The Two Swords (Forgotten Realms Novel: Hunter's Blades Trilogy)

Rating:
Summary: An end to a trilogy, a begining of an era
Review: ---Spoilers---
I was upset at the end when things were just left hanging. I know Bob is slowing down in his writing and won't be publishing a new Companions of the Hall (COTH) book anytime soon. I also knew this was the end of a trilogy and I expected things to be all neat and tidy at the end. Instead he surprised me. Blind-sided me, but in a good way. I now have to wait for the next book to find out what happens to the three groups. Drizzt and Innovindil, Catti-Brie and Wulfgar, Bruenor and Regis. All three groups are planning an adventure and are likely to fall into hard times. How will they get out and will they ever meet again are just two of the many questions now brewing in my head. Thanks Bob for catching me off-guard. I'm looking forward to the next COTH novel with an even bigger puddle of drool.

The development of Drizzt and his emotional rollercoaster has made me more interested in him. Over the years I had become somewhat bored with Drizzt. He fought, he won, end of story. But now he has feelings. Stronger feelings than I've read before. He's been fleshed out, along with the other COTH characters, to the point where I'm more interested in reading about him.

Wulfgar, Catti-Brie, Bruenor, and Regis also grew as characters. Regis I felt was getting older. Showing the hardships of war a little more than he'd like. He's nothing like the fat Halfling that dozed on the lakeshore fishing. Bruenor has seen death and survived. It wasn't really addressed, but I feel he may be taking a bit of a conservative stance at times, now that he sees he is mortal. Wulfgar and Catti-Brie are on the road again, together. There may be some tension between them, but I doubt it will amount to much. Catti-Brie is committed to Drizzt and Wulfgar is/was committed to his adopted daughter and Delly. I think he's in for another emotional road-trip in looking for another wife. Meanwhile Catti-Brie will be thinking of Drizzt and wondering how things will work out in the future. Is there a chance for a half drow-half human child?

In conclusion, I see The Two Swords not as the end of the Hunter's Blade Trilogy but as the beginning of a new era for Bob. His writing style has changed dramatically since his first story, Echoes of the Fourth Magic. He moved up in skill with his Demon Wars series and moves up again with The Two Swords. And I think that has brought about the negative reviews. Fans expected to read the classic Drizzt fighting evil in the Underdark. Instead they read a story about the COTH as people fighting an evil that may win. Hopefully, like it did with Vector Prime, the negativity will eventually be washed away. Only time will tell with this newly defining moment in Bob's career.

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Rating:
Summary: Do you want a synopsis or
Review: a review?
The Two Swords by R.A. Salvatore is the final book in the Hunter's Blades Trilogy. It is a well written examination of the Hunter (Drizz't) and his relationship with his blades... or in other words, of how Drizz't has chosen to deal with the world around him. Readers know that Obould, the orc king, is a powerful new enemy, so we will not go there in this review.
However, it is possible that Salvatore has created his best villain ever here. Obould has almost transcended base evil and is practically living on a higher plane of existence. The question is not "How do we kill him?" but is rather "Can and should he be killed?"
Salvatore leads us to interesting questions and answers throughout this book. However, the action is still strong and vivid, the characters continue as believable and beloved, and the reader is sucked in quickly. The stakes are high, both on the kingdom level and the personal level, for all those involved.
A good, swift read that will leave you breathless and thinking.

Rating:
Summary: Too Much Open
Review: As a collective, I enjoyed the entire Hunters Blades Trilogy quite a bit, mostly due to the fact that this body of works has a slightly darker feel to it than Salvatores' past Realms novels. The battle scenes were described in excellent detail (as always), the introspectives with established characters was good (if a bit stale), and the introduction of new characters gave Salvatores corner of the Realms a bit more dimension. However, in The Two Swords, everything just seemed to end far too abruptly. As usual, the story was (obviously) left open for future novels, but it's just not like Bob to leave so many loose ends lying around. It felt to me that, ultimately, NOTHING was really resolved.

A good book that ended in a good way if this series wasn't a trilogy, but being the last of the three novels, I was a bit disappointed.

One more thing: for the love of all the gods that ever were, PLEASE kill Wulgar . . .again . . .for good this time.

Rating:
Summary: Another good entry in the series...
Review: As the conclusion to the Hunter's Blades Trilogy, the Two Swords falls a bit short of being a five star book. While still a very good Salvatore novel it just seemed to be lacking some things.

First, Drizzt is barely in this book. While the final act is all Drizzt, for the most part he is non-existant throughout. An odd thing to do since the trilogy is called The Hunter's Blades and the last novel "The Lone Drow" was all Drizzt. So we went from him being the focus, to kind of dropping out of site.

The second problem was that the cast was way to big. There are too many dwarf characters to follow. Did we really need to hear the story of Nikwillig coming down the mountain, following the Felbarr army and then meeting the elves of Moonwood? Or Fendes who seemed to die three times in the book just to come out fine in another chapter? Dwarf characters that we know were disregarded in the same way as Drizzt. Why is the battlerager Thippledorf Pwent in no major scene? In fact he is only mentioned twice I think. And consider Torgar and the Mirabar dwarfs who were such a prominent role in "Thousand orcs" have no more than a cameo in the middle of the book.

The last problem is the biggest. There really is no conclusion to this storyline. The book could have left things open for more books, but there has to be some sort of conclusion, otherwise this really can't be called a trilogy. It is written more like a continuous series.

Finally, this is still a very good read. Great battles, good characters, amazing action. I still think that "The Lone Drow" was the best in the trilogy because of its focus on Drizzt and its very dark tone. But this is certainly better than "Thousand Orcs" if you were disappointed in that like I was. May Drizzt never stop fighting!

Rating:
Summary: Hardcore fans only
Review: Finally united by their god-king Obould, the Orcs stand at the gates to Mithral Hall--the great Dwarf kingdom and mining center. But when his initial attack falters, Obould pulls back--he'd rather defend the world's first Orc kingdom than waste his resources attacking the well-prepared and heavily trapped Dwarf caves. With his giant, dark-elf, and troll 'allies' repeatedly proving to be undependable, Obould knows that hanging onto what he has already conquered will be challenge enough.

Renegade dark-elf, Drizzt Do'Urden, falsely believing that his friends and allies have all been killed by Obould, joins with an elf to rescue a pegasus, then makes single-handed war on the orcs. He knows that if he can somehow kill Obould, the orcs will shatter--as they have shattered so many times before. What he doesn't count on, though, is that Obould really does manifest the Orc-god--and killing a god is a tough challenge, even for a dark-elf.

Author R. A. Salvatore delivers a mix of heroic action and introspection. Drizzt continues to evolve, slowly learning to leave his drow preconceptions behind him and become a true-elf. Obould is almost a sympathetic hero, holding his people together and helping them build their first kingdom despite attacks by elves, humans, dwarves, and the backstabbing by the ice giants and especially the drow. Salvatore's writing is always professional and smooth--and doesn't falter in THE TWO SWORDS.

Fans of the movements of dwarf armies, clever dwarf traps, and of Drizzt Do'Urden will definitely not want to miss this one. If you aren't already a Salvatore fan, however, you might want to give THE TWO SWORDS a pass. There isn't enough character development or story arc to appeal to those not already deeply involved.

Rating:
Summary: To many spoiled Readers
Review: I do not leave reviews per se but am doing so now because of all the whining and crying from everyone. Bottom line is that Bob Salvatore is an exceptional writer and the characters he has created are monumental pieces of work. I think this book was another exceptional read without a doubt. Granted as with all writers, some books are better then others and Bob has written some that are better and some that may not be quite as good. Bottom line is that all this writers books are very entertaining to a high degree. I look forward to his next piece of work with anticipation and just wanted to warn all the spoiled readers out there that reviews should be written with a broader use of thought instead of focusing on first reactions which is known as tunnel vision. Take in the whole before being to judgemental because you may be putting a knife into Drizzt's heart yourselves.


Rating:
Summary: Not his Salvatore's best work
Review: I've read every Drizzt book. Even though overall I enjoyed reading this book, I found that it lacked something. I grew tired of reading about how the dwarves killed countless orcs.

I thought it was disappointing that no resolution between Drizzt and King Obold took place. Out of all the Drizzt books, I think I least liked this book.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing at best, formulaic and tired at worst.
Review: Let me start by saying that I have been a fan of the Dark Elf books since day 1, which only serves to magnify my disappointment with this book and this trilogy as a whole.

I can appreciate Salvatore's efforts to further develop these already familiar characters, however, the overdone introspection and self analysis quickly went from the "development" stage to irritating diatribes of whining and self pity. While the story did offer a few (far too few) unique elements, it was ultimately the secondary characters that kept me interested. The main characters were simply put back into old plot lines under new book titles--- Mithril Hall being invaded, Drizzt's self-analysis and fear of having lost a best friend(s), Cattie Brie & Wulfgar romantic tension. Again, some different twists, but ultimately more of what we've already seen.

Finally, and most importantly, from a pure reading enjoyment standpoint, the ending was terrible. Absolutely terrible. Salvatore did an excellent job building to what you thought would be a glorious climax and conclusion, then allows the momentum to fizzle horribly. Anti-climactic is a kind description. There was simply no sense of reward or resolution. You will turn the last page then quickly check the cover to confirm that this was indeed book three of a trilogy, because it is not evident in the ending. The only upside is we can be certain more books are to come.

Rating:
Summary: Bob does it again.
Review: The Two Swords is a grander scope than most of RA Salvatore's companions of the Hall books. It deals with both enormous external stuggles (The Orc Horde, sacking of Nesme, Prominent Dwarves deaths) as well as the internal ones (What it means to be an Elf, Love and Prejudice). There are many issues that are not resolved to this concluding book but it just sets us up for more in the future. No one brings forth a good villian the way that Bob can, and Obould fits the bill nicely. Gerti and her Frost Giants lend further credibility to the enemy. I was up till 2 in the morning finishing this one, and wanted to keep going, just to see that there were no more pages to turn.

Dennis Clark

Rating:
Summary: Great Book!!!!
Review: This book was awesome. It had great battle's, and suspense. It wasn't as good as some of R.A. Salvatore's other books but it was still better than the average fantasy book published. The ending left you with a cliff hanger not really knowing how the situation was going to end. That was really the only thing that bothered me. However, it just left the story open for future books and my faviorate characters.