Кодекс Компаньонов. Книга I. Ночь Охотника

Companions Codex #1

by R.A. Salvatore

Дзирт вновь обрел Компаньонов из Халла — дорогих друзей и любимую жену, однако его надеждам на счастливую жизнь не суждено сбыться. Тьма не желает выпускать дроу из своих когтей. Пользуясь благосклонностью богини Ллос, Верховная Мать Бэнр выстраивает коварный замысел. В ее планах подчинить себе Правящий Совет Мензоберранзана, силами орочьего королевства разрушить города Серебристых Болот, отомстив за поражение столетней давности, а главное — окончательно разделаться с ненавистным Дзиртом До’Урденом. Между тем Артемис Энтрери томится в плену у темных эльфов. И какие бы разногласия в прошлом ни существовали между дроу-отступником и наемным убийцей, Дзирт твердо намерен спасти соратника от участи, которая кажется ему страшнее смерти. У темного эльфа не остается выбора — он снова ведет вернувшихся в этот мир Компаньонов из Халла в недра Подземья.

Genres: Fantasy, Forgotten Realms, Fiction, Dungeons and Dragons, High Fantasy, Audiobook, Adventure

544 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

As one of the fantasy genre’s most successful authors, R.A. Salvatore enjoys an ever-expanding and tremendously loyal following. His books regularly appear on The New York Times best-seller lists and have sold more than 10,000,000 copies. Salvatore’s original hardcover, The Two Swords, Book III of The Hunter’s Blade Trilogy (October 2004) debuted at # 1 on The Wall Street Journal best-seller list and at # 4 on The New York Times best-seller list. His books have been translated into numerous foreign languages including German, Italian, Finnish, Greek, Hungarian, Turkish, Croatian, Bulgarian, Yiddish, Spanish, Russian, Polish, Portuguese, Czech, and French.

Salvatore’s first published novel, The Crystal Shard from TSR in 1988, became the first volume of the acclaimed Icewind Dale Trilogy and introduced an enormously popular character, the dark elf Drizzt Do’Urden. Since that time, Salvatore has published numerous novels for each of his signature multi-volume series including The Dark Elf Trilogy, Paths of Darkness, The Hunter’s Blades Trilogy, and The Cleric Quintet.

His love affair with fantasy, and with literature in general, began during his sophomore year of college when he was given a copy of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings as a Christmas gift. He promptly changed his major from computerscience to journalism. He received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Communications from Fitchburg State College in 1981, then returned for the degree he always cherished, the Bachelor of Arts in English. He began writing seriously in 1982, penning the manuscript that would become Echoes of the Fourth Magic. Salvatore held many jobs during those first years as a writer, finally settling in (much to our delight) to write full time in 1990.

The R.A. Salvatore Collection has been established at his alma mater, Fitchburg State College in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, containing the writer’s letters, manuscripts, and other professional papers. He is in good company, as The Salvatore Collection is situated alongside The Robert Cormier Library, which celebrates the writing career of the co-alum and esteemed author of young adult books.

Salvatore is an active member of his community and is on the board of trustees at the local library in Leominster, Massachusetts. He has participated in several American Library Association regional conferences, giving talks on themes including “Adventure fantasy” and “Why young adults read fantasy.” Salvatore himself enjoys a broad range of literary writers including James Joyce, Mark Twain, Geoffrey Chaucer, Shakespeare, Dante, and Sartre. He counts among his favorite genre literary influences Ian Fleming, Arthur Conan Doyle, Fritz Leiber, and of course, J.R.R. Tolkien.

Born in 1959, Salvatore is a native of Massachusetts and resides there with his wife Diane, and their three children, Bryan, Geno, and Caitlin. The family pets include three Japanese Chins, Oliver, Artemis and Ivan, and four cats including Guenhwyvar.

When he isn't writing, Salvatore chases after his three Japanese Chins, takes long walks, hits the gym, and coaches/plays on a fun-league softball team that includes most of his family. His gaming group still meets on Sundays to play.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/rasalv...

Reviews

[Khurram · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall I liked this book. There are parts that I found boring like the parts in Menzoberranza. Mainly because of the repetition that kept happening. This was mainly the same things had to be repeated to different characters over and over again. The Drow are the most treacherous and manipulative race and it is so interwoven into their Menzoberranzan society it is hard to keep up with everything but this does not mean that we need a recap every time the book goes to Menzoberranza. That was my only gripe with the book. I know why this was done it was sowing the seed for the future. The Salvatore really excels is the battle scenes. They are fast paced and brutal. I have only come across a few writers how understand the intricacies of combat, and manage to bring them alive on the page. The Blocks the strikes and most of all the positioning of the characters. There are a couple of silly mistakes though develop wolverine style healing factors eg facing down 2 Drow with a broken leg and being starved for days, and still coming out on top before needing a healing potion.

The Story. The Companions of the hall have been reborn and come together for the purpose that of saving Drizzt on the appointed day and place. What do they do next? Bruenor Battlehammer sees this as an opportunity to correct wrongs he feels he committed in their last life. Wulfgar simply want to enjoy the adventure. Cattie-brie has been enhanced since her rebirth with Devine wisdom and power plus one and a half decades of sorcery training and experience. Regis is the most change. He made it his mission that in his second life he would be on equal footing with his friends when it came to battle. For the past 2 decades he has dedicated his life to developing his own fighting style and skills that would be useful. Cattie-brie is the sorceress of the group; Regis would be the (swashbuckling) scientist.

There is also the question of Drizzt's "replacement" companions. Even after 18 year they were the last ones to be seen with Drizzt and his enemies have long memories and even longer lifespans. The significance is explained of Drizzt's rejection which goes far beyond his physical fight with Dahlia Sin'felle. This has once again angered Lady Loth, last time this happened the whole of Menzoberranza was mobilised. This could be very dangerous for the replacement despite leaving Drizzt behind.

Unaware of all the other plotting happening around them the Companions of the Hall have decided to make Gauntlgrym their first quest to see if they can help an old friend out of his curse. They need to make a couple of stops along the way to gather supplies from old allies and rekindle old alliances. This book sets the stage for a great action long saga. The revelations keep coming straight to the last page.

[Gianfranco Mancini · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not so self-centered as to believe that the world around me is created for me! We all play such self-centered games at times, I suppose, but in this case, I will allow myself one moment of self-importance: to accept the reunion of the Companions of the Hall as a reward to me.

Drizzt Do’Urden returns to Gauntlgrym with reborn Companions of the Hall by his side once again, as they seek to rescue old friends, allies and enemies, from the evil menace of the dark elves of Menzoberranzan... again.

Quenthel gasped again as she peered into the box to see a withered head, split down the middle and somewhat stitched back together, a head she surely recognized, the split head of her long-dead mother!
“What is that?” she asked, falling back in horror. “You dare to blaspheme—”
“To preserve,” Gromph corrected.

Originality sailed far away from this first volume of the Companions Codex trilogy, 28th installment in the long spanning The Legend of Drizzt saga, and certain twists were far from unexpected for me: I was waiting for the Catti-brie vs Dahlia catfight since Drizzt's wife returned to life in previous book and Afafenfrere's feigning death was not surpring at all being that special ability a monk trademark one in Dungeons and Dragons rpg publication history since character first appeared in Blackmoor (Supplement 2) (1975).

“Pwent,” Drizzt breathed, only then remembering the poor fellow. He had found Pwent outside of Neverwinter, outside of Gauntlgrym, inflicted with vampirism, and had left the dwarf in a cave, awaiting the sunrise to end his curse.
“What of him?” Catti-brie asked.
“He’s in Gauntlgrym, killing drow,” said Bruenor.
“That would make him happy,” Regis remarked, and then with surprise, breathlessly added, “Gauntlgrym?”

Besides that, I'm more into grimdark than high fantasy genre now, but having been a D&D Dungeon Master for something like nearly 20 years of my life, it's always a pleasure for me to read  occasionally novels set into the Realms, Krynn, Ravenloft and more.

Baenre’s smug smile mocked him. Both she and Gromph imagined the tentacles of Methil crawling over the naked flesh of Minolin Fey-Branche, finding their way to the growing consciousness of the life inside her, imparting the memories and the sensibilities that Gromph had saved within the split skull of his dead mother.

And R. A. Salvatore is still the Michael Bay of fantasy authors in my opinion, a sort of confort food when I just wanna turn off my brain and enjoy a swashbuckling adventure with great fight scenes and a familiar cast of main characters which I regard like a bunch of old true friends.

“Ah, but the dwarves, always up for a toast,” Regis remarked, sitting in the corner at the back of the hall beside Wulfgar.
Wulfgar gave him a wry smile, and said with sly irony, “You only live once.”
“Twice,” Catti-brie corrected, and she slid into the chair between the two.
“Aye,” Wulfgar agreed. “And for some, it seems, it takes the second turn around to understand the joy of it.”

Overall this was an entertaining first volume for me, not memorable at all, but still a good one hopefully setting up the stage for greater things to come.

He turned to Drizzt and held up his huge hand, and Drizzt took it.
“And you, my brother, my friend,” Wulfgar said. “Do you fear my love for your wife?”
Drizzt stared into Wulfgar’s eyes for a long time, and gradually his lips curled into a confident smile. “No.”
“I would never betray you,” Wulfgar said.
Drizzt nodded.
“Never,” Wulfgar said again.

Onward to book two.

[Michael Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC provided by NetGalley and Wizards of the coast for an honest review:
Anyone who has read my reviews should know that I have been reading fantasy novels for 23 years and started to read Dungeons and Dragons/Forgotten realms books in 1992 when TSR still was in existence. I have read the majority of the Realms novels along with Dragonlance, Ravenloft, Dark sun and some other offshoot novel worlds WOTC/TSR owned, so I would say I am well versed in the setting, world, and the current events going on in the realms. I have also read every R. A. Salvatore book in existence and count him as one my top three authors of all times. With that being said I am one of the few people who thought that the post-spellplague Drizzt novels to be excellent and I enjoyed the new shades of grey that were displayed within them. When I caught wind that the Companions was going to be a “reset” button of sorts I was not completely happy, but I trusted in Bob to write the story that needed to be written, and guess what I enjoyed the Companions. The Companions took me back to my first time reading the Icewind Dale Trilogy and all felt right in the world again. I enjoyed the reset and came to realize that poor management decisions had robbed us of our favorite heroes before Bob was done writing their story so he deserved a second chance to write about his beloved characters. Now upon saying all that I can honestly say that in my opinion, and this is my review, the night of the hunter is the absolute best Forgotten Realms novel that Bob has written since The Legacy of the Drow. The complexities of the revived characters astound me and there are some deep philosophical questions about how someone would live their second life and how someone should live it. One interesting facet is although we have the companions back who can say what living a life and dying change within you internally, what choices would you come to value and regret and do differently? For those of us who loved the “new companions” Bob does an amazing job of integrating their stories in with the Companions of the Hall, Menzo, Guantlgrym and Bregan D’Aerthe. I am trying not to do any spoilers and in a book of this complexity it is hard but suffice to say that the manipulations of Lolth and the drow society at whole play a vast and important part of this novel. The ending is amazing and sets up what looks to be an intense trilogy that will have ramifications on the entire realms and the interrelation between two goddesses who seem to be heading for some form of a metaphysical battle……..

[David Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

In The Companions R. A. Salvatore brought Drizzt’s old friends The Companions of the Hall back to life. He did this in an amazing original way. Our heroes were not simply resurrected, instead they were given the chance to come back as newborn children. When they were born they had all of their memories of their past life and were fully conscious of this from the moment of birth. The book followed the first twenty-one years of the new lives of Cattie-Brie, Bruennor, and Regis as they grow and develop in their new personas. Each of them faces challenges and each of them grows in understanding as they prepare to meet again in Icewind Dale to stand beside their friend Drizzt.

Night of the Hunter picks up where both The Companions and The Last Threshold end. Readers of Salvatore’s Drizzt books know that he likes keeping a lot of different plot strands going at once. In Night of the Hunter this tendency is taken to the limit. There are at least four main plot lines going throughout the book. There are several other minor ones as well and they all touch, move on, bump in to another, and ricochet off that I felt at times like I needed to keep a score card to keep up with every character and plot happening around me. We follow more intrigues of Menzoberranzan as the Baenre family seeks to increase it’s powerful hold on the city. These intrigues include the new Drow city of Q’Xorlarrin that is being constructed in the ancient dwarven city of Gauntlgrym. Add to that the continuing story of Drizzt and his new friends, and the more recent companions of Drizzt and you have quite the story.

The primary story line follows Drizzt and the Companions as they work their way back to Gauntlygrim. Their mission their is to find their old friend Thibbledorf Pwent who has been turned into a vampire. They want to find a way to put him to rest. It is great to watch the old companions adventure together once again. At the end of The Companions we see that Wulfgar chose to join them as well. For the first time we get a happy Wulfgar. The barbarian lived a life torn by conflicting duties in his first life. Now he is back for the adventure. He plans to live life to the fullest. Regis has also changed and is anxious this time around to be a full member of the companionship, not just a tag along. Cattie-Brie is now the wisest of the team. Her communion with the godess Mielikki has imparted a lot of knowledge and understanding. Bruennor is driven as never before to bring his people together. Drizzt seems a bit overwhelmed, first at the return of his companions from beyond the grave, then with the new dynamics that this team represents. Along the way he will have to face some uncomfortable truths.

If I have one complaint about this book it is that it is too short. I see that Salvatore has a lot that he wants to do with this new story. In many ways Night of the Hunter feels incomplete. It feels like there is a lot of setup for the next book or two. In that sense the book feels incomplete. That doesn’t diminish this volume at all. It is a great new chapter in the Drizzt saga.

Over the years Salvatore has stood out in the fantasy genre with his abilities to grow and mature his characters. I’ve often been amazed at the emotional depth found in these stories that are on the surface simple sword and sorcery adventure novels. As he embarks on a strange and wonderful new adventure this skill is still there. Night of the Hunter is first and foremost a fun book. Salvatore manages the multiple plot lines with his usual skill. The fight scenes, one of Salvatore’s hallmarks are brilliant as always. His ability to include plot lines that contain everything from great political intrigues that may well change the world, to the emotional trauma of a single character caught up in that change keeps the story fresh and intriguing. Salvatore’s books are rarely ever slow and this volume keeps the pace moving. You find yourself flying through the book and at the end you are amazed that he is able to pack so much story into less than four hundred pages.

I received a free e-book copy of this volume for reviewing purposes. One way that I know I love a book is that immediately upon finishing the free e-book I pre-order the hardcover edition. I have limited space for books on my shelves so I only buy physical versions of books that I want to keep and read over and over again. This book lans in that category. Let me encourage every reader of the Drizzt saga to buy this book. If you have never read Salvatore’s Drizzt books then let me encourage you to start. This is some of the best fantasy writing out there.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Companions, the previous book featuring Drizzt and the Companions of the Hall -- although it almost exclusively followed Bruenor, Catti-Brie and Regis, and not Drizzt or Wulfgar -- set-up this book up nicely, reuniting Drizzt and his closest friends, now resurrected into new, nearly identical bodies.

This book starts off with the protagonists in Icewind Dale, with the group's immediate goal of travelling to the abandoned dwarf stronghold of Gauntlgrym to bring peace to the now-vampiric Thibbledorf Pwent. It also follows, separately, anti-hero Artemis Entreri and his band of rogues, and the dark machinations of the drow elves in Menzoberranzan, which are colonizing Gauntlgrym for themselves with the help of an illithid, a.k.a. a mind flayer.

My only real issue with this book was that I was not nearly as engaged in the segments that did not feature Drizzt and company. While all three plot-lines did converge into an exciting, intertwined third act, I feel like a lot of the other plots, especially those with the drow political intrigues, could have happened off screen. Salvatore's writing is definitely at its peak when his characters are adventuring and skirmishing, and not politicking.

All in all, another solid entry in the Drizzt saga that was slightly weighed down by extraneous side characters.

Full disclosure: I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a review.

[Jacob · Rating 1 out of 5]

(Signed up just to share this)

I started reading R.A. Salvador over a decade ago, and it was by reading his collective works that I discovered both my love of fantasy and tabletop roleplay. But the advent of 4th edition and the hand it dealt to writers in this setting drastically changed my opinion of the Forgotten realms in general...That said...

Well many people are calling R.A. Salvator's latest works one of his best to date, I couldn't disagree more. Well it has all of his usual style and quality, lending to fantastic fight scenes and enjoyable dialog in the end it seems to be little more then an attempt to recreate the era of gleefully genocidal fantasy "heroes" usually reserved for thinly veiled allegories & children's bedtime stories.

Well it is great to see the Companions of the Hall return in full from the literary muck that was 4th editions attempt at whipping the slate clean in the realms, and it is more then enjoyable to see how there experiences have changed them for the better (at least in the cases of Wulfgar the Barbarian and Regis the halfling)it is however all but impossible to enjoy this novel fully well the specters of moral objectivity, bigotry and religious extremism hover over it like black flies in spring. In all of his previous books the ideas of free will and the right to choose ones own actions have held center stage, what with the main character himself the infamous rogue dark elf Drizzt Do'Urden being a prime example of how one is not born hateful and malicious and that given a chance anyone can progress beyond such behavior. Yet now after all this time he seems intent to undermined these very ideas.

In the early part of the novel a certain character makes a bold pronouncement that all gobliniods (by which she means all members of the Orc, goblin and various other intelligent races) are objectively evil, and that they are born as hateful sadistic creatures that the "goodly" races should show no mercy to in any situation whatsoever, going so far as to claim they are not people and butchering them to the last including pregnant females, the elderly, the sick and even in her own words the still bawling babies of said races is the proper thing to do. In her defense she claims to have been given this epiphany by her deity, a deity in a world that has repeatedly shown the readers that deities are as fallible and prone to acts of childish hatred as any mortal.

Not only did this stink of hypocrisy but it is compounded upon when all but one of her companions upon hear that this was "god given" readily agreed with her and are ready to start a blood soaked, long reaching genocidal war with an entire race of people because of this.

After reading this I genuinely wondering if this was ghost written, seeing as only a few short books ago Drizzt encountered a group with similar ideals, that he promptly beat the hell out of for fostering hatred and for being a pretty blatant fictional version of the KKK hoods and all. And that the Author would not want to draw parallels between his "heroes" and his blatant bigots.

Well I intend to see were R.A. intends to go with the Companions Codex in the hope that this is all a set up for something greater and hopefully more well thought out, I cannot recommend this book as it stands with a clear conscience thus this mostly critical review & the low rating.

[Devan Harvey · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC Net Galley copy. Best Salvatore book in years! I have felt a little blah over the past few dark elves books but this one really blew my mind. I can hardly believe everything Salvatore has crammed into this one book. I have read every book published in the Forgotten Realms and I can say this brings me back to the golden age of Realms books. No spoilers but all of our favorite characters return and it feels a lot more thought out than the Companions did. Much more developed plot as a stand alone series than as part of the Sundering. As with all of his books, there is lots of action and it is beautifully written. So many twists and turns as you would expect when dealing with a bunch of drow. The only complaint I really have is the huge list of characters. With most of them characters having complicated and long drow names, first and last as well as house names and titles it started to become a little confusing at times. Would have been useful to have a character list at the end of the book to reference. Salvatore spent a good amount of time getting you emotionally involved in the characters and their struggles rather than a never ending onslaught of sword and spell swinging. I can honestly say I haven't been this pleased with one of his books in a long time. Looking forward to what the rest of the trilogy has to offer.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Full Disclosure: Only after writing this review did I realize I missed the preceding book The Last Threshold, though I did read The Companions. This stuff's hard to keep track of!)

Reading R.A. "Bob" Salvatore's Drizzt books was such a joy during my childhood and adolescence, and I continue returing to the that well now that I am well into my *ahem* fifth decade of life.

As an interesting reflection of our Social Media age, part of the reason I have returned to the long-running Legend of Drizzt series set in the Dungeon's and Dragons setting of The Forgotten Realms is how I have been able to ascertain firsthand that the writer is a genuinely good person and keen observer of current events.

I enjoyed the "Far Out-ness" of the reincarnation plotline of the previous installation, The Companions, in which the author cleverly did a 180 on literally decades of previous published materials to get the band back together in a new, updated format to do some hardcore adventuring in a much-changed world.

So I was ready for a bold new direction this book...and in many ways it delivered, but still there was a bit too much cleaving to the well-trodden path. As always I enjoyed Salvatore's gonzo battle scenes and the nonstop intriguing amongst rival factions of Dark Elves was kept to an acceptable level reminiscent of the truly staggering original Dark Elf trilogy.

What I didn't like was the repeated escapes from certain death by characters both major and minor. Which I know is quite a lot to say about a book stemming entirely from a bunch of characters getting hand-wavingly resurrected but STILL! I was at least hoping that the monk character was proper dead because, well, fighting with bare hands and feet against hordes of plate armoured baddies always struck me as pretty stupid no matter how badass you are...but, no, he was faking it all along. Makes me think of this line from the original X-Men film:



Also, I remember Drizzt's 'Hunter' persona very well from his youth in self-exile in the Underdark when he had virtually gone feral, buuuut there wasn't much, if any, connection to that here, 100 and more years on from that timeframe. Instead an (admittedly) rad title gets wasted on a book that was more about a series of rescue missions and intrigues than anything else.

Still, I've heard nothing but glowing things about books much further on in this series so I will carry on and hope for some truly jaw-dropping happenings before all is said and done. The last scene definites piques my interest as I'm pretty sure having the body of your psycho ex possessed by your long-dead abusive parent is pretty high on most people's nightmare lists.

[J. Griff · Rating 4 out of 5]

The band is back together as the stars realign themselves. The Companions of the Hall get reaquainted back in Icewind Dale as Drizzt heals from his near fatal fight with the emotionally unstable Dalhia. All while seeming the same each the 4 returning Companions are quite different in this second opportunity at life. I so enjoy reading this book as it felt in some ways like the early RAS writing even with how the world of Faerun has changed.
The other members that were traveling with Drizzt (Entreri, Dalhia, Efrum Amber Gristle O'Maul and Afafrenfere) leave Icewind Dale to travel back to Port Llast unsure of what had happened to Drizzt thinking him either dead or disappeared. Upon their arrival to Port Llast they are captured by Drow & taken as prisoners to Gauntlgrym.
The first Matron Mother Quenthal has the city of Menzoberrzan assembling for war as there is a restructure of ruling houses. Under Lloth's direction an old destroyed house is being resurrected & reestablished.
When I started my reread of the Legend of Drizzt in September I'd really hoped I'd be able to complete all 40-ish books by the end of the calendar year, but alas it doesn't look like I'm going to be able to do it. This definitely will be my final completed book for 2025.

[Nicolas Carrillo-Santarelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

By way of introduction, I must say that Wizards of the Coast kindly sent me an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, and that I am a native Spanish speaker, reason why I ask the reader to excuse any mistakes that may be found in this review.
In a few words, I can say that the book is fun to read, and I do think that entertainment is an important part of literature. On the other hand, it is quite well written, and the depiction of different characters is brilliant: Drizzt is wonderful, as always, and so are Wulfgar, Regis, Artemis Entreri and the villains. The character of Catti-brie and some possible depictions of orcs and goblins are aspects I did not like so much, but the book is definitely one I recommend. In my opinion, Mr. Salvatore does not disappoint and the book is wonderful. In fact, some critical analyses of literature comment on the exchange of ideas that takes place when one reads a book, and some of the controversial aspects of the book did make me think about certain things, even if I disagree with some of the elements in the book, while I was enjoying the book, and I did enjoy it, a lot. I did not put the book down.
Drizzt Do'Urden is truly an iconic character, whose fame has surpassed the context of dungeons and dragons players. While some people do not like the character, I must say that I have always found him to be fascinating, and in fact he may be properly regarded as a current archetype of a heroic and tragic character, who strives to do what is right despite the adversity and even opposition from his friends -which is a theme dealt with in this book in some places and may be covered more fully in the future.
In light of what has been said, this book delivers and truly brings us a story in which the famous ethical drow does his best, even facing risks in order to help people in need even when they were former enemies, such as SPOILERS...

Artemis Entreri and Dahlia.

End of Spoilers.

The novel begins immediately after Salvatore's previous book, The Companions, and the reader will find the previous novel's characters. Unsurprisingly, I still like Regis very much, who is in my opinion a very interesting, likable and funny but not ridiculous character. Another of Drizzt's companions from the previous era, Wulfgar, returns, as was shown at the end of 'the Companions', and while I am generally not fond of barbarian characters, Salvatore depicts him in a very interesting and wiser way that makes him an interesting character. On the other hand, I must confess that a character I did not like in the preceding novel much and still don't like at all is that of Catti-Brie. While not portrayed in such an 'almighty' magical way in the novel under review (although despite her lack of physical fighting training her handling the bow somewhat good seems a bit stretched, making the criticism of characters in the novels as invincible that I have read elsewhere somewhat credible), Drizzt's wife has two negative traits: she decides to kill someone outright because of her being possessed, without trying to capture her or somehow make others pursue her and take her to a priest who could perform an exorcism, and she advocates the breach of a peace treaty and labels all orcs and globlinoids as irredeemable evil. While later on the reader will see possible justifications for self-defense because
SPOILERS:
The drow seem to be manipulating an orc nation to attack neighboring realms
END of spoilers
Catti-Brie's opinion is that even orc babies can be legitimately killed, given the opinion that their nature is utterly evil, which she claims was shown to her by Mielikki, the goddess she follows. My problem with this is how this claim is contrary to an underlying idea that made previous Drizzt books so endearing: that of how even those belonging to communities where misdeeds are encouraged or forced upon may rise above circumstances and be good or convert, which may teach young readers to overcome discrimination of, for instance, some foreigners, which in my opinion is important nowadays -and actually, always has been-, given how some countries are stigmatized and labelled as populated by wrongdoers. Tolerance is something that the book does not inspire in this case, except for the opinion of Drizzt, which the book hints may be wrong. This is something I miss.
Perhaps this has to do with the idea of whether dungeons and dragons players are justified to kill orcs and monsters, but it has the following implications: orcs and goblins are intelligent and mortal beings. According to some beliefs in Earth, certain immortal beings chose evil once and for good, and thus truly stick to their evil. We are however talking of mortal entities whose intelligence may give them free will.
Moreover, attacking the orcs out of fear of a possible future attack seems too similar to the doctrine of preemptive self-defense that the UK and US administrations espoused some years ago, which has been described as openly contrary to international law, as written by different scholars, the United Nations and even in the British Parliament recently. The idea of books as inspiring good deeds, which the great Russian author Tolstoy advocated and that Lewis followed in his Narnia novels, makes me dislike these aspects of the book -I am aware that some schools of literature disagree with this, but it is an opinion I agree with.
Moving on to great things about the book, I must say that Salvatore is an excellent writer, who engages readers and captivates them. Curiously, his depiction of the drow plots and of characters as Entreri, Dahlia or Gromph were my favorite ones, given how they did not have success guaranteed and because he weaves intrigue perfectly in his book. Actually, that side of the plot seemed more interesting than the quest of the companions of the hall, which was a straightforward rescue operation. The problem is how these companions seemed beyond the option of defeat, especially considering the reputation of drow as deadly. I was also not so fond of constant descriptions of goblins being massacred. That being said, the author does narrate a big drow victory over defeated dwarves in the north, which surprised me and others.
In sum, I would like to say that I love the heroes winning the day, and certainly the novel brings us back to previous eras of the Forgotten Realms full of adventure, and the novel excels in that. However, I miss stressing tolerance and how all races can be good, and I hope that in the next book Drizzt manages a diplomatic move that brings peace, but I find it unlikely. Moreover, risk of defeat makes victory more interesting, but I never felt the main characters were in real danger. I must say that I applaude Salvatore's writing style, and really loved most of the characters and the plot of the villains. Jarlaxle, Entreri, Drizzt, Regis and Wulfgar are engrossing and fascinating characters, and I definitely want to read the next book, but hope that Catti-Brie is proved wrong and that both she and Bruenor are shown as more humble somehow. I simply fear that young readers may be led to endorse ideas that certain nations are evil, and hope that the next book allays such fears of mine.
Altogether, the book is very well written and fun, and most characters are interesting, but some of the approaches to dilemmas presented in the book offer a picture that may be at odds with what I found interesting in previous Drizzt books. Logically, tastes may vary, but what I can say for sure is that the next book in the series will certainly be quite interesting and I definitely look forward to reading it. At least I expect Drizzt's altruism and greatness to continue. His character did not disappoint at all in this book, and I loved his depiction.

[Hypatia's Study · Rating 3 out of 5]

Da Capo Al Fine (And again from the beginning)
May contain spoilers from the previous Drizzt novels with referring back to them!

I gave it *** because at least it had some more Drizzt in it than The Companions (which actually got a ** from me).

Salvatore has had his and Drizzt's ups and downs in the long history of this novel. This is definately a down in my opinion. 'Best book of Salvatore ever' - I read all over the net, but I have to disagree. For the gods' sake, nobody read Homeland or The Legacyor The Ghost King? Well, my opinion is not absolute of course, just curious.

There are some good points nevertheless and I am not about to disregard them in my rating but I still wait for the catharsis and pathos to return to the Drizzt saga.

The good points:

- Drows
They are back and still here. I like them and prefer to read about their machinations than about the sexual life of orc leaders.

- Gromph
He himself gives half a * for the book. He is such an extraordinary character. I wish we had his own series of novels.

- Tiago Baenre
I like him and I am glad that he is still alive, but since he is adamant about going against Drizzt his longevity is doubtful - much to my regret. I hope he will not be just another Dantrag. I wish Salvatore could give him somethings more, something else than this legacy. Well... reviewing my preferences I think I generally like the Banre boys. All of them.

My problems:

- Cut in the middle again
This is not the problem of this particular novel but the problem of the whole fantasy genre. Volumes don't even want to give the slightest impression of completeness. They are mere chapters not volumes. The end of a volume gives nothing more than the end of a chapter.

- All those resurrections
Make the characters ridiculous. Why to kill them if you still need them for the story? Why to resurrect them if their death had a meaning in the plot (or the character development of the MC)?

- Midlife crisis
By Catti-brie's accident during the war against Many Arrows Salvatore elegantly avoided the subject of a half-drow half-human would-be child (children) of Drizzt and Catti-brie. Sensitive subject, I know. Then by Catti-brie's death he avoided the other sensitive subject: the relationship questions of an aging woman and an forever young man. So, middle-aged women out of the picture and now we have her back in her 20. Another elegant and comfortable solution to a problem that could give depth to both characters and the story. (And everyone who has ever wept above Connor's reaction to Heather's death in Highlander probably knows what I mean.)

- Da capo al fine
Am I deceived by my eyes or are we really back exactly where we started from? The Companions had brought us back to the beginning of The Crystal Shard, and Night of the Hunter seems to bring us back to the beginning of Homeland.

- Effron
I will not spoil this, but I am totally, utterly outraged.

- Drow society upside down
WTF??? Seriously WTF? Ok, the Spider Queen is the goddess of chaos and disorder, but even chaos can show some consistency if there is a system to uphold. The author has turned his own system upside down so many times that it ceased to be a system. I think Wizards of the Coast should finally decide what they want to do with the Forgotten Realms, because this leads to nowhere.

- Cover
I want Todd Lockwood back.

You may not believe me after all the above, but I am a fan. Indeed I am. A fan of Drizzt, a fan of Salvatore. (On the other hand I have to admit I am not a fan of the Companions of the Hall.) That is exactly why novels like this hurt so much.

I am a bit worried to have read that the Companions (except of Drizzt) consider the Garumn Gorge Treaty a mistake. Worried, because I surmise another many-volume-long 'orcness' ahead. I hope I am wrong. And then what next? Another backflip this time to the beginning of Siege of Darkness?

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

True Rating is 3.5 of 5

I loved The Sundering, which was the book preceding this in which all of Drizzt’s companions returned to him. For those that haven’t read the incredibly long standing series this won’t be relevant, but for me it was a fantastic book. Throughout the early series Drizzt traveled and adventured with the Companions of the Hall. This included his wife, her adopted father, adopted brother and a Halfling. There were more here and there but the stories focused on those companions. As the series proceeded these companions have died, through various means, and Drizzt has been alone for years now and been through what seemed to be genuine depression. In the Sundering these friends are returned to him after being brought back to life by through an act of a goddess, who also is now restored after also being destroyed. The reason I loved the Sundering is that it told the story of Drizzt’s companions in their new lives, growing up fresh and new. We saw Drizzt very little, and after reading 23 books of him it was a lovely change, I felt like Mr. Salvatore outdid himself.
However in Night of the Hunter we are returned to our usual forays with Drizzt and his companions. The book is telling the story of several different groups, and I believe a good half of it was spent in Menzoberranzan, City of Spiders. The Drow society is based around it’s Goddess and the women of the race, all of whom become some sort of vessel for her in the form of a Matron Mother or Priestess. The time I spent in Menzoberranzan was interesting, in fact I went about 80% of the way through the book without realizing the meta-plot of the entire thing (I say realizing but it was more of a refusal to accept it). I was… disappointed overall in what is going on in the city. All the work done, the Matron Mother's lies and alliances, the reasons for the war, and the strange drive to re-institute a particular House. It really disappointed me.
The rest of the book, spent between the Companions and the band of companions Drizzt left before was a mixed bag for me. I was so excited to see the Companions back together, but my excitement was dampened by the realization of just how over powered those particular characters are. After a certain point in any table-top game, sometimes even video games, you begin to realize your character is likely not going to die. They can and will, kill just about anything in their path. At that point many players choose to die and start fresh. That does not seem to be an option here. I love the Companions, I have since middle school when I started this series and I love Drizzt. I have reached that point where I’d almost be excited to see rest given to these characters, to whom rest is not an option. It doesn’t even need to be death, maybe finally being able to retire, or giving us an open ending where they ride off into the sunset. Really… anything at this point. It’s become a seemingly endless cycle of fighting, betrayals, and angry gods/goddesses.

“Is that not the whole point of gaining experience, to use it to make wiser choices, to temper destructive instincts, to find better resolutions?” -- Night of the Hunter

Tired as I am of seeing these characters pushed on, as over powered as they have become I enjoyed the time with them. There was some interesting development for most of them. Regis and Wulfgar, my favorites of the Companions, are even better than before, Wulfgar seems happier and Regis feels more useful. Just reading about journeying and adventuring was enjoyable. Especially when I forgot to think about what was really happening overall and got sucked into the absolutely stunning fight scenes. Looking at it critically, I didn’t enjoy it so much. I didn’t like any of the female leads in the book, which for me was sad, I’d love to see a woman written as a character, not as a role that any woman could have filled. I think that was why I loved The Sundering so much, I got so much of Cattie-brie, the women she trained with, and the woman Regis trained with and loved.. I know Mr. Salvatore can do it, but for these books it wasn’t a priority and that was disappointing. She has become the party healer and super-powered spell-caster, with not much besides (not to mention the fact that she has never touched a bow in her second life yet she is still uncannily good at).
Overall I do not regret the I spent in the book. It was not by any stretch my favorite Drizzt novel. I didn’t like the meta-plot. I didn’t like the way the certain Companions where shuffled to the side and that in doing that I lost my relatable characters. R.A. Salvatore will always be one of my favorite writers, but I may pass on future Drizzt novels. Anything he publishes outside of the world would be an instant buy but for me the thrill and risk of the stories are gone with Drizzt and the Companions.

[Mara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received my copy from NetGalley and Wizards of the Coast in exchange for an honest review.

Night of the Hunter immediately follows the plots of both The Last Threshold and The Companions. The Companions of the Hall have now been restored to life by nature goddess Mielikki in order to help Drizzt protect himself from the wrath of demon goddess Lolth. However, despite this being a "Drizzt book" the vast majority of the plot centers around the schemes of the devious drow. As drow fan I was pleased by this, but those who are wanting more Drizzt, Bruenor and Cattie-Brie might find themselves a bit disappointed that they show up less in the novel. However, what this novel does is set up an entire web of plots to be concluded down the line in future books. One of the chapters is even called "Moving Parts" which is appropriate given the number of things going on here.

Unlike the previous book in the series, The Companions, which I found to have a rather slow pacing in some parts, Night of the Hunter moves as a fast rate and I was able to read it all in one day.It also introduces some new characters and reintroduces others from some of the previous books. One particular plot revolves around half-drow Doum'wielle and her father Tos'un who descend into the Underdark only to find themselves unwittingly embroiled in drow politics. This is a continuation of a story that R.A. Salvatore and his son wrote in comics form called "Cutter" and I enjoyed seeing the two characters again.

Night of the Hunter, while being a very fun book to read is not without it's problems, however. One of the main issues is how overpowered most of the characters are. You never really feel that they are in any real danger of being truly killed. They've recently been resurrected by a goddess, and are far more powerful than any of the peons that attempt to attack them. At this point in the series, due the the predictability of the central characters, most of my pleasure comes from the secondary characters such as Jarlaxle, Artemis Entreri and even some of the minor drow characters. As much as I have loved Drizzt and Co. over the years, stories about him get a little old and I wonder if it might be time for Salvatore to retire him as a character and explore others in the vast Forgotten Realms.

I saw that on many of the reviews for The Companions that many people had picked up that book without reading any of the other Drizzt books, and then gave The Companions poor reviews because they didn't understand anything that was happening. At this point in the Drizzt series, it would be best to start with earlier books. Nothing in this book can really be understood without reading at least The Last Threshold and The Companions, if not some of the books before that.

While it's too bad that this novel does not work as a stand alone, I appreciated the skill with which Salvatore wove the plots of the two aforementioned books into this one. By the end of the book you see the stands tie together to form a rather shocking ending that I did not see coming, but one which works if you take into account the events of the previous two books along with the events in this one. I definitely can't wait till the next book comes out!

[Leeanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review originally appeared on my blog, Leeanna.me.

==

NIGHT OF THE HUNTER sends Drizzt and the Companions of the Hall back to Gauntlgrym to rescue Bruenor’s old companion, Pwent, from the curse of vampirism. Thanks to the Sundering, as well as the intervention of Drizzt’s goddess Mielikki, Bruenor, Catti-brie, Regis, and Wulfgar are back in Drizzt’s life.

It’s not necessary to have read THE COMPANIONS to understand NIGHT OF THE HUNTER. THE COMPANIONS, book one of the Sundering series, tells the stories of Bruenor, Catti-brie, and Regis’s rebirths and journeys back to Drizzt’s side. I do think it’s one of R.A. Salvatore’s better books, though, so I’d recommend it.

NIGHT OF THE HUNTER splits between following Drizzt and the others on their journey to Gauntlgrym to showing the machinations of the drow who have taken over Gauntlgrym. Artemis Entreri and Dahlia Sin’felle make an important appearance, so does Lolth. There’s a LOT going on in this book, and by the time I finished, I felt like I’d read a book double its length. There’s a lot to keep track of between the multiple subplots and characters introduced in NIGHT OF THE HUNTER.

Now, I’m a Forgotten Realms reader who really, really likes the drow. So I gobbled up every passage dealing with Gromph and Quenthel Baenre, and different drow houses including Xorlarrin and Fey-Branche. There’s a ton of drow politics in this book, and that made me a very happy reader. My only quibble with those parts of the book is that I wish the author’s language had been clearer. Sometimes I had to reread paragraphs a couple of times, due to awkward phrasing and long sentences, to figure out what was important.

The story of Drizzt and the others was good too, and exciting to watch them battle through Gauntlgrym. It was really good to see the Companions back in action, albeit each influenced by their new lives. Catti-brie, for example, is a mage, and Regis is much, much braver than ever before. I think this book is the start to a new epic for Drizzt and everyone else in the changing world of the Realms.

Because of all the drow intrigue, as well as the implications for Drizzt’s future, NIGHT OF THE HUNTER has jumped to the top of my favorite R.A. Salvatore books. I also think it’s a good starting point for readers new to the Realms, as you don’t need to know a ton of backstory, and it’s just a good fantasy book.

==

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

See more of my reviews:

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

After Salvatore brought back the original traveling companions of dark-elf Drizzt, I was hoping for a traditional adventure. This book was marketed that way too -- ostensibly it's about Drizzt and the Companions venturing off to the abandoned dwarwven city of Gauntlgrym to try to rescue an old friend who has been turned into a vampire.

That plot line appears only sporadically and instead we get a LOT of drow politicking and power-plays. We also follow Drizzt's former companions, the assassin Entreri and Drizzt's former lover Dahlia. All three plots ultimately converge (in a big battle -- this IS D&D after all) but unfortunately, the non-Drizzt plotlines failed to hold my interest and the political machinations just dragged.

One other substantial gripe is that much of Salvatore's writing about Drizzt has been about his attempts to deny his "nature" -- by denying the generally evil aspects of his drow ancestry and choosing to lead a good and just life. This results in a lot of pseudo-philosophical ramblings that I can do without (mostly because they aren't written well), but it's been a defining characteristic of the character: Drizzt's belief that sentient beings have free will and their fate/morality is not predetermined.

Well, things get weird a character pronounces that all goblinkin are inherently and objectively evil and despite being sentient, there is no moral compunction about wiping them all out (infants included). It's passed off as a "divinely given" revelation from that character's goddess, but other than some brief discussion about it, there is nary a peep from Drizzt. He objects a little but then just sorta...goes along with it??

On the one hand, in a fantasy world where you have "alignments" like "Chaotic Evil" I can understand being somewhat rigid in moral archetypes--at least as a starting point. But given that we're now 28 books into Drizzt's journey of acting AGAINST type (i.e. not acting like an otherwise evil dark-elf should), it was fairly jarring to hear this defense of genocide uttered without much objection.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

An ARC from NetGalley. R.A. Salvatore spins Lolth's webs himself in this new and 25th Drizzt novel. The Companions of the Hall are back together, yet with all the added complexity of their "new identities" from "The Companions". Salvatore never ceased to keep my attention throughout the whole novel and I would rank it as one of his best to date. Certainly, the future of Drizzt and friends is now set on a path that is so multi-faceted, the events of this book should keep them going for quite a while. I feel as if the new life breathed in to this series from "The Companions" has not only continued in "Night of the Hunter" but has helped generate excitement for these books that I have not felt for a while.
As an aside, at 33 years old, Drizzt feels like a brother and old friend to me. We met somewhere around my 9th or 10th birthday, and I feel like we have grown up together. The "letters" or "diary entries" that lead in to each new section of the book have always felt very relevant to whatever is going on in my current life. Thank you Mr. Salvatore for showing us the adventures of such grand characters whose situations, though set in a fantasy world, always feel so close to real life.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

The setup is the Companions of the Hall are back together and they think they might want to eliminate the orcs from the areas, wondering if they ever should have signed the peace agreement but first they need to tidy up old business ~ back to Gauntlgrym to find Thibbledorf Pwent and cure him of his vampirism.

But things aren't that easy - Artemis and Dahlia and the rest of their group are having a hard time not getting caught and tortured by the Matron Mother of Menzoberranzan - yup the drow are back, the politics, backstabbing, fighting for power and of course picking up their old habit of being obsessed with Drizzt, the apostate that he is.

This is a standard Salvatore book - great characters, better than average writing, great world. For me this was a three star book because there was soooo much action, so much fighting and, yes, Salvatore does fight scenes better than anyone, but, you do need to spend some time on character development, plot and I could have used for some more plot and a little less action. The best parts of the book were the political machinations of Menzoberranzan.

[Lanzz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Salah satu novel dari universe Forgotten Realms (juga siri game Dungeons & Dragons), antara siri novel fantasi yg terkenal dan banyak peminatnya. Merupakan buku pertama dalam trilogi 'Companions Codex' - menyambung kisah pengembaraan Drizzt Do'Urden dan rakan-rakannya. Juga merupakan buku ke-25 (dari 34) dalam siri 'The legend of Drizzt'. Buku menyambung kembali kisah pengembaraan Drizzt bersama rakan-rakan lamanya, plotnya lebih laju dan ringan jika dibandingkan dengan siri sebelum ini. Scene2 aksi pula macam biasa, masih mantap.

Dalam novel kali ni, Drizzt bersatu kembali bersama rakan-rakan lamanya (Companions of the Hall). Mereka bertekad untuk kembali ke Gauntlgrym untuk membebaskan Thibbledorf Pwent dari sumpahan vampire. Sementara itu, dark elf dari Menzoberranzan memulakan rancangan mereka untuk menyerang negara-negara kota di Silver Marches (Luruar)...

[Brayden Raymond · Rating 3 out of 5]

This gets 3 stars. While the climax of the story was exciting and the cliffhanger at the end has thoroughly set up the remainder of the trilogy. I find myself in want of a little more. This feels very episodic in a sense. Just another installment of an already quite long series. That's not a bad thing exactly though.

As a side note just about every "good" character has plot armour to the max in this and that kinda bugged me. Faking out several deaths got annoying really fast. Especially when one specifically seems like it will have little to no bearing on successive installments.

[Hugh Mcnamara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been playing D&D on and off for the past 20 years, and this is the first outside book that I have read, and I have loved every moment of it! The characters are nuanced, the action is thrilling, and the story is captivating. I am excited at the prospect of checking out more of R. A. Salvatore's work in the future! Onward to book number 2 of this series!

[Federico · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mah, non mi ha convinto questo primo libro della trilogia. Gira e rigira siamo tornati alla stessa situazione di 15 libri fa (più o meno). Vecchi personaggi che ritornano, vecchie situazioni che ritornano, niente di eccezionalmente nuovo. Peccato.
Tutta la prima parte degli intrighi dei drow, che di solito amo, l'ho trovata abbastanza ingarbugliata.
Combattimenti spettacolari come al solito.

NOTA SULLA TRADUZIONE: fa schifo! Ma davvero schifo. Armenia deve smetterla di far tradurre i libri a persone incompetenti (scusate l'insulto, ma un lavoro così pessimo l'ho visto rare volte). Ci sono anche tantissimi refusi ed errori di battitura.

[Matthew Ciarvella · Rating 2 out of 5]

Trying to figure out what order these books are meant to be read in without referring to Goodreads is nearly impossible. As far as I can tell, this is book 1 of the Companion Codex (which doesn't tell me how it relates to the previous book, the Companions) but the Companions was book 1 of the The Sundering . . . so is this book 2 of the Sundering? No idea.

Whatever, it's the Legend of Drizzt #25.

This book is classic Salvatore and I mean that in the purest and most literal interpretation possible. The plot is very, very similar to Starless Night. The entire Gauntlegrym plot feels like a retread of the Mithral Hall quest. Some old faces and names show up again, in spirit as well as literally. Names and characters you haven't heard about in fifteen years are getting thrown around again. It's a nice nostalgia trip for the longtime fan, although I imagine this must be devilishly annoying for newer readers.

I was about fourteen when I started reading the Drizzt novels. And those were the first books that I was truly enthralled with. They were the books that I stayed up reading until I couldn't keep my eyes open. I would awaken the next morning with the book open and resting on my face.

I loved the fighting, the adventure, the Underdark, the drow . . . and the fighting. Oh, the fighting. My first novel attempt reflected my literary diet at the time: I had a single sword fight that went on for more than thirty pages. My style was an attempt to be Salvatore.

If I was fourteen again, I would have loved this book. It's a trip back to the Underdark. There's a lot of fighting. Drizzt and Entreri continue the cycle of one trying to rescue the other.

If I was fourteen, this would be one more beloved novel in a beloved series.

But I'm not fourteen. I've changed and my tastes have changed. I've grown. Drizzt hasn't changed and it doesn't seem like he's going to grow to anything beyond what he already is.

Hints are there, glimpses that the series wants to be more than it is. The philosophical argument at the beginning of the novel about the certainty of evil in goblins seems like it could have very interesting ramifications, but nothing ever comes of it. Just more fighting, more scimitars, more bad guys getting killed.

My affection for Drizzt is such that I feel compelled to read his story to the end. I want to know how it ends and that's why I keep reading. But more and more, I feel that his story isn't going to end. I think that's a real shame, because sometimes the ending of a great story is the best part, even if it's also the saddest. All heroes deserve to reach "the end," whether it's happy or sad, victory or failure.

But it seems like the demand for more, more, more is stronger than the desire for a complete story. Much like comic book superheroes, Drizzt will never be done. He's destined to fight the same battles over and over again until, at long last, there's no one left to care and the story just fades away. I can't think of a worse fate for a beloved character.

I'll keep reading and hoping that I'm wrong. I hope we'll get to "the end."

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is Book 1 in the Companions Codex from R.A. Salvatore, one of the best Forgotten Realms authors.

The story continues off where The Companions (The Sundering Book 1) ends. The Drow of Menzoberranzan have taken full control of the ancient Dwarven homeland of Gauntlgrym and are making into their own city and another center of power for them. There are plot galore within the Drow houses as they vie for more power withing their hierarchy.

Artemis Entreri is back and still traveling with the companions that he and Drizzt made in the book "The Last Threshold," which includes Ambergris the dwarf cleric, Dahlia Sin'felle the elf warrior, Afafrenfere the Human Monk, and Effron the tiefling warlock (Dahlia's son).

Tiago Baenre is still after Drizzt and captures Artemis and his companions during the hunt. Jarlaxle is recalled to Menzoberranzan to help bring the house of Do'Urden back from the ashes, Gromph the Archwizard is plotting to take more power, but has to follow the Lady Lloth and her plans to bring his sister more power and stability to her tenuous hold within the city with the use of a mind flayer.

Drizzt and his companions must right a wrong they committed by signing a treaty with the Orcs over 100 years ago, they also must help an old friend and current vampire Pwent as he has taken residence in Gauntlgrym to protect the cairn of his king.

So many things happening in this book all come together in the dwarven halls of Gauntlgrym and the plots of the dark elves are pieced together as they are planning an invasion of the Silver Reaches under the cover of a new spell called "The Darkening" which will allow some of the noble houses to wage war on the humans in the area with the help of the Orcs.

The stage is set for some epic battles to come featuring Drizzt and his old friends taking center point.

Very highly recommended book!

[Netanella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Opening paragraph: SO MUCH BLOOD.
Everywhere, blood.
It followed Doum’wielle wherever she traveled. She saw it on her silvery skin, skin that spoke of her mixed elf and drow heritage. It followed her in her dreams, each night, every night. She saw it on the footprints she left in the snow. She saw it on her keen-edged sword—yes, on the sword most of all.

Yes, that's a pretty awesome opening sequence that quickly fell into stale recollections of resurrected characters that turned the first half of this book into a major snore-fest. And that's a bad thing, because I think Salvatore's pretty damn good, so this was a major disappointment to me.

However, once the companions got moving and shaking - off to find vampire Pwent and rescue Entreri and others in the Underdark - things got rocking to a great beat. It's too bad I had to force myself through the first half of the book to get there, however.

No spoilers, but the ending is epic. You gotta love the drow!

[Ms. Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Night of the Hunter finds The Companions, new and improved, on a new quest to save Pwent who is now a vampire and restore him to his old self. There are a lot of threads going: the Gauntlygrym is now house to the Drow, the drow and their politics, the orcs and the dwarves, and all the obstacles the Companions have to go through to get to Gauntlygrym.

The world-building is easy to imagine and described in vivid detail. The politics, well, they take a little more thought and I kind of lost interest at some points during those scenes. The action was there as well as the characters's traits we've come to know and love, but with them being resurrected, they have a little more vibrancy.

I can't wait to read more of Drizzt and friends.

Recommended~

*I was given a copy in exchange for an honest review*

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read all of Salvatore's books through this one and I have to say that I enjoyed this book the most. Salvatore is adept at juggling many characters and I believe within the first chapter or two he introduces no less then 15 characters or so into the book.
But the thing I like the most is the Drow intrigue and politics. I find it the most fascinating part of any book about the Drow. It is like candy to me. And Salvatore is a master at it.
The plot mainly centers on the Drow plan to eventually "rule the world". Drzzt and his companions are almost secondary to it. Their role is to rescue some others who I won't give away.
But the twists and turns are worth it in the end and Salvatore's fight sequences are always exciting and detailed. I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in Drzzt, Drow, or good plain fun reading.

[Tom LaPorta · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the added complexity given to the old characters in this novel. I'd love to go in depth but don't want to throw any spoilers out there. This is by far one of Salvatore's best books in years and I look forward to his sequal to this book. If the authors of the rest of the Sundering novels provide even half as good a story as Salvatore's start has it will be one of the best, if not THE best, multi-author story arcs ever.

[Travis Duke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok Salvatore delivered big time. Favorite elements of the past ( Menzo history, companions) and meshed it beautiful with the new " after the spell plague " stories. You get it all, drow, drawves, old ten town! Wulfgar! Gromph, finally some awesome gromph details and character development. Love the drow history , takes me back to classic Salvatore. The story itself is fast pace and full of fantasy goodness! One of his best book, can't wait for the next!

[Rosa Chacón García · Rating 2 out of 5]

No le he puesto una estrella porque muy malo a mi entender tiene que ser un libro para que le ponga solo una pero en algunos momentos me lo he estado planteando.
Con lo que me gustaba a mí este elfo y los últimos libros lo están desmereciendo, de hecho me estoy planteando no terminarme esta saga y quedarme con el buen recuerdo.
Como parte buena las batallas, de hecho me lo he terminado solo por cómo se describen las batallas.

[David Given Schwarm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not horrible, but mostly more of the same by R.A. Salvatore--I could use an experimental romance novel from him or something at this point--it is all starting to feel so much the same...