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Homeland (Forgotten Realms: The Dark Elf Trilogy, #1; Legend of Drizzt, #1)

R.A. Salvatore

Why we're reading this: #73 on NPR's Top 100 SF/F novels of all time (2011 poll) http://www.npr.org/2011/08/11/1390858...
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[close] #73 on NPR's Top 100 SF/F novels of all time (2011 poll) http://www.npr.org/2011/08/11/1390858...

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Mar 16, 2021 Jason Koivu rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, fiction

Lots of dark fun! I've been wonderfully mired in all things Underdark lately and I'm loving it! I'd read a couple of later Drizzt books, at random and out of a sequence, and I enjoyed them, so I thought I'd start from the beginning, chronologically speaking.

Homeland is a prequel that shows fans the origin story of Drizzt, fantasy's most famous drow (dark elf). The book takes place mostly in and around Menzoberranzan, a major drow city, and covers about the first 20 years of Drizzt's troubled li ...more

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Dec 31, 2013 S H A R O N rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, faves, 2016

I've started on my journey to reread the Drizzt Do'Urden books. These books along with the main arc in the Dragonlance Saga (Raistlin Majere, anyone?) are the fantasy books I cut my teeth on in middle and high school. I was not expecting how much I would enjoy rereading Homeland...it's like coming home to that old friend. I wasn't aware of how much I missed the Forgotten Realms until I stepped back inside.

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Homeland is the first of many (many, many) books by R. A. Salvatore chronicling the life an I've started on my journey to reread the Drizzt Do'Urden books. These books along with the main arc in the Dragonlance Saga (Raistlin Majere, anyone?) are the fantasy books I cut my teeth on in middle and high school. I was not expecting how much I would enjoy rereading Homeland...it's like coming home to that old friend. I wasn't aware of how much I missed the Forgotten Realms until I stepped back inside.

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Homeland is the first of many (many, many) books by R. A. Salvatore chronicling the life and times of the Menzoberranzan's most famous export. Why jump into a character's life after they've came of age when you can start their tale in the minutes before they are born? From these chaotic and war-filled few hours we see that the drow (the cave dwelling elves who reside in near to total darkness) are not like the elves we may be familiar with. Salvatore presents a rare opportunity to the reader -- the chance to follow a character from birth onward. We see the events that mold the character into who he ends up becoming...which is one of the reasons I think Drizzt is such a beloved character in the fantasy world.

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Salvatore is a master at world building/world enhancing and Homeland sucks you into the cave that is Menzoberranzan. I remember (from the first time I read Homeland) feeling how alien the surface was when Drizzt and crew make a foray outside of the Underdark. That feeling came back this time around (even knowing some of the adventures Drizzt encounters on the surface in later books) and I think that's a testament to Salvatore's engrossing world building.

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If you are craving some solid fantasy and haven't been introduced to Drizzt, definitely check out Homeland. Be sure to throw away any preconceived ideas about elves you may have picked up from reading/watching Legolas from LOTR...Drizzt is a dual-scimitar-wielding warrior who can take on anyone and anything -- Legolas included.

Homeland invites the reader to come along with Drizzt through the very beginning of his trials and adventures.

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