January 2022 Book Club: Homeland (The Dark Elf, #1; The Legend of Drizzt, #1) by R.A. Salvatore

  

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Category: Young Adult, Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Content: Clean as far as I read

 

Drow ranger Drizzt Do’Urden, first introduced in The Icewind Dale Trilogy, quickly became one of the fantasy genre’s standout characters. With Homeland, Salvatore pulls back the curtain to reveal the startling tale of how this hero came to be—how this one lone drow walked out of the shadowy depths of the Underdark; how he left behind an evil society and a family that wanted him dead.

As the third son of Mother Malice and weaponmaster Zaknafein, Drizzt Do’Urden is meant to be sacrificed to Lolth, the evil Spider Queen, per drow tradition. But with the unexpected death of his older brother, young Drizzt is spared—and, as a result, further ostracized by his family. As Drizzt grows older, developing his swordsmanship skills and studying at the Academy, he begins to realize that his idea of good and evil does not match up with those of his fellow drow. Can Drizzt stay true to himself in a such an unforgiving, unprincipled world?  

 

This was our book club book for January, and unfortunately I've gotten a third of the way through this book, and I don't think I can listen anymore. I've always kind of wanted to try a Drizzt book, as I've heard so much about them, and so many people seem to like them.

I originally thought that people that like role playing games, or D&D specifically, would like this book, but after talking with my husband, who plays role playing games, he said for him and a lot of people he knows, they do not like Drizzt at all. Mainly for the reasons I've listed below, but also because there is no real explanation or reason given for why he can do the things he does, other than he's favored by a god.  

I may have liked this if I had read it as a teen, and I can understand why people might be fond of this if they have read other books in this world. Maybe reading this one first wasn't the best place to start. Here is my list of issues with the story:

-Not compelling.
-Fight scenes feel so matter of fact, and there are so many of them already.
-No real feeling conveyed through the storytelling.
-The world building is good, but the characters are flat and underdeveloped.
-We don't get enough thoughts or feelings from the characters.
-I feel no connection to the characters.
-Not sure if it’s the narrator or the book, but I'm not crazy about the narrator.
-My mind keeps wandering.
-I'm bored!