The Ghost King

This book is, of course, a must-read for Salvatore fans. It's the final book in his transitions series and all your favorite characters are there; drizzt, jarlaxle, cadderly, bruenor, catti-brie, etc. Some major things change in Faerun in this book, but i felt it was well worth the read. I highly recommend this title to anyone interested in fantasy, but i recommend reading salvatore's earlier books about these characters first.

There are few books, movies, stories, etc. that move you so much and touch you so much that you can NOT get them out of your head. This is one of them. Even though I had read the Preface, I still expected all of the characters to make it through their ordeals, like they pretty much always do. (ex. Wulfgar) However, I was SO emotionally touched by the sacrifice and loss involved, especially the way that it all happened. My only grievance is that the book, in my humble opinion, should have been 20-50 pages longer for further development of the first loss (very large loss) and to further describe what happened to the other people involved. I can NOT wait for the next book to see how everyone adapts and grows. This is probably my favorite book of the "Drizzt Sagas", overtaking The Legacy and Starless Night.

-----Spoiler alert----- Since others didn't think prior.... I was also upset by the end. 3 major characters die, two of which were senseless as far as I'm concerned. However, We seem to be forgetting how many times characters have died or have "died"... Wulfgar, Bruenor its happened before. Yes it would seem all of these deaths are are final, and maybe they are, but we do not know for sure. Perhaps if they are truly dead, we will have a bit more closure in the next book. But lets face the facts, IT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN EVENTUALLY! Drizzt is the main focus of the story who is expected to live for how many hundreds of years? All the other races will die, naturally or otherwise, far before him. Don't forget the title "Transitions" and the ending of the Orc King a hundred or so years in the future. He isn't scribbling down what ever comes into his head there is a point. The only question I truly have is what the next book will be and when?

I consider this to be one of Salvatore's best works (second only to Homeland, which will always be my favorite). The Ghost King has a gripping storyline and was full of edge-of-your-seat action scenes (as always!) that kept me glued to the book until the end. I am a huge Jarlaxle fan, so I was thrilled that he had such a large role in the story and was pleasantly surprised with the direction in which Salvatore took his character. What most impressed me, though, was the emotional depth of this book. Salvatore did a beautiful job of portraying the reality of grief and loss as he expanded on the emotional depths of Drizzt more than ever before. The deaths which occur in this book were truely heart breaking (certainly had me in tears!) but, as others here have said, were inevitable. I look forward to seeing in what new directions Salvatore will take the (surviving) characters in the post-spellplague era. Thank you Salvatore for another wonderful adventure (and hope there will be many more to come)!! :)

The Ghost King is a fitting conclusion to the series of Drizzt and Cadderly thus far. As good writers do, Salvatore draws from personal experience in the loss of his brother Gary almost a decade a go. Anyone who has lost someone they love can show empathy, as writers or as readers, and since we have been attached to these characters, many of us, for the better part of our lives, find ourselves crying the same tears as Drizzt and, not to put to fine a point on it, Salvatore himself. Many writers are not up to this challenge--it is easy to slip into bitter emotionalism and turn good story quickly into melodrama. However, Salvatore does not do this. Some have suggested that this novel runs short on character. I disgree. Character, in novels such as this, are a continuum, like story, that runs as a thread through all of writer's works. This book is heavily about the transition, change, of the world but moreso on the change in these personalities we've loved for over twenty years. While this may make it difficult for a new reader to pick up this book without reading the others, I am firmly convinced one may do so as one meets and enjoys the final moments of a new friend who is soon departing from this mortal coil. My hat is off to you again, Mr. Bob Salvatore.