Exile (Forgotten Realms: The Dark Elf Trilogy, #2; Legend of Drizzt, #2) in Fantasy Buddy Reads

Mar 27, 2015 Gavin rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy

This was a decent read but it did not quite live up to the quality of Homeland.

The story picked up 10 years after the final events of Homeland and found Drizzt hiding out in the Underdark trying to avoid the murderous vengeance of his family. He had to fight against losing himself to the despair of loneliness.

It actually started a bit dull as Drizzt was very gloomy and his plodding from place to place in the Underdark meeting random monsters was not all that exciting. Things picked up when he This was a decent read but it did not quite live up to the quality of Homeland.

The story picked up 10 years after the final events of Homeland and found Drizzt hiding out in the Underdark trying to avoid the murderous vengeance of his family. He had to fight against losing himself to the despair of loneliness.

It actually started a bit dull as Drizzt was very gloomy and his plodding from place to place in the Underdark meeting random monsters was not all that exciting. Things picked up when he encountered people he could actually communicate with. Some of the action scenes were OK, but after a while they all started to blend together a bit. The main problem was that there was no sense of tension during any of the battles as it was obvious it was only a matter of time before Drizzt pulped the monster of the moment. On the plus side I still really like Drizzt as a character. After he recovered a bit from his early despair we got to see a few more examples of his kind and very un-Drow like nature.

We did get to meet a few interesting new characters in this installment. Drizzt was in bad need of a friend and found one in the shape of Belwar Dissengulp, the gnome who's life he helped save during the first book. The friendship between the pair saved both from despair and helped them grow as people. The most interesting character we meet along the way was Drizzt's second companion Clapper. Clapper's tale was a surprisingly sad one and one of the few story arcs that managed to engage me emotionally.

The happenings back it Menzoberranzan were interesting. Drizzt's family deal with the fallout of falling out of favor with the Spider Goddess. They must fight the usual political scheming while also trying to find and kill Drizzt to appease the Spider Goddess. The negative is that I thought the politics were a bit simplistic this time around. Some characters made some inexplicably idiotic decisions. We did get to meet an interesting new character in the form of the unusual mercenary Jarlaxle.

All in all this was an OK read that did not quite hit the heights of the first book in the series.

Rating: 3 stars.

Audio Note: This was narrated by Victor Bevine who did a good job. ...more

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Jan 24, 2018 Veronica rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, buddy-read, audiobook

This was light on plot (middle book syndrome?) - unless you consider Drizzt's wanderings through the Underdark a great plot - but it was a quick read. ...more

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Feb 01, 2018 Diana Stormblessed rated it did not like it

Shelves: series, fantasy, 2018-read

Unpopular opinion: I could barely finish this book. If it wasn't for a buddy read challenge I never would have finished. Boring from start to finish. Bad writing style. 2 dimensional characters smeared with lots of angst so you won't notice their flatness. I think me and this series need to part ways. ...more

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Jan 18, 2016 Drew rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I think I'm impressed with R. A. Salvatore. I read the first entry in the Dark Elf trilogy and was shocked at the connection I felt with Drizzt & his struggle against a society that has no morality. I didn't expect to "feel it." After all, this is all just D&D stuff, right? Wizards of the Coast, Dragons, and Magic, right? Who said anything about great stories? Maybe it was just a flash in the pan. So I read the second book in the series. Flash, it was not. This go-round Drizzt has wandered the U I think I'm impressed with R. A. Salvatore. I read the first entry in the Dark Elf trilogy and was shocked at the connection I felt with Drizzt & his struggle against a society that has no morality. I didn't expect to "feel it." After all, this is all just D&D stuff, right? Wizards of the Coast, Dragons, and Magic, right? Who said anything about great stories? Maybe it was just a flash in the pan. So I read the second book in the series. Flash, it was not. This go-round Drizzt has wandered the Underdark away from Menzoberranzan for years after the finale of Homeland and has essentially lost himself to the hunter persona that is required to survive in the wild. What endeared me so much to this book is the people Drizzt aligns with and the tragic way they are all brought together. It seems Drizzt isn't meant to just "make friends." No, there has to be something awful that brings him together and bonds him with his buddies. I'm looking at you, Clacker and Belwar. But the tragedy makes them more than friends. It makes them soldiers and brothers against the vile goings-on in the Underdark.

I loved so much about this book. Drizzt's battle with his dual nature, his embrace & rejection by Belwar's people, his fight against his screwed up family, and the two (or 3, depending on how you look at it) different heartbreaking occurrences he (I) gets smacked with in the waning pages of this book. I also loved that there wasn't much time devoted to Menzoberranzan in this book. To be honest, Menzoberranzan is the least interesting thing about the story. I read a review that lamented the lack of Menzoberranzan, saying it was the most interesting part of the story.. I could not possibly disagree more. The politics of that city bore me & the prospect of Drizzt moving on and leaving that aspect of the story behind is just fine with me. Leaving the Underdark completely is a very welcome development and I look forward to that story in book 3. Something about the city of Menzoberranzan is claustrophobic. The passages that deal with house politics & the Spider Queen just don't interest me the way Drizzt and Belwar's travels AWAY from there do. So it was nice that those portions were short & occurred sparingly.

Mr. Salvatore continues to impress with this series. I will be reading his books for a long time if they sustain this level. Very good, surprisingly engaging read. 4 out of 5. ...more

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Sep 21, 2015 Drew rated it really liked it

I distinctly remember writing a review for this book when I read it last year, but it isn't registering on Goodreads.. Not sure why. But I like Salvatore a lot. Not going to rewrite this review, but at least it has my rating now. Good book! ...more

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