Project Realms Reads discussion

Published January 1989

Schedule:

May 1st - May 9th Chapters 1 - 7
May 10th - May 17th Chapters 8 - 15
May 18th - May 23rd Chapters 16 - End


I'm a little sad that basically none of this book takes place in Icewind Dale even though it's the second book in the Icewind Dale series. But it's nice to see Drizzt and co back again!

If you're reading this please feel free to post any thoughts/discussion ideas here!

Raechel wrote: "I'm a little sad that basically none of this book takes place in Icewind Dale even though it's the second book in the Icewind Dale series. But it's nice to see Drizzt and co back again!"

I was thinking the same thing. The trilogy may have been better named The Search for Mithral Hall or To Find Mithral Hall or something like that.

Salvatore writes Entreri well and any time he appears in Streams of Silver we see the closest that he gets to good character development. Akar Kessell was such a bust as a shallow, vapid bad guy. I think that so far, the book is best when Entreri is 'on-screen.'

Anyway, thanks for posting this. I am about halfway through.

Spoilers through chapter 15 are allowed!

I did finish this book earlier this month and I was pretty happy with it. Since the series is called The Icewind Dale Trilogy I wish they'd kept it IN Icewind Dale, but I do like seeing the different places Drizzt and co visit. WIth so many books and campaigns set more south and along the coast, it's nice to see what's inland.

And we are getting some good character development! In The Crystal Shard I was a bit annoyed with Catti-Brie's character and how she was essentially just a Potential Love Interest. She is getting stronger and showing more personality in this book, though she does suffer from some Sexy Lamp-itis.

It's also nice to see Drizzt's companions get to have their own moments to shine, so it's not always The Drizzt Show where he swoops in to save his hapless friends. Character development does need to be slow to show it being done realistically, so I hope this trend continues in the third book.

Raechel wrote: "I did finish this book earlier this month and I was pretty happy with it."
I am so glad Streams of Silver was a joy for you! I am struggling with it, but I am pressing through and should be done this weekend. I am in or around chapter nineteen, where the Companions of the Hall race through Mithral Hall as Entreri and company pursue them. I cannot remember how they stopped Bok the golem. The thing is indestructible.

While I finished Streams of Silver a couple of weeks ago I wanted to wait before I shared my thoughts on the book. I actually try to let my thoughts form for at least a few days before I write reviews. Anyway, I was hoping my old esteem for this series would return, but it did not. Modern fantasy is so good that oldies like the books in The Icewind Dale trilogy did not age well.

I'll leave it at that. If any curious parties want, my full review is HERE.

Full spoilers for Streams of Silver are allowed!

Like Don, I also finished this book a couple weeks ago. I enjoyed it more than him, but I also haven't read these before and don't have the specter of nostalgia looming over it as I read. I don't take these books seriously and I don't see them being on the same level as any classic or high-regarded fantasy like The Lord of the Rings or the Fire and Ice series. I tend to judge them based on "did this tell me a good D&D adventure?"

That said, there were things I liked about this book. Drizzt and co (suddenly now the Companions of the Hall--named before they even find Mithril Hall) is a nice adventuring party... except for Regis. I noticed this with Olive in Azure Bonds--halflings are written as pretty annoying characters. They're always hungry, eat more than their fill, are lazy, and are constantly looking for something to steal. I hope that changes soon in these Forgotten Realms books because it's already old.

There were a lot of parts in this book that could be boiled down to "the party went to a place and did a thing. There was a fight, then they left to another place." The two chapters of troll fight in the swamp felt disjointed and pointless, and the fight with the shadow dragon at the end was a big let-down. Also, Drizzt's encounter with Artemis was suddenly VERY important to Drizzt, when there was no real reasoning for it. Why is Artemis suddenly Drizzt's dark half?

There are also still problems of sexism in this series. Catti-Brie is paralyzed by her fear of Artemis for 80% of the book. It was nice to see her finally do something, but for a lot of this book she suffers from being the Sexy Lamp. All other women mentioned... Whisper the pretty, untrustworthy rogue who survives her fight with Bruenor and Drizzt just to be killed by Artemis later. Are any other women given a name besides the (also untrustworthy) wizard after the party? And her motivation is to impress her master that she has a crush on?

Don't even get me started on that magic mansion chapter, it was pointless!

I mentioned this before, but why is this the Icewind Dale Trilogy if this second book isn't even in Icewind Dale? And how it ends, it's obvious we won't be going back in the third one.

Fantastic, honest thoughts, Raechel. Thanks for sharing. All of your points are valid and expressed well. You have a great handle on the themes and messages in literature and you express them well.

My favorite thought you share is my hang-up because of past experience versus current expectations. You nailed it: younger me's enjoyment of the books is looming over older me and producing an unfair expectation. I am usually pretty good at understanding what a book is. In this case, the trilogy is near young adult gaming fiction, not fantasy literature. And this trilogy was the author's first go at it. I need to remember that. Though, that does not excuse all of the blemishes in the books.

There is something amiss with the "Icewind Dale" moniker for the trilogy. I've been taking notes as I read and I have a proposed name to replace the name of the trilogy as a whole and each book individually. I'll share those after we read The Halfling's Gem . :)

Happy reading!

Don wrote: "In this case, the trilogy is near young adult gaming fiction, not fantasy literature. And this trilogy was the author's first go at it. I need to remember that. Though, that does not excuse all of the blemishes in the books."

When I rate a book I usually rate it by if it succeeded for the type of book it is/is trying to be. Though that doesn't stop me from bumping down the score when I see problematic themes and ideas. Though, as you said, this is Salvatore's first set of books so I hope to see improvement as we explore Drizzt's story. Catti-brie has shown some improvement and confidence since the last book, so I am hopeful.

I'm still disappointed this trilogy isn't set in Icewind Dale. I've just started to run Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden for my local D&D group, which takes place about a century after the events in The Crystal Shard. One of the party members is a ranger and his mother is constantly comparing him to Drizzt as a sort of running joke (while the paladin likes to brag that his great uncle so-and-so totally met Drizzt one time so they're basically childhood friends...). I was looking forward to having a deeper knowledge of the setting through these books. There's a lot you could do with the location.

I can't imagine we're returning to Icewind Dale in The Halfling's Gem, I assume it will be to/at Calimshan--which will be nice to actually see. It seems like in each of these FR books there's always been someone from Calimshan but no one ever goes to Calimshan. And I assume we'll see the concept of Artemis being an "evil version" of Drizzt more fleshed out in the next book. It felt like Salavatore had that idea about two thirds through Streams of Silver and never went back to really incorporate it into the book properly.