Fantasy Novels

Yes, you have to be a bona fide fantasy geek to enjoy Salvatore’s Forgotten Realms novels, but since you made it to this page you probably are, so let me just say this: If you haven’t read any of the Drizzt books yet you definitely should.

After reading all the Drizzt novels (now rebranded as The Legend of Drizzt series) up to The Orc King, including a few short stories, a summary of the experience is that they never fail to impress. Ok, some are better than others – the Wulfgar-centered and low paced Spine of the World wasn’t a favorite, but there’s very little Drizzt in it anyway. Salvatore is at his best when he has the opportunity to put battles and fighting scenes in writing, and The Orc King has no shortage of either.

Not that the novels lack depth; on the contrary, both Drizzt, his companions, and what goes on in the world around them is much more complex than what you see in the bulk of fantasy novels out there. There is no pure black-and-white or good vs. evil distinction in Salvatore’s novels, and The Orc King is a prime example of this. This first book in the ongoing Transitions trilogy deals with the rise of an orc kingdom in the north of Faerun. If you’ve read the Hunter’s Blades trilogy you know that the protagonists have been fighting this orc uprising in the past, but now it’s time to decide whether to accept the orcs as a race among the others or to push them back into the holes from whence they came.

Obould, king of the orcs (and much smarter than the average orc, I might add) seeks peace with the neighboring kingdoms of the Silver Marches, but this turns out to be a harder than expected task due to rivalry in is ranks. A new, ambitious, and less peaceful tribe appears in Obould’s kingdom and puts his plans on hold. Meanwhile the nearby dwarf kingdom and its allies disagree on whether or not to launch an attack on Obould’s army. Now it’s up to Drizzt to scout the area to find out more about the orc’s intentions. In a side plot, Wulfgar the Barbarian sets out to find a better life for his adopted daughter, accompanied by an injured and somewhat reluctant Cattie-Brie.

The Orc King surprisingly starts out a century into the future, where Drizzt fights to defend a band of orcs from marauding elves and dwarves, but I won’t delve deeper into that and spoil the surprise. In short, the novel is a good continuation of the Drizzt saga. It’s not the most suspenseful or action-packed in the series, but as usual it’s still a page turner.

Get it from Amazon.com
/ Amazon.co.uk

Tags: Forgotten Realms, R A Salvatore, The Legend of Drizzt

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 3rd, 2009 at 3:17 pm and is filed under Fantasy Book Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.