Book Review: Night of the Hunter by R.A Salvatore (The Companion Codex I)

About 7 years ago, I picked up R.A Salvatore's Dark Elf trilogy and Icewindale trilogy. These books follow the adventure of a courageous and noble dark elf called Drizzt Do'Urden, who left his homeland and the evil culture of his fellow dark elvenkind, to seek a new life and a place where he can belong to. The character of Drizzt Do'Urden touched me, he was interesting, noble, and durable. The story of Drizzt, and his 4 friends (together known as Companions of the Hall) is one of my favorite fantasy stories of all time. However, I gradually lost interest in Drizzt books as the series continued beyond the 8^th book. I finally stopped reading the Drizzt Saga altogether, after the 16^th Drizt book.

When R.A Salvatore announced The Companions, the first book in The Sundering series. It was marketed almost as a “reboot” (so to speak) to the Drizzt series. I read The Companions, while it was good, but it just wasn't the same as the first 6 Drizzt books, something was missing. With the announcement of The Companion Codex I: The Night of the Hunter, I decided to give Drizzt books another try. Today, I will like to review Night of the Hunter.

Synopsis:

Following the story from The Companions. Drizzt, Bruenor, Cattie Brie, Wulfgar and Regis are finally re-united. Companions of the Hall is once again, assembled and ready for another adventure. Their first quest, is to rescue Bruenor's loyal shield dwarf, Pwent, who is damned by vampiricism. Seeking to put Pwent to rest by purging his vampiricism, Companions of the Hall set out on a journey to Gauntlgrym, where Pwent was last seen.

In this quest, Companions of the Hall would have to travel through the Underdark, a place full of Drows, who would love to see Drizzt dead..

What I think about this book:

Night of the Hunter is a fun, and quick read. This book manages to re-capture some of the best things about the first 6 Drizzt books; the heart warming friendship and bonds between Drizzt and his 4 friends. In this book, the members of Companion of the Hall return with more maturity, yet with a renewed vigor for life and adventure which makes the story vibrant.

This book also has lots of chapters about politics and intrigues in the Drow society. While I found these chapters did provide insight into the lives and motivations of the Drow people, but they also disturbed the flow of the story. Personally, I would have preferred less chapters on political intrigues, and more chapters on adventures of Drizzt and his friends.

The action scenes are very well written, Salvatore proves once again, why he is one of the best fantasy authors out there when it comes to writing action scenes. He has a way of using words to paint images, filled with heart pounding actions, into a reader's mind.

I like Night of the Hunter, while the pace in this book has some minor problems, but by large, this book re-captures some of the feelings from the early Drizzt books. The return of Companions of the Hall is exciting and refreshing. I can hardly wait to find out what will happen in the next installment.