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i_read_whatSo I've been picking on the lady authors a lot lately, so I decided to go back and pick on a fellow. Well, also, I'm reviewing three series on rotation. We just finished a Pern book, so I've decided it's time to go back to the Forgotten Realms to read Streams of Silver, which is the second book in the Icewind Dale Trilogy.
So this one should be interesting because I actually remember nothing about it. This isn't surprising. Most fans of Salvatore's Forgotten Realms work will advise that you skip this series as it's considerably weaker than the following one, the Dark Elf Trilogy, which gives us Drizzt's (slightly retconned) origins.
But I like starting at the beginning, so to speak. I enjoy watching the development of ideas. And the Icewind Dale Trilogy introduces a lot of them. Even if the execution is a bit spotty.
I'll get to the Dark Elf Trilogy eventually, don't worry.
Besides, the one thing I do remember from this book is that it introduces Artemis Entreri, a long time adversary of our heroes. And at least from my dim recollection, our dear Entreri does NOT suffer from Akar Kessell's ineptitude.
So the map we get this time is MUCH better than the one we got in The Crystal Shard. There are actually LOCATIONS. We see the Icewind Dale, of course (and Ten Towns), but also other famous Forgotten Realms locations like Silverymoon, up north, and Luskan and Neverwinter down south. We don't get as far as Waterdeep or most of the Sword Coast, but there's a nice arrow down leading from Longsaddle.
It's a good map, both in terms of providing a little context to the wider setting, and also providing at least the implication that our heroes might go somewhere other than the Icewind Dale. I could see myself actually using this map occasionally, to figure out where the fuck the characters are or have been.
Our prelude starts us well enough, with a nice two paragraph description of a dragon:
On a dark throne in a dark place perched the dragon of shadow: Not a very large worm, but foulest of the foul, its mere presence, blackness; its talons, swords worn from a thousand thousand kills; its maw ever warm with the blood of victims; its black breath, despair.
A raven's coat was its tested scales, so rich in their blackness that they shimmered in colors, a scintillating facade of beauty for a soulless monster. Its minions named it Shimmergloom and paid it all honor.
Very nicely evocative. Though I think maybe I'd go with a name a little less goth My Little Pony than Shimmergloom.
We're told that Shimmergloom doesn't do a whole lot (similar to Icingdeath in Crystal Shard). It just sits there and eats a sacrifice and punishes an underling as needed. Apparently it has done its part by routing out the "bulk of the dwarven army that stood to face its allies."
So our heroes will likely get to kill another dragon. Can't complain.
Happily, the scene then shifts to our heroes in Icewind Dale. Yay! I don't mind villain chapters, but the Crystal Shard had been a bit annoying about them. And I feel like it's a good sign that we're back with our heroes so soon.
Though it's not really much. Basically just our heroes walking, with a paragraph each to indicate how their stance, face and walk "revealed a different perspective of the journey".
Bruenor is of course determined, with eyes never deviating from his path.
Wulfgar is fired up for adventure. He's getting to see the wide world for the first time and he's soaking up the whole thing:
He had come along to aid his friends on their adventure, but he had come, as well, to expand the horizons of his own world. The entirety of his young life had been spent within the isolating natural boundaries of lcewind Dale, limiting his experiences to the ancient ways of his fellow barbarian tribesmen and the frontier peoples of Ten-Towns.
There was more out there, Wulfgar knew, and he was determined to grasp as much of it as he possibly could.
I love Wulfgar. I understand why Drizzt upstaged him, but I will always be a little bitter about that.
Drizzt is next, and his description is...well, Drizztian:
"And so he sunk low within the shadow of his cowl, his stride nonchalant, even resigned, this trip being merely a continuation of his existence, another adventure in a life-long string of adventures. Forsaking his people in the dark city of Menzoberranzan, Drizzt Do'Urden had willingly embarked upon the road of the nomad. He knew that he would never be truly accepted anywhere on the surface; perceptions of his people were too vile (and rightly so) for even the most tolerant of communities to take him in. The road was his home now, he was always traveling to avoid the inevitable heartache of being forced from a place that he might have come to love."
It's noted that the Ten Towns had been a temporary sanctuary, and while Drizzt isn't openly welcomed, his reputation got him respect and tolerance. Pretty sure Agorwal OPENLY offered Drizzt a place in Termalaine. But that doesn't fit the narrative here.
We're told that every so often, Drizzt drops back to check on poor huffing and puffing Regis. Regis is, of course, not here by choice. He's got a "belly too round for the road and legs too short to match the pumping strides of the dwarf" We are told however that he's been pushing himself to his physical limits and without complaining. He keeps glancing over his shoulder, and Drizzt notes that he's running from something.
We're told a bit about their route. They're heading west, past the Spine of the World, to Luskan. That should be fun, I vaguely remember Luskan as evil wizard town. And the prelude kind of trails off here. Which means that we basically just started with four guys walking in slow motion. I can dig it.
So this one should be interesting because I actually remember nothing about it. This isn't surprising. Most fans of Salvatore's Forgotten Realms work will advise that you skip this series as it's considerably weaker than the following one, the Dark Elf Trilogy, which gives us Drizzt's (slightly retconned) origins.
But I like starting at the beginning, so to speak. I enjoy watching the development of ideas. And the Icewind Dale Trilogy introduces a lot of them. Even if the execution is a bit spotty.
I'll get to the Dark Elf Trilogy eventually, don't worry.
Besides, the one thing I do remember from this book is that it introduces Artemis Entreri, a long time adversary of our heroes. And at least from my dim recollection, our dear Entreri does NOT suffer from Akar Kessell's ineptitude.
So the map we get this time is MUCH better than the one we got in The Crystal Shard. There are actually LOCATIONS. We see the Icewind Dale, of course (and Ten Towns), but also other famous Forgotten Realms locations like Silverymoon, up north, and Luskan and Neverwinter down south. We don't get as far as Waterdeep or most of the Sword Coast, but there's a nice arrow down leading from Longsaddle.
It's a good map, both in terms of providing a little context to the wider setting, and also providing at least the implication that our heroes might go somewhere other than the Icewind Dale. I could see myself actually using this map occasionally, to figure out where the fuck the characters are or have been.
Our prelude starts us well enough, with a nice two paragraph description of a dragon:
On a dark throne in a dark place perched the dragon of shadow: Not a very large worm, but foulest of the foul, its mere presence, blackness; its talons, swords worn from a thousand thousand kills; its maw ever warm with the blood of victims; its black breath, despair.
A raven's coat was its tested scales, so rich in their blackness that they shimmered in colors, a scintillating facade of beauty for a soulless monster. Its minions named it Shimmergloom and paid it all honor.
Very nicely evocative. Though I think maybe I'd go with a name a little less goth My Little Pony than Shimmergloom.
We're told that Shimmergloom doesn't do a whole lot (similar to Icingdeath in Crystal Shard). It just sits there and eats a sacrifice and punishes an underling as needed. Apparently it has done its part by routing out the "bulk of the dwarven army that stood to face its allies."
So our heroes will likely get to kill another dragon. Can't complain.
Happily, the scene then shifts to our heroes in Icewind Dale. Yay! I don't mind villain chapters, but the Crystal Shard had been a bit annoying about them. And I feel like it's a good sign that we're back with our heroes so soon.
Though it's not really much. Basically just our heroes walking, with a paragraph each to indicate how their stance, face and walk "revealed a different perspective of the journey".
Bruenor is of course determined, with eyes never deviating from his path.
Wulfgar is fired up for adventure. He's getting to see the wide world for the first time and he's soaking up the whole thing:
He had come along to aid his friends on their adventure, but he had come, as well, to expand the horizons of his own world. The entirety of his young life had been spent within the isolating natural boundaries of lcewind Dale, limiting his experiences to the ancient ways of his fellow barbarian tribesmen and the frontier peoples of Ten-Towns.
There was more out there, Wulfgar knew, and he was determined to grasp as much of it as he possibly could.
I love Wulfgar. I understand why Drizzt upstaged him, but I will always be a little bitter about that.
Drizzt is next, and his description is...well, Drizztian:
"And so he sunk low within the shadow of his cowl, his stride nonchalant, even resigned, this trip being merely a continuation of his existence, another adventure in a life-long string of adventures. Forsaking his people in the dark city of Menzoberranzan, Drizzt Do'Urden had willingly embarked upon the road of the nomad. He knew that he would never be truly accepted anywhere on the surface; perceptions of his people were too vile (and rightly so) for even the most tolerant of communities to take him in. The road was his home now, he was always traveling to avoid the inevitable heartache of being forced from a place that he might have come to love."
It's noted that the Ten Towns had been a temporary sanctuary, and while Drizzt isn't openly welcomed, his reputation got him respect and tolerance. Pretty sure Agorwal OPENLY offered Drizzt a place in Termalaine. But that doesn't fit the narrative here.
We're told that every so often, Drizzt drops back to check on poor huffing and puffing Regis. Regis is, of course, not here by choice. He's got a "belly too round for the road and legs too short to match the pumping strides of the dwarf" We are told however that he's been pushing himself to his physical limits and without complaining. He keeps glancing over his shoulder, and Drizzt notes that he's running from something.
We're told a bit about their route. They're heading west, past the Spine of the World, to Luskan. That should be fun, I vaguely remember Luskan as evil wizard town. And the prelude kind of trails off here. Which means that we basically just started with four guys walking in slow motion. I can dig it.
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Date: 2020-02-04 03:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-02-04 05:44 pm (UTC)