Book Review: The Dao of Drizzt

R.A. Salvatore, The Dao of Drizzt. New York: Harper Collins, 2022. ISBN: 9780063011281. 

 

Genre: Fiction

Subgenre: journals, fantasy

Format: e-book galley

Source: Edelweiss Plus 

 

I admit that it has been a few years since I've read books from the Drizzt Do'Urden series. When I saw this new one coming out and read the title I was intrigued. The title suggested a distillation of Drizzt's lessons learned and wisdom gained over his adventures. The book does some of that, but it could have been distilled further. 

In the novels, Drizzt makes time to write about his experiences and reflect on his life, making sense of his world. He covers such topics as love, life, the divine, good and evil, and more. This book basically repackages Drizzt's journal entries from the novels and related works from the Dark Elf Trilogy books to the Way of the Drow books. 

In essence, this book is a collection of excerpts from the novels and works featuring Drizzt Do'Urden. The excerpts focus on the character's writings and reflections. Rather than getting the lessons, aphorisms, and other bits of wisdom, we do get lengthy excerpts that vary in length and quality. Some passages are more interesting than others, and some often just seem to ramble on a bit. The galley had 371 pages (the publisher puts the book at 432 pages), and it feels long. Some more selective editing and conciseness could have made this a better and more meaningful read. Just offer the lessons and trim the rest of the text. 

The book is clearly for fans of the series. Readers who have read most or all of the series may appreciate this the most if they wish to have the dark elf's writings in one place. For more casual readers, this book may be a mixed bag. Some material is not that interesting, but your mileage may vary. 

I'd consider this optional for public libraries. For libraries that collected the series and kept it, they may want to add this to the collection. For others, as I said, optional selection. Not recommended for academic libraries unless they have a very strong fantasy and pop culture collection. 

For me, this would be one to borrow. For fans and collectors, it may be essential. It was just OK for me. 

2 out of 5 stars. 

This book qualifies for the following 2022 Reading Challenge: