I blitzed through this book in a day because it was so very readable. Awesome groundwork for the Sundering series.

I took one star off because a) I would have liked to see the reincarnations as physically different people, not virtual clones*, and b) I love Salvatore, I really do, but if I had a dollar for every time he uses 'reasoned' or 'explained' instead of just 'said', I could probably pay him not to use either of those words again.



*My halfling character got reincarnated in a D&D game once and she came back as a wolverine. I'm not saying one of the Companions should have been a wolverine, but blue eyes and light skin and rolling someone in the mud for not being dark enough among dark-skinned people has hella uncomfortable race issues going on. ( )

It's been some time since I've read anything from any of the Dungeons & Dragons settings, and The Companions by R.A. Salvatore has left me wondering why/how I let it go for so long. The rich fantasy world that Salvatore weaves found me quickly and easily engaged. The level of connection to the individual characters is one I personally haven't found in a fantasy novel for quite some time.

Even if you haven't followed the previous adventures Drizzt Do'Urden, you won't find yourself lost in The Companions. Salvatore works enough background into the story to pick up the history of the Companions of the Hall along with following their current predicaments. The author also seamlessly introduces the history of the Realms themselves, making this a perfect "jumping in" point for someone wanting to read the books of The Sundering but concerned about not having read the 20 previous Drizzt books.

Highly recommended for fans of the fantasy genre, of Forgotten Realms, of Drizzt, and of books with a well-written narrative.

(eGalley provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.) ( )

A good book, but I got a bit messed with the time shift and all. Once I got back from that, all was good. Drizzt is pretty much not in the book. I will check out more of the series. ( )

Story was good. I had stopped reading the series several books back because of lack of interest. A little disappointed in the reincarnation storyline as I feel it's a bit of a copout. However, it did enable the author to return to a character grouping that he excels at writing. ( )

I had no idea what was going on with this series. When I read the last book, I was horrified by what I read, thinking Oh my god, they're killing off Drizzt, not with a bang, but with a whimper. That being said, when I read that they were bringing the Companions back, my thoughts were, Wow, what a cheesy way to continue a story line, someone must be desperate for some bucks. That being said, I absolutely LOVED this book. My brain was screaming No No No, but my heart was sighing Yes Yes Yes! Beautifully written, well thought out, and about half way through the book, what had occurred in the last book clicked and I realized what was occurring. The two decades of sleep by Drizzt and Entreri and Dahlia, all of it made sense. Now I can't wait to start on the next one! I felt that the character development was very nicely done, especially for Regis. His determination to be of more help to his friends, and his work toward that end was especially nice. Now, I can just hope that at some time in the future, Cattiebrie kicks the crap out of Dahlia. ( )