Bob Salvatore's favorite word...

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stoic, stoically, stoicism.

I think it's funny how often he uses it.

 

I'd have thought his favourite word was "Drizzt".

And his favourite phrase "I wonder how many more run of the mill Drizzt novels I can churn out before people wise up and realise it's the same book over and over again..."

 

At least two hundred.

 

I haven't read any Salvatore. Based on many of the comments posted here, I haven't been even curious. Is his stuff that bad?

 

It started off okay - in fact the first Drizzt book, "The Crystal Shard", was actually pretty decent. But as the books have gone by, Drizzt and Co have stopped being the interesting characters they were to begin with and turned into the cliched bunch you generally find in poorly written fantasy novels: terrifically good at fighting, immune to fear, and winning every fight no matter what the odds purely because the writer likes them and doesn't want to kill them off. Salvatore doesn't help matters much by staging a major fight in almost every chapter. When you've just read through the 20th fight in the last 100 pages you're practically dreading turning the page in case there's another fight looming...

And the characters, once quite good, have now the depth of cardboard cutouts. I tend to kill them in BG2 more because I find them irritating in the books than because it's a good idea.

 

Hmm... I found just the opposite, regarding Salvatore's writing. I thought as the books progressed, the Drizzt character became more complex and developed -- constantly at odds with the inner turmoil of being away from the underdark. The books were great "page-turners" -- I've read them all and frankly never got tired of his style, his characters or his settings. The books were far more than "Drizzt" books -- Wulfgar, Cattie-Brie, Regis, Entreri, Jarlaxle -- these characters virtually leap off the pages and remain memorable to this day. Of all the books listed on SP, this series of books represent some of the most entertaining and heart-warming stories out there. A definite must-read, imo.

 

Ditto on what Spelly said. I love Salvatore's writing style, his characters, and his storylines - sure, they seem a bit invincible at times, but there's nothing at all wrong with that!

I should have added "and I'm gonna read them all" to my previous post!

 

I found that the Dark Elf Trilogy was good, but then, I haven't read that in ages and my opinion may be influenced by the fact that they were the first books to get me into reading fantasy (hell, before that I didn't know that fantasy books existed).

Hmm, I forgot to mention that the rest of them suck.

 

I haven't read the recent Drizzt books (still trying to summon up the willpower) but of the early ones:

The Crystal Shard: definitely the best Drizzt book and Salvatore's best work full stop. Drizzt wasn't so much the main character here and his background was a little shadowy.

Streams of Silver: pretty much the same as the first book but not quite as involving.

The Halfling's Gem: this was where the books started to go downhill. Endless battles followed by more endless battles with brief interludes inbetween for some shorter battles.

The Dark Elf series: good and bad points. Good: nice seeing where Drizzt came from and why he turned out different to all the other drow. Bad: endless battles.

I can't remember enough about the others to really comment on them.

 

I agree with Spellbound, as well. I've read all the Drizzt books so far, and I don't think it's so bad. Plus, all the little narrations(like some sort of philosophy) are pretty good as well, sometimes making me rethink something in my life. Salvatore started the New Jedi Order series as well, with the book 'Vector Prime'(I like that one too).

 

Salvatore's character progression is quite well done I might add. How he balances the parts of Entreri and Jarlaxle is also impressive, giving quite a number of plot twists and so forth. Actually, I look forward to reading more of Drizzt and Co. but not because of them, but the people they would encounter in their journeys. Salvatore has a knack for adding in characters from his previous books no matter how farfetched it could be.
For example, why must Drizzt and Co go to Cadderly to dispose of the Chrenshinibon(sp?) instead of the almighty El?

But no matter, I still like the way we twists the fates of his characters, I still wanna know more off Jarlaxle and Entreri, who I still think have a pivotal role in the future of Drizzt's life.

 

He uses the word Waggle A LOT in the Hunter's Blades Series. Look through the book, waggle is used extensively, I swear. I was surprised at how frequent it was in The Lone Drow. Think The Thousand Orcs uses it a lot too.

 

The series after the Legacy of the Drow was brutal. I didn't like the two with Drizzt, nor did I like Servant of the Shard, but Spine of the World was decent.

The Thousand Orcs was alright, but the Lone Drow was great. By far the best Drizzt book so far. So much happens in such a small setting. Most of it takes place on the cliffs and it still keeps you interested.

 

Although they are set in Salvatore's own world and not in FR I would recommend people to take a look at his demonwars series. A very good read and interesting world. The series (actually two) feature 7 books and his newest book, the Highwayman, plays in that world, too, but centuries before the events of the demonwars series.

 

Yeah, I'm thinking that Nightbird is Salvatore's alter-ego. And the parallells between Drizzt and Elbryan are interesting.

 

The Demonwar books and its followers start out pretty decent but then it degenerates into something truly foul and awful, easily among the worst books I have ever read.

 

I really enjoyed crystal shard. Afterward I didn't read the other two for ages but when I did I was a little dissapointed. Still they weren't that bad. Has anybody read Vector Prime? I thought it was a good start to the new jedi order saga, but the series went SERIOUSLY downhill. I only got halfway through before i got fed up and stopped. Vector prime was good though.

 

I guess I'm like most of you...really liked The Crystal Shard, enjoyed SoS well enough, but got a bit turned off with THG. Drizzt was great, but I liked the books more when they gave equal time to the other characters.

On the plus side, those book were my first window into the Realms, and I've enjoyed my stay.

Elf Only Inn has a storyline at the moment that relates to this...

 

Salvatore is my third favorite author, after Martin and Goodkind, for the same reasons as Spelly.

 

The most used word (in the Dark Elf Trilogy at least) must be elation, and various conjugations of it.