Reviews for Paths of Darkness

The average rating for Paths of Darkness based on 2 reviews is 2 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2019-10-19 00:00:00 Kok-kiong Loh Ah, Drizzt. A complete change of pace from the steady flow of mysteries that I've been consuming lately. Also very useful as a "sleeping pill" during a night of insomnia recently. No complicated plot to keep track of, no subtle details that I might lose sight of during my sleep-impaired state. I know that a lot of folks love these books. I find them a bit simple for my taste. I like a few more grey areas, not such black-or-white morality. I can appreciate the value of friendship that Salvatore dramatizes in these adventures, and they are entertaining enough that I don't hate reading them. This is a very good thing, as Salvatore has written a ton of them and I'll be reading a fair few more if I continue on with my reading project! Sometimes I find the cover art more entertaining than the actual story. I was disappointed that the six-armed snake lady didn't appear until the final pages of the novel. What an uncluttered closet she must have--only requiring gauntlets, a multi-weapon sword belt, and various bras! (I trust she has more luck that I do getting the straps to stay up!) Book number 328 in my Science Fiction and Fantasy Reading Project.

Review # 2 was written on 2011-07-23 00:00:00 Marjean Hellman This review contains spoilers. You're probably familiar with the phrase "jumping the shark."� It refers to an episode of Happy Days when the Fonz does a water ski jump over a shark. The phrase is meant to pinpoint the exact moment when a TV series starts to go downhill. Passage To Dawn inspired me to come up with a similar phrase:"Training the seal."� It's meant to pinpoint the exact moment when a fantasy book series starts to go downhill. "Training the seal"� refers to an incident in this book when Drizzt trains a seal to dive under water and find a magical statuette. Sound ridiculous? It is, even for a fantasy book. The seal incident is one of the many scenes that make Passage To Dawn the low point in the Drizzt saga. I nearly quit the series after reading it. Fortunately, I gave the dark elf another chance, and the later books sparked my interest again. Still, I've never been able to forgive Salvatore for the atrocities he committed in Passage To Dawn. Let's take the scene where Drizzt meets Cadderly, for example. Never mind that Salvatore indulged in his worst instincts by allowing them to meet -- the scene is so cloyingly sentimental it's sickening. Not only does the author nearly ruin the Drizzt series in one swift stroke, he nearly ruins Cadderly's story as well. The ending to the Cleric Quintet was appropriately bittersweet, with Cadderly sacrificing his love for his wife to his love for his god. But wait! He lived after all! And he and Drizzt automatically became best friends! And so did Danica and Catti-brie! Yay! Puke. One last thought: Salvatore must have been sleepwriting through the "climactic"� final scene where Wulfgar makes his reappearance. That's the only explanation for his straightforward approach to what should have been a moment of high drama. You weren't trying as hard on this one, Bob -- and it shows.