I've found new meaning to life...

I've never before read a book by R.A. Salvatore, although I've heard of him many times. He's supposed to be a really good fantasy author, but then again, Orson Scott Card was supposed to be a really good science fiction author, and I hated Ender's Game. But Quinby pretty much insisted I read The Dark Elf Trilogy, which consists of three books: Homeland, Exile, and Sojourn.

I started the book late last night after I finished the Black Cauldron series, by Lloyd Alexander. I'm already over halfway through the first book in the trilogy, and I have to confess, I'm having trouble putting it down. For the first time in what seems like ages, I actually wake up easily because I can't wait to read my book before class. Then I sit impatiently hoping for class to end so I can read some more. (I'm not in middle school anymore and am no longer daring/dumb enough to try and hide my book under my desk and read through class.)

The immersion in the book is pretty insane. Salvatore's done a masterful job (so far) giving just enough details to exercise your imagination without leaving you confused. He describes society more than characters or places, which results in more proper nouns with more apostrophes than I normally like to put up with. I hate fantasy books with a learning curve so big that nothing happens for a hundred pages because the author is too busy filling you in on all the nitty-gritty details, and then you can't keep all the proper nouns straight anyway and give up in disgust.

I guess what I really like about it is the fact that this story isn't the tired, cliche fantasy book with a mysterious wizard and an emo half-elf fighter and a big hulking barbarian that rips heads off in battle but outside of battle likes kittens and bunnies. Maybe a bouncy little gnome or something for comic relief. Or a gruff dwarf that's really a softy underneath. Basically, if you want cliche fantasy, read the Dragonlance books. They're good, yes. But they're pretty much the epitome of cheesy D&D fantasy. (Though I have to admit, the scene at the end of the series about the twins was really touching. "Look, Raist! Bunnies!")

...Now I've digressed. What was I saying? Ah yes. Anyway, telling a fantasy story from the point of view of the evil dark elf (drow elf, actually) society is different and fascinating. The drow elves actually have names and personalities and ambitions. Normally, the "good guys" and "bad guys" are very clear in a fantasy novel, and you say from the very beginning, "I hope this character gets a happily ever after, and I hope this character marries this character, but that character is evil and needs to die." And it usually happens that way. In Homeland, at least so far, you can tell, of course, that the main character is the "good guy." But other than that, everyone is just... well, a character, apparently no better or worse than any of the other characters. You can't tell who you want to win or what you want to happen, which makes it very hard to predict just what's going to happen next.

Also, the society is interesting. It's complicated enough that it isn't one-dimensional, evil enough to be obviously evil, but structured enough that you don't end up wondering how they've managed to not wipe themselves out yet. A lot of fantasy authors like to say, "Oh, they're evil, so all they ever think about is how fun it is to torture and murder everything they can," which results in a story that's not very believable. Evil people generally don't consider themselves "evil." They just have different priorities: usually they just place greed, pride, or ambition above honor and chivalry. They don't go around killing everyone just for the fun of it, they just get rid of people who get in their way. (If you intend to be a fantasy writer, you'll do well to remember that, by the way.)

So I have mixed feelings about this book. First of all, I can't believe I put off reading any books by Salvatore for so long. But on the other hand, this was a very good time to discover something that I enjoy so much, since I'm getting frustrated with school, juggling, music, and all my other hobbies. And on the one hand, I'm really glad Quinby insisted I read these books. But on the other hand, now I'm going to have to finish the books and then acquire the sequels, and Salvatore's got like a fifty books out! This is NOT conducive to boring me into doing my schoolwork because there's nothing better to do! How thoughtless!

Harrumph.

That said, I'm going to go back to my book and see what happens next.

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