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Summary: The Best Intro to Drizzt
Review: This book is a definite golden apple. R.A. Salvatore makes your imagination swim in a pool of new and exiciting worlds
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Summary: Book One of the Icewind Dale Trilogy
Review: Cold, harsh barren lands. Deadly creatures, deadlier enemies.
This is the story of Icewind Dale, and about three heros who fight thier way through impossible odds, one pursuing honor,
one seeking solitude, and one seeking peace in his soul. The
extroardinary action and adventure, heart-pounding fighting and
brain-teasing strategy and mystery make this book at MUST READ.
Rating: 
Summary: Great characters, great action, decent book.
Review: I was not too impressed by the Crystal Shard. After hearing a lot about Salvatore I decided to pick up this book. I thought it was a really good book, and it was very entertaining but it wasn't mind blowing by any means. I read this book a while ago and I must say that Salvatore definately picks up the pace with his later books in the drizzt series.It seems impossible to not love the characters in this book. My personal favorite, Wulfgar, is an incredible feat in character development and storytelling. His background and character traits (and those of his tribe) are what drive a huge part of the story, and it is masterfully done. If you have a good imagination then you will be blown away by some of the scenes in this book because of the visual images you will conjure in you mind. From barbarians to dragons, sentinent objects, and magical weapons, this book has it all. I would've given it four stars if I had written the review immediately after reading and before I read the other Drizzt books. The others are much, much more exciting and breath taking.
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Summary: The Crystal Shard ( Icewind Dale Trilogy Book 1 ) Review
Review: Whether your a fan of fantasy novels or new to the whole genre there is one author who can make up the bulk of your reading library: R.A. Salvatore. His first book series, The Icewind Dale Trilogy, is a superb story which not only has great action sequences but has great dialogue and a great host of characters; namely the famous Drizzt Do' Urden, one of the fantasy worlds most beloved heroes. The Crystal Shard, Salvatore's first book is does not only pull you in from the start it holds your attention to the very last word. I have read many fantasy books but Salvatore's still have the gusto to be number one on my list. This is a definite read for any fantasy novel fan. The story starts rather simple but the adventure and intrigue soon pick up. I try not to give anything away but this first book is very important in Salvatore's later book series and also introduces some of the most important characters to also be found in later books; i.e Drizzt Do'Urden, Wulfgar, Bruenor, and Cattie Brie. I feel Mr. Salvatore should be given a large thank you from the fantasy community. For his first trilogy he displayed a large amount of talent and understanding for the genre and being that he is a D&D player himself just adds to his knowledge. I feel that people should not being judging his works unless they know and understand the trouble in writting a novel. ( And yes I do know the trouble in writting a novel I am I nthe middle of one right now.) And sadly even though I hate to bring this up he is much better at writting then Mr. George Lucas. ( Sorry George.)
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Summary: Completely Awesome
Review: This book is the first of the Icewind Dale series. R.A.Salvatore wrote this first I believe. He later went back and did a prequel series called "Legacy of the Drow". I read that first and found the books fantastic. The first one was awesome. The second one was slow to start but picked up and ended brilliantly I would say. The third one was alright but it wasn't the same atmosphere as the first two so not nearly as good. This book is tremendously good. It starts a little slow. Drizzt(pronounced Drizz or dritts, im not too sure - I pronounce it Dritts) doesn't appear that much compared to the legacy of the drow because the main focus of the novel is Wulfgar. I applaud R.A. Salvatore for giving all the characters different weapons than your ordinary sword and bow. Wulfgar gets a really awesome hammer and Drizzt still has his twin schimitars + a dagger and a rather useless at times bow. The other characters are good. Regis is enjoyable somewhat, but the "little trickster" angle has been portrayed before. I am really looking forward to reading more about Catti-brie because ... well I could figure her out easily. Start with the Legacy of the Drow and you will know what I mean. Bruenor was enjoyable if not overdone as the "tough-guy dwarf". The book really picks up though. Eventually we get to see one of those big battles happen. At the beggining of the book there is a big battle that isn't that well done. Bob doesn't write it very descriptively until Drizzt gets to fight. As for the later battle.... awesome. The book holds you for the last 1/3rd and just completely rocks. I haven't read lotr although I plan to. This book would do a great job in the movie theatres I think. If they got Peter Jackson to do it that is... Please make the movie of this if you're reading Pete.
Rating:
Summary: Very Surprising
Review: I first came upon this novel thinking very little. I expected it to be nothing more than some typical fantasy trash. I just could not stand "The Hobbit" at all, yet I wanted to venture into fantasy, so a friend (who hasn't read this) referred me to the novel itself. He had mentioned that "Homeland" by Salvatore was better than decent. But still, I was rather skeptical. All in all, this is a tremendously great read. Adventure Value: 9/10- This book contains numerous battle scenes and heroic combat moments Romance Rating: 3/10- Wulfgar the Barbarian does do a little hitting on the female protagonist, but nothing more. Character Development: 7/10- Drizzt, Bruenor, Regis, and Wulfgar are well developed, but there is some slacking on the antagonist: Akar Kessell. Climax: 8/10- The ending of the read draws to a beautiful close. Plotline: 6/10- The plotline was thin at random points, though at times it was as thick as molasses... Creature Feature: 8/10- there are barbarians, goblins, orcs, ogres, giants, and even an ice dragon...it's well done... My overall commentation on this book is that it is very good, and I recommend anyone new to the genre read it soon!
Rating: 
Summary: The Icewind Dale Trilogy: Book One
Review: This books is marks a beginning in many ways for the Forgotten Realms series. This was the first Forgotten Realms novel written by R.A. Salvatore, who went on the become probably the most popular Forgotten Realms authors. This book is also the first appearance of Drizzt Do'Urden, the Drow elf who has abandoned the evil ways of his kind to seek a different life for himself. Drizzt is one of the most popular charcters in the Realms. This book is also the first chapter in the Icewind Dale Trilogy. The Crystal Shard stands well on its own, telling the story of an evil wizard who comes into possession of a powerful magical artifact and is led to try to conquer the world, starting with Ten Towns, the group of towns in the heart of the Icewind Dale. We meet an interesting cast of characters, including Drizzt, Bruenor the dwarven king, Regis the halfling leader of one of the Ten Towns, and Wulfgar, the barbarian. They seem to have all of the cliches covered there! Anyway this is a good action story with a bunch that comes to a satisfactory conclusion, leaving the door open for the next book, Streams of Silver. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a quick, light fantasy read. Required reading for fans of Drizzt Do'Urden!
Rating:
Summary: Good introduction
Review: I had actually read nearly all of the books in the other Drizzt series before I even touched the Icewind Dale tril, and I don't recommend that others do the same. It is a great book as an introduction, but the writing is weaker compared to the other Drizzt books (which you can't compare if you've never read the them).
The action follows Drizzt & co. as they try to unite the squabbling citizens of Ten-towns against invading barbarians, and then later, various creatures led by wizard-wannabe Akar Kessel and his power hungry shard. Drizzt stands out as the coolest character by far with his morality and reckless love of adventure, which is justified by his skills and expertise. I was surprised, given the strength of her role in later books, that Cattie-brie is hardly mentioned at all. Of the even rarer times that she does take part in the action, it is to pull a lever or two. What an honour. It seemed as if she was hastily written in to off-set the fact that all the other characters are male and give Wulfgar something to think about other than his muscles and his tribe.
It is hardly the best book Mr Salvatore has written. You could probably skip it and go on to Streams of Silver, but it's always nice to get a bit of background info.
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Summary: I started this series in reverse order
Review: Meaning.....I was introduced to RAS' work during my freshman year of high school. The Dark Elf trilogy was just being released, and homeland was the book that began my love affair with fantasy literature. After that, I decided to start with the first series being the Icewind Dale trilogy, which conveniently for me, was actually the sequels to the Dark Elf trio. RAS' ability to bring his characters to life is truly astonishing. It must be an innate ability because his writing simply flows and it makes the reader an actual part of the adventure. The opening is wonderful, mighty Drizzt walking the frozen tundra and running into trouble with a yeti. Bruenor the dwarf comes to the rescue....The first time I read that opening, I actually could see it in my mind as the beginning of a movie. It was extremely well done, and captured my interest within the opening pages. This book is grafted into my life itself, as I find myself reading all these series over and over again. Thanks RAS, for creating new adventures over and over again.
Rating:
Summary: Fabulous adventure!
Review: If you play D&D, you'll love this series, but don't worry if you don't. You'll be hooked anyway by Salvatore's rugged adventure in the glacier "Ten Towns" of Icewind Dale. The back cover blurb makes it seem as if Salvatore wanted to center on Wulfgar, but dark elf hero Drizzt Do'Urden steals the show. Prepare to be hooked....once you read this one, you'll HAVE to buy them all. Next in the series is "Streams of Silver" by the way.
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