Book Review:

By Bameskaur Pabla @bameslive

Night of the Hunter by R.A. Salvatore
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received a copy of the book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

I have been eagerly devouring (meaning reading) the books within The Sundering series by Wizards of the Coast. As I was looking at the cover of the latest installment at NetGalley, I found this little gem by R.A. Salvatore who also wrote the first book within the series The Companions

Night of the Hunter is the first book in the Companions Codex and is a very exciting read. The story centers on Drizzt and picks up where The Companions ended. In The Companions, the Companions of the Hall-- Cattie-Brie, Bruennor, and Regis -- were resurrected -- more like reincarnated. They came back to life as newborn children in different families. They were given the chance by the Goddess Mielikki.

But, they had all their past memories. They knew who they were from the very moment they were born. They all understood that they had to meet each other in order to stand beside their dear friend Drizzt at Icewind Dale. Another Companion of the Hall, Wulfgar decides to join them.

In Night of the Hunter, the five companions decide to go back to Gauntlygrim to help save their friend Thibbledorf Pwent's soul. Pwent who is a close companion to King Bruennor became a vampire and the king wants to save him by giving him death once and for all. However, Gauntlygrim has become the new home of the Drows. The Drows have made the Gauntlygrim their new city called Q’Xorlarrin and construction is well under way.

The Drows have a very complicated society where there are a number of houses that make up their kingdom or city called Menzoberranzan. And a way to manage the never ending backstabbing and intrigue among the houses is to have one house build their own city -- Q'Xorlarrin.

The book also explores the story of intrigue and politics within the Drows. The Drows are Dark Elves that live underground and are trully vicious and full of intrigue. They worship the Spider Queen and it is a society where women rule and men are treated as being inferior. Among them, they have horrible half Drow half spider monstrosities they call Driders.

As the Companions of the Hall faces a lot of challenges in order to reach their goal and as they arrive at Gauntlygrym, they find that they have to battle the Drows. The conflict between the Companions and the Drow is part of the battle between the Drow goddess Lolth (the Spider Queen), and the goddess of forests and rangers Meilikki (the Forest Queen).


The Night of the Hunter is a great read. I find that I was hooked from the very first page all the way to the last. I love the way Salvatore writes because the story is told in such a way that even the side stories come to weave their way into the main one without seeming to be afterthoughts or just means to fulfill a certain number of pages.

If you love to read fantasy novels or love Dungeons and Dragons or both, this book will definitely appeal to you. The book can also be read even without having read the other books in the Sundering series.


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