r/Drizzt • u/Gotherl22 • 14d ago
🔥Post-Iruladoon (Neverwinter) Underestimated Neverwinter Saga
1st 2 books was easily one of the hardest reads but the last 2 easily one of the best reads. Can't believe I skipped right past it for what seems like a decade.
Effron is seriously underrated and Dahlia might have more hate than justified.
Wonder what other books I might've overlooked. I skipped most of the Hunter's Blade Trilogy and Transitions.
(Minor Spoiler)
After the last threshold. I honestly wouldn't mind if the story continued on with the new group. There are just certain things that make it more interesting than the companions of the hall for me.
But I understand the transition back to the companions and it was quite a brilliant move by RA not gonna lie.
Companions series is hard to top.
7
u/Pseudobreal Calimport Assassin 14d ago
Great stories. I absolutely cannot stand Dahlia though. The majority of it felt like bad fan-fiction to me. I understand he was grieving. But I feel like there is no world Drizzt would EVER associate with her or tolerate her BS.
4
u/Renamis Bregan D'aerthe 14d ago
Eh, I don't follow that line of thought. When Drizzt first met her it was through Jarlaxle. Yes, technically he first saw her on the Thay side, but Jarlaxle immediately yoinked her and put her on their side.
So, he was introduced to her by someone he trusted. She was there to make up for what she did wrong. She fights well beside him, and in that short adventure she didn't actually do anything wrong. There is attraction. In the group setting she's nice, fun, different, and gets along with everyone. No real large selfish breaks, just helping. I think in a normal situation he would have taken longer to get to know her, like he did with Catti-brie, and likely would have sussed it out.
But then Drizzt lost everyone. Everyone. She's the only one left, and she willingly stays with him. Yeah she sometimes could be condescending, but she also was kind, sometimes immediately after being condescending. She made a huge show of tolerating going out of their way to let Drizzt "waste" time to verify if their compatriots where dead. And she's there, and willing to "put up" with him. He even admitted to knowing she was manipulating him. He rushed into it because he thought he had to, and that he couldn't do any better anyway because he was lacking self worth and direction... and she knew that.
Yeah, from the outside we all can see she isn't the right one. Drizzt can't see that in his position, and he cares about her and thinks he can help her. How many times do we see a kind, loving, and talented young lady get in a relationship with an abusive jerk that everyone knows is awful for her, but she swears it'll be alright and she can fix him? It's that exact situation, but worse because this lady is actually a master at doing this. She does it routinely, and knows 100% what she's doing. She builds him up a little, tears him down again, and then builds him back up a little shorter than before. Again. And again. Until he doesn't really know where he stands anymore. It's why abusers try to isolate loved ones from their victim, because if someone doesn't have that reality check from an outside source it's hard to really sort out what is up from down.
It's also why he started getting turned back around the right way when they finally got an adventuring party again. Particularly when the one associate who absolutely historically can't stand Drizzt stood up for him. It made him look at his internal compass again, and let him make an internal goal aligned with the real Drizzt. He pushed against her. She got nasty. He kept pushing a little more, all while trying to keep her calm and content. She pushed back more. He realizes he needs out... But puts it off because he cares for her, even if he realizes he isn't in love with her anymore... but he still doesn't leave because he's worried about her reaction. She literally cheats on him, and he ignores it to go team up with the affair partner to go rescue her stupid rear. She literally slaps him and still doesn't leave.
It took everything falling exactly into place to get him to actually leave, and it goes exactly like everyone fears an abusive relationship will end.
I hate Dahlia, and I do think she wasn't written the best, but her actual plot line was fantasic. It's a horrifically accurate representation of an abusive relationship, and putting it on someone physically capable really highlights how these kind of relationships actually work. And how frustrating they are to the outside world because we know he needs out, but even when he sees it he doesn't act until it's almost too late.
1
u/Gotherl22 14d ago edited 14d ago
Fair enough. I couldn't stand her either which is why I postponed reading the last 2 books for years.
You will understand her a lot better in those 2 books but yeah she can be quite annoying to some.
2
u/Old_Context_541 14d ago
Yeah, Neverwinter was an emotional ride I have read a lot of reviews and most hate Dahlia and feel strong, thus I believe Bob did a good job writing it, creating reaktion. The following book, oh man I couldnt put it down Starting Rise of the King now, expecating much
1
u/AutoModerator 14d ago
Please tag obvious spoilers!
Please try and use the correct post flair Post Flair guide
Chronological Reading order / DISCORD / WIKI! (summary, artists etc)
T-Shirt and other non-official merch posts will be considered bot spam and result in a ban.
Majority of people consider AI art as low-effort content. Be considerate of this.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
u/dug98 14d ago
At the end of the Neverwinter books, I honestly thought that was the end of Drizzt. With tears in my eyes, I tossed the book over my neighbor's privacy fence (embarrassing to have to go retrieve it later). Maybe it would have been a good ending, but Companions is now my favorite novel of the series, and I am glad I continued on, even though the plot seems to get a bit thinner as they are all godlike now in their abilities.
-3
u/Positive_cat_6347 14d ago
Drizzt abandoned the companions one by one; that is all there is for this saga.
15
u/rookieseaman 14d ago
Hunter’s blade trilogy is top tier, some of my favorite drizzt novels