The Thousand Orcs (Forgotten Realms: The Hunter's Blades Trilogy, Book 1)

Submitted by Reviewer (not verified) on Saturday, November 12, 2005 - 23:37

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R. A. Salvatore: The Thousand Orcs

Author	R. A. Salvatore
Made	Wizards of the Coast
Date	2003-07-01
Media	Mass Market Paperback
Catalog	Book
Sales Rank	176428
Availability	Usually ships in 24 hours
Our Price*	US$7.99

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Amazon.com US$7.99

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Amazon UK £4.79

Reviews:

Rating 4.0/5 from 160 reviews

Great minus one

Rating: 4/5 2007-10-29

The Thousand Orcs picks up where the Paths of Darkness trilogy left off with the fabulous five searching for the lost great mining city of Bruenors elders when trouble arises in the form of orc and giant raiding parties. The five friends soon change course and start to investigate along the way warning all those in the area of the danger. A few small skirmishes and one rather large one leads them to the town of Shallows. This is where the book climaxes into a very intense epic size battle that will keep you flipping pages way into the night.

While this is a solid main plot the two subplots are lacking to the point of boredom. One is the dwarves of Mirabar wanting to join Mithril Hall with their own kin. Second is the downfall of Salvatore and that is the story of Ivan and Pikel Bouldershoulder. The chapters that include the dwarven brothers can be completely skipped because they do not advance the storyline at all until they meet up with Regis and Pwent. This crossing of novels although in the Forgotten Realms is annoying at best. Please Bob in the future leave the hyper green dwarf and his cold shouldered brother with Cadderly and have them live happily ever after.

The heroes although fascinating and fun need some help from Salvatore to advance the storyline of the five heroes, 20 years of writing and not too much has changed. There is still the tiresome love story between Drizzt and Catti-Brie with no advancement in sight because they still act like teenagers instead of adults. Then there is Wulfar who died (Icewind Dale Trilogy) when really he was only captured by a demon (Paths of Darkness Trilogy) to becoming a father and getting married (Paths of Darkness Trilogy), however still remains on the road of adventure with his friends upon his "wifes" request to do so and leave her behind. That is one huge stretch in character building so although we love Wulgar I think the man that has developed the most in these novels needs to put down his hammer and become settled in the normal life he chose in The Sea of Swords. Bruenor should also just accept being a king and lay down his ax as well. I know hard to swallow, but instead of talking about all of this in every novel including this one please Bob write it and make it happen so we can all move on with the storyline.

All and all a great book to read when you need a break from the more intelligent reads like Wolfe, Martin, Baker and Erikson. Still the same old Salvatore great description and characterization with action scenes so intense you feel you are there. If you need a hack and slash novel with characters you will fall in love with Salvatore is the best for this type of genre.

It is what it is

Rating: 4/5 2007-08-03

I'm surprised by all of the 1- and 2-star reviews for this book. You should know what to expect when you pick up one of RAS's FR novels. If you're looking for high-brow literary masterpieces, stay away. If you're looking for quick, easy, and fun adventure with characters you know and love, this is for you. In my opinion, 'The Thousand Orcs' is no better or worse than the close to twenty other FR novels by Salvatore, and while it shouldn't be considered on the par with the best fantasy out there, it is what it is. Even though I know there are many other books that would outshine these books (and not near enough time to read them all), I still find myself coming back time and again for a little adventure with Drizzt and Co.

'The Thousand Orcs' picks up right where 'Sea of Swords' left off. The companions are reunited (with the addition of Delly Curtie and baby Colsen), and Bruenor and the gang are setting off for Mithril Hall where Bruenor will take up the kingship. Unbeknownst to them, a powerful leader has emerged in the orc tribes of the Spine of the World, uniting the orcs and allying with a band of frost giants and renegade drow. As Drizzt and Co. travel to Mithril Hall they encounter many signs of heavy orc activity and decide to patrol the region and warn its inhabitants of the danger. They also make a stop at Mirabar, a rival of Mithril Hall, to stir up trouble and remind Mirabar's dwarves of their heritage. I'm sure that story will progress further in the rest of the trilogy. The Bouldershoulder brothers play a prominent role in this book, as they go through some pretty random-seeming adventures on their way to witness the coronation of King Bruenor. The whole book comes down to a desperate situation with the Companions being trapped in the town of Shallows during a siege of overwhelming strength. The final battle takes up the majority of the second half of the book and is quite intense.

This book didn't really do too much to further the overall storyline of Drizzt and friends, except for getting Bruenor closer to accepting his role as King of Mithril Hall. The relationship between Drizzt and Catie-Brie is getting rather old and moving nowhere, Regis has had some sort of epiphany about his role in life, and Wulfgar has essentially returned to his old self but with more maturity.

So, if you like the previous Drizzt novels, you'll probably like this one too. Don't let the cover fool you however, this one isn't any darker or more mature (other than using the word 'bitch' a couple of times) than the others.

Predictable Prose

Rating: 2/5 (2 out of 3 think this is helpful) 2007-08-02

RA Salvatore's writing is very pedestrian in style and seems more like a play by play commentary of some D&D game than anything resembling a novel. This book is only recommended for 14 year old fanboys who judge a book's quality by the numbers of magic items carried by the heroes.

Awful book - don't bother

Rating: 1/5 (3 out of 4 think this is helpful) 2007-07-29

I read a lot of d&d novels back in the 1990s when I was a teenager and didn't know any better. I remember Salvatore being one of my favorites. Before reading The Thousand Orcs, I hadn't read anything of his in probably 10 years or more. When I picked it up, I knew I would be getting a trashy fantasy novel. I just didn't realize HOW trashy a fantasy novel it would turn out to be.

To sum up my reaction: Salvatore's prose in this book is incredibly heavy-handed, repeatedly bombarding us with explicitly-spelled out details that we, as the reader, should already know because he's already told us, as if we were three years old, many times before.

This book also drags along incredibly slowly. Most of its 300+ pages is spent assuring us that Drizzt and co are old friends and yet, despite supposedly knowing each other better than they know the backs of their own hands, they still stumble awkwardly through their dialogue as if they had only just met moments before.

Nothing very exciting really happens in this book. It comes across as more of a disgustingly bloated prologue than a novel in its own right.

The worst parts of the book involve the bumbling and annoying Bouldershoulder brothers, originally from Salvatore's other FR series. He appears to be attempting to mesh his two series together but it fails miserably. And enough with the awful stereotypical "old-timey/country bumpkin" dwarf accents already!

In closing, it is quite clear that Salvatore, like JK Rowling, no longer has an editor. The Thousand Orcs could very easily have been edited down to a short story, if not a handful of chapters. Perhaps the entire trilogy could have been shortened to just one book. I haven't read the other two in the series, and I'm not sure I want to ...

That's all from me.

A return to the world of the Forgotten Realms

Rating: 5/5 (1 out of 1 think this is helpful) 2007-04-11

R.A. Salvatore brings us back to the world of the Forgotten Realms, the story brings us back to the life of Drizzt Do'Urden a renegade Dark Elf that has turned his back on his evil heritage and walks the path of a hero.

The Orc king Obould Many Arrows has bounced back from his previous defeat at the hands of the Dwarves. Under the manipulation of the Drow (Dark Elves), Obould has allied with the Queen of the Frost Giants, Gerti. They have started mounting small scale raids against the Dwarves, killing several small bands.

At the same time Bruenor, the new Dwarven King of Mithral Hall, is travelling home with Drizzt and his heroic companions. They stop by the rival city of Mirabar and are rebuffed by the human leaders. This is an affront to Mirabar's Dwarven population and sows the seed of rebellion which will lead to further strife.

King Bruenor continues his travels home, to find the last two survivors of the Orcs raid on a dwarven trade caravan. Bruenor quickly gives them shelter and orders an all out search for the raiding Orcs. The battle that insues is very one sided, even with the Orc's Giant allies.

Queen Gerti orders that the killers of her Giant kin must be destroyed, a command that leads to the momentous events of the climax. The Orc King leads his people in an overwhelming attack against the Dwarven host.

The Dwarves are eventually driven to the small human outpost of Shallows. Shallows is ruled by a wizard who has built its walls high and strong, but they were not designed to take on an army of Orcs and Giants. The battle brings Elves, Dwarves, and Men together to defend Shallows from the forces of evil.
The story and characters are well written. Even though it is the first book in the trilogy, the characters have a long background in the other books that the author has written in this world, so I would not recommend reading this book out of order with the rest. It is a fast, gritty and entrancing tale of swords, sorcery and intrigue. The action and adventure is very good. For fans of the fantasy genre it is a must read.

Editorials:

Product Description

The latest New York Times best-seller from R.A. Salvatore, now in paperback!

The Thousand Orcs is yet another top release from premiere Forgotten Realms author R.A. Salvatore. This mass market reprint focuses primarily on his signature character, Drizzt Doourden, who has been the subject of most of Salvatore's best-selling titles for Wizards of the Coast, Inc. This title includes a sample chapter from the author's next hardcover, The Lone Drow.

One Dark Elf.

Two Enchanted Blades.

One Unknown Enemy.

And a Horde of Invaders.

When a blood-thirsty band of orcs led by an as-yet-unseen enemy comes rampaging out of the Spine of the World, it lays waste to everything in its path. Dark elf ranger Drizzt Do’Urden and his most trusted friends find themselves in the path of destruction. As blades slash and feet trample, even the heroes may not survive a desperate stand.

Amazon.com Review

The Thousand Orcs opens a new trilogy starring R.A. Salvatore's popular dark elf Drizzt Do'Urden and his loyal friends Wulfgar, Catti-Brie, Bruenor, and Regis. The band returns from Icewind Dale in the company of the dwarves of Mithril Hall, who are escorting King Bruenor back to reluctantly assume his throne. But, as always, old enemies and new emerge from the shadows to threaten our heroes. Emboldened by a dark alliance with the deadly frost giants, an orcish horde is massing quietly, waiting with uncharacteristic patience to move against dwarves, elves, and humans alike. Meanwhile, Bruenor, sensing that his adventures will come to an end once he takes the throne, coaxes his friends back onto the road, all the while unaware of the powerful forces gathering strength by the roadside.

Salvatore is obviously in his comfort zone with his favorite characters, and fans of the series will no doubt enjoy another bloody romp into danger with Drizzt and company. He even throws in a few mind-blowing surprises for the faithful. However, newcomers to the Forgotten Realms shouldn't start here, as familiarity with Salvatore's brave companions is a necessity despite Salvatore's attempt to provide a skeletal backstory for the uninitiated. Start with The Icewind Dale Trilogy and get to know the gang. --Jeremy Pugh

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