Servant of the shard Book

A fascinating foray into the minds and motives of, and the relationships between, some of our heroes' most enduring nemeses. Although I found it a little difficult at first to grapple with all-bad-guys-all-the-time, it actually turned out to be quite gripping once we started to pick up on some interesting twists. I have to say that Jarlaxle and Entreri made for far more unpredictable protagonists than Drizzt's friends ever did, and the complex character development Salvatore weaves into the ever-twisting plot is the best facet of the novel. The shrewd drow mercenary and the singleminded human assassin may look like they have much in common on the surface (metaphorically speaking, as obviously they physically look nothing alike), but watching how they play off one another only shows up their differences. They made excellent foils, always playing up to and off of one another's strengths and weaknesses. I found it remarkable that they could have spent so much time together and one would still be constantly surprised by the tricks the other would pull out of his sleeve. The addition of Crenshinibon made for an interesting character twist, also (though the Crystal Shard isn't technically a character), and warped the intricacy of their interactions even further. In the Drizzt books, I always found Entreri rather annoying, but I think my perspective of him was totally reshaped by this book. And Jarlaxle is still just as suavely awesome as before. My respect for both of them was well expanded. I also liked seeing more of Dwahvel Tiggerwillies, seeing a bit more of Cadderly, Danica, and the irrepressible Bouldershoulders, and watching how all of their interactions'with Entreri in particular'further intrigued the character development.



I actually found this the most compelling of Salvatore's novels, character-wise, since The Dark Elf Trilogy dealing with Drizzt's childhood in Menzoberranzan. And the last line of the epilogue only bolstered its draw'I'm definitely eager to leap into The Promise of the Witch-King!