The Crystal Shard – R. A. Salvatore

Continuing a re-read of some of my favorites so I can move on to newer books in the ongoing Drizzt saga, I had forgotten how much was jam packed into these short pages.  Being the first book written with Drizzt (not the first chronologically, but first published) we get a sense of Drizzt’s background and somewhat of his history, but a lot of open questions still remain.  Now having read the other books previously, I was clued in on much of his background, but I can remember on the first read many, many years ago, I didn’t get a sense that Drizzt would be such an important character like he is today. 

As far as this book goes, plenty of action, lots of setup for future novels and of course Salvatore is the king of battle scenes and action sequences.   These are such easy reads that I don’t mind picking these up again every few years to enjoy an old favorite.

Scoundrels in Law - Cait Murphy

The subtitle of the book "The Trials of Howe and Hummel, Lawyers to the Gangsters, Cops, Starlets, and Rakes Who Made the Gilded Age" pretty much fills the cover and definitely gives a potential reader an overview of where the book is going! I really enjoyed this true story of a notorious partnership of attorneys in the late 1800s and some of the questionable clients that they represented with even more questionable techniques. The book also gives the reader a strong sense of how the New York police and judicial forces were directly tied in to certain underworld operations. This book isn't likely for everyone, but for someone with a interest in history and legal matters, this is an excellent summer read.

Johannes Cabal: The Detective: Jonathan L. Howards

I really envy this author's way with words, as every sentence has a rhetorical flourish to it that I know I could never reach. He has created one of my new favorite characters in Johannes Cabal, a necromancer who escapes certain death after reanimating an emperor's corpse (said corpse then snacking upon its former constituents) and finds himself in the middle of a mystery aboard an air ship. Cabal is intriguing, as he is mostly a man without interest in others, hunted for his profession, and largely without friends. His mannerisms and speech are fantastic and, again, I can not compliment the author enough for the talent that he has shown here!

Fatal Error - F.Paul Wilson

The author has promised only one more Repairman Jack novel before an altered reissue of Nightworld, and it's sad to think that a favorite character will soon be facing his final curtain. In this installment of what is edging towards the finale, Dawn gives birth but see the deformed baby only briefly before it is whisked away. Jack helps a friend of a friend when his wife and son are kidnapped, and the Kickers once again enter the life of Jack's childhood friends. The Internet itself is targeted through coordinated attacks by the Kickers, and Rasalom begins to make inroads. As always, there's a surplus of action in this book, and I look forward to next year's installment.

Sojourn - R. A. Salvatore

Final book in the Dark Elf Trilogy, expands on the life of Drizzt on the surface world. Again, this is book is more about the development of Drizzt into the character that we see him in later novels. He ends up in the location and surrounded by the most of the characters that we'll see him in his actually debut in the Icewind Dale trilogy. This was an enjoyable book, despite no overreaching plot (well there is one, but it seems sort of thrown together more to get Drizzt from point A to point B). Where Salvatore really shines though is in his battle scenes. One of the best writers of battle sequences I've run across yet. Despite having read this one before, I felt it a necessary step into continuing on with the Drizzt saga and I enjoyed it as much if not more than the first time around.

The Inheritance - Simon Tolkien

I have mixed feelings after spending a week with this novel, as the writing itself wasn't that bad, yet I had figured out the ending very quickly into the book. The first clue that the author drops as to the real murderer is not at all subtle, and it served to disinterest me in much of what followed. The novel takes place in 1959 as Stephen Cade is being tried for the death of his father, a past professor and celebrated veteran of WWII. In private, however, his father was distant and kept the company of one of his past comrades, Ritter. Together, they killed a French family during the war in the pursuit of St. Peter's Cross, an artifact that is really on the fringe of this novel. Again, the writing is good, the characters of sufficient depth, and altogether this is a good novel - except for the one "hint" that gave away the ending much, much too early.

Exile – R.A. Salvatore

This novel, the second in the Dark Elf Trilogy suffers a bit from the middle novel syndrome. Nothing really happens other than some setup for the third novel. Here we see Drizzt's travels as he wonders around avoiding his family and other odds and ends. Not a great novel, but necessary to move on. Despite that though, Salvatore writes an entertaining novel and as typical of him a decent read.