Exile: The Legend of Drizzt

By R. A. Salvatore

Dark elf Drizzt Do’Urden fights for his survival in the labyrinthine tunnels of the Underdark
 
Ten years have passed since we last saw Drizzt Do’Urden and his magical feline companion, Guenhwyvar—and much has changed. Exiled from Menzoberranzan, the city of his childhood and the hub of drow society, Drizzt now wanders the subterranean maze of the Underdark in search of a new home.
 
As I became a creature of the empty tunnels, survival became easier and more difficult all at once. I gained in the physical skills and experience necessary to live on. I could defeat almost anything that wandered into my chosen domain. It did not take me long, however, to discover one nemesis that I could neither defeat nor flee. It followed me wherever I went—indeed, the farther I ran, the more it closed in around me. My enemy was solitude, the interminable, incessant silence of hushed corridors.

But loneliness is not the only thing that preys on Drizzt: His drow enemies, including his own siblings, would like nothing more than to see him dead. They begin their own search of the Underdark tunnels with murder on their minds, forcing Drizzt to watch his back at every turn.
 
Exile is the second book in the Dark Elf Trilogy and the Legend of Drizzt series.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Jun 23, 2009
• ISBN: 9780786954025

R. A. Salvatore

Over three decades ago, R. A. Salvatore created the character of Drizzt Do’Urden, the dark elf who has withstood the test of time to stand today as an icon in the fantasy genre. With his work in the Forgotten Realms, the Crimson Shadow, the DemonWars Saga, and other series, Salvatore has sold more than thirty million books worldwide and has appeared on the New York Times bestseller list more than two dozen times. He considers writing to be his personal journey, but still, he’s quite pleased that so many are walking the road beside him! R.A. lives in Massachusetts with his wife, Diane, and their two dogs, Dexter and Pikel. He still plays softball for his team, Clan Battlehammer, and enjoys his weekly DemonWars: Reformation RPG and Dungeons & Dragons 5e games. 

Reviews for Exile

[briefmissives · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I ended up skimming the last third of this book, because honestly, I'd had about as much of Salvatore's writing as I could stand. I read Homeland, and while it was a fun story, some of Salvatore's writing quirks made it a slog for me. The slogging continued with Exile. I've never seen characters who growl and snarl so much. It was driving me bonkers. The book is also quite heavy on fights, which got a little tiresome. I know, it's a D&D book, of course there's going to be a lot of fighting, but still, there was a bit much for my liking.I tried Homeland and Exile out because I kept hearing / reading about how great Salvatore's stuff is, and I must say: I don't really understand why. Maybe I just don't get along with his writing style. I noted in my review of Homeland that I'd be finishing the Dark Elf Trilogy to see how it ends, but I don't think that's going to happen now. I'll just look up a plot summary to see where Drizzt ends up.

[revslick_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The legend of Drizzt continues. I don't want to give anything away except go buy Homeland and then pick up Exile then hang on for a fun ride.

[johnnypanic13 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Just a few quick words. I'm rereading the series. I wanted something really light. Something I could in bed in the minutes before I fall asleep. Something where it wouldn't matter if I forgot most of what I'd read the night before.This fits the bill. I don't know why I have to feel like I need to justify my feelings about these books. I'm not saying they are great books. I think they are pretty solid three star books.I would say this again, start with the trilogy that was written first, but that comes after these chronologically. I gave a bit on the why with my review in the last book (Homeland) and I'll give a bit more in the next on (Sojourn).There are plot holes, the written is extremely cliche in spots, there are quite a few typos in the book. But I'm willing to bet that the majority of people who make it to the end of this book start to get attached to the cuddly wuddly lovable dark elf that is Drizzt Do'Urden.

[capiam1234 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I like the characters but felt this was more a short story with some added fluff to add it to the growing trilogy.

[joshua7pelton7stroud · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I have come to the solid realization that I can not stand anything about the way this man writes. The story itself would be tolerable, even passably enjoyable at times, if it weren't for the fact that Salvatore is, in fact, one of the worst writers on the face of the planet.Aside from completely redefining the term "infrared", having random, previously unmentioned possessions materialize out of nowhere, and apparently allowing the main characters to "listen in" on the narration (several characters don't know anything about a species at the first encounter, yet call them by name at the second, with no introduction other than the narrator's description to the reader), half the story doesn't even make sense. Drizzt nearly falls off a cliff to his death when Drizzt is capable of magical levitation. A reanimated corpse, supposedly both without emotion AND retaining the warrior instincts of its previous life, hacks up a bunch of stuff (which didn't exist before being hacked up) belonging to its prey when it finds the camp unattended...The list of ridiculous inconsistencies present in Exile (even more than Homeland, first in the series) leads one to believe that Salvatore's copy editor was stoned out of his mind or dead.How this drivel got published is beyond me, and its popularity is a distinct testament to the deplorable tastes (not to mention comprehension skills) of the American populace.

[jklugman_2 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I was wondering why I liked this novel's predecessor (Homeland) while the Icewind Dale trilogy (books 4-6) made so little impression on me, and now reading Exile I think I know why. In Homeland, Salvatore focused on a character's relationship to his society, and Salvatore exploited this to enhance characterization and drama. In Exile and Icewind Dale, he focuses on a party of adventurers essentially making their way through a D&D module and character and drama take a back seat. The titular Dark Elf is now joined by a companion, svirfneblin Belwar, and both characters are essentially the epitome of goodness so their interactions grow rather stale pretty quickly. The bulk of the novel is them killing a variety of fearsome beasts making their home in the Underdark which is not compelling.

[soliloquies · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Not as interesting as the first book, but you do get to see Drizzt developing as a person and forging friendships with other races.

[kw50197 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Exile is a better read than Homeland. It starts off interestingly when we are given a glimpse of a transformed Drizzt. This is no longer the compassionate Drizzt from the first book, but Drizzt's other self, the Hunter. The Hunter is a creature of pure instinct, whose only goal is to survive, at any cost. Drizzt's alter-ego is the reason for his survival in the long years alone in the Underdark, but is also the reason he flees to Blingdenstone later. Unfortunately, the story loses its momentum after this.

[joshteeters · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I ended up skimming the last third of this book, because honestly, I'd had about as much of Salvatore's writing as I could stand. I read Homeland, and while it was a fun story, some of Salvatore's writing quirks made it a slog for me. The slogging continued with Exile. I've never seen characters who growl and snarl so much. It was driving me bonkers. The book is also quite heavy on fights, which got a little tiresome. I know, it's a D&D book, of course there's going to be a lot of fighting, but still, there was a bit much for my liking.I tried Homeland and Exile out because I kept hearing / reading about how great Salvatore's stuff is, and I must say: I don't really understand why. Maybe I just don't get along with his writing style. I noted in my review of Homeland that I'd be finishing the Dark Elf Trilogy to see how it ends, but I don't think that's going to happen now. I'll just look up a plot summary to see where Drizzt ends up.

[rbtwinky · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is really a fantastic book. It doesn’t have the culture that Homeland had, but it really shows Drizzt begin his life-long fight of following his principles. I guess officially we saw the very beginning of that in Homeland, but then he was really still trying to figure out what his principles were. The chase that happens between Drizzt and Zaknafein adds a healthy amount of suspense to the book. Also, Belwar Dissengulp, one of my favorite RAS characters, makes his sole appearance in this book. “Bivrip!”

[jmcclain19 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is where the series started to go astray for me.

[elbakerone · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

As the sequel to Homeland, R.A. Salvatore follows the adventures of Drizzt Do'Urden as he leaves Menzoberranzan and travels throughout the perilous Underdark. This is easily the darkest piece of The Dark Elf Trilogy but Salvatore's action scenes and amazing characters - including new and old heroes and villains - set the pace for an awesome second installment.

[coffeesucker · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A decent ending - at least I was glad it was over.