Rating: 
Summary: EXCELLENT.
Review: This certainly does make for an exelent change in R.A. Salvatore's Forgotten Realms anthology. This book is much different from any of those Drizzt Do'Urdan books which many of you may be expecting. Yes, Drizzt is absent from this book, as are all of his friends. As many of you know, this book is dedicated to the story of Jarlaxle and Artemis Entreri, a complete shift of gears from the last book.This certainly did make an exelent change in plot, setting, and character as I read this book. I never thought that I might be saying this, but I have become somewhat tired of Drizzt Do'Urdan, feeling that Salvatore has been over-using those characters, and that something should change. Well, now it has changed, and certainly for the better. So now we have another exelent book, and it was done without Drizzt. So much is different. There are exelent plot twists, as expected with the devious Jarlaxle. Artemis Entreri is losing control over the situation with the dark elves, and he must find a way out. Jarlaxle is subtly being influenced by Crenshinibon, the Crystal shard, and is making foolish, uncharacteristic decisions, and all of this nearly brings his doom as his lieutenants lose faith in their leader. I could not have expected the plot to be better. As for other elements of writing, the setting is exelent and well described. The characterization and character developement is exelent, with some odd twists to that of Entreri. The overall writing is once again exlelnt, once again making a good light reading book. This is an exelent book, and anyone who enjoyed R.A. Salvatore's earlier work should be glad to read this and find something new in his writing. If you really don't feel like it, just read it, you only have two to go at the moment.
Rating:
Summary: wow. let me reapeat, wow.
Review: Are you kidding? I read at least one new book every 2 or 3 days, and Salvatore is still my favorite, even though I started reading him over 9 years ago. This is definately one of Bob's top 3 or 4 books. As great a character as Drizzt Do'urden is, it is background and supporting cast that makes Salvatore's books come alive. I was very excited when I found out that this book would be centered around Artemis and Jarlaxle, two of the most charismatic and mysterious characters in all the Realms. I was definately not disappointed! In fact, I would love to continue reading about the two of them in the future. It seems like a match made in... well, somewhere. If you have read any of Salvatore's work then this book is a must. even if you haven't, you should. He is the best writer around right now, after all.
Rating:
Summary: MY FAVORITE BOOK
Review: Ihave read every Drizzt book and this is, byfar, my favorite. While others delve into the Drow Sociaty lightly, this one is all about the Drow. This is the first book to feature my three favorite charactors (Cadderly, Entreri, and Jarlaxle) in one book. While you are looking at the Drow there will be new things you discover every time you read it. Also if you read closly it greatly reveals what happend to Artemis Entreri to make him "The Most Vile of Assasins" (see pages 107, 145, and 315/316) all and all, if you do not have this book, buy it right now. I can promis you that you will not regret it.
Rating:
Summary: Complex and Intruiging
Review: I'd have to say that out of all Salvatore's books I have read so far, this is his best. I too was a bit hesitent when I learned that Drizzt would not be starring in this novel, but I was interested in what would happen to the Crystal Shard, Artemis Entreri, and Jarlaxle. The complex web of lies and deception was spun so well into the plot line I could not put the book down. This has to be the best example of the drow way of life I have ever seen. It is displayed and described through Salvatore's exellent writing even better than in the Dark Elf Trilogy when you are in the midst of Menzoberranzan. Entreri's rival is gone but not truly beaten, and the inner turmoil Entreri endures at seeing his empty shell of a life for what it truly is, is most intruiging. Jarlaxle, the ever pragmatic drow, is faced with his own great rival, the Crystal Shard. The perfect leader of a male dark elf mercenary band can only survive if he is far superior in fighting skill and intelligence. He must keep his allies close and his enemies even closer, and he must think of every possibility, every deception, and every avenue of escape. He is boggled and decieved by the constant perfected mind games of the centries old shard. The character development is wonderful and brings the story to life. However, if you have not read any of Salvatore's previous Drizzt books this will not be as much of a thrill for you, but still wonderful. For those readers, you will probably rank it with four stars. The plot developments have tight ties with the past that make it even more intruiging. This truly is an intense read, and I recommend it to all Drizzt fans and those facinated by the life and culture of the drow.
Rating: 
Summary: The magic is back
Review: Once again, Salvatore has achieved greatness. As with many authors involved in multiple projects, Salvatore's Forgotten Realms works have been declining in quality as he must be spread too thin. This is very evident considering what we have come to expect after the Icewind Dale and Dark Elf Trilogies. Every book since those six has been worse than the previous. This newest effort continues his work at fleshing out the other characters of the series, reversing the downward trend, and being of high quality again. Here we see Jarlaxle and Entreri struggling against the machinations of the Drow and the Crystal Shard, with new incites provided into their pasts and motivations. This book was a vast improvement over the last few novels, and I recommend it highly. However, as you might read in all the other reviews, Drizzt is once again absent, but it's still an excellent read. No one can bring to life a combat scene as well as Salvatore, and he shows it many times here.
Rating:
Summary: Worthy of Hardcover
Review: Triumphant conclusion of Paths of Darkness. As the last in this series was much better than its predecessor, so is this. Arguably RAS best work. For a single book, I think it is. But as always, an existing appreciation for the characters will go a long way. I highly recommend this to NOT be your first RAS book. Go read the Legacy series first. And certainly read the first two books in Paths of Darkness before this one. Hold off on this as long as you can. I heard so much about this book, I savored it by reading no more than 1 section a night. It was very hard to fight the temptation to read more. This is an extremely compelling book that is fast paced and still manages to provide quality character time. Jarlaxle is at his finest, and a new side of him is shown. Also a starteling revelation about Jarlaxle at the end of this book. main characters are; Jarlaxle, Artemis Entreri, Dhwavel Tiggerwillies
Rating:
Summary: My favorite book in the world.
Review: I hesitated about picking up this book especially because I'm so busy and I thought "Well this is just another Drizzt book." It turned out that this is the best book I've ever read in my life. (Just for some background, I'm a college student who read every single Drizzt book.) See, I didn't know that this would be all about Artemis Entreri. You thought he was cool, but he really shows off his power in this book. Forget Drizzt, bad guys are in. It turns out, the book will completely surpass your expectations. Dont miss this no matter what. Pick it up, it'll take only a week to finish but just like me, you'll be thanking yourself you did it. Cheap too hey?
Rating:
Summary: Entreri and Jarlaxle, those sexy beasts... ;-)
Review: This is seriously one of my favorite books in all the Forgotten Realms books I have read. It's great. I really like how the Paths of Darkness series is divided among the characters, and it was a completely brilliant move on RAS's part to devote an entire book to the dynamic duo of Entreri and Jarlaxle. After reading this (and discovering his short story "Empty Joys" in The Best of the Realms Volume 1), I have definitely come to appreciate Entreri and Jarlaxle more. They work so well together. I'm happy since I found out RAS will probably continue writing about their escapades, and he has acknowledged the fact that the two could easily carry several more books. I can't wait! Especially after Jarlaxle's new "brilliant" plan (read "Empty Joys" to know what the heck I mean). :-D The most interesting and attractive part of this book was the interaction between Entreri and his friends. Yes, he actually has friends. Strange considering his line of work, but it's great that Entreri's finally mellowing in his "old" age. His relationship with Dwahvel is so enlightening. We see the human side of the assassin that was lacking before because of his obsession with Drizzt. And, of course, Entreri and Jarlaxle together are just a couple of goofballs. Loveable, charming, but deadly goofballs. I love 'em. :-D I can't wait for more books in the adventures of Entreri and Jarlaxle.
Rating:
Summary: Better than the Last One
Review: I was rather disapointed with The Spine of the World, and this book started off a bit slow. But after I got fifty pages into it, and I was wrapped up in all the intringue, lies, and deceit, I could not put the book down. It definately lives up to the series standards, and is just another reason why a producer should pick up this series to make movies out of. Read it!
Rating:
Summary: A Book About Entreri and Jarlaxle, Need I Say More.
Review: I've said it before and I'll say it again. In my mind, the word villian ends and begins with Artemis Entreri. Who could not like the evils of a man with no soul that can kill on a whim? Come on, you know you love him. Just as a bonus, we get Jarlaxle, the king of all mercenarys, as a second main character in the book.
Now, before I go rambling on about how great the story and all that jazz in this book is, I need to express that I am a supporter of all that is good in this world and the imaginary ones we create. True to that, I had a little trouble reading a book purely about liars, assassins, thieves, and heartless mercenarys. At least in the beginnning. The wicked complexity of the book caught me very quickly and soon I was a die hard fan of both main characters.
Back to my main point, the book is about Jarlaxle coming into possession of the crystal shard. On a sub-level, it's about Entreri coming to terms with the fact that he is human, and he is getting older. Worried that the world will pass him by and he will end up in the gutter of Calimshan because he could not protect himself, Entreri makes moves to regain his position in the ring of street lords. Whilest his plans advance smoothly, Jarlaxle hits a few snags and runs into some problems with the Shard(much as Alkar Kessell did). It falls ultimately to Entreri to play as a balancer and not the self absorbed bad guy in the latter parts of the tale.
Combat in the book is thrilling, as usual, jeweled daggers and throwing knives abound and the assassin acquires a few new toys that are very amusing. Hopefully,(at least in my opinion) this is the beginning of more books about the assassin or maybe the eccentric Jarlaxle. Who knows but Mr. Salvatore himself? I've got my fingers crossed. Regardless, this is a great book and plays in well with some of the other books that are near it in the series. A little treasure to keep close to the darker corners of your mind from the world of Faerun.
|
