My breath came rapidly as my legs pumped up and down and the wind whipped through my hair. The land around me was bleak, desolate, and bitterly cold. On my left, the grassland dotted with kine ran unobstructed to the horizon; to my right, a few brave homes clung together with scraggly trees and tight shutters. A storm was coming. This time of year, they had to be taken seriously because they brought fist-sized hail, tornadoes, and flying cows. The year was 1993 AD; the place was Amarillo, Texas. That day was an especially portentous one for I was on a quest, my steed (Huffy bike) carrying me forth to find a dark elf.

I was going to pick up The Crystal Shard by R.A. Salvatore. I wish I could say I rode my trusty steed uphill both ways, but the truth is that Amarillo is as flat as a pancake and not nearly as much fun. I can still remember the layout of the bookstore, though, the snarky associate’s blue hair, and even the smell of the brand-new paperback when I thumbed it open and looked at the first map of Icewind Dale.

(Listen to our conversation with RA Salvatore here.)

From R.A. Salvatore's "Crystal Shard", paperback | Vintage world ...

If you’re reading this review, you’re on the same journey as I am and feel the same anticipation I do upon catching a glimpse of it.

Passage to Dawn, the final book of Salvatore’s Legacy of the Drow series, sums up the feelings it evokes perfectly: “If this road, this series of stepping-stones, leads nowhere, then so be it. I walk the road with friends, and so I have my home.” Deceptively simple given the epic sagas it has hosted, Icewind Dale has been home to cultures, worlds, and sweeping tales that taught me more about myself than my shrink and my mirror. Salvatore’s most recent book, Relentless, is the end of an era, leaving Icewind Dale quiet for the first time in centuries.

It’s been a long road to get here, spanning hundreds of years and a range of incredible characters experiencing tremendous pain, loss, love, and redemption. Relentless, the last book in the Generations trilogy, and the first Drizzt series published by an imprint other than Wizards of the Coast, completes a story in which we are taken back to early days of Menzoberranzan and the start of the friendship between Jarlaxle and Zaknafein as they carve out a path for themselves and Bregan D’aerthe.

It brings nearly all of my favorite characters back to center stage: Drizzt, Cattie-Brie, Bruenor, Pwent, Yvonnel, Jarlaxle, Artemis, Athrogate, Regis, and Wulgar. It’s rare in fiction to feel a sense of contentment and completion after 30+ books along a single timeline, but Salvatore did it and did it with precision and inspiration.

All of Salvatore’s epic storylines come together in this tale of demons ravaging the sword coast, the mightiest drow army ever seen brought to the surface, and a desperate last stand within the vaunted halls of Gauntlygrym to save the entire region. In the end, the truth of Lloth is revealed and is so unbelievably powerful. In a time when fantasy is so often formulaic, Salvatore wrote from a different plane in Relentless.

I’ve always wanted to know Zaknafein’s story. How does one go from being the greatest weapon master of all time to sacrificing himself for his son over the death of a surface elf? We finally find out and, no spoilers, I loved it. I have never felt such a sense of completion in a story before, and it was a believable and satisfying redemption arc.

Other aspects of the series I’ve always loved were Drizzt’s internal monologue and his reliance upon teachers. His time with Montolio at the start of the series began Drizzt’s true path toward inner peace and harmony. In Relentless, we’re treated to the integration and culmination of those paths, and who doesn’t love a neat wrap up? (Side note, if you haven’t read the Cleric Quintet, do it.)

So what’s next? I, for one, would love to see more stories set far in the future or past of Icewind Dale – maybe some standalone shorts or anthology-style collections. After learning so much about the origins of the Drow in Relentless, I would especially love to meet a young Yvonnel Baerne during the founding of Menzoberranzan.

As for Drizzt, I hope his tale is complete. He has had a long road and deserves some peace like his friend Cadderly, although I’d like to think he’s still out there, roaming around Bleeding Hearts, MacDualdoon, and Kelvin’s Cairn.

It is so easy to forget that you are truly alive, or at least, to appreciate that you are truly alive, that every sunrise is yours to view and every sunset is yours to enjoy. –Drizzt Do’Urden

Hudson Harris
Hudson is the father of two young monsters and a pig named Hamlet. He lives in San Diego and travels the country as a designer, speaker, and mental health advocate. He loves sci-fi, fantasy, games, and has dreams of appearing on an episode of Star Trek. Hudson spends his free time reading, woodworking, and weaving chain mail.

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    14 Comments

    1. It was a good book, with a lot of nice conclusions, but I still feel like I want more. Another 20-30 pages to wrap things up a little. Without giving any spoilers, some of it just ended without fully answering my questions.

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      1. Same. It felt like a lot was crammed into the last few chapters. And I would have liked even a page or two more for the last scene.

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      2. Same here (again, forgive me that my comments appear twice. I initially used the wrong email to sign up). A lot was crammed into the end, and I have many questions. Even a couple more pages for the last scene would have been nice.

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        1. It runs in my mind that Hero kinda felt this way as well

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    2. I agree, but I’m hoping that means there is a LOT more to come…..probably strange of me, but the real thing that puzzles me is Dinin reappearing,, I’ll be waiting to see how that plays…..

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    3. well said Hudson, but i hope there’s more, and much more with Breezy growing up……

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      1. Thank you!

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    4. I have a lot of mixed feelings about this book. I kind of hope this is the last in the Drizzt series (though I wish it had been even a couple chapters longer, as a lot felt crammed into the end). I also would have loved to see the actual reunion (those who have read it will know what I am talking about) at the end.

      This book raised a lot of lore questions, and as a long-time Realms fan, I am still processing some of it.

      While I hope this is the last Drizzt novel (despite the fact I have some burning questions), I hope the FR novel line is renewed.

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    5. Okay, so my name may appear twice here, as I initially subscribed using the email address that wasn’t associated with my WordPress account, so forgive me for that.

      As I said, this book left me with a lot of questions, and I have mixed feelings about it. I do hope this is the last Drizzt book (though I wish the FR novel line would renew), but I wish it had been longer, as there were a lot of things crammed in at the end. And I do wish we had actually gotten to see the reunion at the end (won’t spoil it).

      As a Forgotten Realms fan, this left me with some lore questions, as well.

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    6. I feel like the author missed the last chapter of the book. Drizzts not gone, nothings complete, it’s just another class change. Like when he went from fighter to ranger and Catti-Brie from fighter to mage. I love the books and cant wait for the story to be continued every year!

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      1. I was really confused as well. I’m pretty sure Drizzt steps in right around the time his daughter is named. I’m also wondering if in Kane’s conversations with Afranfrere in the beginning of the book, there’s some foreshadowing about who will be the next Grandmaster.

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    7. mr salvatore it just cant be over we all need more sorry to sound greedy but you have created an unbeliveable world we still have unanswered questions simply put if it is the end at least put out one more book to close the door on all open ended story lines please i have been reading from the beginning im 53 yrs old and read alot but never has a author kept me watching and waiting at book stores for the next one to come out there are still to many unanswered questions about many thing so once again please for all of us at least one more thank you for so many great ups and downs it just feels as if we lost a family member ya know anyway thank you again for such a great experience with Drizzt it also helped me through some very hard times

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    8. Yes, definitely want more of this series, to find out how Drizzt and Cattie-brie’s daughter grows up and see the influences of all the others close to them, especially Zak and the acceptance he is having to learn after being thrown back into the mix after almost 200 years, there is so much more that can be explored and told about characters that I have become very fond of, even Artemis Entrerri, I do hope Salvatore continues with story.

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    9. Drizzt’s problems are just getting started and complicated. He’s got a daughter, Bruenor and Zak’s grand daughter, meanwhile a matron with a crush him is trying to straighten out his hometown, all the while all the drow are convinced he died. Yeah. What could go wrong with that?

      Reply

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