A Review: Streams of Silver by R. A. Salvatore

Epic fantasy heavy-weight champion, R. A. Salvatore, returns!

Set on his righteous quest to reclaim his ancient home, Bruenor leads Drizzt and Wulfgar to Mithral Hall. Joining them is the halfling, Regis, and his hypnotizing gem as he attempts to flee from the pursuit of an assassin he’s sure is after him. And if caught, the party will lose more than the gem, for even Drizzt’s life is in danger as Dendybar-the wizard in search of the powerful Crystal Shard-joins forces with the assassin.

Like The Crystal Shard, Streams of Silver really grips me during its action scenes. I never found myself lost in the chaos, and I was able to imagine each scene perfectly.

While I felt like the first installment had a touch too much backstory, I never felt overwhelmed with it in this novel. I’m not sure if there is less of it or if I simply adapted to Salvatore’s style. Either way, I found it a pleasant switch.

Despite Drizzt and Bruenor receiving the lion’s share of the action scenes, Catti-brie’s story was most compelling for me. What seemed to be intended as the b-story, was what I was most interested in returning to. Unfortunately, I wasn’t too interested in the dwarf’s quest in and of itself, and the only time the quest became compelling was with the encounter at Silverymoon. I connected with Drizzt then, but the primary driver for me was still the discovery of Catti-brie’s fate and how she might escape her impending doom.

While I didn’t read the first two books in the Icewindale Trilogy back-to-back, I’m suspecting the story is better when read this way. I also suspect this will be true of the final installment, but I will be taking a short break to jump to a few other worlds before my return to the Forgotten Realms.

If you’re into D&D, this story reads like an expertly planned and executed campaign. If anything has encouraged me to try the game, this series is it.

Originally published at https://www.jimwilbourne.com on March 7, 2023.