Author: R.A. Salvatore
Cover Artist: Todd Lockwood
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
Binding: Hardcover
Publication Date: October 2002
The story starts off by accompanying a small group of dwarves, led by Tred McKnuckles, who are attempting to beat another group of dwarves to a city where they are planning on selling their wares. Unfortunately for them, though, a band of orcs and frost giants have other ideas. The band ends up ambushing the dwarves and kill all but two, Tred and Nikwilling, who escape. They would learn later how great their folly was in letting them flee.
King Obould Many-Arrows, an orc, and Gerti Orelsdottr, a frost giant, are introduced to readers as villains who are rulers over their respective races. These two form an alliance to bring their forces together to not only wreak havoc, but in an attempt to control the north lands. While these two races have never gotten along, King Obould and Gerti are smart enough to see that an alliance would be beneficial to both, but the original thought was neither their own.
Drizzt and the gang – Bruener, Cattie-Brie, Regis, and Wulfgar – are hit with the news that Bruener’s relative King Gandalug – who was saved from the clutches of evil Matron Baenre by Drizzt and friends in an earlier book – has passed away. Now that Bruener is once again the king of Mithril Hall, it is time for him to leave Ten-Towns so he can lead his people. On the way to Mithril Hall, Bruener decides to stop by Mirabar – a dwarf and human city that competes with Mithril Hall through items made of ore – and pay a visit to the dwarves there. His visit becomes a catalyst for the darkest days in Mirabar’s history.
Tred and Nikwillig stumble across Bruener on his way to Mithril Hall and tell him how their wagon was ambushed. They could not sit idly bye knowing that retchid creatures were roaming the mountainside in pursuit of victims. Bruener sends most of his party that accompanied him from Ten-Towns continuing on to Mithrill Hall and took some of his best warriors which, of course, included his four closest friends to go in search of the ravenous beasts.
They were able to find and dispose of some in good time, but they found many more small bands as they made there way from town to town to give warning of the possible threats lurking at their doorsteps. They come upon Shallows – one of the larger settlements south of Mithril Hall – and decide to stay with them for a few days. What they did not know was that orc scouts had been monitoring their movements.
With the knowledge that King Bruener, a despised figure to the odious races of the region, had trapped himself within the walls of Shallows, King Obould and Gerti launched an assault on the town. King Obould’s orc army amounted to over a thousand, and despite being greatly outnumbered, the Town of Shallows, aided by its recent visitors, was able to stymie the offensive for a few days. Most of the fighting to that point had been protecting the walls and entrances, a style of fighting that is not suited for a dark elf. Drizzt had therefore gone over the walls in an attempt to cause damage behind enemy lines.
In Drizzt’s attempt to thwart the frost giants persistent barrage of boulders on Shallows, he ends up being chased into a cavern too small for the giants to follow. Not liking that, they blocked the entrance with large rocks. It takes Drizzt nearly two days to find his way out of the cave and back in sight of the town. The first image he sees is that of a man wearing a one horned helm fall to his certain death out of the tower that distinguishes Shallows.
When it appeared that the orc force was about to overwhelm the remaining defenders of Shallows, a wooden replica of Gruumsh – the god of the orcs – came waltzing into the battlefield. It appeared to be on the side of the attackers, but deception always plays a vital role in the art of war.
Personal Thoughts:
In a shade under two decades, Drizzt Do’Urden has become one of the most popular fantasy characters of all time. Be that through heavy promotion or the public’s lack of knowledge of what truly is out there, it is hard to say. Either way, Salvatore persists on feeding the cult following that has embedded itself into Drizzt’s piwafwi, and I for one am glad that he continues to do so.
For starters, The Thousand Orcs is a book best read after one has conquered the previous fourteen installments. There is a lot that is based on prior events and relationships that is necessary to know when delving into this book. While I would not consider it to be impossible to pick up this book and follow along, I do not think that the reader would enjoy the story as much or appreciate where the characters are in their lives.
As anyone who has read Salvatore would expect, there were a lot of fighting scenes. In past instances I felt that he just threw in fights from time-to-time because he had not had one in a while. However, I did not feel that any of the fights were misplaced or unwarranted. Well, there was one fight that did not completely flow with the story line, but it was vital in demonstrating to the reader what certain characters (Pikel Bouldershoulder, for example) could do if called on at a later time, and I therefore did not mind it.
Each book prior to this was definitively connected to the previous titles, but every book had a sense of closure on a particular enemy. This book was different.
Unless my memory is playing a joke (It has been a while since I started the first story with Drizzt), The Thousand Orcs is the only book that actually ends in the middle of a battle. Well, it was a battle, but I got the sense that it was the calm before the storm, the anticipation before the big game, the nervousness that plagues the stomach before…you get the picture. There were subtle hints and nicely placed thoughts of characters that can lead the reader to what they believe is going to happen, events that only seem logical. One of the things that I subconsciously tend to do is guess what is going to happen before it happens rather than let the author take me along his/her story, so with this book ending like it did, the brain juices are flowing quite ferociously.
I gave this book an eight for multiple reasons. Firstly, I know that people swear by Homeland and the other Dark Elf Trilogy books (Exile and Sojourn), but they simply do not match up to The Thousand Orcs. And please, do not take my observation to indicate that I did not like learning of Drizzt’s first centuries in Menzoberranzen, I enjoyed those books! I just think that the initial story of how Drizzt became Drizzt is weighing too heavily in the minds of fans.
Secondly, this book plays for more in the aspects of war rather than small confrontations. Salvatore had been placing Drizzt and company in small skirmishes when compared to The Thousand Orcs. An enormous portion of the northern orcs have come together, couple that with frost giants joining the mix and you have a conflict on a massive scale. The only thing that I can think of that even comes close to matching is when the drow attempted to overthrow Bruener’s dwarves in Mithrill Hall, but that is like comparing a Lunchable to a porterhouse steak, there is a big difference. Furthermore, Salvatore does a wonderful job of revealing the thought process and actions of both sides.
My initial reaction was to give this book a higher grade; the level of this book compared to its predecessors is substantial to me, but there are just too many books out there for this to be near the top of the pile. In closing, this is the best book I have ever read with the name Salvatore on the cover.
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