Servant of the Shard

I just finished reading this book yesterday, and it was another good book by Salvatore. This one focused on some of the same characters from other books I've read of his. He mainly writes about the same characters, although in the Forgotten Realms theme he always writes about the same characters. He does write other books that are not within the Forgotten Realms, but I find the ones that he writes in the Forgotten Realm world are my favorites. They are often about the same characters, and even though I've read them several times, they never get old, but rather better.

The Servant of the Shard is about a dark elf, Jarlaxle, and a human assassin, Entreri. Jarlaxle is a dark elf who has thrived in the female dominated drow city of Menzoberranzen for centuries, where males are pretty much looked down on and can only aspire so high, unlike females. Jarlaxle is a male, and he is the leader of a mercenary band of males, Bregan D'aerthe, and he is considered the most powerful male in the city, even more powerful than many of the most powerful females.

The previous book was about another dark elf, Drizzt, who was different from the rest of his race. Dark elves are normally considered among the most evil and malicious of all races, aside from demons or devils. Dark elves live in the underdark, in the evil city of Menzoberranzen. They rarely go to the surface world, for they are looked down upon by every other race. Just the sight of a dark elf is enough to strike pure terror into the hearts of many, since they rarely travel alone to the surface, but usually in large war groups.

Drizzt was a good-hearted dark elf, risen by his father who simply couldn't find a way out of the trappings of the drow society, even though he hated it and wished he could. Drizzt eventually did find a way out, and made it to the surface and became a very renowned ranger. He ended up in the care of many powerful friends.

Their adventures led them to obtain an evil artifact from a demon that had passed from many different owners, and always it had the same effect. It would tempt them with visions of power and gain, and it could even make tower replicas of itself. Eventually, it would call monsters to it that were too great for the owner and the artifact to handle, and the owner would meet its demise, and the artifact would go on to cause more chaos. The artifact is the Crystal Shard, Crenshinibon.

Jarlaxle tricks Drizzt into giving him the artifact. The artifact had no influence on Drizzt because of his good nature, and Crenshinibon is an evil and chaotic sentient artifact. Jarlaxle thinks he can control the artifact with his cunning mind and many magical tricks and items.

The artifact compels Jarlaxle to stay on the surface for longer than planned, since it fed on the sunlight, and there is no sunlight in the underworld, in the drow city. The two higher ranking officers/advisors of Bregan D'aerthe that accompanied Jarlaxle are not pleased. Jarlaxle was wanting to take over a massive human city, one that was probably beyond even his grasp, when originally all they had planned to do was come to the surface to make some connections to filter in rarities to the drow city. Eventually, Jarlaxle finds himself oblivious to the uprising in his group against him, and Entreri, his best surface connection and possibly even a friend, saved him.

The assassin finds an artifact of his own, a wicked sword that can spray ash and reflect magic, in the book.

The Servant of the Shard is entirely about those two characters and Jarlaxle's band. It is an awesome book, full of action and intrigue, and also giving some insights into characters, particularly Jarlaxle.

Jarlaxle is a cunning mercenary who would do seemingly anything for a gain. This would give the impression that he was evil, like the rest of his race. Not so. He actually has a strict moral code, and follows values, even in situations where not doing so could get him great gain. He could have killed Drizzt and collected a large bounty that was on his head from many of the powerful females of Menzoberranzen. Instead, he let him go, and the two even become friends in a way.

If you decide to read the book, I would also recommend reading the rest of the books in the trilogy, or all the books throughout several series. It really helps to provide recognition and a better understanding of characters and some of the plotlines that may otherwise just seem to be there. Everything is very meticulate, and unless you read all of the books, some things may seem out of place. If you do read all of his books though, they have proven to be the best books I have ever read, and I'm sure you would agree.

This tells you a bit about R.A. Salvatore, and it also provides links to all of his books and a short summary of what they are about. I encourage you to read about his books. They are all excellent reads, and he has become quite a renowned author.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._A._Salvatore