The Hunter's Blades Trilogy

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The cover of The Thousand Orcs
Author R.A. Salvatore
Country U.S.A.
Language English
Genre(s) Fantasy Novel
Media type Print
Preceded by The Sellswords
Followed by Transitions

The Hunter's Blades Trilogy is a New York Times best-selling trilogy written by science fiction and fantasy author R.A. Salvatore. It follows on from the previous book, The Servant of the Shard and the other books of the Paths of Darkness series. It contains three books, The Thousand Orcs, The Lone Drow, and The Two Swords. The Two Swords was his 17th work concerning one of the most famous characters Salvatore has created, the drow, or dark elf, Drizzt Do'Urden. The series is followed by the installments in the Transitions series.

Contents

[edit] Series titles

Hunter's Blades Trilogy series listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database

  1. The Thousand Orcs (2002)
  2. The Lone Drow (2003)
  3. The Two Swords (2004)

[edit] Detailed plot

[edit] The Thousand Orcs

In The Thousand Orcs, the orc [King Obould Many-Arrows], allied with a clan of frost giants, sends a massive army against the towns of the North. On the sidelines, four drow from the underdark orchestrate events behind the scenes, playing each side against the other for their own advantage. Drizzt is separated from his friends during the siege at the town of Shallows. He witnesses the apparent death of the other Companions of the Hall, and turns his attention to slaughtering orcs in retribution, wherever he might find them.

[edit] The Lone Drow

In The Lone Drow, Drizzt Do'Urden is mourning what he believes to be the death of his closest friends. Drizzt only regains his sense of purpose after two elves (Tarathiel and Innovindil) and their two pegasi (Sunrise and Sunset) decide to help. The Dwarven druid Pikel Bouldershoulders loses his left arm at the elbow by a piece of slate thrown by a frost giant. Tarathiel, however, meets his demise at the hands of King Obould Many-Arrows. Meanwhile, the remaining Companions of the Hall, who survived the attack that Drizzt earlier witnessed, are fighting an increasingly desperate battle against Obould's forces.

[edit] The Two Swords

In The Two Swords, Obould's horde has pressed the Companions to the very gates of Mithral Hall, where Bruenor and his clan launch a desperate, last-ditch effort to push the orcs back. A desperate rescue attempt succeeds, with Drizzt and Innovindil rescuing the latter's pegasus, which Obould had captured and chained as a trophy, and Drizzt is unexpectedly reunited with the Companions that he long thought dead. The only major plot line to be tied up in this novel is the question of what Drizzt will do about his relationship with Catti-brie.

Other than that, The Two Swords resolves a few minor plot threads. Drizzt and the surface elf Innovindil bring their quest for the captured pegasus to a conclusion. A few more characters meet their demise in this novel.

Ultimately, the novel keeps the major plot lines active for future novels, and introduces several more.

[edit] Characters

[edit] Literary significance and reception

The Thousand Orcs debuted on the New York Times bestseller list at number 11.[1]

The Lone Drow debuted on the New York Times bestseller list at number 7.[2] Staff Reviewer Tom Gafkjen from d20zines.com awarded the book a "B" grade. He praised the well-written combat sequences but did not enjoy the repetitious writing about the character Drizzt brooding over the death of of a moon elf. He noted the exceptional writing although preferring the first book of the trilogy.[3]

The Two Swords debuted on the New York Times bestseller list at number 4.[4] It also debuted at number 1 on the Wall Street Journal's Bestseller List.[5] Patrick Bergeron II from fantasybookspot.com found The Two Swords predictable and expected key sequences such as the character Drizzt "finding out that his friends had not fallen at Shallows". However he still enjoyed the story and characterisation.[6]

[edit] Publication History

Title Author ISBN Publisher US Release Date
The Thousand Orcs R.A. Salvatore Wizards of the Coast
The Lone Drow R.A. Salvatore ISBN 0-7869-3012-8 Wizards of the Coast October 2003
The Two Swords R.A. Salvatore Wizards of the Coast

[edit] References

  1. ^ BEST SELLERS: November 3, 2002. NYTimes.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-14.
  2. ^ BEST SELLERS: November 16, 2003. NYTimes.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-14.
  3. ^ Gafkjen, Tom (2004-11-22). The Lone Drow Review. d20zine.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-14.
  4. ^ BEST SELLERS: November 7, 2004. NYTimes.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-14.
  5. ^ The 'Two Swords' Debuts at #1 on the Wall Street Journal's Bestseller List; R.A. Salvatore's Classic Tale of Fantasy Triumphs on Bestseller Lists Nationwide. Business Wire (2004-11-08). Retrieved on 2008-04-14.
  6. ^ Bergeron II, Patrick (2004-11-22). The Two Swords. fantasybookspot.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-14.

[edit] External Links

v • d • e
R. A. Salvatore's Forgotten Realms Series
The Dark Elf Trilogy Homeland (1990) Exile (1990) Sojourn (1991)
The Icewind Dale Trilogy The Crystal Shard (1988) Streams of Silver (1989) The Halfling's Gem (1990)
Legacy of the Drow The Legacy (1992) Starless Night (1993) Siege of Darkness (1994) Passage to Dawn (1996)
Paths of Darkness The Silent Blade (1998) The Spine of the World (1999) Sea of Swords (2001)
The Hunter's Blades Trilogy The Thousand Orcs (2002) The Lone Drow (2003) The Two Swords(2004)
Transitions The Orc King (2007) (The Pirate King) (2008) (The Ghost King) (2009)
The Cleric Quintet The Sellswords Short Stories
Canticle (1991) Servant of the Shard (2000) Dark Mirror (1993)
In Sylvan Shadows (1992) The Promise of the Witch King (2005) The Third Level (1994)
Night Masks (1992) Road of the Patriarch (2006) Guenhwyvar (1995)
The Fallen Fortress (1993) That Curious Sword (2002)
The Chaos Curse (1994)
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