By Ian Strelec, Staff Reviewer

Available at FRP Games

Forgotten Realms: Streams of Silver (Hardcover Novel)
Retail $27.95 Sale $22.36

Initiative Round
Streams of Silver is R.A. Salvatore's 2nd book in the Drizzt series. That is, second written, because it's also book 5 in the Legends of Drizzt reckoning and Book 2 in the Icewind Dale Trilogy. Got all that?

But more to the point. This book picks up where its predecessor, The Crystal Shard, left off, in Icewind Dale a few weeks after the collapse of the Crystal Tower. Bruenor Battlehammer, dwarven king-in-exile, and Wulfgar son of Beornegar, displaced barbarian of the north, and Regis Rumblebelly, a Halfling thief, are traveling with the dark elf ranger Drizzt Do'Urden towards the port of Luskan to begin their hunt for Mithral Hall, the kingdom Bruenor was meant to rule.

Meanwhile, a figure cloaked in shadow has arrived hunting for a certain Halfling and the ruby pendant he carries. Catti-brie, Bruenor's adopted daughter and a fiery warrior-woman in her own right, is caught in the crossfire as the assassin Artemis Entreri continues the hunt that has taken him years.

The four friends continue their hunt across half the Realms, searching for a place the last recorded information about is in a mostly-forgotten memory of Bruenor's. Their hunt takes them through many battles and encounters, be it crazed shamans of barbarian tribes or the somewhat-mad wizards of the Harpell family; should they have to deal with racist drow-fearing communities or swamps infested with trolls.

And during this whole time, they're being hunted by Artemis Entreri, with Catti-brie as a captive. They manage to find Mithral Hall, eventually, but the horrors that reside within may be too much to bear for a brave dwarven king and his companions.

Critical Hit
Salvatore is undeniably a good writer and his accounts of the many battles between the four companions and the rest of the world are marked by incredibly vivid descriptions. The world is in-depth, the characters develop incredibly over time, and the whole thing leaves you wanting more. This is good, of course, since there are currently about 15 more books in the series after this and more are yet to come.

It also helps that Salvatore is very good about maintaining the attachment to the D&D rules. It's very entertaining for a D&D player to see many of the elements of a classic D&D game used here, be it black dragons, or flesh golems.

Critical Fumble
There are only two complaints I have with this book. The first is that it's somewhat unrealistic, even for a fantasy world. With the vivid descriptions of combat, it brings out the fact somewhat that Drizzt and Entreri are a bit outside the realm that might be considered possible. They're just...too good to honestly be believed. For instance, in one fight in the swamps Drizzt pulls a bow fires three arrows, and has a fourth nocked before the first hits home. It just seems too much to be believed.

Second is the description of the combats. At times, it can get a bit too descriptive, going into more detail than can be properly imagined. It's tough to describe a swordfight in any detail and get the entire image into one's mind, and Salvatore hasn't quite done it here.

Coup de Grace
Despite the issues with Drizzt's skill and wordiness in combat, this is a great book. The characters and their relations are involved and believable, the world vivid and incredibly descriptive. This is a book worth reading...though be sure to pick up The Crystal Shard, or just get the Icewind Dale Trilogy Collector's edition, first. The book will make a lot more sense.

Final Grade: B+