Homeland (Forgotten Realms: The Dark Elf Trilogy, Book 1)

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Summary: One of the best books I read, and I have read alot!
Review: A world of twisted intrigue, and deception. Where you might be killed by your family, forget the other dark elves wanting to make a name for themselves with your blood. What beauty, what darkness, save for one dark elf with a code of honour. An opposite to his kin from the start, Drizzt Do'Urden must overcome his evil upbringing and triumph where no dark elf with a conscious can, Menzoberranzan

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Summary: Oooooooh, this book is HOT!
Review: A turbo-charged action epic. A classic story of an honorable Dark Elf, shunned by society, forced to fight for pride and family. Armed with only a whirling scrimitar and a bad attitude, this skillfull little elf kicks some serious ass through this thrill ride adventure. If you've got a taste for violence, action and an exciting storyline, this book will whet your appetite and should be on every action fan's menu of literature

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Summary: I read this book in a day, enough said?
Review: Extremely well written and easily understood. The Forgotten Relms books are definately my favorite fantasy books. All I can say is, this is an incredeble book.

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Summary: A great book for fans of this genre
Review: In this novel, Salvatore is at his finest. He uses his literary license to create an entire city full of corruption, deceit, and treachery. Enter our hero, Drizzt Do'Urden. He breaks the mold, lashing out against his family, his society, and the Spider Queen. A must read for all fans of The Icewind Dale Trilogy, AD&D players, and all fans of fantasy fiction

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Summary: At last Drizzit's childhood!
Review: R.A. Salvatore does it again! I have read every one of Bob's books, and this one is really the best! Finally the background on Drizzit's life before he came to the surface. I recomend this book to any one, even those who usually don't like fantasy novels

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Summary: The young dark elf Drizzt's odyssey of growing up; excellent
Review: Of all the authors out there, Bob Salvatore has really taken the fantasy world by a chokehold. In this chapter of Drizzt Do'Urden's life, the young dark elf realizes the problems of living in the Spider Queen's nest and having the heart of a valiant warrior. A cruel act of fate sends the excellent student from innocent child to broken man. He strikes out at a world that is cruel and unjust, only to learn that the world he wishes for will take a lot more searching to find. An excellent read.

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Summary: R.A. Salvatore brings Drizzt to life again!
Review: If you enjoyed Drizzt from the Icewind Dale Trilogy, then one is a must have. The first book in the Dark Elf Trilogy explains the background of Drizzt Do'urden, how the dark became the person he is now! Drizzt not only battles the unseen in the underdark, but the inner battles caused by his own kin, and the drow way of life! A must read book for all fans of Drizzt Do'urden!

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Summary: Homeland is the best book ever!!!!
Review: I usually don't like TSR books, but Homeland just blew me away. A society of *EVIL* 'Drow' elves live underground. One elf breaks the mold and fights for what he feels is right. Beautifully written with increadible fighting scenes. Intricate plot and so many twists and turns your head'll spin. Book #1 in a 9 book series, it actually was the fourth book written (Crystal Shard was first, from the Icewind Trilogy) but it is MUCH better if you read the Dark Elf Trilogy then Icewind Trilogy and then the following 3 books. #9th book leaves so much unanswered and I don't know if he's going to continue. Does anyone know?

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Summary: A review from a casual Forgotten Realms reader
Review: If you're a fan of the Forgotten Realms world of books, all 200 of them, or if you're a fan of D&D books then you'll probably completely disagree with this review. I'm writing this review as a casual reader, this being my first introduction to the Forgotten Realms world.

Homeland is the beginning of a three part trilogy that tells the story of Drizzt Do'Urden and starts at this birth. Drizzt Do'Urden is a dark elf, a race of folk that thrive on battle and destruction and the major conflict in this book is Drizzt coming to terms with his race and deciding whether or not he agrees with their ways.

Overall, the book is very entertaining. The world is very interesting and the variety of creatures and races that live with in. The characters are for the most part rather interesting but I was more interested in the action scenes of the book than the parts where any sort of dialogue or character exposition takes place. The battles are presented here aplenty so if you're a fan of good action sequences in books then you've found a very good book for that with Homeland. However, I felt that at times the battles dragged on for a bit and the outcomes were rather predictable.

There is some political intrigue in the form of houses vying for power but it's mostly basic and doesn't have too much depth to it. The various houses presented aside from the Do'Urden household don't have much in terms of the story so the storyline is fairly straightforward in that aspect as we only follow one house to a rather predictable outcome. The individual characters themselves are rather basic archetypes, the mean mother, the wise and strong father, the wicked sisters, and devious wizards are all presented here in rather basic formats. They're not particular well developed either so when a character dies I found myself not caring as there's no emotional attachment to any of the side characters besides Drizzt and we all know he's not going anywhere.

Even though the book had numerous faults, it was still a worthwhile read and I enjoyed quite a lot. There was a lot of originality in the beautifully crafted world and interesting creatures. The characters and storyline weren't particularly deep but moved along at a good pace with well written battles and action sequences. I'll most likely continue with the trilogy because this book shows promise. If you're looking for a fun, fast read with well written action sequences then this book is for you. However, if you're looking for deep political intrigue and a good cast of well developed characters then look elsewhere.

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Summary: a different world, brownie points for Salvatore
Review: I've read this book, and wow everything was excellent there weren't ANY boring parts, one thing just led on to another. It's about a dark elf named Drizzt Do'Urden who is born in the Underdark of Menzoberranzen, sorry for the spelling error. There are houses in Menzoberranzen Do'Urden being the third house in favor of the Spider Queen, until Drizzt Do'Urden is born. Drizzt is born with lavender eyes and doesn't have any bad reaction toward light. As he grows older he grows compassion, understanding, and cleverness, yet he does not know how the dark elves are with hatefullness because of his father's protection for Drizzt's innocence. Later in the book he becomes the best swordsman in the underdark, like his father. Drizzt and his father share the same feelings, but Drizzt's father had to live in guilt and shame. Drizzt doesn't want to live the same way so he runs away from the Underdark with Gwen, the panther leaving the house Do'Urden in ruins.