The Dark Elf Trilogy : Gift Set Book

At first I berated myself for lumping the whole trilogy together before I would give my review; however, after finishing Sojourn, I am glad that I held my review until I got the perspective of all three books.

In a word: fantastic.

At first, I was unimpressed with Homeland, not liking the start. Once I got going with it, however, I realised that my problem was that I felt like the beginning (circumstances surrounding Drizzt's birth) was just plopped in the front. Once I started understanding the author's goal though, it started falling into place and I quickly fell in love, and despaired for Drizzt.

This was my first real knowledge of the Drow's way of life other than the terms "Underdark", "evil", and "Spider Queen", but as I started comprehending the complex politics surrounding a drow's life, I wanted to explain to Drizzt how screwed he really was. It seemed unbelievable to me that such an innocent could survive, and the book tantalizes you with the very thin line of survival regarding Drizzt's naiveity and Zak's protection.

Exile was by far the BEST book of the three, in my opinion. Wrapping up the links from Menzoberranzan and the hope for a better future, this book forces Drizzt to understand that evil is not everywhere. Belwar's forgiveness and comprehension that Drizzt actually saved Belwar's life was an wonderful story of friendship. Also Drizzt's futile but determined road to save Clacker keeps the reader hoping that by some miracle he can be saved, but inevitably, of course, that is impossible. After the clear heroism of Zak, Drizzt determines that he must do more than flee the drow city, but also the Underdark.

Sojourn is a book full of frustrating coincidences that seems to constantly screw Drizzt - mostly due to Drizzt's lack of knowledge of the surface cultures. However, the overall terribly sad story of Drizzt's struggle to maintain a life on the surface for seven years makes the stories of Mooshie and the moutain dwarves with Catti-brie so poignant and special, giving hope to Drizzt's future.

After all, Drizzt is still very young, despite all these experiences.