celtic_canadian's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed the book my biggest complaint if you can call it that is that Drizzt himself does not have a lot to do with this book. This book is about the companions and how they come back into his life if you're looking for a book that focuses on Drizzt then I cannot recommend this one otherwise very enjoyable read and highly recommended.
haahu's review against another edition
3.0
It seems like there's a lot of backstory I'm missing and a lot of references to possibly over a dozen books before this, so a lot of the stuff wasn't very exciting.
syssneck's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
I'm not sure, what to make of this Drizzt novel. I went in with high expectations and was ready, for whatever this 'reboot' was coming up with, or was I?
I missed Wulfgar throughout the book. We get so much unnecessary details in Cattie-Bries and Regis' chapters, but we don't get to read the growing up of Wulfgar? And Drizzt didn't even show up, until the very end, but he is the only one on the (quite beautiful) cover. I didn't even understand, what the main plot, the sundering, is about or why Lolth and Mielikki are interested in that. (I didn't look anything up, I expected the book to explain that to me).
The book dragged on with some terribly miniscule details, but left out interesting parts (like the whole childhood and teenage years of Wulfgar?) and then the ending was rushed on just a few pages.
Also, having read most of the Drizzt books before that one, I sometimes had the feeling, that the reborn characters acted out of role and quite contradictory to what made them how they are. Yes, I get it, they were reborn and the are supposed to change (a few) character traits, but still I sometimes had this nagging feeling of: "Oh, Bruenor wouldn't have said/done that."
In the end, they all met up again, and I really questioned the purpose of the long build up. Was it, just to give us some loose ends for the next novel? All that went before (basically 95 % of the novel) doesn't seem to matter anymore at this point? Maybe I'm wrong, I haven't read the next one in line yet.
I really liked the meetup with the Harpells, albeit it was cut short.
It's such a bummer, when you realize, that most of the other characters are quite like NPCs and are just there to support the main characters or give them some trouble. The side characters are almost all extremely flat
It was good, to read again about the Companions of the Hall, but at the same time I was disappointed and it seems like Salvatores best novels are all in the past now... If I have to read "indeed" one more time ... I'll throw up. I dare you, take a shot every time you read "indeed" and you will pass out before chapter 4. Hell, even the last word of the book is "indeed". How much can you love that frickin' word and how can any editor let that pass? End of rant. I still love Drizzt and the Companions of the Hall.
Spoiler
I missed Wulfgar throughout the book. We get so much unnecessary details in Cattie-Bries and Regis' chapters, but we don't get to read the growing up of Wulfgar? And Drizzt didn't even show up, until the very end, but he is the only one on the (quite beautiful) cover. I didn't even understand, what the main plot, the sundering, is about or why Lolth and Mielikki are interested in that. (I didn't look anything up, I expected the book to explain that to me).
The book dragged on with some terribly miniscule details, but left out interesting parts (like the whole childhood and teenage years of Wulfgar?) and then the ending was rushed on just a few pages.
Also, having read most of the Drizzt books before that one, I sometimes had the feeling, that the reborn characters acted out of role and quite contradictory to what made them how they are. Yes, I get it, they were reborn and the are supposed to change (a few) character traits, but still I sometimes had this nagging feeling of: "Oh, Bruenor wouldn't have said/done that."
In the end, they all met up again, and I really questioned the purpose of the long build up. Was it, just to give us some loose ends for the next novel? All that went before (basically 95 % of the novel) doesn't seem to matter anymore at this point? Maybe I'm wrong, I haven't read the next one in line yet.
I really liked the meetup with the Harpells, albeit it was cut short.
It's such a bummer, when you realize, that most of the other characters are quite like NPCs and are just there to support the main characters or give them some trouble. The side characters are almost all extremely flat
It was good, to read again about the Companions of the Hall, but at the same time I was disappointed and it seems like Salvatores best novels are all in the past now... If I have to read "indeed" one more time ... I'll throw up. I dare you, take a shot every time you read "indeed" and you will pass out before chapter 4. Hell, even the last word of the book is "indeed". How much can you love that frickin' word and how can any editor let that pass? End of rant. I still love Drizzt and the Companions of the Hall.
pidgevorg's review against another edition
3.0
I can't pinpoint exactly why, but for some reason this book dragged for me. I couldn't bring myself to care about this giant deus ex machina reincarnation set-up with its predetermined ending, the characters' interactions seemed stiff. And I missed Drizzt and his peculiar brand of unintentional moral idiocy. So I confess--I ended up skipping to the end.
Drizzt doesn't show up until the very end, although his little introspective essays are there, as usual. Also, why no more Entreri? He was such an interesting character. But no, he's not in the book either, other than in one of Drizzt's “essays” (aka rants). Drizzt complains (once again) about how Entreri doesn't measure up to the Companions of the Hall. He's been going on about it since Entreri was introduced as a character, really, he just doesn't seem to be able to quit, even when Entreri is not even in the book. And he mentions Entreri 6 times by name in this particular essay, compared to 2 times for Catti-brie. Must be a real sore point for him. Anyway, I missed them and their little frenemance. For a hot minute there in the previous books I thought Salvatore was actually going to use it as a vehicle for character development. But no, he spends this whole book bringing the Companions back to exactly what they were before, and, to make things even more pointless, implies ahead of time that they'll definitely get there. Hopefully future books will pick up again.
Drizzt doesn't show up until the very end, although his little introspective essays are there, as usual. Also, why no more Entreri? He was such an interesting character. But no, he's not in the book either, other than in one of Drizzt's “essays” (aka rants). Drizzt complains (once again) about how Entreri doesn't measure up to the Companions of the Hall. He's been going on about it since Entreri was introduced as a character, really, he just doesn't seem to be able to quit, even when Entreri is not even in the book. And he mentions Entreri 6 times by name in this particular essay, compared to 2 times for Catti-brie. Must be a real sore point for him. Anyway, I missed them and their little frenemance. For a hot minute there in the previous books I thought Salvatore was actually going to use it as a vehicle for character development. But no, he spends this whole book bringing the Companions back to exactly what they were before, and, to make things even more pointless, implies ahead of time that they'll definitely get there. Hopefully future books will pick up again.
mferrante83's review against another edition
3.0
The Companions mark’s the first R. A. Salvatore penned Forgotten Realms novel that I’ve read in quite some time. With the Wizards of the Coast wrapping up the playtests for the latest edition of Dungeons and Dragons the Realms has been targeted for a bit of a facelift via a major cross-media event called The Sundering. While I was at one times a voracious consumer of the Forgotten Realms novels, particularly in my teens, I have since moved on and while I’ve checked back in here and there I’ve not followed along too closely with the adventures of Drizzt Do’Urden and the Companions of Mithral Hall. While R. A. Salvatore’s The Crystal Shard was not the first Forgotten Realms novel (that title belongs to Douglas Niles’ Darkwalker on Moonshae) it wasn’t too far behind and given the wild popularity of Drizzt and the Companions throughout the years it seem appropriate that the simply title The Companions kicks off The Sundering.
The Companions is a contemplative novel that is as much a meditation on the fictional past of the Forgotten Realms as it is the start to a new era in the Realms’ history. Despite his prominent place on the cover of the novel Salvatore’s iconic Drow hero appears more in the background instead focusing on the rest of the titular Companions. Indeed the focus of the novel is on reborn figures of Catti-brie, Bruenor, and Regis. The Sundering is an event that looms over the novel and the Resurrection and rebirth of Drizzt’s deceased friends marks the opening gambit of the ranger’s patron diety Mielikki in events to come. Over the course of the novel the three companion who chose to return to life get a second chance to become something more than what they were while at the same time attempting to cling to who they were.
The Companions is a novel that moves on a brisk pace and the tonality walks a fine line between nostalgia drenched reminiscence of the novels early and final chapters and contemplation on the nature of identity both in the new lives of Regis, Catti-brie, and Bruenor and the interstitial meditations in Drizzt’s journal. The latter concept is indeed a fascinating one and Salvatore keeps this inner examination of identity as light as he is able while also keeping the novels plot moving forward. In the end this is also the problem as the novel’s “plot” so to speak feels largely nonexistent. The novel has a beginning and an end but is the middle which feels a bit listless and unfocused. While the Companions are brought back to aid Drizzt at a particular place and time the period getting there offers little insight into the what they need to do or what threat the world faces. Indeed I have to wonder if some other format, something similar to John Scalzi’s serialized Human Division, might have better served the story at hand rather than the traditional novel format.
The Sundering, for all its hype as a cross-media Realms defining event is largely a marketing ploy to drive sales. This isn’t something I really have a problem with but the opening salvo in that event seems like a pandering attempt to cater to the long-term fans nostalgia for the Realms as it was. While shared world novels appeal to a particular subset of readers it seems utterly strange to me that the opening work in a major cross-media event doesn’t even attempt to cater to new readers. While as a past fan of Drizzt and the Companions I enjoyed The Companions I don’t know if I can honestly that say that this is a particularly good novel. It certainly has moments but it doesn’t feel to me like it holds together as a cohesive whole; a fact which isn’t helped by what felt like a rushed and confused ending.
As the kick-off to what is supposed to a MAJOR SUPER HUGE BIG EVENT The Companions isn’t the sort of wiz-bang spectacle one would expect. Perhaps the writers of the Forgotten Realms learned a harsh a lesson from the poorly disguised editorial handwaving of the Spellplague, but the editorial mantra of the “return to core” seems to be carrying across everything that carries the Dungeons and Dragons brand at a much slower pace than the Spellplague did. The Companions marks a slow and contemplative start to The Sundering that will face a tough audience of readers from various portions of the Forgotten Realms’ history. I’m certainly on board for the forseeable future and I will be looking forward to see how Paul S. Kemp takes his characters into the Realms’ old/new past/future.
The Companions is a contemplative novel that is as much a meditation on the fictional past of the Forgotten Realms as it is the start to a new era in the Realms’ history. Despite his prominent place on the cover of the novel Salvatore’s iconic Drow hero appears more in the background instead focusing on the rest of the titular Companions. Indeed the focus of the novel is on reborn figures of Catti-brie, Bruenor, and Regis. The Sundering is an event that looms over the novel and the Resurrection and rebirth of Drizzt’s deceased friends marks the opening gambit of the ranger’s patron diety Mielikki in events to come. Over the course of the novel the three companion who chose to return to life get a second chance to become something more than what they were while at the same time attempting to cling to who they were.
The Companions is a novel that moves on a brisk pace and the tonality walks a fine line between nostalgia drenched reminiscence of the novels early and final chapters and contemplation on the nature of identity both in the new lives of Regis, Catti-brie, and Bruenor and the interstitial meditations in Drizzt’s journal. The latter concept is indeed a fascinating one and Salvatore keeps this inner examination of identity as light as he is able while also keeping the novels plot moving forward. In the end this is also the problem as the novel’s “plot” so to speak feels largely nonexistent. The novel has a beginning and an end but is the middle which feels a bit listless and unfocused. While the Companions are brought back to aid Drizzt at a particular place and time the period getting there offers little insight into the what they need to do or what threat the world faces. Indeed I have to wonder if some other format, something similar to John Scalzi’s serialized Human Division, might have better served the story at hand rather than the traditional novel format.
The Sundering, for all its hype as a cross-media Realms defining event is largely a marketing ploy to drive sales. This isn’t something I really have a problem with but the opening salvo in that event seems like a pandering attempt to cater to the long-term fans nostalgia for the Realms as it was. While shared world novels appeal to a particular subset of readers it seems utterly strange to me that the opening work in a major cross-media event doesn’t even attempt to cater to new readers. While as a past fan of Drizzt and the Companions I enjoyed The Companions I don’t know if I can honestly that say that this is a particularly good novel. It certainly has moments but it doesn’t feel to me like it holds together as a cohesive whole; a fact which isn’t helped by what felt like a rushed and confused ending.
As the kick-off to what is supposed to a MAJOR SUPER HUGE BIG EVENT The Companions isn’t the sort of wiz-bang spectacle one would expect. Perhaps the writers of the Forgotten Realms learned a harsh a lesson from the poorly disguised editorial handwaving of the Spellplague, but the editorial mantra of the “return to core” seems to be carrying across everything that carries the Dungeons and Dragons brand at a much slower pace than the Spellplague did. The Companions marks a slow and contemplative start to The Sundering that will face a tough audience of readers from various portions of the Forgotten Realms’ history. I’m certainly on board for the forseeable future and I will be looking forward to see how Paul S. Kemp takes his characters into the Realms’ old/new past/future.
tmdawson's review against another edition
5.0
You can find a review of this novel at my blog: http://wearywriter.wordpress.com/2013/07/21/the-companions-by-r-a-salvatore/
frazzld's review against another edition
4.0
A good start to what looks like may be a complete revamp of the Forgotten realms and a reunite of some of my favorite characters.
texaswolfman's review against another edition
5.0
This is Salvatore at his best. The Companions of the Hall have returned!!