Board game review: Arkham Horror

Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games
The year of publication: 2005
Number of players: 1-8
Suitable for: 13 years to adult





 Lightning crashes in the dark expanse of the night sky. The bitter wind whispers lightly in the shadow, carrying an inconceivable dread as it sweeps into your living room. Its approach promises a demented, terrifying revelation almost too horrifying for the bearing of a fragile, mortal mind. Trembling with fear, your shaky hand reaches for yonder cards on the table... it's time for the next turn, the fate of Arkham city hangs on the balance, all existence in danger of being devoured by those twisted, awesomely powerful cosmic mysteries; in which forgotten legends alone have but caught a fleeting glimpse into maddening realities of all sorts and kinds...

Description:

Welcome to Arkham Horror, a horror themed, co-operative board game based on HP Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos. Released in 2005, played with over 700 components and supporting from 1 to 8 players, Arkham Horror is a truly epic board game. Due to its overwhelming popularity, the publisher of this game has since released 8 expansion sets. These expansion sets enhance the replayability even further, by adding enormous amount of new features and game elements. 8 years after its original publication, Arkham Horror is still a widely played game, highly regarded by board game enthusiasts.

Game Components:

As I mentioned earlier, there are over 700 pieces of components in this game. Arkham Horror does not have the best looking game board, but the layout of the map and locations are very clear and highly functional. The game board is also fairly large, and lots of cards and tokens are used for the game. As a result, this game requires a sizable space for setup and play.

The art works on the components are beautifully drawn, very fitting to the theme and the atmosphere in the traditional Lovecraftian horror fictions. This game also requires a fair amount of reading from the cards. The texts on the cards are well written, immersing players into the ever presence of spookiness and stress. Overall, the theme of horror oozes in this game partly because of the component.

Lots of rules are required to play a gigantic game such as this. Luckily, the game comes with a 25+ page rulebook which is quite easy to read. The rulebook is often a good reference to resolve confusing situations. However, sometimes even this rulebook falls short, when it comes to helping players resolve ambiguous situations. Fortunately, lots of fans providing useful information which can be easily found on the internet.

Gameplay:

The background of the game, is set in the roaring year of 1926. In the town of Arkham in Massachusetts (a fictional town from Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos), strange phenomena are happening all over Arkham. Inter-dimensional gates are opening, releasing other-worldly entities into the town, terrorizing the local denizens from peace and safety. The players each take on the role as an investigator, travelling to various locales on the map to close these inter-dimensional gates before the Ancient One wakes up from its slumber to devour all lives on earth.

Basic setup:

Investigators:

To start the game, each player choose to play the role of an investigator. 16 investigators are available in this game to choose from. Each investigator has his/her own unique abilities, background stories, skills and endurance level. Every investigator has 2 categories to measure their endurance: Sanity and Stamina. When either of these are reduced to zero, the investigator must travel to the hospital or the mental asylum to recover, simultaneously loosing half of his/her possessions. Throughout the game, the players can buy items, spells, skills and recruit allies to aid his/her struggle against the evil force threatening to destroy Arkham. Players perform skill checks such as: combat, evasion, luck, and will check by throwing dice.

The Ancient One:

Next, the player randomly draw an Ancient One card. There are 8 different Ancient Ones in this game to choose from. The chosen Ancient One is essentially the "boss" for the rest of the game. Every Ancient One is different and have unique abilities, and different number of "doom tracks". Doom tracks serve for 2 purposes in this game: 1) It indicates how much further until the Ancient One awakens. In Arkham Horror, doom tracks are increased whenever an inter-dimensional gate is opened on the map, and can only be decreased if the gate is sealed. When the doom track is full, the Ancient One wakes up immediately and the players have to engage in the Final Battle against the Ancient One. 2) In the Final Battle, the doom track serves as the "life" of the Ancient One, to beat an Ancient One in the Final Battle, one must reduce the doom track to 0, by performing skill checks as prescribed on the Ancient One card.

 The abilities of these Ancient Ones also dedicate the difficulty of the game, and sometimes introduce permanent effects into the gameplay.

 Once the investigators and the Ancient One have been chosen, the game starts. Arkham Horror is essentially played in 3 phases: Movement phase, Encounter phase, and Mythos phase. Each player must perform all 3 phases in his/her turn before passing to the next player.

Actions per player turn:

In the movement phase, based on movement points, the player can move to different locales on the map to collect clue tokens. The locales can be a location (e.g. a bank), or on a street where the players might have to fight monsters (if present), or be drawn into the "outer world" through the inter-dimensional gate (if present).

In the encounter phase, when the player is ends his/her movement at a location, then he/she must draw an encounter card corresponding to the location where he/she is at. The encounter cards, often represent events that must take place, and require the player to perform certain actions to pass. Failure will prescribe negative outcomes. As a result, players can never be sure what will happen at the encounter phase, or whether if he/she will walk away from the encounter safely.

In the mythos phase, a mythos card is drawn from the deck. This is when new clues appear and a new inter-dimensional gate might open, releasing monsters into the town, while adding doom tracks to the Ancient One card. Simultaneously, sometimes there are rumors, events or headlines on the mythos card that can either introduce global benefit or disadvantages to the game.

In summary, when you play Arkham Horror, the encounter phase and mythos phase will really make you live in constant fear and stress over what might happen next. And this makes the game extremely fun and exciting to play.

Other features:

Items:

Players can purchase items at shops in the town of Arkham, to aid them on their quest to stop the Ancient One and its minions. There are 3 categories of items in Arkham Horror: Common items, unique items, and spells. These items can be either combat focused weapons/spells, maps, or items that helps to restore the investigator's sanity/stamina. Weapons can be either one handed or two handed. This means an investigator can dual wield. For example, an investigator can be equipped with a .38 revolver and an axe in his/her fight against a monster, or, alternatively use a 2 handed shot gun in a fight.  But as we all know, firing a puny .38 revolver at a titanic, cosmic monster such as Cthulhu don't do much in Lovecraft's stories, and neither is the case in this game. Some investigators have pre-determined items with them at the start of the game. For example, one of the investigators from the expansion starts the game with; a shotgun, a bottle of whiskey, and a motorcycle, you get the idea....

Monsters:

In Arkham Horror, whenever a gate opens up at a location. A monster comes through the gate from another dimension to terrorize the denizens of Arkham, making your life as an investigator harder. Monsters can travel into the streets, and have different toughness bonuses, horror bonuses, as well as special skills, introducing a variety of challenges into the game.

When a player encounters a monster, he/she can try to sneak pass a monster by passing an evade check (by throwing dice). But sooner or later, the player will have to battle a monster. This is because if the number of monsters on the map exceeds the limit, the terror level in Arkham will rise. When the terror level reach certain points, several locations (such as shops) will close down. In a fight against a monster, the player first have to pass a horror check (by throwing dice) or loose sanity points. After the horror check, the actual combat commence. The player has to pass the combat check (by throwing dice) to beat a monster. Some monsters are easy to beat, while some monsters can be real headaches. The rules for monster encounters in Arkham Horror, is another factor that makes the game oozing with theme. I mean, where else can you play a board game, when you shoot at a Fire Vampire with a tommy gun, and emerge from the battle victorious but almost gone insane? Only in Arkham Horror I say!

Gates:

As mentioned earlier, when a gate opens up, the doom track tokens on the Ancient One sheet is increased, and a new monster enters Arkham, making your life harder. The "gate" mechanism in this game, is one of the core mechanics of the game. Winning or loosing both depend on the number of gates present on the map. When the player arrives at a gate, he/she is drawn into the outer world. In the outer world, the player will have 2 encounters, then return to Arkham, where he/she will have the chance to either close or seal the gate.


Allies:

As the players struggle against the Ancient One and its minions for dear life, he/she might come across allies who can aid them in their noble courses. These allies often bring enhancements to the investigators' skills. It is worth mentioning that, these allies are mostly characters from Lovecraft's stories. For example, during the adventure, you might cross path and have characters such as Herbert West join you. After all, a helping hand never hurts, especially when you are going up against these terrifying, demented monsters, whose existence was only suggested in the abhorred grimoire of Necronomicon, written by the mad Arab Abdul Alhazred!






The Final Battle:

When the doom track on the Ancient One sheet is filled, the Ancient One awakens and enters the town of Arkham. All players are immediately drawn into a final battle with the Ancient One. The final battle is really awesome, but it is also extremely hard to win! Chances of survival is practically less than 40%! Why? imagine trying to attack a 60 feet tall cosmic monster with a knife? Or shoot at it with a tiny revolver, get the picture? My suggestion is to try your best to close all gates before the Ancient One wakes up. Prevention is better than cure, especially in Arkham Horror.

There are so many features and elements in this board game. In a review article such as this, it is neither fitting nor possible to describe the gameplay and rules in its entirety. Indeed, there are lots of rules in this game. Yet, in my opinion, the rules and the complex game mechanics are designed to ensure a rewarding, and fun board game experience.

What I think about this game:

Learning curve: (6/10) - Arkham Horror is epic! The game rules are also epic, both in numbers and its scale. A new comer to this game might be overwhelmed by the amount of rules, and the complex game mechanics prescribed in the rule book. The rules are mostly intuitive, but some rules (such as rules for monster fights) are difficult to grasp at first. This means, Arkham Horror, is one of those games when you really have to play for a few times before you can fully grasp the rules. If you are new to this game and wish to try it out, I suggest that you play with at least one person who knows this game, to smooth the steep learning curve.

Component/Production Quality: (7/10) - The art works in this board game are stunning, and showcases the atmosphere of Lovecraftian horror very well. However, in regard to the components, I have 2 complains about its production quality: 1) The game board is quite fragile. On my 4th play, the board broke at the joint area. I wonder if Fantasy Flight Games should choose a better manufacturer? 2) The bottom edge of the investigator tokens can be damaged easily, when placed into the clips of the stands. The resolution for this problem is, to purchase the pre-painted miniatures, but the price for the entire set of pre-painted investigator miniatures are simply too expensive.

Gameplay (9/10): Arkham Horror is a fun game. It is a horror themed board game, while it is spooky, but it is not scary. Some elements in the game can be very dark; on the other hand, playing this game requires a lot of reading from cards. By combining these factors, I think Arkham Horror is more suitable for older users, age 14+. The gameplay in Arkham Horror really manages to deliver a fun and exciting experience while immerse the players in a constant atmosphere of dread. It is fully co-operative, meaning you can play this game with a group, as a team, or you can play by yourself. I wouldn't recommend playing this game with more than 5 players, simply because I can forsee a lot of downtime when more than 5 players are involved. However, with a small group (3-4 people), Arkham Horror will truly provide hours of entertainment. A word of warning, Arkham Horror is also well known for its length, a single game can take between 1 to 4 hours. So if you are playing Arkham Horror, be prepared to sit down with your friends for a couple of hours.

Replayability (9/10): Arkham Horror is highly replayable. This is attributed to the game's high level of difficulty, and the element of randomness in its game mechanics. In addition, the 8 Ancient Ones and the 16 investigators included in this game also add a lot of replayability. Using different investigators, or fighting a different Ancient One, require players to approach the game with different strategies. This game also has 8 expansion sets, adding up to some 48 investigators, 3 additional maps, 20+ Ancient Ones, and hundreds of monsters. If you purchase all 8 expansion sets and play all of them at once, you will be playing a board game with almost 2000 components which might last more than 6 hours, a true beast of a board game! But expansion sets and their components are highly modular, meaning they can be used individually. Personally, I think if you purchase and like Arkham Horror and all 8 expansions, chances are you will probably never have to play another board game again.

Thematic factor (9/10): What can I say? The art works and the gameplay work together as a unison to make Arkham Horror a highly thematic game. Players will be breathing the theme of Lovecraftian horror as they play, quite a way to spend quality time with your friends or by yourself either way.

Overall (8.8/10): Arkham Horror is a master piece of a board game. It delivers on its promised horror theme, based on HP Lovecraft's classic literary invention. At the same time, it is a fun and exciting game, guaranteed to provide hours and entertainment and group bonding time.

Tribute article: The top 7 stories of Conan The Cimmerian by Robert E. Howard

"Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black haired, sullen eyed, sword in hand, a thief,  a reaver, a slayer, with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth, to tread the jewelled thrones of the earth under his sandaled feet.."

I have read many fantasy books and stories, some are better than the others, but I can honestly say,  no other books or stories are as re-readable, entertaining and exciting as Robert E. Howard's Conan stories. I am grateful to have discovered Robert E. Howard among the sea of authors. With a touch of magic, stories of Conan the Cimmerian, has made my career as a reader so much more fun and exciting. There are good reasons, almost 80 years after Robert Howard's death, the name Conan, has become an immortal cultural icon as enduring as Sherlock Holmes, Tarzan, and James Bond. In recent years, the demand for reprints of Robert Howard's original Conan stories is always increasing. Thankfully, as more and more people are re-introduced to these original Conan stories, their impressions of Conan are gradually steering away from comic books and Arnold movies.

Conan, the legendary barbarian's chronicle, has charmed me with fantastic tales of ice and fire, actions and intrigues. These stories are told through Robert Howard's dynamic, vibrant and energetic writings, in the unique style of poetical lyricism. From the first minute I opened the page, to the last second I close it, every time I read a Conan story, I am transported to a realm of infinite possibilities, populated with larger than life characters, packed with high adventures..a whole new world.

This article is a tribute to Robert E. Howard's Conan, I have had intentions to write an article of this nature for a while, and finally got around to do so. Howard wrote 21 Conan stories in his life time, and I have picked 7 of my favorite Conan stories, as a recommendation to those who might be interested.

Without further delay, let me tell of of the days of high adventures!

7. Rogues in the House (Published in January 1934)

Rogues in the House, is a story with all elements constituting towards a good tale: a political power struggle, betrayals, mystery, dungeon crawling adventures, thought provoking antagonists, and solid, heart pounding action scenes.

There is a very interesting theme in this story, the theme of "hypocrisy". The plot revolves around the power struggle between two governmental leaders. Both leaders were corrupt in their own ways (one manipulates the king, the other sells government secret to the enemy kingdom). They both use their personal influence and power to gain status and reputation in the city. However, when they stumble upon each other during Conan's quest (who was previously arrested and imprisoned on the charge of murder), they realized they are equally as corrupt, while Conan seems to be the most honest one in contrast, because Conan doesn't try to conceal his criminal nature.

6. The People of the Black Circle (Published in September 1934)

The People of the Black Circle, is often considered as a classic among the Conan chronicles. Howard gave a story an atypical "Indian" spin. The story took place in the land of Vendhya (pre-historical India). In the story, by accident, Conan was  drawn into a political conspiracy and an assassination plot.

 This story has a full cast of intriguing characters. The most notable ones include the princess whom Conan is protecting, whose character comically contrasting the character of Conan, making them a very odd couple. The other interesting characters include the lively portrayal of the antagonist, an apprentice wizard who defied his master for the girl that he loves. The People of the Black Circle, is a spectacular story with a tinge of magic vibrating through its core.


5. Red Nails (Published in July 1936)

Red Nails is the last Conan story by Robert Howard  before his tragic death. One of the prevailing theme in Howard's Conan saga, is the theme of the degeneration of civilizations and the tendency towards barbarism, lying dormant in the human nature. In Red Nails, Conan and a sword woman, discovered an ancient, ruined city in the wilderness. Upon their exploration of the ruined city, they discovered inhabitants in the city, who were remnants of a once mighty and powerful civilization. However, power struggles, greed and political ambitions prompted years of civil wars, and the population of the city was reduced to a few tormented souls, who were completely detached from the outside world.

Many have accredited Red Nails as one of the best stories in the Conan saga, and I heartily agree with such an assessment.



4. Queen of the Black Coast (Published in May 1934)

Queen of the Black Coast, is an atypical Conan story. It is atypical not only because its scope is epic, but also because it is a very rare Conan story revolving around romance.

In this story, Conan became an infamous pirate, plundering and raiding along side a head strong femme fatale, Belit. The plot then takes an unexpected twist and finished off with a bitter sweet ending.

Queen of the Black Coast, is widely acknowledged as the most famous Conan stories, and certainly an undisputed classics in the world of sword and sorcery fiction.








3. Tower of the Elephant (Published in March 1933)

Tower of the Elephant, is a fascinating blend of the science fiction and sword and sorcery genres. The result? A massively entertaining and curiously bizarre master piece! Published in 1933, Tower of the Elephant is often regarded by Howard scholars as one of the best Conan stories.

The story starts with Conan as a young thief, unfamiliar with the ways of the civilized world. A whim of chance presents Conan at a tavern. After Conan heard a story about a sorcerer, a fabled jewel and the mysterious Elephant tower, Conan braved rumors of death and horror in the Elephant tower to steal the precious Jewel. Little did Conan know that he was about to have an encounter with the elder world, and was given a glimpse into the past through the lurk worm of space and time..




2. The Hour of the Dragon (Published in 1935-1936)

The Hour of the Dragon is the longest Conan story. It is a story about political conspiracy, betrayals, loyalty, military conquests, a evil wizard, and revenge.

The Hour of the Dragon, tells the story of a middle aged Conan as the King of Aquilonia. Conspirators under Conan's reign seek to overthrow the Cimmerian and rule in his stead. They raised an evil necromancer of the elder world from the dead. Dreaming of kingship and conquest, the conspirators seek to manipulate the necromancer and the power he possess. They almost succeeded in putting Conan out of the way with the aid from the necromancer's black magic. Although betrayed and imprisoned, Conan is not the kind of person to be trampled easily. Since birth, the Cimmerian's fortitude was hardened by the tough lifestyle on the vistas of somber hills in Cimmera whence he came. Conan will fight back as a wounded lion, to take back the throne which was his.



1. Beyond the Black River (Published in 1935)

"Barbarism vs. civilization", is a prevailing theme underlining all of Howard's Conan stories. Howard observed, history has shown that civilizations has the tendency towards corruption, and hence the weaver of its own doom through over-indulgence and degenerative lifestyles. When the level of corruption reaches the peak of its degeneracy, barbarism will arise to overthrow the civilization, establishing a new era.. then the pattern repeats.

In "Beyond the Black River", a medium length, action packed Conan story. Howard fully explores his worldview on barbarism vs. civilization, by telling a story that took place in a frontier setting. Conan is drawn into the struggle of an empire and its savage, primitive neighbors at the imperial border. Conan became the first hand witness of the clash between civilization and barbarism, and its effects on the lives of all  who were involved.

 Beyond the Black River, in my opinion, is the best original Conan stories in the lot. Howard departed from his normative Conan settings such as ancient ruins or populated cities, and instead chose to tell a refreshing Conan yarn in the frontier setting, while fully explored the cause and effect on the clash between barbarism and civilization.  A tale imbued with element fury, and told at neck-breaking pace, Beyond the Black River, not only is a brilliant Conan story, but it is also a genre breaking story among the fantasy fiction galore, hacking and slashing its way into the hall of fame with blood and thunder.

That's it folks! If you are interested, I am sure you will find these stories providing hours of good reading.

Stay tuned for next time, when I will write a special article on "The top 7 horror stories by H.P Lovecraft".

Book Review: Legend of Drizzt - The Icewind Dale Trilogy

The Icewind Dale trilogy, is the second set of books in R.A Salvatore's Drizzt saga. The story continues from the end of Dark Elf trilogy, with Drizzt's arrival to Icewind Dale, a frozen tundra populated by outlaws and exiles from all corners of the world.

Unlike Dark Elf trilogy, focusing on the story of Drizzt. Icewind Dale trilogy tells the story of Drizzt and his four friends, which later became known as "Companions of the Hall". Let me provide a brief synopsis for each of the books in this trilogy:





Synopsis:

The Crystal Shard:

After Drizzt arrived at Icewind Dale, he befriended a leader of an dwarven clan in exile, Bruenor Battlehammer. The dwarf has an adopted human daughter, Catti Brie. Drizzt became a very close friend with the dwarf and his adopted daughter. However, the icy wasteland of Icewind Dale is a dangerous place. The barbarian horde invaded the town. During the invasion, a young barbarian boy, Wulfgar, was captured while attempting to attack Bruenor and Drizzt.

The dwarf and the dark elf decided to raise Wulfgar, and taught him the way of civilized manners, as well as training him in the skill of arms. Wulgar became an adopted son to Bruenor, and grew up to be a fine young man. Together with their halfling friend Regis, the 5 friends were living a happy life in Icewind Dale. One day, a mad wizard came to Icewind Dale with a strange, magical crystal. This wizard's mad ambition and twisted ploy threatens all who lives in Icewind Dale. Drizzt and his friends embarked a quest to unite the people of Icewind Dale against the mad scheme of the ill intent wizard..


Streams of Silver:

Following the events in The Crystal Shard, Drizzt and his friends were hailed as heroes of Icewind Dale. Drizzt also received some form of recognition from the people of Icewind Dale, somehow overcoming the stereotypes against him because of his racial origin. One day, Bruenor discovered traces, leading to the once mighty dwarven stronghold of Mithral Hall.

The companions set out to help Bruenor rediscover his dwarven ancestral home. Yet, dangers lurk in the dark corners unseen. Artemis Entrei, a deadly human assassin was hired by a infamous and powerful criminal overlord to hunt down Drizzt's friend, the halfling Regis, for a ruby pendant that was stolen from him.

With threats and dangers facing the companions,  Drizzt and his friends only have each other in their difficult quest, in the dark corners of the mythical dwarven ruin, the companions will face not only the deadly assassin Artemis, but also a more ancient, and terrible foe yet to be revealed.


The Halfling's Gem:

The dwarven ancestral home has been rediscovered in the previous book. In Halfling's gem, the deadly assassin Artemis Entrei finally got hold of Regis the halfling. The assassin took Regis to the city of Calimport, to collect the bounty.

Realizing their halfling friend's dire situation. The campanions set out once again, facing impossible odds and dangers to travel to Calimport, in attempt to rescue Regis the hafling from the clutch of the dangerous criminal overlord, Pasha Pook. It is here, where Drizzt will face the deadly assassin Artemis Entrei, whose skills rival Drizzt's own, yet with a polar opposite character to Drizzt.








What I think about these books:

Icewind Dale trilogy, contains the same charms found in Dark Elf trilogy. The introspective Drizzt has some very interesting things to say as he character grows and matures in these stories. The character developments in these stories are good. This trilogy also introduces a very fascinating antagonist, Artemis Entrei, whose skills and prowess are parallel to that of Drizzt's own. Yet, the character of Artemis is everything that Drizzt is not. This conflict makes a wonderful contrast between Drizzt and Artemis as the duo go toe to toe into their conflict. It seems Artemis, a human generally accepted by the society, whose soul and actions in fact are more akin to Drows. While Drizzt, a Drow generally shunned by the society because of racial stereotypes, in fact has a soul and character more akin the noble nature of humans. Through all the moments leading up their final confrontation, among the exchange of words, thoughts, sword thrusts, cut and parries, as well as Drizzt's insightful reflection, where Salvatore masterfully written these stories, challenging the readers about some thought provoking questions, such as self identity, true friendships, stereotypes and the dangers of judging people from their appearances.

With 2 thumbs up, I recommend The Icewind Dale trilogy. If you have read Dark Elf trilogy, then be sure to include this into your reading list. If you haven't read Dark Elf trilogy yet, go and pick up both trilogies. Inside these pages you will find heart warming adventures about friendships and loyalty, told through stories full of lovable, impressionable characters.

Book review: Legend of Drizzt - Dark Elf Trilogy

Where do I start? You see, Drizzt, has a very special place in my heart. I suppose I could start by saying this is the beginning of a series of book reviews, long overdue. I am intending to review 13 Drizzt novels on my bookshelf.

Looking back, Dark Elf trilogy, is the set of books that helped me to discover the fun and joy in reading. There are many reasons why I love the story of Drizzt. It is mainly because I feel connected with the character, and these stories often remind me of virtues that people no longer believe in our culture, which is full of cynicism.

This will be the first of many book reviews to come. This is because I really love this series, and I would like to introduce Drizzt to those who have not read it yet. So here it goes. Today, I will review the first 3 books in the Legend of Drizzt, collectively known as "Dark Elf Trilogy".

Synopsis:

There are 3 books in Dark Elf Trilogy:

Homeland:

Homeland, is the first book in the Drizzt saga. The story recounts the birth of Drizzt at the city of Menzoberranzan. In the world of where the story of Drizzt took place, Drizzt's people, are the Drows (Dark Elves). Drows/dark elves are known as a race of evil beings, selfish and cruel. They are distantly related to elves, but have dark skin and live in underground caverns, known as the "Underdark". Drizzt, is born a Drow, and at very young age, he was selected to be trained as a warrior. He was trained by the best weaponmaster in the Drow city. The normal upbringing of the Drow children, consists of education in the selfish and merciless ways of the Drow culture and moral code. However, Drizzt's weaponmaster taught him a set of different values which are counter to the Drow culture. Because of this, Drizzt grew up to be a very different Drow compared to his peers. Drizzt's values and belief, ultimately forced him to flee from his birthplace, but this is only the beginning.







Exile:

In book 2, following Drizzt's escapade from his birthplace. He lived a life as an exile in the Underdark, a place full of dangerous and hostile creatures. Devoid of companionship, Drizzt constantly craved for friendships. His only friend in his life as an exile, is a she-panther whom can be summoned from another dimension for a limited time per day.

After an extended period of wandering in the cold and dangerous Underdark, Drizzt finally met someone who he can trust, someone who Drizzt can call a friend. But the Drow priestess will not let Drizzt escape that easily, they view Drizzt's escape from the Drow city as a betrayal, and they want to hunt him down. It seems for Drizzt, his only chance is to escape the Underdark into the surface world.






Sojourn:

In book 3, Drizzt escaped into the surface world. He saw sunshine for the first time in his life. The surface world is new to Drizzt, the surface dwellers, such as human and elves are meant to be "good" folks. As Drizzt step into the sun, emerging from the Underdark, he had many hopes for his future. Including finding a place where he can belong to.

Unfortunately, very soon Drizzt came to the painful realization that, the reputation of his people's evil way is renowned to the surface dwellers. Not only did he meet rejection from people, but he was always attacked on sight by human and elves alike. It seemed to Drizzt, in the mind of these so called "good" people, stereotypes and racial origin is the standard for judging one's character and soul.

With this revelation, Drizzt was driven into sojourn, travelling from one place to another. Always avoiding the surface dwellers and steering away from the eyes of others. Eventually, Drizzt arrived at the frozen wasteland of Icewindale, a tundra where the outlaws and exiles dwell. It is here, when Drizzt will meet four people who will become very dear to him. Hence a resting place for his heart.


Some thoughts on Dark Elf Trilogy:

Dark Elf Trilogy, is the beginning of the Drizzt saga. This is a wonderful trilogy, the characters in these books are memorable and likable.  Drizzt, is an introspective character who constantly reflects on his own actions, and grows from them, this enables readers to connect with the character. Actions scenes are well written, stories are full of excitements. The story of Drizzt is refreshing, it uses a fantasy story, and a fantasy character to challenge its readers about topics such as racial stereotypes and moral codes without being preachy.

It is no wonder why all 18 Drizzt novels are listed on New York Times Bestsellers list. If you have not read Legend of Drizzt, do no hesitate, pick up Dark Elf Trilogy (or Book 1) and start reading it. I am sure you will fall in love with series just as I did.

Stay tuned for the next review, I will talk about Icewindale Trilogy, which is the next installment following Dark Elf Trilogy.