Rating: 
Summary: Exciting adventure but lacks character development
Review: Dwarf King Bruenor is on his way back to Mithral Hall for his ceremonial crowning when he gets word of an orc raid. Together with a small group of fellow dwarves, with his drow elf friend Drizzt Do'Urden, and with a pair of humans, Bruenor heads to the battle. He has been reluctant to seize his crown at any rate from fear that his advisors will keep him from adventure, and this may be his last chance. Bruenor doesn't count on an alliance between the orcs and the frost giants of the north. Drow renegades have forged this unlikely alliance in hopes of creating chaos--chaos that they can exploit for their own advantage. And the death of King Bruenor sounds like the most profitable kind of chaos possible. Author R. A. Salvatore continues his story of Drizzt and his friends as they adventure across a violent world of magic and conflict. Drizzt is in love with a human woman, but wonders whether he dares bring a half-drow into the world, and whether he would be doing a kindness to marry a woman who will be old while he is still a young warrior. Meanwhile, dwarf relations between Mithral Hall and Mirabar have reached a critical point--leading to a near civil war in the mixed human/dwarf town of Mirabar (this conflict is barely integrated into the main plot line--presumably it will become more significant in later volumes in the series). Early on in the novel, it appeared that orc King Obould would break out of the traditional orc stupidity mode and actually develop intelligent plans to do serious damage to the orcs and humans that oppose him. Quickly, however, he reverts, failing to take advantage of his giant allies, falling into obvious traps, and generally behaving like the traditional stupid orc. While he can't be faulted for this, it was a bit of a disappointment to me, at least. It is difficult to see any number of orcs as a real threat to an organized force of dwarves, especially one backed by the formidable blades of Drizzt. The enemy drow never really unveil themselves and never lend much intelligence to their allies' plans. Like many Wizards of the Coast novels, THE THOUSAND ORCS has something of the feel of a role-playing adventure--a small party of adventurers is thrust into an escalating adventure where more and more enemies are gradually introduced. Although Drizzt is a fan favorite, there isn't a lot of character development in this novel, at least. Salvatore's fine writing makes this one worth reading--but if you happen to miss it, you'll be able to pick up the characters without any problem.
Rating: 
Summary: The King of Tolkien's World
Review: Salvatore has done it again! The Thousand Orcs is a wonderfully written fantasy book that could have only been done by a master. We have followed Salvatore's standard core of characters down a multiplicity of roads and are now seeing a maturity and insight in the lives of each one. The Thousand Orcs starts in somewhat the way most good books must start, at the beginning of the tale. Drizzt and company are off to Mithral Hall and stumble upon the survivors of a neighboring dwarf contingent that have a bleak tale to tell. The hero's change course and take off on what they expect to be a grand adventure, unbeknownst to them the foe is quite formidable. We get to enjoy their triumphs as well as their failures. It's about time that a writer, a popular writer, realizes the level of intellect his readers have. When I first bought this book, I was afraid that Salvatore had perhaps fallen into the Louis L'Amour syndrome, that is that he writes one book fifty times. There are so many series on the market today and most of them are the same story over and over, with no growth in the characters from one story to the next. The main principles of the stories usually end up being flat and unbelievable.
I found that the best part of the storyline was the surprise ending. Salvatore takes a good story and with the surprise ending, a great story rises from the ashes. He has definitely left the door open for the remaining books in this series. Salvatore has set himself up of the ruler of Tolkien's world and seems to enjoy the perch from above.
Rating:
Summary: The Companions of the Hall are back, and better than ever
Review: Salvatore's previous FR novel, "Sea of Swords" seemed a bit lackluster to me, so I was not as jazzed as I apparently should have been for the release of this book. Easily the best novel he has written about Drizzt or his companion, "The Thousand Orcs" is thrilling and fast-paced, with a lot of character development and an intriguing storyline. If you have enjoyed previous installments of Drizzt and his friends from R. A. Salvatore, then you will most definitely love this newest novel.
Rating:
Summary: Another Great One By The Best In Fantasy Today...
Review: "The Thousand Orcs" once again features the most popular character in fantasy, Drizzt Do'Urden. It is a book that will not dissapoint. Drizzt and his friends are all on their way to Mithral Hall in which Bruenor Battlehammer is to be named king. Along their way they find that Orcs, Giants, Goblins, and all other evil races are swarming together to enact war upon the "good" races. Eventually Drizzt Do'Urden finds himself alone while his friends battle for their lives. There are some negative aspects in this book. The battles that involve Drizzt are not the ones we as fans specifically want to see. Drizzt is caught up battling Giants and Orcs during huge mass warfare rather than the far more entertaining one on one battles we enjoy so much. Also Drizzt as a character should be featured much more than he is in the book. Drizzt should be the entire focal point of the books. Not Cattie-Brie, Wulfgar, Regis, Bruenor, etc., but jut Drizzt himself. Seeing the other characters play an equal role is not very good at all. However with the small negatives aside, this is a great read that still deserves 4.5 stars(rounded to 5). It has a great side story in which political action and intrigue play a large part that will no doubt lead into future books. The mass war battles although not as good as Drizzt battling toe-to-toe with another character, are superbly done. There is plenty of action and a emotional sort of love plot set in between. With this book Salvatore solidifies the fact that he is the best author Fantasy has to offer today. I am eager for the next book.
Rating: 
Summary: Could be better...
Review: I disagree with the notion that books must have intellectual value--that smacks of snobbish elitism, no more and no less. At the same time, I have to agree that this isn't a must-have book unless you're a diehard fan. This reminds me more of a serial pulp fiction story that's stretched out a tad too far. It also seems that the book could've provided more value for the money. (Do the margins seem a little too broad, the text not as packed? Sheese.) I also agree in that Salvatore has a problem: he always has to spell everything out, what each character thinks and what each character plans on doing, as if he thinks his core readership have all suffered severe head trauma. This isn't a good thing, it makes things too predictable. The advantage for the reader is that it makes for light reading (I can finish a Salvatore book these days in under 3 or 4 hours), the disadvantage is that it isn't as gripping as previous books. It's my hope that Salvatore flexes his writing 'muscles' more in future books, otherwise you may as well wait for the softcover versions of his novels and spare your pocketbook the pain.
Rating: 
Summary: The best is yet to come...
Review: Salvatore is killing us! This book is a wonderful lead to so many different roads of possibilities. As with any trilogy you have to expect the author to set up the scene and this book does just that. If you have no experience with the characters or story lines do not start with this one. You have to understand the depth of each character to understand the enormity of the situation in their eyes. Drizzt- his worst fear, he's alone. Cattie Brie- her adoptive father out of action, facing the reality of mortality. Bruenor- ?? Anticipate the possibilities!
Rating:
Summary: This aint the Dark Elf Trillogy by a long shot!
Review: No Artemis, No Jarlaxle and no hint of dazzling swordplay against an equally adept weapons master like Ellifain, just sheer overwhelming numbers of brute masses that stub their pinky toes and die while the heros battle on even when decapitated (maybe a slight exageration here). If you remember the stand against in the Troll Mores in a previous Drizzt book, you've pretty much read this book just stretch it out for 300 pages and replace the Trolls with Orcs. I did however enjoy the Dwarven focus of this book, being of a Dwarven Mentality me'self although the whole Mirabar situation (a Dwarven/Human mining town representing the evils of capitalism that don't appreciate the competition of Mithril Hall) does not seem like any real threat to the heros. The leader of Mirabar is portrayed like an ignorant childish tyrant (think Kessel without any magic with dissention in the ranks) that is more of an annoiance and provides Salvatore "fluff" to draw out an already drawn out saga. Although I am a fan and will most likely by the next two books of this trillogy, I have been dissapointed with the story lines and writting styles since Servant of the Shard. Salvatore is resting on his laurells and is finding a hard time propegating his successful run. I miss the Butch and Sundance pairing of Artemis and Jarlaxle and find the characters much more colorful that the Cookie Cutter-esq formula of Wulfgar, Drizzt and Catti-brie, although I do like the fact that Regis and Bruenor are no longer there purely for comic relief (there's always Pwent and Doo-Dad for that "Oo, He He said Pikel"). We even got a Sweet Pikel's bus in the shape of a wooden statue! If you've never bought a Drizzt book, don't buy this one - stick with the Dark Elf Trillogy or the Icewind Dale Trillogy but if you've bought and read all the Dark Elf books (although Spine of the World is more a fallen Wulfgar book), then you will buy, read and be dissapointed reguardless of what I write here. This book has about as much impact as Withergoo's wizard ability and is as suspensful as watching "Ground Hog Day" for the twentieth time in a row. I think I'll sell my matching scimitars on Ebay! -Oish!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: By far the best of Salvatore's last three books concerning the famous Drow. The book starts rather slow to build the story, but at the end you are left begging for the next book. There is everything in this book. New characters, more character development, and plenty of action. If you are a fan of Drizzt and the Companions then this is definitely for you. I am counting down the days till the next book. Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: Bringing it back to basics
Review: The master of Fantasy Sci-Fi has written a wonderful book that brings old an new characters together. moreover, it's a completely new threat and story that hasn't been explroed and tied to the past adventures of the heroes. It semmed that the last two series, it was about someone trying to avenge a wrong or something on those lines. Glad to have you back RA
Rating: 
Summary: Totally overrated
Review: Books like this are the reason my teachers sneer when I bring fantasy into study hall, and it annoys me to see such glowing reviews about such mindless drivel. This is pure escapism reading with no intellectual value. I'm a musician and I know what an insult it is to be called a hack or a sellout but I sure was thinking that about the author while I was reading this. There are two things that I look for when I read: quality of writing and storytelling enjoyment. This book didn't work on either level. Quality of writing: Where is the pretty prose? The breathtaking descriptions? The scenes that make me believe I'm in this world? They're not there. I can't believe this author has been writing longer than I've been alive. There's zero improvement in writing skills since the Dark Elf trilogy. If anything it's worse. Is it just me or was this book aimed at the lowest common denominator? I'm 14 and I felt like I was being talked down to. Kids are smart Mr Salvatore. We really are. Especially the ones that are into reading. You either write specifically for kids and tone down the violence and sexual inneundo aka harry potter or trust us to get it. Don't bludgeon us over the head with a club. Tickle our senses with a paint brush. Storytelling: Did this book start off slow or what? Why would you even start the book with people other than the heroes? The prologue is one thing but chapter 1 too? Once it got started there were too many plot lines going on here and it gave the whole story a jerky feel not to mention that some of them were just boring or pointless. I'm not one of the drooling Drizzt fans and even I felt short-changed at how little he and his friends were in this book. Every time we did see them it seemed like they were having some deep conversation that I guess was supposed to pass for character development. These scenes just felt clumsy and overdone as if the author assumes the reader can't read between the lines so everything needs to be spelled out. That pretty much sums up my feelings about the book. Author was insulting the intelligence of the reader. Everything from the stupid dwarven accents to the slapstick humor of the two brothers (why were they even in this book?) to the clumsy prose to the lack of any literary value. Writing is art and all art should say something. If you're just telling the story for the story's sake or the rent it pays, then you're cheating yourself and your readers.
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