Road of the Patriarch (Forgotten Realms: The Sellswords, Book 3)

by R.A. Salvatore

Book Overview

Another thrilling installment in the classic D&D-inspired Legend of Drizzt series: While assassin Artemis Entreri wrestles with his past, dark elf Jarlaxle continues to fight for his place in the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0786942770
• Release Date: July 2007
• Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.44 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.9" x 1.0" x 4.2"

Customer Reviews

Excellent Book

This is what Salvatore excels at - portraying the inner journey. This book completes the journey Artemis & Jarlaxle began with Servant of the Shard, and really picks up speed with the Promise of the Witch-King, where a certain magical item really becomes the lynchpin for Artemis doing some in-depth soul searching. I enjoyed this book immensely. It picks up right where Promise of the Witch-King left off, with them in the Bloodstone Lands. Without giving away spoilers, this storyline ends and takes another turn, but this time it's one of Artemis' choosing... at the end we learn about Artemis' past and how/why he became the man he is. There was a strong cliff-hanger in this book, which was resolved, and a couple of the subplots were very strong. This book has intrigue, character development, some action, but what it lacks in raw fight scenes (which get repetitive after awhile) it makes up for in other areas. Highly recommended.

Road of the Patriarch

Once again anther excellent book bu Salvadore. Love his work and find that once started can't put it down. A great read

It's all about Character

Like other writers, I tend to focus the stories I write about on my characters more than the plot itself, and Salvatore does exactly this in Road of the Patriarch. After being left off from Promise of the Witch King, I expected the third book to be about Jarlaxle trying to take over the Bloodstone Lands from King Gareth Dragonsbane. After reading this book (which only took me about a day) I was surprised at how little Salvatore had the drow mercenary "succeed" in the Bloodstone Lands and how the book seemed to be more focused on Entreri. Truth be told, I didn't look at this as one big book, but more like 3-4 short stories. The first one being about Entreri & Jarlaxle being rewarded by Gareth Dragonsbane, the next is the rising of King Artemis the First & banishment from the Bloodstone Lands, and the third is the assassin's return to his home to exercise the demons that has haunted him for so long. Another thing I liked a lot about this book was how it gave some good history on the Bloodstone Lands. Salvatore catalogues many of Dragonsbane and his allies (particularly the ones who helped him defeat the Witch King). My suspicion is that Salvatore kind of fell for the paladin king like he has for so many of his other characters. Though he was belittled by Entreri most of the time, Gareth Dragonsbane remained a good and honorable man. Though I'll probably get yelled at for this, I was rooting for Gareth's men to take down Castle D'Athare. Road of the Patriarch is a great read. It has its great action scenes as well as some emotional scenes that will leave a reader breathless. One thing I would like to see from Salvatore is a book about Gareth Dragonsbane. He talks about wanting to do a book about Menzoberranzen during the times when Zaknafein and Jarlaxle were friends, but I really think he should also write a book about the fall of the Witch-King.

Emotionally Exhausting

When I finished the last page of this book I actually felt sick to my stomach. I hadn't realized until that moment just how emotionally tied to the characters I'd become. This isn't just a story about lots of cool action, but one about growth of the individual, and the price that you sometimes pay by entering into a friendship. While I believe the intent of the story was to really focus on Artemis, who he is and why he is the way he is, Jarlaxle goes through quite a lot of personal growth as well. There are several spots where he finds himself becoming increasingly empathetic to those around him. It surprises even him. His origins are much more clearly explained, and he even makes a few very humorous blunders (the bakery scene is priceless). While the ending seems to be pretty final in one sense, I'm hoping that at the very least we'll be seeing more of Jarlaxle and his new dwarven companion. I just hope that Mr. Salvatore takes it easy on my emotions next time.

First to review this book? I am honored....

I bought this book the day it came out, just as I have bought every other book R.A. Salvatore has ever published the day it came out...including the first of course. However, never have I been privaledged with being the first person to review any of his books on this website, and for that I am grateful. Not only that, but to write the first review of one of his BEST books... However, I didn't come here to write an in-depth review of the book, go over everything I liked and disliked, or accidentaly reveal and therefore spoil anything for you. I will however tell you this, I have loved most of R.A. Salvatore's books, and even hated a few. I am also a minority in the fact that I kind of disliked the book before this one, the second book in the trilogy. That being said.... Not a single one of the books in this long and ongoing Forgotten Realms series made me laugh out loud so often, almost bring a tear to my eye several times, nor made my jaw hit the floor in amazement so frequently as this book has. This book was simply brilliant, a masterpiece. And what person reading this book out of the millions, would NOT want to learn who, why, and what Artemis Entreri really is?....because his early childhood was FINALLY answered! The beginning of this book was fun, the middle was confusing at first, the ending was one of the best endings to any book I've ever read. 5 out of 5 stars, more easily than any book I've read has earned it.