The Cleric Quintet (Wizards of the Coast ediion--complete set)

Cadderly is a priest at a remote library who is gifted with extraordinary intelligence and wisdom. While he prefers his scholarly ways, Cadderly must come to grips with the idea that sometimes heroes aren't chosen for their willingness, but their abilities. When the library is attacked, Cadderly must investigate and find the cause. His discoveries lead him on to confront a series of undead forces, including the corrupted corpse of a rival priest.

As with all of Salvatore's books, the fight scenes are wonderfully detailed with rich choreography. The author seamless punctuates these encounters with the internal struggles of the main characters, and you can't help but cheer on the heroes.

If you enjoy reading Fantasy and AD&D related novels you've found one of the finest authors ever. The cleric quintet is a five book series about a Cleric named Cadderly. This book is a hardback with all five novels included. The character Cadderly later is wonderfully woven into the the books about Drizzt Do'Urden, Salvatores most famous and beloved character. I don't want to say to much about the book to keep from spoiling it. I do wish to thank Mr. Salvatore for all his masterful writing, it has made reading a joy once again.

No other novel from RA Salvatore, disappointed me in any given way, but Cleric Quintet made a mark. First of all, Salvatore's descriptions of the villains made me think that they are truly evil and dangerous beings with much magic and might at their disposal. On the other hand, Cadderly and Danica were mere teenagers enjoying themselves in a library of luxury, not giving the outer world a second of thought. Cadderly, especially, was portrayed as a loser, playing with toys and irritating his masters as he ignore his duties in the library. There is the problem of Kierkan Rufo, a simple jealous guy who doesn't even hate Cadderly, but is slaved to betray him over and over with no firm reason. All those powerful? villains bow before Cadderly's might, one by one. Dumb luck should prevent him from destruction once or twice at best, but in the case of this young priest it became a way of life! There isn't any single clue about ''Heroic Act'' He just reads a book and becomes a godlike avatar within days. His girlfriend beats enemies, dodges lightning bolts, resists all kinds of magic, and doesn't even scratch her nose in the process. No thrill, no suspense, you're sure Cadderly will somehow reveal the schemes of the villains, and put an end to the threat, but how he will accomplish this, is clear: Dumb luck!
The series is a waste of time and money, I fear.

Salvatore once again delivers big time action, magic, and adventure in this fabulously crafted series. Experienced Salvatore readers wont be dissapointed with the brutal fighting scenes and non-stop action of the cleric quintet. Character development and attachment are trademark Salvatore quality adding to the list of favorite Realms personalities with heroes like the Bouldershoulder brothers and Danica the monk. Salavtore takes full advantage of the shared fantasy genre, exploring and defining new areas of geography and history of the rich tapestry that is the Forgotten Realms. Enjoy!

wiards, ogres, orcs, giants, walking trees, elves, dwarfs, fools, bugbears, tunnels, tombs, spells, fights, dryads,magic, dragons, imps, ghouls, zombies--- need i say more. all rolled into one volume of 5 books. adventure, fun, hilarity, drama. a tiny slow at the beginning but hang on for a good read. enjoy.

The first book was intriguing if only acceptable and the second book proved to be a marginally acceptable follow-up. I'm now approaching the end of the third book and I find I can't wait for it to end. Usually characters become more developed and dimensional as the story progresses but the opposite is true here. The dialog gets more and more stilted and repetitive just as the situations the characters become involved in become more absurd.

A mentally challenged dwarf that wears a cooking pot for a helmet and dreams of becoming a druid is one of hour heroes? The dwarven druid angle would have been interesting but the only words ever uttered by the character ranges from "Oooo" to "hee hee hee". Literally, that is the characters only words. I am at the point where anytime the dwarves are mentioned that I mentally cringe at the inane dialog sure to follow between Ivan and his 'brudder' Pikel. Everything they're involved in is like a bad Jackie Chan movie. These two characters are certainly in the running for worst characters ever in a fantasy novel.

The main character, Cadderly, is a frustrating and simpering type who agonizes over every time he's forced to kill someone to defend his own life or the lives of others. At first I thought this would be an interesting exploration of the morality in killing even evil people to save others but it pretty much stops at the whining stage. Cadderly uses a yo-yo for his weapon - I think that pretty much covers what is wrong with the action scenes of this story. He fights off some of the most deadly armed assassins in the world with a yo-yo? Had someone told me this was part of the story I would have refused to believe it.

The romantic interest, Danica, starts off best of all for an interesting character but by book 3 works her way into being little more than a 'tank' for Cadderly in between professing her love. She is apparently unbeatable regardless of the odds and never even slowed down despite the rare wounding. Of course, any wounds are always healed fully by Cadderly (who has no idea how he does it) and never cause any complication.

The first book is decent but the following are numbingly bad. His books about Drizzt and the Drow were so good at exploring the morality of choices made with vibrant and realistic dialog that I have trouble believing these were written by Salvatore. Maybe a ghost writer was involved? This collection is a long way from his best efforts. I don't know if I can bear the thought of slogging through the final two books but I have a very long flight coming up so I may have nothing better to do ...

A friend of mine moved away years back and forgot a box of books, I just happened to see this interesting book, "The Legacy" sitting inside. So I read it. What a good move that was because i was instantly hooked, so, i went out and bought all the preceding books and continued to read. I now have every available book, be it hardback or paperback or both! Salvatore is pure genious in portrayal of the characters and lands of the forgotten realms. Anyone who likes fantasy and great characters will LOVE these books. Have fun and good reading!!!

Forget what your friends tell you about the greatness of Drizzt, what you have here is the perfect combination of action, comedy, suspense and wonder that make any reader come back for more. This is Salvatore's best work to date and a book that you can not only enjoy but also keep around to read to your children. If you want to test the waters of the fantasy genre, do it with this series.

To all who wrote negative reviews, your opinions were well qualified, if out of context. Due respect having been given, it takes a more creative imagination to appreciate this series of books. In the collector's edition, Salvatore explains why this series was so misunderstood (which predominantly to do with the timing in which is was written, and subsequently released). You would do well to learn from his comments, as he more than adequately addressed your criticisms years before they were ever even formulated.

----As good a series as Salvatore has ever written, and a definite must read for those seeking to understand his creative motivations and stylism(s).

The hysterical Bouldershoulder brothers (Dwarves), Danni the lovely but deadly monk (yes, as in "Kung Fu"), some mysterious elves, an imp, a deadly magician, and yes, the cleric that inspires you with his innocence, and his wisdom.
A MUST read!
Matt

I have read most all of the books written by R.A. Salvatore. The Dark Elf Trilogy and most others. The Cleric Quintet once again displays Salvatores ability to literally rivet your attention to his work, unable to put it down. Always making the action sequences so vivid that you feel as thought your in the Forgotten Realms themselves with sword in hand. If you're a Fantasy Adventure fanatic as I am... Read any and all works by Salvatore. You won't the decision to do so.

I have read almost all of Salvatore's books and these 5 are by far my favorites. Cadderly has enough depth to make him believable and the plots are interesting. The supporting characters are very well detailed and add to the storyline well, adding a love interest, intrigue, and even humor!

All in all, these books are a great read at a greater price!

I read this book in about six days of solid reading. I just couldn't put it down. It just kept getting better. I really liked The Night Masks. It was very exciting and fast pased. I highly recommend this book to any fan of R.A. Salvatore.

This book was one of the best fantasy books i have ever read (I've read a fair number of them in my short lifespan of 13 years). The plot is exellent and if I close my eyes I can just picture the priest Cadderly firing his drow crossbow into a patrol of bugbears as Ivan and Pikel, the dwarven brothers, cut a wide swath through them with there brutal fighting style. After this book I am hooked on Salvatore.

I am a big fan of all of Salvatores books and due to that I also bought the cleric quintett.

Unfortunately that was a waste of time and money!

Reasons: 1) The main characters are ANNOYING! Both of them are so damn perfect, they don't seem to have any flaws at all!

2)The villains aren't much better, you always never have the feeling that they could mean real trouble or even beat Cadderly

3)The fights (formerly a strength of Salvatore) are really boring, Danica, although fighting without weapons or armor, is never even scratched by an enemy!

The only positive part of this series are the 2 dwarves, although in my opinion Pikel starts to annoy pretty quickly, too

PLEASE Mr. Salvatore! Dont include those suckers again in any book like u did in "Servant of the Shard" or at least let them get killed!

Hi,

having read (almost) all the books of R.A. Salvatore, I wanted to add this one to my collection. Aside that I still prefer the Drizzt Do'Urden series, this one is anyway a great piece of art in the style of this author, definitely one of my favourites. Absolutely a good purchase and one of the best fantasy books I found around.