Promise of the Witch King by R. A. Salvatore

Let me start by saying I am a huge fan of RAS and would recommend almost all of his books, including this one. However, having said that, I was a little disappointed with this novel. Don't get me wrong, it was a good story (and a fun read), but there were a few things that bothered me.

First, the plot was a little lacking. This was basically a dungeon crawl (which I must admit is not my favorite type of story) and on that level it succeeded quite nicely. But the story lacked the depth I have come to expect from RAS. The characters, while interesting felt a little flat to me. And second, the level of magic was too high. I never felt like the characters were in any danger as whenever there was the potential for danger they seemed to pull another magic item out of their seemingly endless supply. Finally, Jarlaxle's character in this book seemed a little silly at times.

But these deficiencies were made up for by some of the strengths of the book. For one thing, nobody does action like RAS. And this book has lots of action. The fight sequences are well thought-out and wonderfully written. Second, although Jarlaxle's character wasn't as good as I hoped in this story, Artemis Entreri's character continues to develop and was faced with an interesting internal conflict. I really enjoyed seeing how he developed over the course of the book. Finally, as although the plot wasn't all that deep, it was a fun little story.

So, overall, while I was not blown away by the novel, I did find it high enjoyable. If you like action and adventure, you will most likely enjoy this book.

After finishing this book, I placed it back down on my rack and smiled while shaking my head. The next thing I knew, I picked it back up to re-read the final chapter in an attempt to alleviate my sense of shock. I started reading Salvatore's books about 5 months ago, Homeland being my first. I was completely hypnotized thereafter and read all of his others as if I were possessed. After finishing the current Drizzt series, I picked up a copy of Cleric's Quintet and destroyed it in the matter of days. After reading all of his Forgotten Realms volumes, I discovered that my favorite character had to be Artemis Entreri; so when I picked up Promise of the Witch-King, I already knew I was going to like it. I could have never predicted how much though. I can easily say that this is the best book in the series. I love the way the Artemis slowly becomes "human". He is no longer a man of perfect discipline and a cold conscience which makes me like him all the more. The fights are epic, as to be expected, and the characters are well developed as always. Salvatore continues to please his long time fans with this book and I highly recommend Promise of the Witch-King to anyone who enjoys a good fantasy novel.