Book III (The Legend of Drizzt 19) - The Ghost King

******************SPOILER ALERT******************

Since the first reviewer already let it slip that 3 characters die, I have no problem bringing it up. The only reason I didn't truly enjoy this book is the manor in which 2 of the characters died. It was pointless and neither contributed to the story. It was a complete waste. I'm not gonna go in depth cuz I don't want to give away who it is. (the 2 in question don't kick the bucket til the very end so any hints will give it away) I felt this book should have been much longer. I think once Salvatore has the ability to walk away from WoTC, he should. He needs to move on to epic novels instead of this watered down form.

This book had the ultimate cast. All of the greatest characters in the Drizzt saga were here except for Artemis. Some of you may disagree because Wulfgar is not in this one but I haven't enjoyed his contribtion to the saga since the beginning. Just to name my favorites here you go: Jarlaxle, Athrogate, Ivan and Pikel Bouldershoulder, Cadderly (duh!), and Pwent. Each of these characters have recieved a lot of care on Salvatores part in the character developement department. I don't feel any of them got the chance to shine in this book with so many big names walking around. Cadderly was a bit of a let down since he was such a prominent part of this story. They didn't explain at all how he maintained his powers even though everyone else was SOL in the divine/arcane department. I understand he's a chosen but how can you be a chosen of anything when your patron deity goes MIA.

I find it hard for Salvatore to walk away from the Drizzt series since there are so many loose ends left from before as well a whole bunch of new ones opened up in this one. I don't think this is the end of Crenshinbon, Heifestus, or Yarakshik( definately not sure on the spelling). I didn't seem like the finale was complete. Not like in the earlier books. I felt some of these villians were done for good before but this ending was less finite. I'm wondering to myself why this 3 part series was about 3 different stories while this novel could have filled out all 3 volumes and answered a lot more questions. Hopefully we'll get another book that will clear up some of my misgivings about where the series is going. I don't fault the death of the chatacters. It's time a big name died. For so long these characters have had the illusion of immortality. To press on against insumantable odds and not only win but crush the enemy and throw a party afterwards. No one is that good. Elminsters days are numbered.

One last thing. Does anyone else feel that Salvatores little introductions to each sections of the books (the part where Drizzt laments on past experiences and explains why he does what he does how he does it) to be annoying and of no substance. This novel really irritated me on this one. They had no polish. It was as if he was really digging to write something truly deep and failed utterly.

If youve read the Spellplague(d) books being published and looked to the different series already landing in a spellplagued future, you have to know where Salvatore has to take you. In a sometimes too "fight to fight" book with a little less character reflection than weve come to appreciate from Salvatore, the future is cemented as a painful evolution but one thats been hinted at for the past few books with no solutions provided. If you can look at this final chapter as a microchasm of the forgotten realms and its pantheon, it's a fairly fitting finale to what we came to know with the release of that Forgotten Realms campaign setting so many years ago. Coincidence of enemies and allies pushes the first and last combatants of Salvatore's world into a last all out fight to the death in the confines of Spirit Soaring. While "normal" humans wander aimlessly under the world to escape the destruction of their town, Salvatore's elite characters (save one) combine forces to answer the question "what about tomorrow". What will the humans find when they emerge from their own mini dark age? Who will their heroes be? And will old villains be among them?

As depressing as it was to see the three characters lost move on, it allows Salvatore to take Drizzt potentially decades beyond the Ghost King. Maybe hes a haunted loner again. Maybe he becomes more of the surgical strike to Jarlaxle's noble(?) strategies and plottings. Maybe he and Bruenor spend the time plane hopping looking for that one pocket of peace allowing Mithral Hall to be forgotten. Maybe this is it?

It's been a while since I think I've read a book where I didn't think I knew where Drizzt would go next. He has been such a linear character for the past couple series. And now weve read his thoughts on what defines a hero, what magic provided for the stability of civilization, and that his anchor may be forever lost to him. Wide open. I couldnt imagine a better way to shove Drizzt into the Spellplague and maybe allow him to step beyond his regional fame and be a Hero for the new age.

Anyone who says this book was anything but brilliant has been drastically over-analyzing this book. Yes some of the characters may have appeared a bit more lackluster than in previous books, but don't forget who the main character and focus of this one is, Drizzt. The insight into Drizzt's mind and soul made him more real of a character than he has ever been. Another character of whom is my favorite also saw much change in this book and that character is Jarlaxle. All and all despite the complaints about other characters being somewhat boring (Cadderly's children) one has to understand that they aren't fully developed and are supposed to appear as such. They are in fact boring, they had no prior battle experience (with exception of their training) in the setting of the book and grew up in almost an absolute peace. One can do nothing but applaud Salvatore for delivering one of the best books he has ever written, and I have read nearly all his books so I don't say that lightly. Now the one thing I will agree on is how some parts of the book were a bit confusing when in regards to the falling weave and the tears that linked the different planes of existence, and Cadderly's ultimate fate. However, it is likely that many answers and more questions will present themselves in the books that he will inevitably be writing in the coming years. I only hope I can wait that long.

No spoilers.

I really liked this book. Some of the prevoius books seemed to run together and gave no real sense of anticipation or concern for the characters. This is not one of those books. I had to immediatly reread several chapters just to make sure I wasn't making parts of the book up, it's a game changer (in a good way).If I had one complaint about the book, it would be the insane cliff hanger. It seems like it stops in the middle of an idea. I wan't more details!

It seems like Salvatore is getting tired of, or running out of ideas for the story line. Almost a convenient rehash of former villains to bring about an ending where you are not expecting any more continuing adventures. The change in the environment in the way it affects the characters so that there are not any more glorious exploits to be had. The reduction in the interaction between the characters to end further chances of more stories left me very disappointed with the ending.

The most popular characters are brought together to save the day again. Theres Drizzt,Brunor,Regis,Catti-Brie,Jarlaxel,Cadderly,Danka,Pickle,and his brother.
Maybe my least favorate Drizzt book but theres lots of action. It drags alittle more than Im used to his books doing. All in all a fair read. If I tell you anymore there would be no need to read it so thats all.

The Ghost King completes the Transitions Trilogy, which started out quite slow and disjointed from the future scene that opened The Orc King to the more contemporary story of The Pirate King, taking place some eight years after the end of the second book in the series.

While Salvatore unites the disparate characters from his two Realms series once again, he does so more intimately, having Jarlaxle as the main focus of the antagonist's ire at the start of the book. Spanning a wide range of the canon of the Forgotten Realms, we see psionics in use, magic failing due to the spell plague, priestly magic failing as the Gods seem to have disappeared, but magic weapons and items seemingly unaffected. The story deals with the reincarnated Crystal Shard in a new guise, dissociated from the Lichs who created it in the ancient past, but united with the dragon whose breath destroyed it and a mind flayer. The three minds compete for dominance, so the foe serves as its own antagonist for some of the book.

The heroes are familiar, from the characters of the Cleric Quintet and their children, to the remaining Companions of the Hall (Wulfgar was split from them earlier in the series, for good it seems), to Jarlaxle and Athrogate. Artemis Entreri is mentioned but never seen, and it was noted that he was being hunted by the servants of the Shard so we might see another book or story featuring him in the future.

The heroes band together to face the evil, accompanied by extra-dimensional beings entering through a dimensional rift that replenishes the enemy ranks. Two of the Companions are laid low before any battle is fought and they only serve to distract the rest until their plotlines are resolved at the end of the book.

The title of the series, Transitions, reflects not only the changeover of the game system of Dungeons and Dragons, but also the changes that proceed in the lives of the primary characters as their world changes. The defeats and victories they have achieved and suffered in their lives are matched by their greatest challenge to date. The heroes show their mettle and the reader is rewarded for being patient in following the course of the action. This is not a pleasant story, as great changes are wrought both in the Forgotten Realms and in the lives of the characters we have grown to know and love. How they deal with these radical changes will have to wait to be revealed in whatever Salvatore delivers next.

Note that Salvatore has a long author's note to open the book, citing how difficult it was for him to write. It was not until the end of the book that this truly became clear to me. It is a pretty rare thing for a book to move me to tears, but this one accomplished that for the first time in a very long while. I cannot say enough good things about this book, though it did start a bit slow and some things were not explained terribly well and there were some consistency issues (such as Ivan retrieving his axe at one point, then not having it and using rocks, then suddenly having his axe again). However much I might not like such things, they are present and result in my not giving this a five star review.

This is a fantastic book that reads very fast, like the older books in the Drizzt line it is grand in scale and deals with the evolution in the life of this larger than life hero.

Salvatore kept in his wonderful tradition of writing in the saga including Drizzit. Book moved in all directions with twists and turns that you were not looking for throughout the book. Excellent book to read if you are keeping up with the saga

Salvatore does a great job of getting back to the characters that made him famous. He is tieing together loose ends that set the stage for the time frame that the D&D 4th edition settings take place. He returns old friends to the story and throws in some unexpected curveballs. Classic Salvatore at it's best. If you are a fan of the Drizzt books then I strongly recommend picking this one up too.

This book blows.. All the other books.. AMAZEBALLS!!!! This trilogy is painful to slog through.. I hear the next books are back to the exceptional caliber I've come to enjoy. Dear god I hope so as all the books til now have been tremendous!

"Once again Salvatore it a pure genius!!!" The third book of the Transitions trilogy was in my opinion, the best of the three....though all of them are great!! Salvatore has definitely stepped it up "several" notches with Transitions. The title of the book says it all......"nothing will ever be the same in Faerun, the Spellplague has come."

My emotions are running wild after the reading the conclusion; from the very beginning (Orc King) Salvatore "prepares" you for the "change", you do not want it to come (I dreaded it...), but fortunately/unfortunately things do change. Salvatore you are a pure master and genius, and I thank you for the time you have giving, we your fans, the opportunity to get to know (and love) all the "Companions of the Hall"....again thank you!! I sat at my desk for several hours contemplating "life, determination, conviction, family, goals, perseverance, etc. after finishing the book......wow!!!!

To any of you who read my review, I will say this book should receive "10 stars", and if you have followed Drizzt and his companions thus far.......be prepared for "transitions". Sometimes we do not want change, but change nevertheless is part of the fabric of "any" reality.

I cannot wait to read where this leads Drizzt next.....so many possibilites!!!!

I will not talk about any details of the book.....please read the book.I hope each of you enjoy this book as much as I did. Thank you again Salvatore!!!!!!

First, I should admit that the fight scenes were acceptable and that any book with Jarlaxle is usually decent since Drizzt has evolved into a sort of goody two shoes over the years. I was hoping Cat's death would open up another dimension to his personality, but alas... she is not even really dead.. just in la la land dancing and waiting for Jarlaxle to find a way to rescue her. The thing I hate most about this book is that Salvatore's philosophizing keeps getting worse and worse with each book. And, there is WAY, WAY, WAY too much internal conflict. Also, unless you have read every book Salvatore has written, including the cleric quintet, be prepared to be assaulted with an overwhelming number of new characters. With that many new characters, it was hard to become attached to any. I didn't really care when any of them died. I just wished Cat's death would have been more final. I have hated her character ever since she dumped Wolfgar. Speaking of which, Wolfgar was notably absent from this story even though the book ended with the implication we would see him in the next book. Wasn't this supposed to be the final in this series? Where is the conclusion? The shard isn't really destroyed. The dragon isn't really dead. The mind-flayer is now reunited with some hive. The weave is still fallen and no one knows why. Cadderly's god is writing metatext on the weave and you don't know what that is about either. Who is the mysterious god giving Cadderly power anyway? The end of the book was supposed to be like the beginning of the first book, which it is not. Will there be a 4th book in transitions? Will I bother reading it? Probably. I just keep missing the Salvatore I knew in Homeland, Exile, Sojourn and the Icewind Dale Trilogy.

"Once again Salvatore it a pure genius!!!" The third book of the Transitions trilogy was in my opinion, the best of the three....though all of them are great!! Salvatore has definitely stepped it up "several" notches with Transitions. The title of the book says it all......"nothing will ever be the same in Faerun, the Spellplague has come."

My emotions are running wild after the reading the conclusion; from the very beginning (Orc King) Salvatore "prepares" you for the "change", you do not want it to come (I dreaded it...), but fortunately/unfortunately things do change. Salvatore you are a pure master and genius, and I thank you for the time you have giving, we your fans, the opportunity to get to know (and love) all the "Companions of the Hall"....again thank you!! I sat at my desk for several hours contemplating "life, determination, conviction, family, goals, perseverance, etc. after finishing the book......wow!!!!

To any of you who read my review, I will say this book should receive "10 stars", and if you have followed Drizzt and his companions thus far.......be prepared for "transitions". Sometimes we do not want change, but change nevertheless is part of the fabric of "any" reality.

I cannot wait to read where this leads Drizzt next.....so many possibilites!!!!

I will not talk about any details of the book.....please read the book.I hope each of you enjoy this book as much as I did. Thank you again Salvatore!!!!!!

First, I should admit that the fight scenes were acceptable and that any book with Jarlaxle is usually decent since Drizzt has evolved into a sort of goody two shoes over the years. I was hoping Cat's death would open up another dimension to his personality, but alas... she is not even really dead.. just in la la land dancing and waiting for Jarlaxle to find a way to rescue her. The thing I hate most about this book is that Salvatore's philosophizing keeps getting worse and worse with each book. And, there is WAY, WAY, WAY too much internal conflict. Also, unless you have read every book Salvatore has written, including the cleric quintet, be prepared to be assaulted with an overwhelming number of new characters. With that many new characters, it was hard to become attached to any. I didn't really care when any of them died. I just wished Cat's death would have been more final. I have hated her character ever since she dumped Wolfgar. Speaking of which, Wolfgar was notably absent from this story even though the book ended with the implication we would see him in the next book. Wasn't this supposed to be the final in this series? Where is the conclusion? The shard isn't really destroyed. The dragon isn't really dead. The mind-flayer is now reunited with some hive. The weave is still fallen and no one knows why. Cadderly's god is writing metatext on the weave and you don't know what that is about either. Who is the mysterious god giving Cadderly power anyway? The end of the book was supposed to be like the beginning of the first book, which it is not. Will there be a 4th book in transitions? Will I bother reading it? Probably. I just keep missing the Salvatore I knew in Homeland, Exile, Sojourn and the Icewind Dale Trilogy.

Have read many R, A. Salavatore books, big fan. Could not even finish book, worst book of his that i have tried to read. Pirate King was also bad, but I did read whole book. Not worth the time, sorry i started. Will still read the next book.

The Ghost King brings Drizzt, Bruenor, Athrogate, Jarlaxle, Danica and Cadderly together for a great and important task. The story moves along well and has an abundance of action. I was slightly disappointed in the ending, but it wasn't that bad. Overall it was a great story in a line of great stories.

This was purchased as a Christmas gift last year. My son in law kept his nose in this book until the end and I know has read it more than one time so it must be good. R.A. Salvatore is a really great writer.

This book brings together several ongoing threads that have been the mainstay Character plots throughout twenty Drizzt books. The stories of several beloved characters are tied up in an emotional conclusion. I await Bob Salvatore's new book and await the new direction he will take his beloved dsrk elf hero.

After feeling only so-so about the first Transitions book, Orc King and really liking the second book, Pirate King, I was excited for the third and final book in the Transitions series, Ghost King.

I should preface this review by stating that I have read every Drizz't book previous to this and other novels by R. A. Salvatore. Sadly, I can say that this book has ended that for me. By far, one of the most frustrating and poorly written books in the entire Drizz't Do"urden series.

One of the first impressions I got that no one else mentioned is that it feels like the author is trying to "cash in" on the recent popularity of the undead. It may sound odd but this book has undead lurking everywhere, zombies, and ghouls rising en masse from their graves to prey upon the living. That would be cool, but it has been done to death. It didn't feel scary or creepy, even in the d&d context.

The main villain is creative and helped me to actually give the book two stars. The Ghost King is a strange combination of Crenshinibon (the crystal shard) and the seven spectres who worship it, the disembodied essence of a mindflayer, and a red dragon turned into an undead dracolich by the warping of the Spellplague (and later the dwarf Ivan). That's creative, but that's where it ends for me.

Jarlaxle and Athrogate are back from Pirate King but I have issues with them - in the last book Athrogate was hell-bent on bashing Drizz't's skull in, but suddenly everything is cool because Jarlaxle needs the heroes help to combat The Ghost King. Speaking of Jarlaxle, be prepared for another drow who has suddenly decided that working with and helping others is the way to go now. Wasn't he supposed to be a mercenary? A strong shift towards good in this book.

The combat sequences are top-notch, so if you are used to that and enjoy it as I do, you will at least like those parts.

The kids of Cadderly and Danica are featured, but they don't seem to do anything but worry, whine, and wish Pikel would do something more. Odd writing, really - seemed like trying to fill up a page count.

The now "infamous" scene of Danica kicking a cliff face to survive a fall over 1000 ft - I realize this is supposed to be her use of the monk's "slow fall" ability, but it comes across as really unbelievable.

Finally, the end - oh my, my, my. As others have said - I realize that heroes can fall, no one lives forever, but COME ON!!!
THESE CHARACTERS HAD BEEN PARTS OF MY LIFE FOR SO MANY YEARS!

Cattie-Brie and Regis succumb to the effects of the Spellplague after being affected by it in a series of almost stroke-like episodes throughout the entire novel against the pain, darkness, and shadows of dementia and death. They are killed without a word, without a chance to fight, without a solid explanation. That hurt. Bad. REALLY BAD. You have to read it to believe it and even then you will shake your head. An even more bizarre demise, Cadderly is left to haunt Spirit Soaring from the afterlife as the new Ghost King. What?!?

So to end, this series of books was a Transition to the 4th edition of Forgotten Realms. It does so at the expense of characters you have known and loved for years, possibly decades of your life, and is done so in the poorest of ways. I admit, I too have now experienced "Transitions" - away from R. A Salvatore's books - for good. After reading this book, you may find yourself doing the same.