Charwoman Gene said:
NOOOO! DO NOT WANT!!!!!!!!!!
At first I thought the same thing. But you know what? I can't imagine what to replace him with.
The Forgotten Realms is BIG. And there's no central thing (like Sigil, or the City of Greyhawk, or the Heroes of the Lance) that really captures the whole setting. The only alternative I could think of would be some massive, almost abstract mosaic of gods, symbols, cities, races, etc. etc. that make up the Realms. That could be cool, but it would be really "busy" and not iconic. I can see why they made the decision they did.
What I am sure of is that I prefer Drizzt to Elminster, and that the art itself (taken on its own) is not bad at all. Drizzt may annoy some people, but as "High Level NPC's" go, he's the least interfering of the ones they could have picked. Since he can't teleport into your campaign at will, and he's pretty focused on his own little part of the world, he's very unlikely to actually interfere with a particular group's adventuring shenanigans.
I would have preferred a Drizzt "in the world" though, not with the background all fuzzed out. This is a Campaign Setting book after all, not a folio of NPC's (I hope). Drizzt on the walls of Silverymoon, or at the gates of Mithril Hall would have been far superior (IMO).
I am also disappointed that the book looks like "Just another D&D Rulebook." I always thought the setting books should have their own visual style, so as to help establish their own identity. Yeah, FR has got its history, special races and rules, etc. etc., but people form opinions emotionally (it's not a rational process), and how the font, page layout and logos influence a reader all impact their opinion of the setting. I fear that if Eberron (and whatever books they release in the future) have the exact same layout and such, then they will lose part what makes them unique settings.