The Legend of Drizzt: Book I

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One of the most comforting continuities in the world is that in any genre, be it film or literature, there will be good and bad. Clichés and schlock don’t tend to get positive reviews, which I believe is fair, but also a shame as schlock can be just as entertaining as a well-crafted masterwork. It’s important to remember that cheesy genre pieces are in existence because they can sometimes be the anchor that keeps us grounded during trying times. This week my anchor –providing much needed escape opportunities from these mad times- was R.A. Salvator’s first instalment in his long-running Legend of Drizzt series.

This trilogy (known as The Dark Elf Trilogy) contains books 1 to 3 (Homeland, Exile, and Sojourn) which introduce readers to the character of Drizzt: a dark elf or drow, who grows up seeing the vicious and brutal way his kind lives and dreaming of a better life. Guided by moral principals uncommon in a drow, Drizzt goes against everything his family and race believe in to escape the dark and horrid caverns of the Underdark and start a new life on the surface. Along the way he has many adventures: facing horrifying monsters, revenge schemes from his own family, and much prejudice and adversity, but through it all he clings to his good nature as he searches for a better life.

Set in the Forgotten Realms of the Dungeons & Dragons universe, Legend of Drizzt is certainly an enjoyable, but highly pretentious and clichéd high fantasy read. It’s structured a bit like a gritty Netflix series, with various scenes taking place at the same time and providing the audience with truth behind all of the misperceptions and mistakes. While it’s always fun to know things the characters do not, there is an awful lot of that happening in this book and half the time the deceptions and misperceptions are not really rectified so there are a lot of missed opportunities for payoff from them.

Drizzt as a central protagonist is kind of bland, a clichéd D&D character if ever there was one, however his narrative is still a compelling one and the various friends and foes that he meets along the way provide many moments of laughter, relief, and sadness.

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As a D&D player myself, I got an extra level of enjoyment from the recognisable beasts and monsters from either my own game experiences or from reading The Monster Manual. Plus, there is a certain Dungeons & Dragons campaign feeling that accompanies each adventure that I rather enjoyed.

As a fantasy tale itself, The Legend of Drizzt is definitely no Lord of the Rings, however its clichés and schlockiness make it a compelling and easy read, perfect for the voyeur, and if you’re a D&D player like myself, it’s a cool delve into the lore and geographies of the Forgotten Realms.

Author: R. A. Salvator

Published:  25^th Anniversary edition, published in 2013 by Wizards of the Coast LLC. Contains the complete text from December 2005 edition of Homeland, March 2006 edition of Exile, and June 2006 edition of Sojourn.