The Dark Elf trilogy was my second experience to the Forgotten Realms world after the wonderful Moonshae trilogy. I read this trilogy for the first time about 8 yrs ago and have reread it many times since. While the writing might not be considered extraodinary, Salvatore manages to create a very dark and exotic realm based on a whole different culture. The main character Drizzt Do'Urden, a dark elf, passes through his youth in this dark realm being indoctrinated into it's evil society. Due to his inherently good nature, he finds himself alone in the undergroud city of Menzoberranzan. Drizzt finally can't take anymore and wanders away from the city in search of the surface world. In his journey he meets up with some companions (Guenhwyvar, Belwar, Mooshie) and discover he's not truly alone. The characters that Salvatore creates are very endearing. Belwar the tragic gnome who had his hands chopped off due to Drizzt actions yet comes to understand his pain very well. Drizzt himself who's neither part of the drow society and the surface society due to the stereotype placed on his evil kind must have to deal with all these new encounters and decide for himself what's right and wrong. Mooshie the blind ranger who sees more with his heart than most people see with their eyes. This trilogy is a true adventure.
I can easily recommend this novel to anyone even remotely interested in fantasy books. It is an easy read and is a much better introduction in my opinion to Drizzt Do'Urden than the Icewind Dale trilogy that Salvatore wrote prior to it. Drizzt has also become so popular in the Forgotten Realms setting that you can find him in most Forgotten Realms video games.
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