R.A. Salvatore Worthy of Acclaim?

[Behelit]

Love him, hate him, able to bear him, never heard of him?

Whichever category you fall within, mentioned or unmentioned, at more than forty novels published to date, the New York Times Bestselling author can easily be found within any Fantasy book section. He is best known for his character Drizzt Do'urden and has written such books as The Highwayman, The Demon Awakens, The Crystal Shard, The Orc King, Canticle, and many more, each best known within a trilogy or series.



Though I can't say I believe his stories to be of Classic material, he does pen entertaining novels.

Please feel free to share your thoughts.

 

[Donny Bruso]

Personally I like him. Though that may have a lot to do with the fact that I've met him in person. The cleric quintet is probably the work of his that I prefer, because it doesn't have Drizzt in it. Now, I believe that Drizzt originally had great promise as a character, but I also believe that Bob has run him into the ground. And after about the third trilogy with the same characters, it began to feel like he was simply telling the same story over and over. That and every time I see the name Cattie-Brie on the page it makes me shudder, lol. I don't usually fault authors for their name choices, but that was just one I could never get behind.

 

[Greybeard]

Are his books connected to Dungeons and Dragons?

 

[Donny Bruso]

Is a round-about way, yes. They are set in the forgotten realms of the D&D universe, and a good number of them have been published by Wizards of the Coast, the company that currently owns D&D unless its been sold again. I believe that his settings have been used in certain D&D campaigns, though I'm not 100% positive on that, and wouldn't know which campaigns to send you out to look for.

 

[ZealPropht]

I enjoy his books to a certain extent. He's partly hampered by the constraints of the world (Forgotten Realms) that he is forced to work in, which means that I often feel certain scenes or scenarios aren't developed as well as they could be. That being said, I'm not really fond of his non-Drizzt books. I can't even really tell you why I don't enjoy them. Salvatore's writing style remains consistent, so I know it can't be that. I guess I just enjoy Drizzt so much more than Salvatore's "originals." Drizzt is undeniably bad-ass, and I just haven't found another character like him in Salvatore's other non-WotC-related material.

Do I find his work to be earth-shattering or revolutionary to the genre? Hardly, but that's no crime. I haven't found any author who has moved me to proclaim them to be a god among writers. But I have read several who I thought were very good, or at least, weaved an entertaining tale. I would count Salvatore among that number.

 

[Legerdemain]

My honest opinion: not bad for an afternoon of coffee and lounging in Barnes and Noble, but at the end of the evening, buy something else on the way out.

 

[Ophiucha]

No. When I hear somebody give me some exaggerated statement about why high fantasy sucks, I think: "you know what that sounds like? R.A. Salvatore." I remember, actually, on an early date with the man-who-would-be-my-husband, we were sitting in the fantasy section reading the backs of a few books, and a lady came up to us and said "oh, R.A. Salvatore will be here tonight at seven, you should stick around." We both just broke into hysterics at the idea.

 

[Philip Overby]

I really liked R.A. Salvatore when I was 14 or 15. Seems like I flipped through some of the books I loved when I was younger, and I had that pang of "oh, to be young again." I have fond memories of his books but I am not sure I'd read any of them again. Same with some of the Dragonlance books by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. Great memorable characters when I was in my teens. That's not necessarily a bad thing, I just prefer other styles of writing now. The Cleric Quintet I preferred to the Drow stuff as well.

 

[Mdnight Falling]

R.A Salvatore is a fantasy GOD. I don't read his other stuff... Perhaps I should since I've nearly completed the Legend of Drizzt series once I'm through with the Ghost King but yeah LOL He's epic. definately worthy of acclaim and more.

 

[Philip Overby]

You should definitely read The Cleric's Quintet if you like the Drizzt books then. I actually prefer that series, even though I think Drizzt and company are more memorable characters. I grew up reading the first two series, so I have fond memories of Salvatore's early stuff.

 

[Mdnight Falling]

Phil - I have read the Clerics series.. It's considered part of the Legend of Drizzt series since Cadderly Bonaduce is in it LOL It's listed either right before or right after the Sell swords books >^.^< I've read everything Faerun by Salvatore.. and played the video games >.< and taple top x.x I think I need a hobby LOL

 

[Mdnight Rising]

Salavatore is and will always remain one of my favorite authors definitely worthy of acclaim.. My personal favorite by this author is the clerics Quintelet ..... very good series of books

 

[Fnord]

I really liked R.A. Salvatore when I was 14 or 15. Seems like I flipped through some of the books I loved when I was younger, and I had that pang of "oh, to be young again." I have fond memories of his books but I am not sure I'd read any of them again. Same with some of the Dragonlance books by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. Great memorable characters when I was in my teens. That's not necessarily a bad thing, I just prefer other styles of writing now. The Cleric Quintet I preferred to the Drow stuff as well.

This is definitely my thoughts on this. Other than the Hobbit, the first fantasy books I read were the Dragonlance books and then the Drizzt books. In both cases the original books (Chronicles and Legends for the Dragonlance books, The Icewind Dale Trilogy and the Dark Elf Trilogy with the Drizzt ones) were great with interesting characters and interesting plots (to a middle schooler) but as I got older and the series both kept going, I started losing interest. I'm sure it's both a combination of personal maturity and the fact that I think those books/characters eventually jumped the shark. If both of those series had ended with the above-mentioned books, I think they would have been truly great books that stand up well on their own. The continuations just soured the perceptions of the originals.

 

[ade625]

Personally, while I greatly enjoy the books of R.A. Salvatore, I don't feel as if he has written anything worthy of great acclaim. Instead, I believe he's just great at writing books that are compulsive reading. Sort of holiday thrillers for the fantasy market.

I think into about the third trilogy, the writing got a little stale, and the plots with Artemis Enteri repetitive, but that he turned things around with the excellent Hunter's Blades Trilogy.

I doubt he'll ever write anything that blows me away, but he can be a damn good read.

 

[GameMasterNick]

Salvatore does not write believable characters.
He rarely world-builds at all.

What R.A. Salvatore does right, and what will always see him on the top of the fantasy sales charts, is action. He can plot a fight or find a way to trap heroes like few can. This, combined with the ready-made worlds of D&D, is a powerful ability. Even the most two-dimensional characters, here's looking at you "Icewind Dale Trilogy," can be made interesting through the adventures that they endure.

Salvatore's readers don't usually want deep characters. They want Robert E. Howard-style romps through the dungeons, ice caves and demon-infested lands. They want fights which play out in real-time, to the point that actors could easily mimic the exact movements of the heroes... and they want rewards. Salvatore knows his audience and gives them what they want.

 

[balthore]

Any author that puts a Dwarf at the reigns of a flying chariot that is on fire, gets two thumbs up from me.

And I find his writing enjoyable and easily envisioned (for me at least). As was brought up, he writes memorable fight scenes that have helped me in my writing when I have a major fight that occurs. Yes I'm one of those that actually gets up and does a walk through of my fight scenes. Drives my friends nuts.