Sea of Swords: Legend of Drizzt: Paths of Darkness, Book 3

Drizzt and companions again prevail against difficult odds and Wolfgar finally finds himself again. Well done! Salvatore is a fabulous story teller.

Salvatore wraps up a supporting character arc and exploration into the topic of post traumatic stress disorder via Wulfgar the Barbarian. For most of the series Wulfgar is a stereotypical savage with a conveniently magical hammer. At the outset of Sea of Swords, Wulfgar has lost his hammer to a tribe of ogres and feminist pirates, adopted a daughter and wife from Auckney and Luskan. Wulfgar’s character is deeply explored surviving the Abyss and alcoholism. It is unfortunate hat Cattie Brie does not get the same depth until somewhat later in Salvatore’s novels. However Salvatore seems to evolve and challenge himself on his weak fronts so Cattie Brie starts to develop her own legacy in upcoming novels. It is true that there has not been an “all Cattie Brie” novel other than her third of The Companions . I hope alongside the development of Jarlaxle Zaknafein and Drizzt would also be a sorority or deadly rivalry between Yvonell and Cattie Brie.What is enjoyable to read at this point of the Drizzt series, is the way Salvatore can manipulate plotting and perspective to create suspense. Of course some of the flaws in Sea of Swords may not be the author’s fault but the format which is a Wizards of the Coast product which is bundled in sales alongside Forgotten Realms products. So the ending perhaps resolved a bit too quickly for all the characters to have their testing moment so to speak. For example, Cattie Brie takes out a whole pirate ship with one arrow, kind of the coolest thing anyone does in the whole story (except the antagonists tragic yet clever plot to assassinate Drizzt). This is a big difference the villains escaping or being drowned inside a sinking ship. Perhaps Salvatore can reanimate Sheila the Bloody Keel via undead Ebonsoul the pirate lich who is sworn revenge on Regis RumbleBelly.Salvatore’s ability to shift perspective and spend time in character arcs of Entreri and Wulfgar form the basis of an ever expanding world in which there is more and more love from the fans of all the characters. And it is a style of Salvatore’s, in the vein of Ed Greenwood, to give all the characters a heart and soul. This cinematic style will continue to be refined in the 20+ Drizzt novels that will follow Sea of Swords.

Considering how poorly I rated this novel’s predecessor I bet many of you, let’s be real, it’s only my narcissistic ass that’s reading this review, are wondering as to how Salvatore was able to save his glorious creation. Well. Jokes on me. It’s not that the forgotten realms were tarnished beyond repair; it’s that the story was a waste of time.If someone was reading the epic of Drizzt I would highly recommend that they go from 11 to 13. Skip 12 and revisit it if you want additional backstory; but be aware, you do not need to read 12 in order to maintain your understanding of this epic.+ combat is well done and the environment is as much of a danger as potion-enhanced ogres.+ Robillard

No more need to be said. unless you have a talented DM who writes his own dungeons this is as good as it gets.

Salvatore finally brings the Paths of Darkness series of the Dark Elf Saga to a close with "Sea of Swords". This novel was an enjoyable read that had several differences from previous novels that focused on Drizzt Do'Urden and the Companions of the Hall.For instance, instead of pursuing an enemy, or attempting to fight a war, the companions are instead pursuing a friend: the estranged Wulfgar. After defeating a band of rogues in Ice Wind Dale, evidence discovered by the rest of the Companions suggests Wulfgar might not be coping with his demons well. Drizzt and company set out after him and his lost magical war hammer. Along the way, they must come to grips with how they will welcome back their lost friend.A nice twist to this novel is the mystery of the elf Le'lorinel pursuit of Drizzt. Readers of the earlier novels of the series might figure this one out, but it comes to a dramatic and somewhat unexpected conclusion in the end. Salvatore combines a lot of plot lines and characters from other novels in this book, but this subplot was the most successful.The lack of Artemis Entreri, Jarlaxle, other drow elves, and a climatic war help make this novel fresh in comparison to others in the series. The enemies may seem beneath what the Companions are capable of, but they can't fight dragons every time. A pirate band and clan of ogres fill in nicely this time around.Spending less time than usual on action, more time on uniting characters from previous novels and resolving dangling issues, Slavatore has created and engaging fun read. Its not his best work, but it is still a fantastic story. If this is the last novel of the Dark Elf Saga, then it ends the series nicely, but I hope to read more. I would encourage fantasy fans to pick this one up.

The continued adventures of Dritzz & friends is awsome as a collector I'm more than happy to add to my collection, The seller has done me proud & I will use him again, R.A Salvatore is one of the finest modern day writers and pulls you into the adventure as if you are there watching the story unfold, from start to finnish a fantastic journey through a land well thought out and as real as England,a well deserved 5 stars and a good start to the full collection or for the new reader from the teenager to the older adult of both sexes.

The standard of Salvatore's writing doesn't alter, he's very readable with interesting characters and plots and his main character's reflective pieces are full of moral certitude and common sense. If only everyone was like Drizzt but then life would be a bit dull!

A good book. Well written. The characters have been around a while so it's difficult to add anything new to them. Still an enjoyable read.

I loved the first three books, the rest of the series was fairly enjoyable, I read this book because I wanted to finish the series. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone but fans of the series, who like me, wanted to finish the last book.

Product arrived on time and was as advertised. No complaints