let me know! Comment!

Love and light to you all!

Writing Updates

It’s the first official week of March, so here’s an update on where I am with my writing projects.

First up is The Duke of Ithaca, book one of my new series, The Olympic Fates Saga. The third draft is currently still with a few beta readers. Once I receive their feedback, I will be diving deep into getting the final draft completed. If you’ve never self-published a book before, then just know that this final draft process is complicated. Not only do I have to actually complete the final round of edits (which includes determining which pieces of feedback I’m using and which ones I’m not), but I also have to continue preparing the book for publication. That includes copyright.

I already have my ISBNs, but something else that is extremely important is registering the book with The Library of Congress. This isn’t mandatory, but it’s smart. Essentially, you take your manuscript and you upload it to the Library of Congress website. After the request is processed and the book is registered, they send you a Library of Congress number that you include on your copyright page. It’s a solid way of making sure the book is completely copyrighted. However, you can’t register your book with The Library of Congress until the manuscript is completely done. The number they give you has to completely match the manuscript, so this is not something you can complete when still in the editing phase.

Once the book is done and I have the Library of Congress number, I’ll send the book to my designer for interior design and formatting for paperback and ebook. At some point during this process, I’ll be sharing the cover reveal for the book and announcing the official release date. Once the paperback and ebook have been formatted, I upload the documents to Amazon and pre-orders go live. At that point, it’s all about promotions and advertisements. I’ll be ordering proof copies to send out as ARCs to my ARC readers. I’ll be talking incessantly about the novel as we get closer to publication. I’ll be sending out invites to the virtual book launch. I’ll be contacting nearby bookstores to schedule readings and signings. I’ll be scheduling advertisements and setting up a budget to pay for them. I’ll be setting up FaceBook and TikTok live events to talk about the book, answer questions, read excerpts, etc.

On and on the list goes because, for an author (especially an indie author), there’s no such thing as a time to stop marketing.

Once The Duke of Ithaca is released, I will be completely focused on A Shift of Crimson. Let me just say that working on multiple novels at once is really fucking hard. It takes a LOT of time and energy and, without excellent time management skills, it won’t happen. I’m over halfway through the third draft of A Shift of Crimson, and while I am mostly keeping to my very rigid revision schedule, it is taking a lot of creative energy to do so. I have to get the third and fourth drafts done by March 16. Yes, you read that right. And it is not going to be an easy feat, but it will be worth it.

This is something I think a lot of authors, myself included, struggle with. We all know that writing takes work. We all know that writing requires dedication and personal exertion. It’s one thing to know these things, and something else entirely to embrace them. I have been, and still am, several chapters behind on my revisions for A Shift of Crimson. Last week was enormously stressful and it meant that for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, I got very little revision done. And with such a truncated timeframe, it meant that each day of revision I skipped, I fell more behind. And today, I’ve done a fair amount of revision, and yet I am still two chapters behind.

But, this is the writing process. It isn’t easy. Ever. There are aspects of the writing life that are more enjoyable than others, but none of it is easy, and nor should it be. It takes years and years and years to hone your craft. People dedicate their entire lives to writing; they struggle through the ups and downs, the ebb and flow of inspiration; they spend countless hours researching, practicing, going to workshops, getting degrees, submitting their work, and learning from their mistakes; they accept criticism and feedback; they make mistakes and learn from them, and all of this amounts to the books they complete. It’s not easy and too many new authors want it to be.

Sometimes, a lot of the time, wanting to be a writer means forcing yourself to sit down and do the work, even when you don’t feel like it. That’s what I’ve been doing to catch up on these deadlines. It’s simply what’s required to get this manuscripts written. I may still have to push back the publication date of A Shift of Crimson a bit, but that’s not the end of the world.

I hope you’re all doing well! I can’t believe it’s March already.

Book Review – The Companions by R. A. Salvatore

I do not know how I can talk about this book without giving away an absolutely massive spoiler, so I will keep my spoiler-free review of this book to the beginning of this post. Once I get to where the spoilers are, please understand that if you read beyond that point and you haven’t yet read this book, the rest of the review will utterly ruin this enormous twist.

Spoiler free: I am jumping a ways ahead here by reviewing this book. My last review was of the third book in the Homeland trilogy, a prequel series that was published after the Icewind Dale trilogy to give us a better understanding of who Drizzt is and where he comes from. I’m jumping ahead not because I didn’t like the other books (I honestly haven’t read them all yet), but because this book stands out as being one of the best in the entire Legend of Drizzt series. I’m not kidding — this book is probably one of the best books in the entire series and it made me cry well over three different times.

This is a stand alone novel in that it isn’t part of a trilogy, but it does require that you already know the primary players (Drizzt, Catty-Brie, Brunor, Regis, and Wulfghar) and at least some of what their history is together. I can’t go into the details of the plot, but essentially, this book covers how the companions of the hall find their way back to Drizzt after a time apart. It is imperative that they find him, and they have to go through a lot of trials and personal tests to get there. Tests one of them nearly fails.

This book, like so many of the others, captures the really intricate details of just how strong the bonds are between these companions. There are themes of family and love, friendship and trust, fate and free will, anger and forgiveness, among others. In a lot of the other books, only one or two characters will get the focus of the narrative, but in this novel, they are all given time to develop and grow beyond the characters we have known up to this point, and into similar but different versions of themselves. It is stunningly written with careful attention to each character’s story.

SPOILERS AFTER THIS POINT. Seriously. If you don’t want one of the biggest (if not the biggest) twist in the series ruined, then don’t read beyond this point.

At this point in the series, Drizzt is the only remaining companion of the hall who is alive. All of the others have died either from sickness or old age. He has tried to build his life into something that he can stand without his closest friends, but in truth, he has fallen away from who he was before.

But this book isn’t about Drizzt. It’s about the rebirth of the companions of the hall. Drizzt’s goddess, Mielikki, keeps the souls of the companions in a magical wood that is on a different plane of existence until they have all gathered there. Brunor is the last one to arrive. Catty-Brie explains that they are given a chance to be reborn and that they have to save Drizzt. Those of them who choose to be reborn are brought back into the world, only they are born with all of their memories from their past life. They are born fully aware of who they are, where they’ve been, and what they must do.

Each of them is given a new chance at family and identity, and the reader follows them through childhood and into their new adulthood. They are given a specific day and time where they must meet one another, and it is there that they must save Drizzt’s life. If they are off by even a mere moment, he will die and their rebirth will have been for naught.

There are so many new characters in this book that steal your heart immediately. It is a stunning examination of the power of love and friendship and the many ways that we can remake ourselves. One of the most emotional books in this series, I highly recommend this book. And it is this book that also gives the series itself a rebirth of sorts, taking the reader out of the world that has been and opening up new possibilities, new conflicts, new stories that promise to be even more entertaining than the books before it.

Read this book. It really is fantastic.

Taking Leaps and Managing Expectations (and the title reveal for Olympic Fates Book 1)

This is an update from my last post.

I have officially decided that I will not be publishing book one of Olympic Fates to either Kindle Vella or any other subscription platform. It was hard to make this choice because I was excited to experiment with some of the other publishing platforms out there, but the reality is that there are too many for me to research to try and find the right platform for my series. I did find one that was good for romance fiction, which is what this new series is, but I couldn’t find any information regarding the rights to my work or if I could take the book and still publish it to ebook and paperback. So, I decided to manage my expectations and give up on this serialized goal for this series.

Instead, I will be publishing straight to ebook and paperback. Truthfully, I feel like this will be the better choice anyway. I am extremely busy in my day-to-day life; I work a full time admin job in the construction field, I’m also actively working on my sequel novel to A Kiss of Glass as well as continuously writing and revising poems and submitting them for publication, and I spend hours every day working on marketing my books and trying to widen my online platform. It’s not easy and it is time consuming and I think publishing to a serial platform would have taken a lot more time than I’m prepared to give at the moment.

Moreover, I’ve had some great success with my debut novel. In the 7.5 months that it’s been published, I’ve had over 12,000 page reads and sold over 700 copies. If I had another book released, those numbers could actually go up exponentially. And one of the most important things we can do as indie authors is develop our backlog of books. The more books you have that are of equal or better quality than the books before it, the more potential you have to really make money.

With all of that said, I am officially announcing the title of the first book of my Olympic Fates Saga (I changed the title once I realized I wasn’t going to be publishing it to KV anymore):

The Olympic Fates Saga: Origins Duology Book One : The Duke of Ithaca.

My plan is to release this book at the end of April/beginning of May. It depends on how quickly I can complete the last two drafts. The manuscript is in the hands of my beta readers now, and once I receive their feedback, I will be working on the fourth draft. Then there will be a final edit and proofread (assuming I don’t have to add too much to the manuscript), and it will be ready for publication.

I am beyond excited to see this book in people’s hands. Honestly, it feels amazing to be this close to yet another book release. You know how people say that if you get one tattoo, you’ll get addicted and need more? Yeah, that’s how releasing a book feels. It’s like my mind and heart know that this is what I’ve always been meant to do, and so every time it happens, it feels like my very existence acknowledges the accomplishment. Almost like leveling up, in a way.

My goal is for the second book in this series to be released some time in September or October. This is going to be a busy year. The audiobook of A Kiss of Glass comes out next month. The Duke of Ithaca comes out April/May. A Shift of Crimson will come out in either June or July. And then The second Olympic Fates book will come out in September/October. That’s just…a fuckton of releases for my second year as an indie author. And I am so excited for every second of it!

Necessary Adjustments

Well, it was bound to happen at some point.

As an author, especially an independent author, it’s inevitable that plans change, unexpected things come up that require me to change course. Whether it’s delaying the release of a book, taking an extended break, or choosing a new platform, things happen in this industry that you can’t anticipate, and it’s essential that authors allow themselves to be flexible.

I’m facing one such moment. I’ve been working on the third draft of the first book of my Olympic Fates Saga, preparing it for release to Kindle Vella starting on April 1st. Recently, though, I’ve seen a lot of authors posting in Kindle Vella Support groups on Facebook about how dissatisfied they are with the changes being made to the platform. Bonus reduction, extended free promotions to all of their work, and other things have been making me question whether or not this is a platform I want to utilize.

I do have my own Substack that I could use for this series if I wanted to, but I don’t know anything about how to use Substack or Patreon and, honestly, I don’t really have the energy to learn all that I need to. I did that for KV, and now I’m tired. I don’t want to start all over. And until pretty much yesterday, I didn’t know if I was still going to use KV or not because, even with the changes, I figured it couldn’t hurt to try it out and see how it goes for the first book.

But now I’m realizing it could, in fact, hurt. Readers want to know that the books and content they access will be consistently released in one place. If I start the series on KV for one or two books and then decide that I’m moving the story elsewhere, or that I’m abandoning the serial release and publishing straight to ebook and paperback, then I am betraying those readers who invested in my story on KV. That’s not fair to them.

So before I release this book, I absolutely have to decide where I’m going to publish it. There are a LOT of subscription services where you can publish your stories in serial form, so it’s not like I have to choose KV or nothing. But now I’m wondering if perhaps I should skip the serial form altogether and publish straight to ebook and paperback? Because there are a huge amount of readers who either don’t like KV and won’t read stories there, or they can’t access it at all (since it’s only available to Amazon users in the U.S.). And if they don’t like KV, chances are they won’t want to use other subscription services, either.

Moreover, I want my work to be as accessible as possible, and asking folks to pay $5 a month for access to my stories (while it’s less than what reading on KV costs) is much more expensive than if they were to buy the ebook or paperback. $5 a month x 12 months = $60 each year. And based on my writing schedule, I will be publishing two books in the Olympic Fates Saga this year, and neither of them is going to cost $30 to purchase. These novels are much shorter than my Hands of The Order books. Where those clock in at 100,000+ words, these are going to be 50,000-75,000, at most. So the paperbacks won’t cost any more than $15. Two books at $15 each is half of what the yearly subscription would be, and that makes accessing my work less accessible.

Now, I did consider creating a specific system for my subscribers where those who subscribe for the full year receive a signed paperback copy of each Olympic Fates book I published that year. They would receive that copy for free, likely with a few other book things like bookmarks and such. And that idea, I definitely like. However, the logistics of keeping track of all of that, especially as the following begins to grow, seems like it could reach insurmountable heights. Because it’s not just the new subscribers who would get those signed physical copies of the books, but everyone who stays a subscriber every year. Even at only 100 subscribers, that’s a lot of books and a lot of shipping.

So I’ve (almost) come to the decision that this series that was originally intended for Kindle Vella will, in fact, go straight to ebook and paperback. This would also give me a lot more flexibility in terms of when the books release which, given the many different things I intend to get done this year, will be very helpful to my mental health. Because it’s already hard enough to market my books as well as getting people to sign up for my newsletter, and I honestly doubt that the people who already follow me either here or on social media will want to subscribe to yet another platform.

The decision, as I said, is not yet completely finalized. I want to do a little more research to see if there’s a potential subscription platform that would be conducive to this series. If there is, I want to check it out and see if it’s user friendly enough for me. If it is, I might try it out. Might. I’m feeling more like I’ll probably release straight to ebook and paperback, but I’m leaving it open in case there is another platform and it dazzles me enough.

That’s my update! Let me know in the comments if you prefer serial releases or the full book to be released at once.

Book Review – Sojourn by R.A. Salvatore

Okay, so this is the review of the third book in The Legend of Drizzt series. I do want to make a note here that if you read these books in chronological order, and I highly suggest you do, be prepared for a big difference in writing style and quality between this book and the next book in the series (which was actually the first book that Salvatore wrote in this series), The Crystal Shard. The Icewind Dale Trilogy was written before the prequel trilogy, and the writing is very different between them. Once you get to the third book in The Icewind Dale Trilogy (which is, chronologically, the sixth book in The Legend of Drizzt series), the writing begins to improve tremendously. So, be prepared for that.

Sojourn begins with Drizzt deciding that he cannot stay in the Underdark any longer. If he wants to really be free to thrive, he has to go to the surface. This book chronicles his first experiences as a drow elf living outside of not only Menzobarrenzon, but also living out of the Underdark. He’s been to the surface before, but he has never chosen to live on the surface, and he doesn’t know what he’s going to face. He does not speak the common tongue, although he is skilled at learning new languages. He does not know anyone on the surface, though he is desirous to make friends. And he has nowhere to live, nowhere to go, though he is willing to face whatever challenges he must.

He struggles greatly at first as people mark him as a drow and, therefore, believe him to be a threat to them. And because he does not speak the common tongue, he has no way of showing them that he isn’t dangerous. But he finds kindness and acceptance in a few places and, eventually, ends up meeting someone who does become one of the Companions of the Hall: Catty-Brie Battlehammer. She is a child, probably somewhere around twelve years old, and their friendship, their kindred connection, is immediate and strong. She befriends him, much to her father’s chagrin, and this is the first time the readers meet Brunor Battlehammer, the dwarf who adopted Catty-Brie after her parents are murdered when she was just a baby.

Yet, despite Brunor’s hatred of the drow, he has to acknowledge that Drizzt must be different considering he has never harmed Catty-Brie even once in his his many meetings with her as she teaches him the common tongue. Many things happen in this book that are central not only to Drizzt’s character development, but also Catty-Brie’s and Brunor’s. They are the first two Companions of the Hall that Drizzt befriends and we get to see the things Drizzt does to earn their trust and prove himself a worthy individual. There’s one specific scene after the you think that Drizzt has left (the locals do not want him there and he does not want them to feel threatened by him, and so he leaves) when Catty-Brie is in potential peril, and Drizzt shows up to save her. It’s a scene that made he genuinely shout out, “YES!” as I was reading because the tension is so strong by the time he arrives.

We also see what continues to happen in Menzobarrenzon with House Do’Urden and its continued attempts to win back Lloth’s favor. I won’t say much about this because some shit goes down that is just positively intense and I don’t want to ruin that, but I will say this: pieces are set in motion in the drow city that carry on well into several trilogies later, pieces that are integral to Drizzt’s continued struggle with the drow city that used to be his home, so be sure not to skip those sections. There is some wonderful intrigue and character development that takes place.

Knowing that Catty-Brie is the reason Drizzt even meets Brunor Battlehammer, a character who becomes his best friend, is truly a beautiful part of this book. And while this book didn’t really make me cry like the previous two, it is filled with so many amazing characters who show Drizzt a lot of love, acceptance, and compassion. It really does set the stage for the next trilogy which, while a bit of a struggle to get through, is still fun to read. But it isn’t until the seventh book in the series that things pick up and the overarching plots begin to form.

If you want a highly action-packed, high epic fantasy with loads of adventure and some of the best world building in fantasy, please pick up these books and read them. They are utterly fantastic.

Book Review – Exile by R.A. Salvatore

This is a review of the second book in The Legend of Drizzt series. Like I said before, there are too many books in this whole series to review them all, and I can’t say that I have loved every single book, so I am picking out my favorites among the reads I have currently read, and then I will be posting them here.

This book picks up where the previous left off. Drizzt has left his home in the drow city of Menzobarrenzon and he has taken himself into the darkness of the Underdark. His only companion is the 600 pound black panther named Guenhwyvar; she lives on the astral plane and comes to him whenever he calls to her, helping her battle enemies, and even just to keep him company. He obtains Guenhwyvar in the previous book, and over this one, the reader gets to see their connection develop more thoroughly.

As Drizzt travels throughout the Underdark, he ends up meeting a couple of characters who become his companions through the undercaverns of the earth: a svirfneblin called Belwar Dissengulp who is kind of like a gnome in appearance, and Clacker, a former pech who was turned into a hook horror. They meet and, while the svirfneblin are initially suspicious of Drizzt, Belwar vouches for him and the two become very good friends.

They decide to undertake a journey through the Underdark together, and on their journey, they come across Clacker. Drizzt, not wanting to leave Clacker to his fate of succumbing to the full transformation into a hook horror, decides that he and Belwar will try and find a wizard to turn Clacker back into a Pech. And on their way to do just that, they encounter a number of other monsters who live in the Underdark. But through all of it, the three of them develop a beautiful friendship. And Drizzt, for the first time in his life, knows what it means to connect to people who are not drow.

We also see what happens within Menzobarrenzon after Drizzt leaves. House Do’Urden is his shambles. Because Drizzt has forsaken the ways of his people, House Do’Urden has fallen out of favor with Lloth, the Spider Queen. Matron Malice, Drizzt’s mother, wants to earn back Lloth’s favor and works hard to do just that. She leans on the influence of Matron Evanelle the Eternal Baenry, the Matron Mother of the most powerful drow house, and hopes that her actions will be enough to regain Lloth’s favor. Because of this, she hunts Drizzt relentlessly, unwilling to let him get away, unwilling to let her house fall.

This book has so many twists and turns and surprises. I cried multiple times over certain scenes between Drizzt, Belwar, and Clacker. Much like Homeland, this book also focused on themes of friendship, compassion, humanity, and what it means to find a family unit outside of those with whom you share blood. As Drizzt’s character develops out of drow childhood and into his young adulthood, we see just how much he is built for compassion, love, and self-sacrifice. We see him wrestle with the darker parts of his self-inflicted exile, and we see him wrestling with tremendous feelings of self-loathing. Most importantly, we see him learn through the actions of Belwar and Clacker what it means to really love others.

When I say that this book compounded with the previous to steal my whole entire heart, I mean it. I did not anticipate that I would ever love characters as much as I loved Belwar and Clacker, and my love for the two of them is what really started my emotional journey with these books. Because while there were characters I loved in the first book, it wasn’t really until Belwar and Clacker appeared that I realized just how beautiful these books were going to be, and not merely because of Drizzt himself, but also because of the friendships he makes along the way. Drizzt is the main character and there is a consistent cast of recuring characters as the books progress, but there are also characters who appear in only one book or even one trilogy and then you don’t see them again, and his connection to them is as strong as his connection with those who reappear throughout multiple trilogies. And it is these friendships that make these books the emotional powerhouses that they are.

This was a truly magnificent sequel. I hope you’ll read it. But keep tissues close at hand.