These books were a treasure to me in high school. As an escape to a fantasy world which helped prevent me from getting caught up in the drama and stress of adolescents and also to inspire me to try and be better to those around me as well as not to allow my environment to dictate my behavoir. I hope you enjoy them Mike.
His monologs on many occasions have made me stop and really rethink not only my life but also the choices I make in life, and I found they turned me into a more aware person and to be more compassionate to everything around me.
These books are great. They're usually split into trilogies and they vary in quality but they're never bad. Drizzt is a great protagonist and this setting is about as high fantasy as it gets. Also they do have their dark moments, by no means is this fantasy for babies. Plus the Drow and their culture is so fascinating and Salvatore absolutely nails them. Happy to see you're giving it a go.
1 thing I've always wanted to do was run a D&D campaign in which Ched Nasad and Menzoberanzzan are in an all out war for the favor of Llolth, just so I can delve more into Drow culture and society. And of course to have my boy Jarlaxle have some fun and make some profit too.
Drizzt brings great memories with his name... I read the first 9 books in school, I met him while playing Baldurs Gate 1 and was stunned, was killed by him in Baldurs Gate 2: Shadows of Amn and fought with his scimitar "Icingdeath" in Icewind Dale... Forgotten Realms is a great world for sure.
I’m excited about this series. So many people have been telling me how good it is. When I went to pick the book up at my local Barnes and Noble the cashier was just raving about it. 😂
@@mikesbookreviews I think it goes back to what you mentioned that people sometimes assume that just because a book is “easy” fantasy, “entry level” fantasy or flat out older stuff that it’s not worth reading it. I read the the other D&D books the Dragonlance Chronicles and I actually loved it.
Not just the trilogy! You gotta read the whole series, they get better and better! The stakes become higher, the stories more world encompassing, and the character development beyond what you'd see in other fantasy series
I love how these books feel like reading classic jrpgs. They’re action packed fun with some surprisingly deep and emotional moments every now and then. The creativity, battles and monster roster are great.
The Battle of Demogorgon between the Prince of Demons and Drizzt was truly EPIC!!!! How it all came to pass, and what happens afterword is one of my favorite parts.
After having read all books currently in this series, that initial monologue is even more impactful than it was at the start. Salvatore, to knows how to establish continuity in a character’s growth arc.
Super hyped for you to start a conversation on these. I started them in high school (20 years ago) and have gone back and forth. I think I'm like 9 behind but these books are absolutely great.
Excited that you're reading these and I'll definitely join you. I read The Dark Elf trilogy as a kid back in the 90s and then remember loving the Drow so much that I read the War of the Spider Queen series, too. That could be another Forgotten Realm series you might be interested in if the Drizzt books go well.
The amount you reply to people is amazing. Ive been reading r.a. salvatore annndd raymond e feist for a very long time. Helped me get through some tough times during the war. Im sure you will enjoy them and i look forward to seeing your reviews.
I’ve read the entire series several times. The first 6. Probably closer to 10. I do a lot of reading but these are my go too for nostalgia reading. If it takes you 15 years to read the entirety. It’s well worth it. If a movie is made and done correctly. It must be done right!! It will be a instant epic classic. IT MUST BE DONE RIGHT.
Great series! When I first became a serious reader in junior high it was because of Dragonlance and ForgottenRealms. You should get Brian Lee Durfee on the channel to talk about classic D&D novels.
Hey Mike, I'm excited to hear your take on these. I've been reading them since high school in the late 1900s and I think they still hold up! Truth and courage, sir!
I just bought The Crystal Shard the other day as my start into this series, so excited to see that you are reading soon. (Yes, I am one of those pub order types.) Looking forward to it.
I got to be honest with you Mike since I started my W.O.T. journey in 2019 and discovered your channel was at the same point it has been great. I have discovered so many books because of your channel. The faithful and fallen, The Dragon bone chair to name a few I have read because of you. This series Always intrigued me the covers would always catch me. This might be another on my radar now thanks bro.
Brian Lee Durphy is the best for this. I bought nearly every series on his top 40 fantasy series list and several from his top sci fi list. Some absolute gems in both!
My brother in law actually gave me a copy of Dark Elf (in Spanish) last Christmas and haven't given it much of a thought, it can be really fun going on a booktuber readalong for once, as I was late for RoW
Hi Mike! I started reading Forgotten Realms' novels some 20 years ago, and now being almost 40 I continue to do so, perhaps not so hungrily, but still have a soft spot for this world since it provided me with so much fun during my youth. Pertaining Drizzt collection, I've read his first 3 trilogies, and must say that I really love them, all 3 of them, yet perhaps I regard Icewind Dale a bit better than the others. The main character is awesome, so are his friends and the relationships between them (therein lies for me the best of these books), as well as some of his enemies (Artemis Entreri) and of course his unpronounceable loyal animal companion who I'm positive you'll love. Hope you enjoy the read, greetings from Argentina!
The Forgotten Realms novels with Drizzt, Guenhwyvar, Bruenor, Catti-brie, etc. are classic fantasy. They were my first introduction to the fantasy genre, besides the books that were required reading in school. I fell in love. I haven’t picked up Mr. Salvatore’s last books in this series but I’ve read the others. I look forward to hearing what you think.
These were the first books I got ahold of after reading Lord of the Rings and honestly I liked them more when I was young (they weren’t as difficult for me to read). These books will always be special to me. “He was as tough as the mountain stone.”
Mike - I gave up RU-vid for Lent, so I have spent the last few days catching up on my favorite creators. I am thrilled to come back to your channel and see what you have been reading. I love the way you approach reading and how you dissect the stories. Your openings are stunning and your hard work shines through. Just wanted to show some appreciation for continuing to fuel our love of reading. I hope you and your family are well and wish you all the best.
This series has been on my radar for a few years, but I haven’t gotten around to reading it yet. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts, Mike, but I’m not likely to be doing a read along as I’m currently about a third of the way through Words of Radiance & anticipate being stuck in Roshar for the foreseeable future. I’ll experience Drizzt vicariously through your channel, and maybe read it later.
That's good, because I'm no longer doing official read alongs. I'll join others (i.e. Codex Alera) but the days of hosting those things are over. I'm enjoying reading freedom too much. If you do read them eventually, I imagine those videos will always be there.
I found a hardcover of Homeland in the thrift store back in 2019. It's been sitting on my shelf collecting dust since then, but you've just convinced me to read it.
I used to play D&D with my younger brothers, a bunch of college and softball buddies from 1979 through 1985. It was pretty new still but was s ton of fun over pizzas and beers on Sunday afternoons and evenings. It led us all to read Lord of the Rings, the Hobbit and then fantasy in general. Most of the popular RPG video games from the 80's through present day were based on the concepts developed in table top role playing and D&D specifically. I recently got back into collecting D&D 5E books as well as many other RPG systems, table top board and war games, and expanding my personal fantasy library over the last 10 years. George RR Martin and ASOIAF was the first big epic series I jumped into and then I did my first read of The Wheel of Time and followed that with reading a bunch of other authors and series since. It is the best thing in the world. Just turned 60 last year and have 2 young grand children now but look forward to being the fun grandpa with all his toys and books that the kids will love coming to visit. Building out a hobby and gaming area in my basement now. DRIZZT and all the rest of these early series based on the D&D worlds have all been added to my collection and I will be reading them all sometime this year as well. I may jump in with you on this one.
That is a great story! My brother is 6 years older than me and I remember him and his friends playing (they wouldn't let me join ha ha). Apparently he is still friends with those guys and they still go to conventions together.
Nice shirt, was huge into Nightwish in Jr high/early highschool. At that time ironically I was also really into Drizzt books. I think you may really enjoy this journey.
This was my introduction to adult fantasy, I was 15 and went to the library with a friend who picked it out for me without knowing anything about it because there was so many books in the series and wanted to give me a challenge. I ended up loving it so much and purchased my own copies now as an adult. I have the first 12 books in the series and would love to re-read them along with you since its been about 15 years since I've read them but I have so many fond memories of loving them. Very excited for you to read them and see what you think!
I am so excited you are starting these. I read the first 2 trilogies a long time ago with my husband and had a blast. He's a long time D&D nerd 🤓. I look forward to your reaction on these and will definitely watch any video you put out about it. Sadly my library never recorded anything past this six books so I won't get a chance to read more any time soon. Enjoy the ride! 😀 The Drizzit is real! 😂
i hope you enjoy these series as much as i did/do , read them first in my teens (like feist and gemmel) and still reread them every year.o and just wanted to say awesome intro!
Warlord Chronicles is an outstanding series. In my top three. I have to admit, that after watching this video, I'm sold on this series, and will definitely dive into it later this year. My buddy has been bragging about this series for years, so it will also be cool to talk with him about it.
I'm so excited that you are reading these books! I reread Homeland just last year. As origin stories go, this one is so good. I think I will read along when you get to Exile.
I think you'll like these books. You made a good point ... just because something is a quick read doesn't mean it's bad. I can't wait to hear your reviews of them!
Dude this COULD NOT have been made at a better time (for me). I'm waiting for my copy of words of radiance to get here..it's taking its sweet time and didn't want to jump into a bigger book while waiting but thought what about drizzt? I stopped after the second but always have loved drizzt and have sojourn on my kindle. Well this video helped me choose to read sojourn while waiting for stormlight 2 to get here. Thanks for this video dude!
I was looking for another nice long series. My local used book store had all of the Legacy Of The Drow series in hard back. I'll be piecing all of the books together and have the on the tbr stack
This is a solid series. It’s not my favorite, but it’s a good palate cleanser and doesn’t take too much thought. But he is such a badass character. It’s a fun read.
Cool glad youre reading these. Im a Drizzt fan myself. If you think the Drizzt collection is big the forgotten realms as a whole has over 300 novels in it and that of course doesnt include the other D&D worlds. Its Nice that you can break them up into trilogies and read as much or little as you like. Hope you enjoy them.
The only exposure I've had with Drizzt is in Baldur's Gate 2. You encounter him and his party at some point during the game and then have the opportunity to team up with him and his crew for the final fight of the game. I knew there were books about him but I only know him from the video game. Seemed pretty cool there though.
Hi Mike! It is really great that you go on a trip with us along the Faerûn👏Drizzt and Guenhwyvar have been Fantasia’s favorite duo for me for over 23 years. I believe you will like this rich and diverse world.There are a lot of great characters, plots and awesome weapons in the series🤩 PS. I have read the first 25 parts of the series at least five times😂
I love the Drizzt books because they made me not feel so alone in thinking there are kind udadrow (drow who are from the Underdark) and I could connect with Drizzt about having views on spirituality that are like the traditional organized religions found in both our world and his. And it doesn't hurt that even though Drizzt is a tough warrior and amazing ethical/religious philosoper, he's a soft spoken cinnomin roll. Also, I absolutely adore Guenhwyvar. Black cats, big or small, are the best! If you're a D&D player, these books are a good way to "see" some awesome spells in action. Being centered around an udadrow, you get a really extensive view of how to properly exicute the spells *Faerie Fire* and *Darkness*. Those two spells are so fragging awazing to have in your back pocket to give you advantage in combat. (You'll need to pick up the warlock invocation Devil's Sight either via the normal warlock route or via the feat Eldritch Adept So you can see through the *Darkness* spell) Side Note: I've heard Guenhwyvar's name pronounced as both [Gwen-ah-var] & [Gwen-ih-var]. She's also nicknamed Guen [Gwen] in some of the later books.
@@mikesbookreviews You're in for a storytelling treat! I will say that are some things in *Homeland* and *Exile* that um... They'll make you go "WTF?!?"
I started the legend of drizzt recently and I read the first trilogy and it was amazing. Started the second trilogy immediately and it is shaping up to be very good as well!
I read these in junior high and high school in the 90's and i have such nostalgia for them so i will be glad to see what you think of them. While Drizzt can at times be OP in combat he still loses things that make his character very grounded. I stopped in like 2005 with the trilogy with the thousand orcs it was still good up to that at least. Of the books up to that point the first 2 in Dark Elf are my personal favorite(i love an origin story) and the second book Exile being my favorite. They are lightning fast reads. Hope you enjoy them as much as i did as a kid.
Thank you for diving into this! This is one of my favorite fantasy series. It's been probably three years, but I absolutely love this story and the world. A neon, underground, cavernous world governed by evil matriarchal great houses. Drizzt is an outcast because he's fundamentally good and doesn't have the Machiavellian impulses that his family does. There's some surprising philosophical depth in this story. Great characters, a wonderful animal companion, battle school (complete with melee tournaments), sorcerers, knives in the back, and... in book 2, you get to meet the svirfnebli. Just you wait! A truly great character arc with Drizzt as well. I predict that Zaknafein will be one of your favorite characters.
I've read all the books (up to Starlight Enclave) and out of all the fantasy and sci/fi books I've read these are my absolute FAVORITES! I still reread the prequels and other trilogies in the series just because I love the stories so much. Loved doing D&D campaigns that take place in the Underdark but spill into the Sword Coast and surrounding kingdoms.... My favorite is when an Ancient Black Dragon melted the city of Waterdeep into a pile of melted stone.... DOWN WITH THE LORDS OF WATERDEEP! 😅
Speaking of older books, I was just introduced to Mary Wells by The Library Ladder on book tube. I read The City of Bones and found it awesome. So, it’s true that older books are still worth our time, even if nobody talks about them anymore.
Oh absolutely. Been basically a walking talking door-to-door salesman for Robert E. Howard for a few years now. When folks realize how old it is they act as if it isn't worth their time and I just don't get that.
My son gave me the first book in this series a couple of months ago. A while back, he asked if I started it yet so I’ll go ahead and start this month. I probably would have kept putting it off but this has encouraged me to begin…
The Legend of Drizzt series is my guilty pleasure. It's kind of a popcorn-fantasy trilogy, really...but I love them anyway, and Drizzt has got to be the most endearing characters in fantasy. In fact, he's one of the few fantasy characters I have a genuine crush on, and while not obsessed, I do...know a lot, so I could talk about it if you desire. Also, he's certainly OP, but that doesn't stop him from getting his butt kicked more than once in the series. Not quite as bad as Dresden, but...yeah. He does get thumped.
