The Hunter's Blades Trilogy Collector's Edition ... (ISBN 0786943157)

Very disappointing turn in an otherwise great series:
This book is so terribly disappointing - not for just what it is but what it should have been. It appears as though Salvatore may have finally burnt out with respect to this series. Every single battle description makes you feal like you've read the same battle before - many times before. The fight scenes got old very quickly, and I found myself speed reading over them to get to something meatier - but that just never happened. The plot is the weakest of all the Drizzt books, and the last 50 pages seem like they were just thrown together to get the book published. It's all just a setup for another book anyway, which is extremely frustrating. When I finish a monster trilogy like this, I expect some finality, yet the main story arc didn't even have a conclusion! The last 50 pages introduce many side plots for the next series of books, and they all came from nowhere. I've read every other Drizzt book and enjoyed them, but I think this might be my last. I wish Salvatore well, and I hope he finds something new to be passionate about. It appears that his passion no longer lies with Drizzt and friends. :( James

Good, but bad.:
This trilogy of books was my introduction to not only Salvatore, but also fantasy-- and also my interest in reading. These stories were well off for a first time reader of Salvatore's style, which jumps from character group to character group at every "story break" (separation of differing story parts in each chapter). That being said, Salvatore drew me into fantasy with these books, but I learned that they were crap. The good about the books is Drizzt's several journal entries, spaced throughout the book. They show a great deal of character development. Since Salvatore does not come out and say "this made him feel upset" or have Drizzt talk about his feelings in the story, this part was very interesting; instead of reading a page of paragraphs to find out how something affected Drizzt, Salvatore explains it through Drizzt's journal entries. Some people may not like the entries (and that is a matter of taste in what you like to read) but it adds to the story by letting Salvatore keep the characters as they are, not making hardened warriors talk about their feelings through dialog or through paragraphs explaining the character's thoughts. The action, as well, is very well played out. He became known for his intense battle scenes. The description is very nice in these books. Pages of the stuff and not weak stuff either. You get a blow by blow, not a "they locked swords and pushed. He broke free and slashed at him." These scenes are very descriptive and are nothing like you have read before (unless you read his earlier books). BUT, that is also the bad in these books. The scenes seem to repeat in these three books. Reading his older works offer a larger variation in battles, but these books seem to be the same formula and the same blows. Added on to the repetition, when one person is killed in battle, it isn't as big of a tear jerker as I think it should have been. Some of the deaths I had to actually reread. It took me five minutes to understand one part because she was skewered then raised into the by the behemoth. And a sentence later, the character that saw this happened just ran off like nothing happened... I didn't like that about most of the deaths that occurred. Also, the bad is that a lot of his descriptions on what is going on, aren't what is going on. They are full of information, but then it seems that what he said happened contradicts something else... For example(not from the actual books, just my example), "the bubble ran out of the water, up the vacuum and to the surface of the lake. After reaching the surface, it blew up in the water, sending a shockwave from the lake's floor that disturbed the boat on the surface... Stuff like that makes little sense, but it runs rampant in the books. The biggest thing these books lacked was the ability to make the reader give a hoot. I would speed read pages, skimming over paragraphs for the basic idea, and 50 pages later I would know everything that happened. Some people are into those books-- like Dungeons and Dragons, Eberron, and Forgotten Realms-- but I tend to like the more in depth books rather than books that tell battles of gore. I love those books, of course, that is why I read Salvatore and other select Wizards of the Coasts books, but I don't just want action. If I wanted to gore and violence I'd go to another country, pick up a spear and start killing people with it. I could find a group of other crazies to follow me and that would be more exciting than reading those books. But sadly, this book is only a slight step above that level- one of those steps that is too deep to skip to the next, but doesn't rise high enough to really get anywhere (those steps tick me off. Grandparent Steps =.=) Salvatore's writing is a good introduction to the genre, assuming you aren't anti- violence, because they are good adventure books, but I would recommend buying his other series (preferably from the first series, The Icewind Dale Trilogy, and working your way up due to the fact-- as I learned-- that it makes a lot more sense seeing how all of the characters grew rather than trying to figure out why some people hate each other. In the end, these books seem like they should be his first works of writing rather than his most recent. Do yourself a favor and pick up his first works.

The Hunter's Blades Trilogy Collector's Edition:
The Hunter's Blades Trilogy Collector's Edition (Forgotten Realms) The Thousand Orcs, The Lone Drow and The Two Swords. 3 great books by R.A. Salvatore. The orc attacks and Drizzt and his friends' reaction and the consequences of it. Great storyline leading to Drizzt's understanding of "What does it mean to be an elf."

Great Read:
One of the best series I have read in a long time. Some people have said that this band of characters is getting old, but I beg to differ. I have already read the "Ork King", which is the first book in the next series. I still think this series is great. Well worth the money for me.

Awesome!:
"Once more into the breach!" Drizzt Do'Urden must face the consequences of loss when an overwhelming force of orcs decimates the town his friends were trying to defend. Now he is the lone person in the region who can face down the orcs' leader - Obould Many-Arrows - and save the region. But his struggled of grief and pain go back much farther than the recent loss of his friends, but include his father and others. Before Drizzt can face the awesome specter of a reinforced Orc God-king, he must find a way to cleanse his heart. In addition to the epic fantasy, amazing descriptions of swordplay, and rich cultures, Salvatore does an unparalleled job in portraying the depth of humanity in the soul.