The Icewind Dale Trilogy is an exciting fantasy series that was perfect to read in winter. The Halfling's Gem is the conclusion to the trilogy. Much like the later written prequel, The Dark Elf Trilogy, Salvatore's strong suit is his characters, which, while having their roots in Tolkien (what fantasy characters don't?) are both special and really fun to spend time with. This series is the first mention of Drizzt the Dark Elf, a dual-wielding dark elf ranger who's skin tone makes him shunned by society. The team around Drizzt are also fantastic (I particularly enjoy Catti-brie, but they're all great). While the characters are a joy to read about, I did find some of their interactions a little frustrating.

Most particularly, in The Halfling's Gem, Drizzt and Catti-brie seem to begin developing a romantic relationship that is strange given their age gap and awkward because of the partnership and later marriage of Catti-brie and Wulfgar. The fact that the characters refuse to let Catti-brie join them on their adventures for much of the series is also annoying.

While Salvatore's character work (alongside his action) is really well done in The Icewind Dale, I found the plot of the series to drag in places. There is a through line through the trilogy, but mostly the books feel like a series of vignettes. In this way, the series appropriately reads a bit like a DnD campaign, which I did not find very engaging. Of the three, I found The Halfling's Gem to be the most enjoyable. The time the cast spent on the Sea Sprite

and Bruenor's return

was a pleasure to read.

The Forgotten Realms is a really wild world, and overall, I've had a good time exploring it through the eyes of Drizzt and company.