The cover of The Thousand Orcs |
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| Author(s) | R.A. Salvatore |
| Country | U.S.A. |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Fantasy Novel |
| Media type | |
| 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.[1] 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. In this series, Drizzt takes a stand to stop the spread of chaos and war from an overambitious orc king across his adopted homeland.[1] The series is followed by the installments in the Transitions series.
Contents |
Hunter's Blades Trilogy series listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
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 all of the orcs he can find, whilst reverting again to the Hunter.
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.
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.
The Thousand Orcs debuted on the New York Times bestseller list at number 11.[2] Reviews were generally positive.Publishers Weekly described it as a "rousing tale of derring-do and harrowing escapes", although in doing so they acknowledged that it was a "light-hearted sword and sorcery novel", which gained some depth through Drizzt's philosophical ponderings about human frailties.[3] Similarly, Paul Brink, writing for the School Library Journal, acknowledged the author's use of Drizzt to "reflect on issues of racial prejudice".[4]
The Lone Drow debuted on the New York Times bestseller list at number 7.[5] Staff Reviewer Tom Gafkjen from d20zines.com awarded the book a "B" grade. He praised the well-written combat sequences (a point that was also acknowledged by Jackie Cassada when she commented on the first novel in the series)[6] but he did not enjoy the repetitious writing about the character Drizzt brooding over the death of a moon elf. He noted the exceptional writing although preferring the first book of the trilogy.[7] A similarly mixed review came from Publishers Weekly - while mostly negative, the reviewers acknowledged that the novel did (occasionally) rise above the cliché, and that "a few characters do achieve some complexity".[8] Cassada, on the other hand, seemed taken by the second novel in the trilogy, praising the "tense battles, vivid landscapes and memorable characters".[9]
The Two Swords debuted on the New York Times bestseller list at number 4.[10] It also debuted at number 1 on the Wall Street Journal's Bestseller List.[11] 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.[12]
| Title | Author | ISBN | Publisher | US Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Thousand Orcs | R.A. Salvatore | ISBN 978-0786929801 | Wizards of the Coast | October 2002 |
| The Lone Drow | R.A. Salvatore | ISBN 978-0786932283 | Wizards of the Coast | October 2003 |
| The Two Swords | R.A. Salvatore | ISBN 978-0786937905 | Wizards of the Coast | October 2004 |
| The Hunters Blades Trilogy - Collectors Edition (Hardcover) | R.A. Salvatore | ISBN 978-0786943159 | Wizards of the Coast | January 2007 |
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