When I started theDungeons & Dragons & Novelsseries , I wanted to go through all the D&D fiction of past to see how they held up ( or stunningly fell to pieces ) . But if I ’m being honest with myself , what I really wanted to reread was R.A. Salvatore ’s original Icewind Dale trilogy . The Crystal Shard , Streams of Silver , and The Halfling ’s Gem probably did as much to get me into fancy asLord of the Ringsand David Eddings’Belgariad , and I fall in passion withDrizzt Do’Urdenas much as any other nerdy 12 - year - older . After rereading the final installing in the serial , I can cut my nerdy 12 - yr - old ego some slack .
It is shocking to me that the same somebody who compose The Crystal Shard in 1988 pen The Halfling ’s Gem in 1990 . R.A. Salvatore ’s growth as a writer is simply astonishing over the class of the Icewind Dale trilogy . Not that Gem is a chef-d’oeuvre of fiction , but compared to Shard , it might as well be Game of Thrones . It has a clear plot that does n’t feel like a copy of a D&D session , it ’s not a rehash of Tolkien like Streams , and the separate narrative threads weave together far more course . Furthermore , it ’s not straining almost as hard to be epic as the old novel , which pass on Gem a richness and intimacy the other books lack .
As counterbalance to fighting an omnipotent moron or an US Army of malign dwarves lead by a dragon , The Halfling ’s Gem is almost exclusively about the heroes trying to rescue Regis , who was nobble at the end of Streams of Silver by the assassin Artemis Entreri , and is now being engage to stealer ’ guild leader Pasha Pook , from whom Regis had stolen the titular , magically hypnotic gem . Bruenor the dwarf had fallen to his death fighting the Draco Shadowgloom ; his adopted , human girl Catti - Brie was summon a champion variety of armies to reclaim Mithral Hall , which the Draco had previously usurped . The impossibly stately and badass Drow elf Drizzt , along with the rash - but - con uncivilised Wulfgar , had given Salmon Portland Chase to Entreri and Regis as they head up to Calimport , where Pook shack .
Inset of The Halfling’s Gem 2005 reprint cover art by Todd Lockwood.Image: Wizards of the Coast
Eventually , it ’s bring out that Bruenor did n’t die but was economise by a magical point ( one of Drizzt ’s steel , farsighted story ) , he ’s rescued and healed , and then he and Catti - Brie are give a flying , flame magical chariot to join up with Drizzt and Wulfgar . Once reunited , the group enters the heavily stamp , Native American analogue of Calimport to deliver Regis and , more importantly , so Drizzt can have a rematch with Entreri .
Despite its title , The Halfling ’s stone is truly Drizzt ’s novel . Most of the story is told through his perspective , he ’s still bookending sections of the novel with his philosophic musings , and the book ’s veridical game is his battle with Entreri , who are presented as two face of the same coin — both supremely adequate to , badass warriors , except one rend himself out of the literal shadow of Drow guild to be good , while the other sank into iniquity . Entreri is even more taken up with Drizzt than vice versa ; the main rationality the assassinator kidnap the halfling alternatively of stamp out him is to conduct Drizzt into another affaire d’honneur . He even cuts off a few of Regis ’ fingers to goad the nighttime elf on .
Their friend ’s imminent end gives The Halfling ’s Gem stakes and urgency that the previous two novels did n’t have , the first because the villain was a stone - cold imbecile , and the 2nd because the radical did n’t actually take to reform Mithral Hall , they just need to . But Regis is n’t just a halfling in a icebox for the others . He ’s an dynamic character , trying to escape and help his ally when they arrive , showing far more character than in the first two books combined . Entreri gets to show a dissimilar side of himself when he arrives at Pasha Pook ’s villa , only to unwrap a wererat named Rassiter has become the crimelord ’s 2d - in - command . Most of the novel ’s plot progresses steady and naturally ; only the sudden gift of the flaming chariot is a contrivance .
Original cover by Jeff Easley.Image: Wizards of the Coast
Of of course , the account book has its problems , the most gross being the Indian stereotype used in and around Calimport , specially the fawn , treacherous merchant Sali Dalib . Catti - Brie , almost the sole distaff reference in the Holy Writ , is sidelined far more than she was in Streams of Silver . But there is one fundamental trouble with The Halfling ’s Gem that I remember also recognizing when I first show the novel , more than 30 days ago .
The problem is this : Regis kind of has this coming . The halfling steal a crimelord ’s most powerful magical artifact and has been trying to escape penalization ever since . The theft is never presented as having been done for some imposing ground , so it means Regis wittingly committed a crime against his boss , and technically deserves to be punished for it . Drizzt even points this out during one of his monologue . It casts an uncomfortable drapery over the final act of the novel , in which Drizzt and crew kill about a million wererats during their attempt to rescue their friend . Then , at the end of the book , Regis becomes the newfangled pass of the thief ’ lodge only to later mess up something up that want him to draw like Inferno again , understandably having learned nothing . It ’s frustrating .
Another consequence is how The Halfling ’s jewel treat the prejudice Drizzt faces on his journey . In the first few rule book , the Drow would only get hard stares and/or be asked to leave , but he was almost exclusively with his companions who knew his reliable behavior . Gem takes Drizzt to multiple major cities where his race would be an enormous deal if Salvatore had n’t take the prosperous out by having Drizzt come upon a magic mask that transforms him into a light - skinned elf . Now , to Salvatore ’s credit , Drizzt has a lot of internal conflict about hide his true ego throughout the novel . It ’s not done with any real nuance , but beshrew if it is n’t still satisfying when people , having seen his character while he ’s disguised , overcome their preconception when his mask is remove and recognise him for the hero he is .
Inset of The Legend of Drizzt Vol. 6 graphic novel by Tim Seeley.Image: Wizards of the Coast/IDW
There ’s one other thing I ’m not certain is a problem , although it might be . t ’s something that has confused me from the very first time I read The Crystal Shard , and that ’s Drizzt and Catti - Brie ’s relationship . In all three Good Book , Drizzt name her as his bully love , but only in his philosophic musing which open up each section . In the main narrative , Cattie - Brie ’s romantic conjugation is entirely positioned as with Wulfgar , with Drizzt never mentioning anything but loving her as a champion . That is , until The Halfling ’s jewel , when Drizzt rescues her from the plane ofTarterus[sic ] and plants a big smack on her when she ’s unconscious . That ’s certainly not coolheaded , but it proves there ’s a love triangle that is otherwise almost completely ignored . And then Cattie - Brie and Wulfgar are about to get married at the end of the novel ! I know I ’ve study at least a few more books in the Drizzt saga jell after the Icewind Dale trilogy , but I do n’t retrieve how this spiel out . More importantly , did R.A. Salvatore really foreshadow Drizzt and Catti - Brie ’s complicated romance back in the godawful Crystal Shard ? It seems almost unacceptable , but the operative news there is almost .
I may be biased by my preteen Drizzt fandom , so feel barren to knock down me for it — I’m kidding , of course , no one has ever needed countenance alone asked my permit to trounce me online — but I honestly think The Halfling ’s gemstone is better than the Dragonlance trilogy , evenDragons of Winter Night , which I rank at 17 . Now , Gem and Winter Night have two very different curing of strengths , so it ’s scarcely a straight comparability . But Gem palpate like it was written by the most talented , experienced author — which is absolutely wild give it ’s the same guy who write The Crystal Shard a bare two years in the first place . So The Halfling ’s Gem rolls an 18 , make it the new title-holder of the Dungeons & Dragons & Novels series .
Honestly , if you ’re think about rereading Gem base on this retro brushup , I would suggest starting with Shard and pushing through the pain to learn the integral trilogy , just to see Salvatore ’s amazing phylogenesis as a author . Of course , you could also read all 37 novels in The Legend of Drizzt saga and see how far that phylogenesis truly goes . Frankly , if it kept up at this rate , I ’m shocked Salvatore has n’t won a Pulitzer Prize .
Full reprint cover by Todd Lockwood. From left: Bruenor, Wulfgar, Catti-Brie, demon, Drizzt, and Regis.Image: Wizards of the Coast.
Assorted Musings:
One of the dwarven military commanders Cattie - Brie has summon to assist retake Mithral Hall is named General Dagnabit .
Pasha Pook sticks Regis in a cage surrounded by other cages containing deadly jumbo cats like lions and tigers that invariably test to claw at their new neighbor . It ’s a reasonably clever estimation for a villain .
Wulfgar both punches and throws a camel at somebody in this Bible .
At the end of the book , Regis bidding Drizzt ’s sorcerous panther Guenhwyvar along with several other magical Panthera onca who hunt down down Rassiter ’s wererats in Pasha Pook ’s Doroteo Arango ( it ’s also a farsighted tale ) . I ’m not majestic to admit I had a mild chortle at this line from Regis : “ You bonk a better way to get rid of mice ? ”
When Entreri is losing the affaire d’honneur in the sewer , he spits a mouthful of sewer urine in Drizzt ’s face . Even when I was a kid , the thought of someone willingly take a bad gulping of poop water and holding it in his mouth until it was prison term to hit utterly dumbfounds me .
I ’ve read too many good Dungeons & Dragons novels in a words , so it ’s fourth dimension to guide back to thehorrible earth of Greyhawkwith Artifact of Evil . Did D&D Maker Gary Gygax improve between novels as much as Salvatore did ? I unfeignedly doubt it !
wonder where our RSS provender went ? You canpick the new up one here .
donjon & DragonsFantasy
Daily Newsletter
Get the best technical school , science , and polish news in your inbox daily .
newsworthiness from the future , delivered to your present .
You May Also Like
