The Crystal Shard - Book Three - Chapter Twenty Four

[kalinara]

It occurs to me that should I decide to review the next book in this series, I should review more than one chapter at a time, because these reviews go by so slowly that the book seems like a Moby Dick length novel. It's not. The chapters are just really short.

Oh well, I'll think about it for next time.

So anyway, last time, we got the start of the invasion and things are looking really bad.



We're back with Drizzt this chapter, as he's tracking the invading army. He realizes pretty quickly what happened to the town and is pretty anxious about whether or not he's got a home to go back to. He senses something odd and familiar: basically, that a demon has come to Icewind Dale.

Of course, Drizzt can sense demons. Of course he can.

So anyway, Drizzt catches up to the band of baddies: a half dozen trolls and a major demon. He notes that Akar Kessell must be mighty to hold something like that under his control. I realize again how much I wish Kessell was a villain that lived up to his powers.

Drizzt is following very carefully. We're told that his caution is actually unnecessary, because the band is very intent on their destination, but Drizzt's a cautious sort. He notices that the demon is holding a small object that radiates very very powerful magic. I'm assuming it's not the shard, so I'm curious about what it is.

Drizzt's vision is best right before sunrise, we're told, and he's trying to get in position by then. Why is that the best time? Drow vision is based on infravision, isn't it? So why does the ambient light or time of day matter at all? Possibly I should stop complaining about something I genuinely don't understand. :-)

Anyway, Drizzt sees Bruenor's collapsed wall and is relieved to think they're safe (he assumes Regis is with them.) He's disheartened to see Bryn Shander though, which is under siege from a massive amount of goblins and giants. Drizzt realizes that he can't be of any real help against that many, and decides to try to find a place to rest and regroup. That's fair, though I'm amused to think that the Drizzt of later books probably could take on this whole army. There's a novel called "the Thousand Orcs" after all.

Before he gets to a resting place though, he senses the demon moving.

The scene shifts very abruptly to Bryn Shander, where Regis, Cassius and Glensather are watching. They are horrified by the demon and are puzzled by the object in his hands, which Regis identifies as a "glass dagger".

The point of the demon's actions become clear as the sun starts rising and the shard absorbs ALL of the energy. (We're told only Cassius has the presence of mind to connect the power of the shard with the light of the sun. Go Cassius? I find that weirdly worded. I think Salvatore means that where the others think that Kessell is controlling the sun, Cassius is realizing the shard is solar powered. But I'm not completely sure.)

Anyway, this happens:

"Then the crystal began to grow. It swelled as each pulse attained its peak, then shrank back a bit while the next throb grew. Everything around it remained in shadow, for it greedily consumed all of the sunlight. Slowly, but inevitably, its girth widened and its tip rose high into the air. The people on the wall and the monsters on the field had to avert their eyes from the brightened power of Cryshal-Tirith. Only the drow from his distant vantage point and the demon who was immune to such sights witnessed another image of Crenshinibon being raised. The third Cryshal-Tirith grew to life. The tower released its hold on the sun as the ritual was completed, and all the region was bathed in morning sunlight."

This unnecessary erection marks the entrance of Akar Kessell of course. And the army soon starts chanting his name, which freaks out Drizzt as goblins are usually fiercely independent. Somehow this gives Drizzt the insight that if they're going to survive, they'll need to kill Akar Kessell. Drizzt then finds a cave and goes to sleep.

It's seriously that abrupt. It's actually pretty funny. "This guy must die! After my nap."

We're told that Cassius is also tired. He'd been on the wall the whole night, observing the enemy. He's trying to see whether or not they'll start acting against each other like goblins and orcs normally do, in hopes that the army might start falling apart. Sadly, he sees no sign of that. We're told that he soon draws the same conclusions as Drizzt.

However UNLIKE Drizzt, Cassius isn't going to sleep. (Regis and Glensather are very concerned for his health apparently, which is kind of heartwarming). He feels responsible for the several thousand people in his city. He's going to keep watching.

Wow. As I mentioned before, I was pretty certain early on that Cassius was going to end up being a villain. Especially since he had that whole intro involving taking public buildings for his own mansion, and moving the council somewhere else. I was clearly wrong. I apologize, Cassius. I was wrong about you.

Anyway, this next bit of story hops over to the fleets of Caer-Konig and Caer-Dineval, who are moored in Easthaven. They're being led by "Jensin Brent" and his currently nameless counterpart from Caer-Konig. You know, Salvatore, you could have given the other dude a name too. It's not like I remember hearing "Jensin Brent" before. They're both equally faceless to me.

Anyway, the ships are resupplying from the city, though most of the refugees remain aboard ship just in case. We're told how hopeless the situation really is: there's nowhere to go. All the towns are threatened, and Luskan, the nearest sanctuary, is four hundred miles away and across the path of the invading army.

There is good news: because it was already evacuated, Easthaven was left alone by the invaders. We're also told that the people of Good Mead and Dougan's Hole are unharmed. (They'd managed to get to the water in time). The ships are communicating via a "newsbearer", which is a small glasspiece designed to focus the light of the sun and they're using code.

Things still seem pretty bleak, until they get the good news that Bryn Shander is still standing. The fleet gets ready for war: separating out the women and children to the heaviest and least seaworthy boats, while the fighting men board the fastest ships...this seems like it could backfire. And I'm still annoyed at the lack of women among the fighters. I'm not saying every woman needs to fight, but you'd think there'd be a few. But nope, the only woman capable of doing anything is Catti-brie, who really has only had maybe ten lines total.

-

Anyway, back to Cassius and Regis. We're told Regis slept for most of the night and day, figuring that he might as well die doing the thing he loved best. Fair enough. Cassius meanwhile has watched long enough to get an idea of where the tensions are in Kessell's army. He starts planning on how to exploit that, "but then the wizard made his dramatic appearance and Cassius's hopes were dashed"

We then get to see the dramatic appearance: it's basically a light show circling the giant tower, which I keep imagining as a giant penis. Because I'm immature. Anyway, the lights swirl. Some trolls appear holding ornate mirrors, and the light strikes both mirrors and then boom, Kessell appears.

Kessell greets Cassius and welcomes him to his "fair city". While Cassius, kind of amusingly, is like "who the fuck is this dude and how does he know my name?" Kessell also recognizes Glensather and reveals that he'd spent several months in Easthaven, "in the guise of a wizard's apprentice from Luskan!"

This bit is legitimately hilarious, because it's pretty obvious that Kessell thought they'd recognize him immediately as a failed wizard, and had come up with the "guise" story as an excuse. Instead, they don't remember him at all!

So Kessell is pissed and melodramatic, and basically throws a tantrum like the buffoon he is. Unfortunately, he's a buffoon with a lot of power and he uses a word of command that causes his tower to go Death Star on the nearby city of Targos. It's described pretty horrifically;

"The wrath of Akar Kessell roared into the proud city, cutting a swath of instant devastation. Fires sprouted all along its killing line. People caught in the direct path never even had a chance to cry out before they were simply vaporized. But those who survived the initial assault, women and children and tundra-toughened men alike, who had faced death a thousand times and more, did scream. And their wails carried out across the still lake to Lonelywood and Bremen, to the cheering goblins in Termalaine, and down the plain to the horrified witnesses in Bryn Shander.

Kessell waved his hand and slightly altered the angle of the release, thus arcing the destruction throughout Targos. Every major structure within the city was soon burning, and hundreds of people lay dead or dying, pitifully rolling about on the ground to extinguish the flames that engulfed their bodies or gasping helplessly in a desperate search for air in the heavy smoke."

Damn, I didn't like Kemp. But damn.

But Kessell is a buffoon, and we're told that this pushed the limits of Crenshinibon too far. Both of his earlier towers crumble into rubble. God, imagine what this confrontation might have been like with a better villain.

Conveniently, and annoyingly, Kemp isn't dead. He had apparently realized when the invasion first came that they had no choice but to flee. The city was on the high ground, so the fleets and fishing boats are unharmed.

So wait. Kemp realized that they needed to flee, but we just saw hundreds of people, including children, die. Did he just fucking leave them there?

Cassius stays calm, focused on looking for weaknesses and possibly catches one when he notices Kessell's mood swings. Kessell, for his part, just taunts him further and orders them to produce an emissary tomorrow with news of surrender. While this is happening, a courier informs Cassius about the ships and that Kemp, that asshole is still alive.

Cassius notes that he "wasn't overly fond of his peer from Targos" but he knows that he'll be an asset. Kessell overhears the news about the ship and gloats further, sending a large group of his army to the ships' likely destination to destroy it.

We go to that asshole Kemp, and I still find it awfully interesting that HE lives while a good chunk of civilians die. At least with the other cities, we know they tried to protect their non-combatants first. Kemp somehow learns about the goblins heading for Bremen (the signals, I guess), and sends his fastest ship to warn them. He sends another ship to Lonelywood to beg for supplies and an invitation to dock. We're told that despite their differences, all of the spokesmen were alike in certain ways and Kemp is rallying his people for a retaliatory strike.

So okay, I do admit, the invasion is the most compelling part of the book so far. I'm enjoying the spotlight on the normal people as opposed to our heroes. And I like that we're actually getting to see some individuals amidst the nameless flock of Ten Towns folk, who up until now have just been inconveniences and cannon fodder. Cassius may be my favorite character at the moment, and I'm enjoying my new appreciation of Glensather, Agorwal and Brent. And there's a real tension in these scenes, because these guys aren't the big heroes. They don't have plot immunity. And that means there's a good chance NONE of them will make it out alive. (Agorwal's already had his exit after all.)

I think I would actually be a little upset about that. Except Kemp. God, I hate that guy.

The weak part is still, as it has been, Akar Kessell. I mean, on one hand, I get it. When you have a villain that has the power of a god, he needs to have a lot of human flaws in order to give our heroes the means to defeat him.

But there's a difference between a powerful man brought down by his own inherent weakness and a fucking idiot with a magic nuke. The fact that he's already overshot his load once doesn't help matters. I think Mr. Salvatore was probably trying to plant the seeds of Kessell's own destruction, but all it really does is indicate that the folk of the Ten Towns might not have to do anything. Just pretend to agree, keep their heads down, and wait for Kessell's to spend himself dry.

He's a vivid character, I'll give Mr. Salvatore that. He's consistently characterized. He's just a crap villain. Sorry.