Product Description

Disappointed, Tuesday, September 07, 2010

I recently finished The Ghost King and I feel let down as a fan of this great series and these great heroes. I have followed the companions of the hall through every book, and have enjoyed thier exploits good/bad/and ugly across every page.

*** spoiler ***

For Salvatore to bring an end to the companions by killing Catti-Brie and Regis the way he did is horrible and unfitting. I am not a sap who feels heroes should make it through every fracas no matter how steep the odds. When Wulfgar sacrificed himself against the Yolchol it was a fitting heroic demise and would have been a fine end for the character if Salvatore had wished so. The same can be said for Bruenor's apparent demise against Shimmergloom. For Cattie-Brie to be assaulted by a random event that plagues her throughout the book until she dies is poor writing at best and poor loyalty to characters Salvatore has worked hard to create. For Regis to simply die of the same thing only after trying to help C.B. is inexcusable.
At least Cadderly sacrificed himself to save his friends and family, though him becoming "the ghost king" makes no sense at all.Cadderly recieved an end deserving(at least somewhat)of a character we have followed through multiple books and come to love. Why does Salvator write better apparent deaths for charcters than actual ones. Ivan Bouldershoulder got a great death scene in this book, one that was heroic and sad altogether, only to be resurrected in 2 chapters.

Iunderstand that in the overall plotline C.B. had to die soon. Drizzt would out live her by many years. It would make for a poor story to simply keep her around as an elderly woman married to a young Drizzt to eventually die of old age. As bad as that would be, it is preferrable to her end in this story. For Regis to be simply thrown in as victim to the same thing is poor story telling as well. One of the few good passages in this book is Drizzt's soliloquy on being a hero. For Salvatore to possess such insight it is puzzling how can he discard 2 of his beloved characters.

The further development of Jarlaxle was one of the few engaging parts of the book. He has become my favorite character in the series and I can only hope he has a magic item that saves him from bad writing and an impotent death scene. It would be nice to see another sell-swords trilogy and find out what has happened to Entreri.

The interaction between Pwent and Athrogate was amusing as well.

As a whole the book seemed as if everyone was simply traveling the whole book to reach the big battle at the end with little discovery along the way. In the end I think the characters are all still unsure of where they have been and what has happened (I know the reader is) other than losing some of thier closest frinds and family randomly.

I know if you are a fan of the series as I am you will read this book. I hope only to prepare you for the dissapointment and anger you will feel when you finish.

Rating: 2 out of 5

BOOOOOOO!, Monday, September 06, 2010

What the heck was this book about? Why did two important characters get killed off in such an unceremoniously way. Out of nowhere Regis gets sucked into where Catti-brie is and we never read about him again until the final pages. Wasn't he supposed to be alive to take part in the opening of the pirate king but now he is dead all of a sudden! Couldn't they have both gone out fighting and had a warriors death? How and why is Cadderly now the ghost king? There are so many unanswered questions that I had after reading this book. Why did Ivan have his axe one minute then all he had was two rocks, then he had his axe again? This shows how the book was rushed and put together with out much thought at all. As loyal fans to this great series we feel let down with the past two books. Get rid of the hippie peace loving Drizzt and bring back the warrior he used to be! If it keeps going this way, in the next book he will have traded in his swords for a bong and a dime bag! For the sake of your fans, fix this series Salvatore!

Rating: 1 out of 5

good read, Monday, September 06, 2010

was a good read and good story but it seemed r.a. salvadore put to much into fight scene discriptions. while i know this is one of his strong points i feel it was a little over done in this book. while not one of his best works still a good story and worth the read if you enjoy the drizzt stories.

Rating: 4 out of 5