Book II (The Legend of Drizzt 18) - The Pirate King

For my money Mr Salvatore is fantasy GOLD! He just missed the mark with this one. Too much "pirate politics" and not enough about the classic charactors we care about. Drizzt has gone from a quick thinking sword swinging take no prisoners hero to a wishy washy cog in the Luskan political machine. I have read everything RAS has written and loved them all...Except for this one. Too bad and the wait will be long but I will buy again!

This book is excellent. We've come to expect nothing but the best from Salvatore, and he delivers another great story full of adventure and unique characters. My only complaint with this fascinating story was the few speaking lines he gives to a lot of the characters we've been following through the years. But newcomers to Salvatore's prose will not be bothered by this, I'm sure.

A wonderful and exciting book that grips with battle. It's nice to see some new characters as well as familiar ones reprising their roles. Love the expanded adventures in and around silvery marches, among other locations.

Another great addition to an addicting saga of Drizzt and Co. I think having the changes in the company of heroes happen is a great evolution of Salvatore's writing. Standard type of story here but neat changes in the character's lives. Great read!

It has taken me years (literally) to finally make my way through the Pirate King. When I first started reading Salvatore's Drizzt series, I was absolutely captivated. I was so drawn into the characters, the world, the action, the drama... all of it! Over the years--and 18 books later-- something has changed. Salvatore's writing is satisfactory, but not extraordinary. But his characters are old and tired. This particular installment goes on, and on, and on. The final 50 pages are excellent, but why did it take 200 pages to get there?

The Drizzt in Pirate King ponders and opines endlessly and rarely seems to have his head in the game. What's going on here!? Our warrior princess Cattie-Brie is busy going on some fairy tale tour of the realms with her gal pals. What the heck!? Wulfgar is missing entirely. What else is new? And, then we meet all these people who we've never met and don't really care about in Luskan who come out of nowhere, rise to massive prominence, then suddenly wage war on the city. Sigh. The entire thing has been done, re-done and re-done again. It's predictable, its boring and these characters deserve better. If this is what the series will become then I rather the books end entirely so I can remember Drizzt et al as they were back in the days of Icewind Dale.

The city of Luskan has long been known as a rough port town. The city is run behind the scenes by a rivalry between the five high captains and the great wizards of the Hosttower. This balance of power has become unstable as on of the high captains seeks to increase his power. At the same time the head of the Hosttower is an evil lich who seeks to gain more power as well. The battle for Luskan is then joined by those in Waterdeep who seek to bring order to their neighbor to the north. They recruit the noble pirate chaser Captain Deudermont to aid them.

Drizzt and Regis have left Mithril Hall to search for Wulfgar. They want to find out what fate has come to their friend. They pass through Luskan on the way north and see the shape of the city. When they return they are caught up in the battle for Luskan. The fate of many will be decided not by honor on the battlefield, but by intrigue and manipulation. Many good men will die in this cause. The question that everyone will ask in the end: was it worth it?

This is the second book in the Transitions Trilogy. This is the darkest cycle in the Legend of Drizzt saga. As always the battle scenes are intense and well written. Salvatore is doing something different. With every novel he seems to grow as a writer. This book takes the passion, the adventure, and the heartbreak to a whole level. The story of the Companions is winding down and as painful as it is he is taking on this process with amazing skill.

The Pirate King, book two in R.A. Salvatore's Forgotten Realms series called "Transitions," suffers greatly from middle-book syndrome, as well as just not being as interesting as the first book, The Orc King. The pacing of the book just seems off, a large part of the book is filled with characters I didn't care much about (and a couple who I had trouble telling apart occasionally), and it just seemed too much like a transitional novel. You might not think that's a bad thing in a series called "Transitions," but this one goes a bit too far in that direction.

The major problem I had with The Pirate King is that too much of the action is removed from the characters who I actually like, Regis and Drizzt. Salvatore cuts back and forth between the two companions and the events in Luskan, and I found myself losing interest in the horrible events going on in that city, especially after the first assault on the Hosttower. The main pirate captain who dreams of becoming the Pirate King, Kensidan, just isn't that interesting a character, despite his Machiavellian machinations to wield political power once Deudermont is removed. The dialogue didn't grab me, the plots and counterplots going back and forth among the captains, Greeth, and Deudermont, all seemed so pedestrian. These events didn't have the oomph of the first book, and the characters weren't interesting enough to cover for that.

Also, Drizzt and Regis seemed too far removed from the action. When they're in Luskan, they get involved, and things become much more immediate. They actually succeeded in making me care about Luskan and what was going on there. My favorite scenes, though, were those when the pair was up north, looking for Wulfgar, trading tales of the past and showing just how much they have changed in the many years since they all became friends.

I did love the action and characterization of the regulars (Drizzt and Regis are the only ones in most of the book). It was nice to see somebody who is almost a match for Drizzt in a fight, as it often doesn't feel like he's in any danger when you're reading about him in a melee. Also, the action doesn't seem quite as forced as it did in The Orc King, though that could just be me getting used to Salvatore's writing style again. Overall, I did enjoy a large part of the book, whenever Drizzt and Regis were "on screen." I also liked how Salvatore has them deal with a couple of moral dilemmas that makes the book seem a bit more "adult" than many Dungeons & Dragons novels.

Overall, I was disappointed in The Pirate King, but I would still recommend it for those who are interested in this type of fantasy novel. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it as a novel alone, but the series itself seems to be on strong footing and this is just a minor crack to step over in your enjoyment of the whole. Take it for what it's worth.

David Roy

Well, after the disappointing debacle that was the Orc King, I pressed on and plowed into the Pirate King, second in the Transitions series set in the Forgotten Realms. For those of you wondering "Why are you continuing to read the series if you hate the characters so much?" I am a glutton for punishment and I am doing this on a dare.

Fortunately for my minor character obsession, Drizzt is not the central figure in this book and thank goodness for it. The story centers around Captain Deudermont and his wizard friend Robillard, who are pirate hunters based out of Waterdeep. Deudermont decides to help Lord Brambleberry, a would be hero (also from Waterdeep), sail to Luskan (a rival port city) and clean up the pirate problem that emanates from there. They intend to eliminate one Arklem Greeth, undead and archmage, and take over in order to fulfill this cause.

Those who pick this up expecting a Drizzt centered book, you will be rather disappointed. Drizzt functions as a minor character in this novel and the parts where he isn't around the main action read like barely related short stories. While for some this may seem like a point against the book, For me this was actually a point in favor. For the most part I didn't get unduly annoyed by heavy handed moralizing and the book did not go flying across the room like most of the preceding Drizzt books have done in my house. Drizzt's part was also helped by an absence of Catti-Brie in the narrative line. Apparently my previous guess was correct and after marriage, we won't be seeing her do anything of major import from now on. This also suits me just fine. I find her obnoxious.

Regis plays the role of Drizzt's sounding board and item to be rescued, which I enjoy and find dull respectively. I just wish that Regis were given at least some good luck to avoid getting near fights he has no hope of winning. The "halfling in distress" trope has become old and boring and seems to be occurring on a more regular basis.

Anyway, back to the actual meat of the story...

Sad to say, there is a very strong possibility that anyone just jumping into the series at this point may well be confused by some of the minor characters, who end up doing some very important things in order to move the plot along. Yes, the plot could have been a bit more clear and better laid. There are so very many characters and a lot of the names are pretty similar, so it gets a little muddled who is plotting against who amongst the High Captains of Luskan. And then there are the mysterious shadow partners, who really aren't all that mysterious depending on how familiar you are with the series.

There is so much plotting around that none of the antagonists get much motive exposition or really, much characterization at all. I could barely tell Kensidan from Kurth half the time (Kensidan is the one that can change into a giant crow). Of all of the opponents Deudermont faced, Arklem Greeth was the best presented. There were the makings to a halfway likable antagonist there. Kensidan too! It's a little frustrating when you're pretty sure that there could have been something epically awesome if more time was taken to present and reveal it. Now I'm really wondering if there's a page count limit in force for anyone publishing with Wizards...

So things I liked about this book... Actually there were more than a few this time around, which surprised me in and of itself. Usually my head hurts so much from being clubbed about the noggin with Drizzt's moralizing that there's a good chance that I'll overlook anything that wasn't so bad.

I am very happy to say that wasn't the case this time. Any scene with Deudermont and Robillard bickering was actually enjoyable to read. The two of them are different enough that it made for a nice intellectual contrast between Deudermont's unceasing optimism and Robillard's pragmatism. What made it better was that one would concede to the other now and then. The whole "you're right but I hope..." dynamic seemed to be frequently missing or underplayed in the previous books for my tastes.

As I mentioned before, Arklem Greeth seemed almost likable for an undead wizard. He seemed to treat his underlings pretty well overall, which is a great trait in an antagonist. I would have liked to see more of him and Valindra (his assistant and one of the Overwizards of Luskan) and their role in how Luskan was kept under control.

And one more thing, which had me giggling like the Monty Python nerd that I am, they make mention of a "vorpal bunny." I might forget the entirety of the book in a week, but I will always remember the vorpal bunny. That it was set up to explain how the Harpells (a wizarding family that are briefly visited in Longsaddle by Drizzt and Regis) dealt with the neighbors who did bad things (like burn houses with the occupants inside). Drizzt and Regis are uncomfortable with the whole idea, but I found it amusing, feasible with the possibility of being considered forgiven of the crime later and ironic that Malarites who did bad things around Longsaddle were turned into rabbits (you'd probably have to be familiar with the Realms to catch that last one).

All in all, I didn't think it was an atrocious book. I just didn't think it was a great one.

As many know, the Forgotten Realms is changing. With the advent of Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition the FR timeline is being advanced approximately 100 years. The various "Drizzt Novels" so far have been set earlier in the timeline (corresponding with 2nd Edition AD&D and D&D 3rd Edition/ 3.5). The "Transitions Series" is an attempt to reconcile the two converging timelines, bridging the gap between the setting we all know (and love) and the new setting which has MANY stark differences.

"When we last left off" Drizzt and Regis were heading to Luskan on the way North to Icewind Dale to visit Wulfgar, who had left some months prior.

Arriving in Luskan they find strange plots afoot. Captain Deudermont was in Luskan with a small army to topple the Host Tower of the Arcane.

Ironically when I started reading this I had just started running a Luskan-centric campaign so I was anxious to get the nitty-gritty on the Who's Who of Luskan. This book as absolutely essential for this. It breaks down how the city really works: alliances, attitudes, who controls what amongst the Five High Captains as well as all the major players in the Host Tower as well as Mirabar etc. You can easily see which Captains are stronger/ weaker which ones are allied, which ones are back-stabbing the others. Overall it's a complicated web of deceit, but the novel breaks it all down. If you were even considering running a campaign set in Luskan prior to the Spellplague, this novel is absolutely essential.

The Pirate King is an interesting story in a number of ways. Aside from really illustrating how an important city in Faerun is changed it is good because you see major characters get in to trouble that they cannot get out of.

Now, you may be asking whether I hate the Forgotten Realms or its characters since I like to see them in helpless situations. I would answer no. I actually love the setting as well as the characters, but I do like drama and when I read a book, I want to have my heart-strings pulled by the author. To that, often I believe the author needs to respect his characters enough to give them depth and sometimes to hurt (or even kill) them if the story requires it.

R.A. Salvatore usually does a good job of this with tertiary characters: build them up, get you to like them...then do horrible things to them. With the primary characters...not as much. They get depth on occasion, and with every story the author has done a wonderful job in really giving Drizzt, Regis, Enteri, Jarlaxle etc. additional bits of depth. However I have to admit that they rarely seem in REAL danger. Occasionally they are, but in most cases the protagonists tend to far outclass the antagonists; whether by skill, luck, the will of the gods or magical trinkets.

In the last several novels R. A. Salvatore has produced though the stakes have gotten higher in many ways. This novel: The Pirate King is an excellent example of that. I would recommend The Sellswords Series as well.

Without giving away the whole story, the author weaves a fine tale about how Luskan is changed. The protagonists are faced with a very complicated situation and in my opinion they handle it in the expected manner yet that method is insufficient. The result is a very good tale of how good intentions can go very wrong.

There were only a couple sections that I found implausible or didn't understand what happened and had to re-read it. I was greatly amused at how easily Greeth, the Lich deals with Drizzt. Absolutely priceless.

Some parts of the overall plot are drawn out in a manner to make it a surprise in the end. Regular readers should easily see the end coming but it was still done very well. It was good to see characters like Morik the Rogue make a return. God I feel bad for that poor fool: he is a tool of powers far greater than him and he'll likely never escape.

Overall, I think this "Drizzt Story" does a very find job of putting every character in peril. Protagonists and Antagonists alike, making judgmental mistakes occasionally being easily turned out or defeated due to poor planning, error and bad luck.

I like my "heroes" fallible. I like them to learn from mistakes and have to dust them off after taking a fall. I think in many cases Drizzt and his band of super-heroes haven't done this but have Forrest Gump'd their way through adversity to success. I also think that the author is getting better and better with each novel in delivering deeper characters and stories and allowing the prize characters to get a little dirty...which I applaud!

It is important to understand that this book has little to do with Drizzt. Oh, he is a big part of the story, but he acts as the glue to hold the timeline together. It is largely based in Luskan, and is obstensibly about the 'Pirate King'. I guess they had to figure out who is trying to be a king for sake of the title, so in this case, the struggle revolves around Luskan and fight for power. The transitions series is about the shuffling political lines and upheavals in the Realms; in this particular story, Drizzt becomes a glorified spectator to the larger story. The main story line is Captain Deudermont's struggle to cut off the head of the Sword Coast pirates' operations. He determines that throwing down the Hosttower in Luskan and leading the City of Sails into a new era of Waterdhavian-like prosperity is the way to go. What he doesn't understand is that his methods may in fact have the exact opposite effect that he desires.

Naturally, pirates both active and retired have a claustrophobic outlook on such a lawful arrangement, wishing instead that Luskan become a true Free City. So even if Deudermont wins the day, his vision of a black and white world holds no shades of gray, causing fracture between his vision and the city's middle-management, the High-Captains.

And, that's really it. Drizzt and Regis go on a nostalgic tour to try and find out how Wulfgar is doing, which has nothing to do with the main story other than to pass some time, and Drizzt manages to get in a nifty duel with a very nasty, very tough dwarf, Arthrogate (would love to see the Gutbusters and Arthrogate go at it!) that passes as a climax. The book ends with an unsurprising reveal. There is a bit of Menzoberranzan-type intrigue.

It is easy to read but has a disjointed timeline and is full of ancillary characters. One of the villians is interesting, and things are definitely set up for interesting conflicts in the future, but overall the book does little but shuffle a part of the Forgotten Realms deck and throws in some gratuitous Drizzt action.

I've enjoyed every Drizzt book over the last 20 years and I have to say that this is my least favorite one.

The Story
Transitions, Book 2, 'The Pirate King' deals with the seedy docks of Luskan and five Pirate Captains who fight to control the lucrative trade routes. Currently, Luskan is under the harsh rule of a lich and his band of magi. Drizzt, Regis, and the crew of the Sea Sprite find themselves drawn into the conflict.

The Characters
Drizzt and Regis are the only main characters involved in the story. Captain Deudermont and his dour wizard Robillard also play an integral role in liberating Luskan. Unfortunately, Buenor, Cattie-Brie, and Wulfgar aren't involved in the action. Without them, this story lacks the camraderie from the rest of the books in the series. The book is also missing a formidable villain.

The Action
The action is good. There are sea battles, sieges, riots, ambushes, undead, wizard duels, and heroic battles. All of the action that you'd expect from a Drizzt book is here.

Overall
Without the main party members, this book feels like a one off and doesn't really build on the previous book in the series, 'The Orc King.' The pacing is a bit off as well. The book lingers in some areas and skips over others. In the end, this is an average book. But, if you're a fan of Drizzt, you'll still enjoy reading it, but not as much as you'd expect.

As a long-time fan of Salvatore, having been hooked by "The Crystal Shard" when it was first published, I picked up "The Pirate King" with high hopes, but fairly quickly became bored and disinterested. To the point where even though I am now most of the way through the book, every time I think of picking it up to finish it, I can not find a compelling reason to actually do so. Then I go play video games instead.

There are numerous issues with the story that contribute to my intense disinterest: much -- if not most -- of the novel seems to focus on the antagonists and their interminable mysterious plotting that, really, who cares? Done well, it might have worked. Unfortunately, it only gives the whole story an unfinished, jumpy feeling, as though we are reading two or three entirely different novels mashed up together and with a number of important chapters removed.

Similarly, much of the novel focuses on characters who are not the main protagonists of the series, but secondary characters from previous novels or entirely new characters, all of whom suffer from terminal under-development. Indeed, the main focus seems to be on characters we barely know and do not care much about either, who have not been (and are not) fleshed out enough /for/ us to care about, most of whom receive what I can only describe as a "series of cameos" instead of fully realized development, as though these barren slices will somehow make us care about them, what they are doing, or what happens to them. In short, readers are treated to little more than prose-laden descriptions of a series of events happening around pieces of cardboard with faces painted on them.

It seems like, and feels so obvious I can not imagine this not being the case, Salvatore is being forced to follow along a particular script and tell about various world events in the Realms, rather than having free reign to continue to develop the usual protagonists and tell their stories.

I say that as he finds these interesting plot points he could go places with, then abandons them to limbo in order to tell a story that is not about the main characters, in a city the main protagonists do not really have any reason to care about (nor are they given any compelling one), and a war they are only barely involved with and interact with in a limited way (and even that seems circumstantial and so comes off as forced...a sort of "What should we do today? I know, let's go fight in a war!" feeling). This results in book about a war and its after-effects, but not really (in a bad way, not in a clever "symbolism" way), and so the war and evil plotting ends up being just a thing that is happening readers are not given a real reason to care about one-way-or-another.

All told, it is poor storytelling, even for a D&D novel (heck, it's on par with the usual "storytelling" found in a /game/ of D&D, and that's saying something), especially from Salvatore, who actually is better than that.

I have felt for a while that Salvatore is burning out on writing the Drizzt characters. Yet those plot points I mention him abandoning to limbo tell me he is not done with them yet, that there are still stories to tell with them, if only he would DO so.

I enjoy fantasy fiction and started reading the Drizzt books years ago. Of the newer books some are obviously better than others.but few are as entertaining as the first dozen. It almost seems that they are not written by the original author but follow a similar story line. Several of the words used in the books I am unfamiliar with are not defined by any dictionary supported by Kindle or in any of my college edition dictionaries. I could nitpick and find faults with multiple issues but overall the story line is entertaining and I expect I will follow the series to its conclusion.

The Pirate King by R. A. Salvatore- This is the second book in the Transitions trilogy. It picks up a few years after the events in The Orc King. The stories main focus is on the ever popular, Drizzt Do'Urden, Captain Deudermont, and the fate of the city of Luskan. As I mentioned, The Orc King was the first book while the third book, The Ghost King, is due out in October 2009.

Captain Deudermont, the captain of the Sea Sprite and a famous pirate hunter, learns that the controller of some of the pirates on the Sword Coast is in the city of Luskan. So Deudermont takes the fight to Luskan, hoping at the same time to improve the conditions there. At the same time, Drizzt Do'Urden and Regis the halfling set out to visit Wulfgar in Icewind Dale. During the duos travel, they stop in Luskan to find that Deudermont beginning his fight. The duo stay to help him out. Does Deudermont succeed and if so, does Luskan welcome him as there savior? Or are there others that are in control of the events taking place?

Negatives:
1) "Hiding" certain characters. About halfway through the novel, you know who these characters are, yet they aren't mentioned by name and don't get mentioned until the last 3 chapters. Honestly, what was the point to drag out naming them? I don't think it served any real big purpose and it certainly wasn't suspenseful.
2) The actions of Deudermont. This is what really bothered me about this book. Deudermont is, or has been, very noble and full of insight and understanding. I just felt that all his wisdom and insight was just thrown out, and a sense of "I must do the right thing" and "I can fix this!" attitudes were inserted. Basically, I couldn't see Deudermont doing what he did after taking down the "controller of the pirates." Granted, it wasn't a bad thing Deudermont did, but rather so out of character and just the fact that he didn't realize what was going on really got to me.
3) Forced parts. There were a few parts that I felt forced, and unnecessary. For example, the first time we see Wulfgar and he is yelling,"I am Icewind Dale." One, it was very stupid and reminded me of some bad movie dialogue. Two, I don't think it served a big purpose. Sure it set up where he was and how he got it, but for some reason it annoyed me. Then there were some other scenes in this book that I similar thought pointless and just didn't fit.

Positives:
1) Conditions of Luskan. I thought that the way that Luskan was described after the "battle" was great. It really made you picture the hardships of the people and the desperation they had.
2) Deudermont's fate. What happens to Deudermont was unexpected, yet perfect. I didn't expect him to do what he did, yet what happens to him still came as a total shock, even though I knew before reading this book. It was sudden and just jaw dropping, because you never expect a well known character to leave like that.
3) Characterization of Drizzt and Regis. There were parts of this story that added new dimensions to Drizzt and Regis. For instance, when in Icewind Dale, and the feeling of "rightness" that they feel by being there just added something new and interesting in my eyes. The only thing I didn't care for though, was Regis seemed to whine a lot. It wasn't bad, but his whining served a purpose and made you look into Regis' thoughts and how he feels about certain events happening.

Overall: 3.5/5
*Why so low? At times the story and some characters actions didn't fit. Not only that but, the story didn't seem complete, and it seemed to lack something. Also, I didn't feel blown away by most of the events in this book. However, I'm a Drizzt fan, and always will be. I did like the book, but not enough that I thought it was great. It just seemed mediocre.*

It seems like there are a variety of opinions in other people's reviews, so I won't repeat what others have already said.

I just have one complaint. Where is Artemis Entreri, or Jarlaxle? These characters held my attention way more than the predictable Drizzt (and the rest of the "heroes") ever could. I feel like there have been far too many watered down characters since Paths of Darkness ended. This story has been running for 20 years now, and I understand that it gets hard to come up with new material, but it's starting to become filler, and not good reading. Why keep creating characters that will obviously never be expanded upon besides minor cameos in later books? I also feel like too much of the internal struggles that the main characters are facing are becoming jaded. Sometimes when I'm reading from a character's perspective, or his thoughts about an inner turmoil or his view of a situation, I get a sense of deja-vu, like it's happened before - that it's gotten too predictable.

I have always been a big fan of Salvatore, he's really the only (high) fantasy author I read now. I've loved his books since I found out about them many many years ago. I've stood in line for an hour to get his autograph. But even as a fan I have to admit, the series is winding down. I think the glory days of our favorite heroes and villains ended with Paths of Darkness.

Well, its great. The previous trilogy I wasn't knocked out by, but this..

A very good book. In a very good series (Transitions)

Yes, it has the introductory bits by Drizzt directly addressing the reader

The only quibble is that there are no maps. Luskan features prominently in the book, and a map would really be useful just for understanding where the action is in the city

I believe this is book 20 of Drizzts tales, which began way back when (the early 90s!) with the Crystal Shard

You do have to wonder though, when will the series come to a stop. Characters here reflect on where they'll end up. Regis even addresses Drizzt on the issue of aging here (Elves are long lived compared with the other races - this was touched on in the earlier Hunters Blade Trilogy when Drizzt was talking with another Elf about being involved with humans)

The series is blowing on all cylinders. As other reviewers have noted, you don't get a sole focus on Drizzt here; indeed, much of the book concerns the Pirate King, and to reveal who that is would be a sin. A lot of the story is told through the perspective of Regis, and how he feels, and touching on his bond with Drizzt, and Ten Towns.

Deudermont also features strongly, and although events from the Stowaway book are touched on, you don't really need to read that I feel

The Orc King does need to be read before, as there is no synopsis and the reader may be puzzled by alliances between races that are supposed to hate one another!

But then Drizzt is a drow, and hes the hero of the book, for, despite the reputation of his kin, hes a very noble spirit

Salvatore is NEVER going to stop writing stories about Drizzt. He may take a break and write of other Companions of the Hall from time to time (all of whom feature in The Pirate King) but theres no question his heart is with Drizzt

I do feel that Regis is the hero of the story however, as hes the emotional core. Again, try to find a map of Luskan while you're reading this, cos you might get lost where certain islands are in relation to the Hosttower

Excellent book regardless. The Ghost King to complete the Transitions trilogy in October 2009. Thankfully there is no cliffhanger (a la Streams of Silver!)

Dark Elf Drizzt Do'Urden and his halfling friend Regis leave the dwarf kingdom and its evolving, uncomfortable, alliance with the new Orc kingdom behind them to visit friends in the north. First, they come across a family of wizards who are using magic to convert troublemakers to rabbits. The morality of this harsh judgment bothers both Regis and Drizzt. Yet, the new bunnies were real troublemakers. Would the world be better off if Drizzt fought the wizards and freed them?

In the trade city of Luskan, the Arcane Brotherhood, led by the undead wizard Arklem Greeth, has taken unofficial control, sanctioning pirates, and taxing the captains in official control of that city. Drizzt's pirate-hunter friend Captain Deudermont, decides to confront piracy it it's head rather than simply hunt individiual pirates. He invades, gathering the citizens of Luskan as well as Drizzt and Regis to help him. Still, with the result a bloodbath, hundreds killed, and hunder stalking the 'freed' city, Drizzt again has to wonder about the ethics of his involvement. Do actions to right a wrong always lead to a better world? The facts don't seem to support that theory.

In the far north, Regis and Drizzt attempt to track down Wulfgar--their friend and also the who loved Drizzt's wife, Catti-brie. Wulfgar returned to his homeland in the north, but seems to have vanished.

Author R. A. Salvatore often plays with fantasy conventions. His decision to make an Orc a major protagonist and create a situation where an alliance between Orcs and dwarves is essential represents a thoughtful and intriguing turn in a genre where Orcs seem designed to be killed without any moral qualms because they aren't fully human. In THE PIRATE KING, Salvatore continues his moral/ethical quest, putting Drizzt, his central character in a number of his fantasies, into situations where no clear path to victory can be seen.

Salvatore combines intriguing ethical considerations with wonderful descriptions of battles and individual combat, drawing the reader into the story.

I would have liked to spend more time in the character of Kensidad, the Luskan captain who seeks to turn the disruption to his own advantage. Certainly he is the change agent in this story, always one step ahead of the others, both creating events and responding to them. Like Obould, Kensidad is far from noble, but he is interesting. Unlike Obould, however, Kensidad doesn't seem especially concerned about anyone besides himself (and maybe his father). Also unlike Obould, Kensidad doesn't seem to be his own man.

THE PIRATE KING is engaging and offers some interesting ethical issues that are relevant to today's world situation as well as to the world of Dark Elves, Dwarves and wizards. I would have preferred that Salvatore be a bit more subtle in his approach, but THE PIRATE KING still is an enjoyable read.

The Pirate King has some great twists and turns, memorable characters, and, of course, Drizzt. Salvatore has implemented greater realism into his fiction. The good guys don't always win. Victories come with sacrifice. The Pirate King follows the events of The Orc King, and then quickly branches out into a new story. One of its main themes is the ethics of intervention, as the novel is deeply concerned with when and how "heroes" should decide to intervene into foreign crises. It also considers how such interventions may exacerbate rather than solve problems.

One of my least favorite books from Salvatore. I don't care for Salvatore's pirate parts in any of his books so take this 3 star review with a grain of salt considering that. The book is well written as usual.

Over the years, as TSR went through turmoil to eventually be renamed Wizards of the Coast I've been a fan of Salvatore's Drizzt. In perusing the other reviews I caught a few references to the Forgotten Realms 4th edition. As a non-gamer, I'm admittedly not sure what that means for this story.

But I can tell you this; this book by far is my least favorite tale of Drizzt Do'Urden. Granted, I get its hard to break new ground with Drizzt and his companions of the hall, but w/so much of this book dedicated to Deudermont and the high captains of Luskan, Drizzt became more of a peripheral figure for much of this book.

I've read over the years that Wizards of the Coast lays out much of what direction Forgotten Realms books need to take. Maybe I'd be more sympathetic to the direction of this story if I was a gamer, but as I'm not, this book doesn't seem to be much more than fulfilling a quota.

For my money, there were developments here that would have made a more interesting story; Morik the Rogue, the Harpell's, Wulfgar, & Jarlaxle. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the Ghost King makes no mention of Luskan and focuses on far more personal story lines for Drizzt.

Short Version:
This book is sadly not what I was expecting. It is a departure from the Drizzt of old, who never gave up and fought till the death. The new Drizzt is lame, more concerned with saving criminals than defeating real villains.

Long Version:
This book was a sad dissapointment for me. I truly loved the Legend of Drizzt series, but after reading "The Pirate King" I am unlikely to buy the "Ghost King," and infact this may have been the last book I read by RA Salvatore.

I was unpleasantly surprised to find that although Drizzt makes a good number of "guest appearances" he is far from the main character and even farther from the hero who triumphs against all odds.

He is barely able to fight off a couple of random street thugs. Furthermore, he loses EVERY major battle he engages in against the main villains, and he can barely defeat minor characters. Drizzt just seems weak and none of the courage or bravery he displayed in previous books is there. At the end of the book, he loses some of his best friends and the villains claim victory. What does Drizzt do? He walks away and the story ends. WHAT HAPPEND TO THE DRIZZT THAT HAD SOME BALLS, WHO FOUGHT AND NEVER GAVE UP?

Drizzt seems weak and far too cautious to be a real hero. His constant "moral" questions are really just silly distractions from the storyline. He just sways back and forth constantly confused about this or that moral issue. Where's the nail-biting intrigue of previous stories? Where are the TRUE moral issues of previous books, not some silliness about turning criminals into rabbits (which isn't even funny, it's just boring).

...and there's not much else Drizzt can do. Randomly taking place 4 years after The Orc King, book one of the Transitions Trilogy, with Cattie-brie training as a wizard and all but not in this book, and the lords of Waterdhavian suddenly deciding that now is the perfect time to attack the wizards of Lukstan who are protecting the pirates plaguing The Sword Coast...

In general, I'm not happy with The Pirate King. As mentioned above, no Cattie-brie, so that element of Drizzt's name is missing. Secondly, halfway through the novel I found myself realizing that, though they were battling the wizards, I had little idea, if any, what had brought everyone to that point. And, though the dialogue was wonderful as always and the battles intense, I found little development for anyone other than Deuredmont in the entire novel, and that, in fact, Drizzt seems to have taken a couple of steps sideways...

All in all, I finished it in hopes that The Ghost King will be better. Which is sad, because I loved the first, oh, 20 novels... and this one is just disappointing for Salvatore.

Fans of Salvatore will find plenty of sword-and-sorcery battles and action to enjoy in this book. Drizzt is still the philosopher-warrior par excellence. It's well-written, but deeply cynical and bleak. The novel details the tragic fall of Captain Deudermont, a virtuous, optimistic man who wants to change the world, in this case the pirate city of Luskan, for the better. However, the forces of good are not just overwhelmed by the bad guys -- they are foolish puppets manipulated from the very beginning towards the puppet-masters' dark ends. The drow mercenary band leading from the shadows seemed invincible and hyper-competent. Perhaps Salvatore intends some metaphor towards the perils of nation-building in the real world's politics; I don't know. In any case, I did not enjoy the book; it has killed my desire to continue reading future additions to the Drizzt series. Tread lightly here or you might become as disenchanted with Drizzt and Salvatore as this book made me.

Start with zero stars.

If you're an RAS fan, add two stars.
If you're a Drizzt fan, add two stars.
If you have every Drizzt book, add one star.
If you enjoy solid plotting and characterization with a side of cool swordplay, add two stars.

If you believe the good guys should emerge victorious despite long odds, subtract two stars.
If you disliked the "stability over defeating evil" theme from THE ORC KING, subtract a star.
If you are tired of Iraq War pastiches, subtract one star.
If you are in any way a neoconservative, subtract one star.

And that's how you can arrive at your rating for the book before you even crack it open.

I like this book. In fact, like a few other reviewers, I like this whole series. I've gotten the feeling from time-to-time over the last few years that Mr. Salvatore would rather not have to write any more Drizzt books--in fact, from a technical standpoint, I don't think that Drizzt has even been a protagonist since somewhere in the middle of the Paths of Darkness series--but with the new series, WoC has finally either allowed or forced change onto a character set that badly needed it.

The good thing about Transitions is that between the coming apocalypse of the Spellplague and the return of political intrigue of a type that is usually only found in the Artemis Entreri/Jarlaxle books, this series finally shakes Drizzt free of that smug self-assuredness that he's had ever since he made peace with his heritage. I mean, it's fine that Drizzt's not so conflicted about being a drow anymore, but it's been a problem that he's been SO at peace with himself that nothing ever seems to phase him. Which, I think, is why the Entreri books were, as a whole, better than the contemporaneous Drizzt books. Entreri loathed himself, and that loathing fueled the burning rage that propelled his novels so powerfully. Meanwhile, Drizzt has been unstoppably... happy.

Ugh.

Transitions gets us to a darker place, and that's a better place from which to tell stories. And now, having shaken Drizzt free from his lethargy of happiness, we have a newly remotivated protagonist, who, I think, will be ready to captain his own series again--and soon. I'm looking forward to that, and along the way, I'm enjoying the journey too.

It was boring compared to R.A Salvatore's other books. Honestly you could skip this and go straight to the Ghost king and not miss much of anything. It was just a book for something in the middle of Drizzt's life, that really isn't that exciting or suspenseful. If your looking for more action, I recomend going straight to the Ghost King.

This book's greatest strength is its plot. It has a myriad of diverse characters, side-stories, and intrigue, nd yet it is still relatively easy to follow, and exciting. The battle scenes are exhilirating but not overdrawn, and the pacing is good. The book brings fresh life to the Drizzt series, bringing back a number of old characters and introducing many new ones. It has a mad lich, devious pirate captains, an amry of tragic crusaders on a doomed quest for justice. Obould ahs a brief but satisfying cameo appearance. In many ways, the book's dark tone and aura of constant chaos reminded me of the film the Dark Knight. And the parallels between the book's plot and the War in Iraq are impossible to miss...
However, Drizzt fans might notice an abrupt and inexplicable change in their dark elf hero. Drizzt never struck me as the "greater good" type; he was never one to sit back and allow evil to thrive in the name of the greater good. Drizzt struck me as the sort of person always attempt to find a solution, or would die trying, rather than give up. Yet in this book, Drizzt's personality seems to take a sudden and, in my opinion undesirable turn. One scene in particualr involvign the Harpells seemd out of place. In addition, I have to say I was disappointed by the unbelievable ending to climactic fight scene between Drizzt and a particular dwarf...

I was looking forward to this book, hoping it would have more Sea Sprite adventures and battles at sea. What I found was a bit more about city politics and power struggles. Don't get me wrong...there are still great battles and everything that makes a good Drizzt book, but The Pirate King was actually one of my least favorite in the series. Yes, I even liked The Spine of the World: The Legend of Drizzt, Book XII better, believe it or not :-)

-Ed Caggiani, Translator of Tracks and Horizons: 26 Countries on a Motorcycle

Overall a good Salvatore, but man, this series is tough to get through for my aging eyes. For the money, the publisher could spring for a slightly larger font, maybe pushing the margins, and a higher quality ink that is BLACK instead of grey. I would rather be spending my effort trying to remember all the names and who is who, rather than just straining my eyes to see the words... Would have been 4 stars but for this flaw...

The Transition Series is awesome. I loved the entire series you can't go wrong. I definitely willreread. Action pack through out the entire series. I read all 3 books in 3 days. I read Ghost king in 10 hour because from the time you open the book it's none stop action.

R.A. Salvatore's the Pirate King describes political intrigue, power struggles between ruling factions and revolution of oppressed in a fantasy setting. The famed protagonist of this second series in the book, Drizzt Do'Urden, appears with his friends Regis and Bruenor at events that lead to escalations between opposing factions.
One of them is the confrontation of the Orc King Obould against the Demon Nyphithys, a prelude to the climax of the story, the fight of Deudermont against the Archmage Arcane in Luskan.
The second book in the transition series is well written and the extensive details of the battles allows for great visualization during the story. I will not say that this book is his best one yet, due to the fact that he sometimes seems to change his pace suffering a diminishing flow of the story, but overall I would have to say that I was quite satisfied with what I have read thus far. This part of the series is only worth reading if you are a Drizzt Do'urden fan and have been reading the previous series. Only then will one understand more about the characters and the setting The Pirate King takes place.

Possible Spoilers!!!!!!!!!

I think that this could have been a brilliant book, but just falls short. The main plot seems to take the focus away from Drizzt which i cannot agree with, unless, this book is leading up to something in the ghost king. The title of the next book suggests something to do with Akleem Greeth and a possible battle between him and Drizzt. The comments about drizzt not facing any new foes are justified i believe, mainly because in the past Drizzt has faced demons (Errtu) and matron mothers and easily won! The possible battle with the liche could end these thoughts though. I found that halfway through the book there was a lull that could have been due to the fractured story line when Drizzt and Regis go and find Wulfgar. I do however like the ending, the subtle hints about the identity of the voice in the shadows were brilliantly written. A good Drizzt book from R.A. Salvatore but not his best!

First of all, I loved the Drizzt Character up until this point.

This story was absolutely horrible. What happened to Salvatore?

Drizzt totally became an idiot here. He couldn't make a decision about anything and for someone who is always droning on about morals, he has no opinion on changing criminals to rabbits? No Regis, we can't stop this so lets just keep on walkin. What the Hell!!! Regis was annoying and by the end of the book I was happy to see Deudermont(reduced to a complete ass. I don't remember the big bad Pirate hunter being this naive) good and Dead! And by the way,what was up with the Harpells turning folks into rabbits again? Rabbits? Excuse me, was sombody on that stuff when they wrote this? Cause it sounds like an LSD trip to me.

The story was convoluted with a bunch of uninteresting people that nobody really cared about, fighting over a city that nobody cares about. In the end, the good guys don't win, the fight and the city are lost, and so it seems are my previously well loved characters. A total and complete waste of paper. I would like to say that this book had some redeeming quality about it but alas, it didn't. In the end, the only thing I can't seem to forget are those damned rabbits? Everything else, gone with the wind.

On the plus side, the cover art was pretty cool though.

Another year, another Salvatore Drizzt novel has come. To the fans, this is a good book but has some problems. To the first timers, go back and read the series in order! Let me first say that I am a huge fan of Salvatore and the Drizzt series. The last novel, THE ORC KING, was awesome. PIRATE KING however falls a little flat. The book pretty much breaks down into three parts. First we have Drizzt and Deudermont rousing the people of Luskan to battle the lich Arklem Greeth & the wizards of the Hostower. While it is good, the battles just do not feel as epic as previous ones from the series. Arklem Greeth is not made out to be a great evil character, instead he comes off as kind of an aloof character. There seems to be a lot of politics in this book, and it drags down the story. It does have some exciting fights though. The battle with the devils, and Drizzt vs. the fire elemental just off the top of my head. The second part has Drizzt & Regis going to Icewind Dale to find Wulfgar. This part feels totally disconnected from the whole novel and just seems to exist to give Drizzt something important to do instead of hanging around Luskan. The final part is the ultimate seize of power for Luskan. But it too feels kind of rushed and is not as entertaining as it should have been. I also really don't like the cover art! It is so dark, Drizzt & Guen just looking down off a castle?! Worst Todd Lockwood cover EVER!
In the end, it is a good read but does fall down towards the bottom of the series. Here's hoping that GHOST KING is just EPIC!!!

This review will have spoilers, so don't read further if you don't want to have anything revealed.

*********************** Possible Spoilers Below **************************

First, this book finally helped me pinpoint why most of the books following the Icewind Dale and Dark Elf trilogies have been disappointing. The reason is I believe that Drizzt does not make for a good MAIN character (with the exception of the Dark Elf trilogy). The reason being is he has nowhere to grow. He is already a weapons master and his precious principles are already set in stone (quite frankly, he is getting quite self-rightous). In the first trilogy, he is great as a mentor of Wulfgar, with the skill to teach the barbarian to fight, the wisdom to show him a better way, and enough wildness to lead him into trouble.

Second, why is the message suddenly: "Tolerate evil if it is too costly to confront it"? In the last book, we have Drizzt convincing Breunor that they should let Obould have his kingdom, not because the two forces have fought each other to a standstill, but because "maybe he is different, and is looking for something better for the orcs". Yeah, a kingdom built on slaughter, but hey, that was last year.
Now, when his friend Deudermont decides to take on the corrupt power in Luskan that is aiding the pirates he fights, the message is, "it's going ot be a hard fight - maybe we should just leave the EVIL MURDERING LICHE in charge."
The whole book (all of Transitions actually) seems to be about tolerating evil. First, we question the decision to remove an evil liche from power that readly resorts to murder.
Next, once the liche is removed, we see tolerance of the pirate captains. These four captains are committing murder, inciting riots, and none of the "good guys" feel the need to stand up against them.
The Crow then kills his friend and Drizzt just walks away. The same Drizzt that took out Pasha Pook for hunting Reagis. (Don't you think that would cause a similar amount of strife in Calimport as would be caused in Luskan should these captains be "removed"?) The same Drizzt that journeyed back to the Underdark to take on the Drow that attacked Breunor's kingdom. This same "hero" just walks away now? Evil wins? (I just can't wait to see what vile villain gets to win the day in "The Ghost King".)
But at least Drizzt does show at least some moral outrage.
Is it at the liche that unleashes hordes of undead upon the city? Not really, though he at least gets angry after Reagis is hurt.
Is it at the pirate captains' murder and mayhem? Not really.
Then what is it at? His moral outrage is directed towards the Harpels for turning a man who murdered a family by burning them in their house into a rabit (though they admitted Breunor would have had the man executed for the same crime)!?!?

At least Cattie-Brea was not in this one, or at least only breifly. I have not liked her character since Legacy, when she made the dramatic shift from being in love with Wulfgar to showing nothing but resentment for him. (Her relationship with Drizzt always seemed forced to me, as if Salvatore believed that since the focus was to shift from Wulgar to Drizzt, Cattie-Brie should as well.)

That, and the skill in writing give this two stars instead of one. Given that evil wins out in the end, and the "heroes" just shrug it off, forbits me from rating it higher.

Well let me 1st say I am a HUGE Drizzt fan and have pretty much loved every book in the Drizzt series, but sadly this is not one of them. This could have easily been a stand alone book by Salvatore about Cap Duedermount with Drizzt making a cameo apperance. Drizzit plays such a minor role(aside from the middle of the book, which itself could have been a short story on its own, as it has nothing to do with the whole of the book)it feels nothing of a classic Drizzt tale. Unlike Spine of the World, which contained no Drizzit at all, but still featured a main character from the Drizzt mythos, in Wulfgar, this book focuses on a side character to Drizzt, Cap Duedermount. To much of the book is spent on pirate politics and Duedermounts own goals, leaving Drizzit to the side, never allowing him to have any real role in the book. Aside from his name appearing in the book, you never get the feeling you are actually reading about Drizzt, as odd as that may sound.

Other than the minor Wulfar story in the middle, this book felt to detached from continuing story of Drizzt and the Companions of the Hall.

I have never been dissapointed by a Salvator book until now :(

I hope with all my heart that the Ghost King is back to the classic Salvatore I know and love.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Pirate King. Great intrigue, fight scene descriptions and dialogue (The world's gone Gutbuster ! :) There definitely is a twist at the end, although I am still deciding if I agree with it. The ruminations of Drizzt were right on point. I also like the fact that I don't have to wait another year to finish this story. One book told it all. Why is this even a trilogy?
The only criticism I have with this book was the final battle of Drizzt and his foe. Salvatore lazily repeats an outcome he used in a previous book (even with the some of the same characters). You are better than that R.A.

I don't really want to write a review, I just wanted to lower the stars for this book. If I had to summarize I have read every R.A Salvatore book and this was the only one I had to stop reading and finish with a audiobook later on. This book was bad, irrelevant, and I don't recommend it except for hardcore fans like myself.

This book is like a Tom Clancy novel - jumps around a lot and revisits a number of characters and places we have seen in previous novels - but unlike a Clancy novel, nothing is really accomplished. You could skip this book entirely and never even realize it was missing from the series. Also, Drizzt almost gets killed a couple of times. I can't recommend it.

In waiting for this book, I had built up some high anticipation of new adventures, great battles, and further exploration into the life and times of the main character, Drizzt Do'Urden. I was, unfortunately, quite disappointed after reading this book. In fact, if one did not ever read this book and skipped to the next book in the series, the reader would miss very little, if anything regarding Drizzt.

This book is another example (unfortunately, there is at least one other book in the series) of what I term "literary fodder" - it has little value in progressing the main character and/or story about the main character. It is not even a great adventure story. Too, too many pages are devoted to tangential characters and not Drizzt.

Like many readers and fans of Drizzt, I wish again for any new stories to be great tales regarding this great character (first and foremost)!

I really enjoyed this book. It has elements and character from almost every other Drizzt book in it, and that's what makes it great, but at some times the book can seem repetitive. In all, it's worth a read.

I read this book a year ago, and The Pirate King still burns in my memory as one of the most awful books I've ever read. R. A. Salvatore is trying to copy new writers appearing on the scene and has lost his touch.

I'm a huge fan of Salvatore and pretty much have all his books that include Drizzt the dark elf. Unfortunately, this book was a dissappointment. The story was fast paced, which I don't mind at all. However the story just seemed rush and disconnected at many points thru out the story.

This book is like a Tom Clancy novel - jumps around a lot and revisits a number of characters and places we have seen in previous novels - but unlike a Clancy novel, nothing is really accomplished. You could skip this book entirely and never even realize it was missing from the series. Also, Drizzt almost gets killed a couple of times. I can't recommend it.

I'm a huge fan of Salvatore and pretty much have all his books that include Drizzt the dark elf. Unfortunately, this book was a dissappointment. The story was fast paced, which I don't mind at all. However the story just seemed rush and disconnected at many points thru out the story.

The Pirate King is easily one of my favorite Drizzt novels. The plot was well paced, the dialogue was smooth, and R.A. Salvatore takes his signature fight scenes to new intensive heights! I'm not going to disclose any spoilers to anyone who hasn't read the book. But what I will say is that the twist at the Pirate King's denouement will leave loyal Forgotten Realms readers hungering for the trilogy's next-and final-installment.

I am never disappointed with Salvatore and the Forgotten Realms series of books. This latest adventure of Drizzt and his companions continue to entertain and fasinate me. My only regreat is that I'll have to wait a year or so for the next book. This book is excellant and I would recommed it to any Scfi/Fantancy fan.

I liked the book and it is classic Salvatore; never staying on one story line long enough to draw your attention off of the plot and side plots running rampant through every one of his books. I would have liked a touch more Drizzt, but overall a good read. Well worth the money spent.

For the most part, it's what you'll have come to expect from Salvatore's Drizzt novels. Just plain fun to read. Probably one of the darker tales in the series, Drizzt is also a bit more of a side character than you'd expect. The main character of this book is Luskan itself.