The Icewind Dale Trilogy

The Icewind Dale Trilogy:

Continuing my exploration of the Drizzt series, the second trilogy stands at a disadvantage to the first. That is, the Dark Elf Trilogy was written after this one as a prequel. This leads to some unfortunate side effects.

Let me start by saying that this is probably the least strong trilogy of the series. Not to say that it is bad, but it simply does not live up to the others.

What we find here is an author's first published work. As is often the case, the first published work is rarely the best. Looking at Eragon, we see something similar. It borrows from a lot of other stories and lacks any true creative spark.

In this respect Salvatore actually wins out. Although there are many stereotypical fantasy aspects to these books we see a creative spark, mostly in the main character. As I mentioned in my piece on the Dark Elf Trilogy, Drizzt is one of the most fascinating characters in the fantasy genre.

The series starts with The Crystal Shard. The main plot revolves around an arrogant, weak minded wizard named Akar Kessel. He stumbles upon a crystal shard that gives him great

power and he wreaks havoc on the land of Icewind Dale.

The stereotypes begin with the crystal shard itself, which falls very neatly into the same category as the one ring. It is a sentient artifact that wills it's wielder to do evil and it has great power. There are a lot of other basic fantasy, Lord of the Rings'ish, aspects to the story as well. Bruenor is a typical dwarf and Regis is a typical halfling.

Stereotypes aside, this does tell an intriguing story. The action is very well displayed and it is written in a manner that is both enjoyable and accessible. Drizzt becomes a great action hero, but with a deeper side to him, as he struggles to fit into a world where people of his kind are disdained.

The next book approaches another strong stereo type in fantasy. Bruenor wants to find his lost home, Moria, I mean mithral hall. While this premise is nothing new to the fantasy world, the actual events of the story are intriguing and unique in many ways. I think this book was where Drizzt's character really starts to flourish. In Icewind Dale, Drizzt was treated with disdainful tolerance, but as he sets out into the wide world, tolerance is lost and only disdain remains. This delves into some interesting themes about the character himself and how he reacts to situations where his life is unjustly threatened.

The story delves even deeper into his character as it introduces his antithesis, Artemis Entreri. Entreri quickly becomes another fascinating addition to the array of characters in the Drizzt

series as Drizzt begins to see himself as he would have been, had he stayed in the under dark. This view scares and disturbs him, providing another angle into the character's point of view.

The trilogy ends with an epic journey to save a friend. I'm not going to lie, this book contains one of the cheesiest things I have ever read in fantasy, and were it not for the fact that the rest of the story was so good I would have stopped reading the series. It all begins when Drizzt is heading south on a ship and Bruenor and Cattie-brie have been left behind. They are then provided with a magical flying chariot of fire that sweeps them across the sky back to Drizzt and Wulfgar.

From the moment I read that, I didn't like it and I couldn't believe it actually made it into the story.

Other than that the story is a grand adventure, with pirates and thieves, chases, escapes, torture, true love...

All in all, the Icewind Dale Trilogy is a good adventure and an interesting ride. Though it fails in comparison to the Dark Elf Trilogy, it is still worth reading a provides a bridge to the rest of the series.

There are problems with spelling on occasion that will take you out of the book for a moment, and because the Dark Elf Trilogy was written as a prequel, there are some continuity issues, but if they are sufficiently ignored, the story will still hold you until the end.