The Sundering Begins - "The Companions" by R.A. Salvatore (spoilers)

[Azgulor]

From what I understand, the goddess Mielikki asks them to accept reincarnation, because "Drizzt needs them," and all but Wulfgar agree.

Wow, that's even dumber than I thought it would be.

 

[Blackwarder]

Personally, I read the book and really enjoyed it, I don't care for all the new characters and for me the companions of the hall are the iconic adventuring band.

I'm not going to comment on the book itself, but I see that some folks are answering people questions regarding the book in a dissinginiouse and belittling way that portray a slightly different picture than the one actually describe in the books (another option is that they just didn't read the book beyond the first couple of chapters) also, in order to really understand what's happening you need to know what happend in prior books IMO.

The book does not answer what happens with the sundering, it actually raise more questions than it answer, it show the beginning of the sundering (1479 DR) but just in how the characters see it, it doesn't answer what's happening and we don't really know what's going to happen and why, I can tell you one thing though, I can't wait to learn more.

Warder

 

[delericho]

Written by R.A. Salvatore, "The Companions" revisits the characters of his original book – “The Crystal Shard” – and of its many sequels: Bruenor, Regis and Catti-Brie.

Readers more up-to-date with Salvatore’s novels than me will realise there is a basic problem with using those characters: they're all dead! However, as comics have taught us, death does not have to be permanent. The book deals with how they come back to life and their adventures before they join up with Drizzt again.

So much for Salvatore's claim that they (he and Ed Greenwood) were going to do this RSE 'right'. That sounds... beyond awful.

 

[Derren]

So much for Salvatore's claim that they (he and Ed Greenwood) were going to do this RSE 'right'. That sounds... beyond awful.

They can still kill off Drizzt at the end of the Sundering.

 

[dd.stevenson]

The introductory chapters are written surprisingly poorly, with some clumsy exposition and an excess of commas, but the book improves swiftly once the real heart of the story begins. The book alternates between the viewpoints of the three companions as they are reborn as infants and face the challenges of being adults in children's bodies. Yes, that's right, they have to go through childhood again!

Thanks for posting this review. Personally I flipped through the first couple pages on amazon and then pressed my browser's back button in disgust because they were so stupidly written. But if you say it gets a lot better then I might actually give it a shot someday.

 

[JonWake]

Must be hard to drink your your pinky that high in the air.

Dude's written over 50 novels. 5-0. He's made his living in the hardest profession out there. Any chucklehead can go out and get a job in IT and write a novel on their weekends. Doing it day-in, day out for thirty years, and working on videogames, and working on comics? Respect.

 

[JamesonCourage]

Must be hard to drink your your pinky that high in the air.

Dude's written over 50 novels. 5-0. He's made his living in the hardest profession out there. Any chucklehead can go out and get a job in IT and write a novel on their weekends. Doing it day-in, day out for thirty years, and working on videogames, and working on comics? Respect.

I haven't read any of his works (or any D&D literature, for that matter), so I have no horse in this race. However, is it really odd to you that people critique the public work of someone else?

There are lots of old famous celebrities I can't stand, old career politicians I have no respect for, old chefs whose food I don't think is that great or outright dislike, old poets whose work I avoid, etc. The dude may have been writing for a long time, but that doesn't particularly mean anything to me. It's more about my preferences than how long this one dude's been writing books. You know?

If that makes me snobbish, so be it. I'll accept being labeled "snobbish" if that means I can judge whether I like someone's work, and even voice my displeasure at it. Small price to pay, really. As always, play what you like

 

[MerricB]

Thanks for posting this review. Personally I flipped through the first couple pages on amazon and then pressed my browser's back button in disgust because they were so stupidly written. But if you say it gets a lot better then I might actually give it a shot someday.

It's astonishing how badly the first couple of chapters are written - but after that I had no complaints and enjoyed the prose! It's very weird.

 

[MerricB]

So much for Salvatore's claim that they (he and Ed Greenwood) were going to do this RSE 'right'. That sounds... beyond awful.

It really isn't that awful. The way Catti-brie was killed (and where she went in her afterlife) set up the potential of the resurrection.

 

[Warbringer]

It really isn't that awful. The way Catti-brie was killed (and where she went in her afterlife) set up the potential of the resurrection.

... it's also a world of gods, and based on a game where resurrection happens all the frigging time !!!

that said; first couple of chapters are a slog ... (but a quick slog)