This is a review of the second book in The Legend of Drizzt series. Like I said before, there are too many books in this whole series to review them all, and I can't say that I have loved every single book, so I am picking out my favorites among the reads I have currently read, and then I will be posting them here.
This book picks up where the previous left off. Drizzt has left his home in the drow city of Menzobarrenzon and he has taken himself into the darkness of the Underdark. His only companion is the 600 pound black panther named Guenhwyvar; she lives on the astral plane and comes to him whenever he calls to her, helping her battle enemies, and even just to keep him company. He obtains Guenhwyvar in the previous book, and over this one, the reader gets to see their connection develop more thoroughly.
As Drizzt travels throughout the Underdark, he ends up meeting a couple of characters who become his companions through the undercaverns of the earth: a svirfneblin called Belwar Dissengulp who is kind of like a gnome in appearance, and Clacker, a former pech who was turned into a hook horror. They meet and, while the svirfneblin are initially suspicious of Drizzt, Belwar vouches for him and the two become very good friends.
They decide to undertake a journey through the Underdark together, and on their journey, they come across Clacker. Drizzt, not wanting to leave Clacker to his fate of succumbing to the full transformation into a hook horror, decides that he and Belwar will try and find a wizard to turn Clacker back into a Pech. And on their way to do just that, they encounter a number of other monsters who live in the Underdark. But through all of it, the three of them develop a beautiful friendship. And Drizzt, for the first time in his life, knows what it means to connect to people who are not drow.
We also see what happens within Menzobarrenzon after Drizzt leaves. House Do'Urden is his shambles. Because Drizzt has forsaken the ways of his people, House Do'Urden has fallen out of favor with Lloth, the Spider Queen. Matron Malice, Drizzt's mother, wants to earn back Lloth's favor and works hard to do just that. She leans on the influence of Matron Evanelle the Eternal Baenry, the Matron Mother of the most powerful drow house, and hopes that her actions will be enough to regain Lloth's favor. Because of this, she hunts Drizzt relentlessly, unwilling to let him get away, unwilling to let her house fall.
This book has so many twists and turns and surprises. I cried multiple times over certain scenes between Drizzt, Belwar, and Clacker. Much like Homeland, this book also focused on themes of friendship, compassion, humanity, and what it means to find a family unit outside of those with whom you share blood. As Drizzt's character develops out of drow childhood and into his young adulthood, we see just how much he is built for compassion, love, and self-sacrifice. We see him wrestle with the darker parts of his self-inflicted exile, and we see him wrestling with tremendous feelings of self-loathing. Most importantly, we see him learn through the actions of Belwar and Clacker what it means to really love others.
When I say that this book compounded with the previous to steal my whole entire heart, I mean it. I did not anticipate that I would ever love characters as much as I loved Belwar and Clacker, and my love for the two of them is what really started my emotional journey with these books. Because while there were characters I loved in the first book, it wasn't really until Belwar and Clacker appeared that I realized just how beautiful these books were going to be, and not merely because of Drizzt himself, but also because of the friendships he makes along the way. Drizzt is the main character and there is a consistent cast of recuring characters as the books progress, but there are also characters who appear in only one book or even one trilogy and then you don't see them again, and his connection to them is as strong as his connection with those who reappear throughout multiple trilogies. And it is these friendships that make these books the emotional powerhouses that they are.
This was a truly magnificent sequel. I hope you'll read it. But keep tissues close at hand.
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