This was a delightful surprise to me. Sure, there are some well-choreographed but a little too long fight scenes in there, as we have come to know of Salvatore, but the Sellswords Trilogy surprises again with its last installment. My hopes sunk when I started reading the prologue, a flashback to Artemis Entreri’s childhood: Yes, I was looking forward to Entreri getting some character development, after dozens of novels in which he was only a nemesis to Drizzt Do'Urden and simply characterized as an assassin with an empty heart. But, please not in the form of all kinds of pathos-building flashbacks… Luckily, that prologue was the only flashback in the book, which is the first of many surprises. Time after time, the characters in this book, take actions that I did not see coming and take the plot in wildly different directions. Sometimes seemingly even different what the author initially set out. This also makes it a weird book to describe the story of, because three times the characters are preparing for certain big dramatic story beats, which suddenly get upended because the characters make unexpected decisions. In that way, the book feels like three shorter stories that get ended prematurely. This kept me on my toes the whole time.

I also really enjoyed Salvatore’s philosophizing on monarchy and servitude as well as the hypocrisy of certain religious sects. This last point is of particular interest to me because I am very fond of the whole cosmology of Dungeons & Dragons and the setting of this book The Forgotten Realms. Remarkably enough, though there is very little magic in this book and as such the description of the church of Selune in the town of Memnon is quite unique in all of the Forgotten Realms novels I have read thus far. The church is depicted as a bunch of corrupt males offering peace in the afterlife in exchange for corporal delights. If all this doesn’t convince you to read this, you should try it out for the entertaining and complex relationship between the protagonists Artemis Entreri and Jarlaxle Baenre.

I miss Drizzt.

P

This was a heavy read on so many levels. The intrigue & new amazing characters have you on the edge of your seat, and also wondering what the hell will happen next. What the dickens will that person do? How can this ever be resolved? A marvellous conclusion to the sellsword adventures that still leaves the reader wanting so much more.

This was a wondrous conclusion to an amazing series! Jaraxle and Entreri are a true delight as ever. The writing style was of Salvatore's best, very witty in Jaraxle's plot, dialogue and philosophy, and as serious as ever with Entreri. The way Entreri's own quest for personal identity cam to a conclusion was really inspiring, the once evil and conflicted rival of Drizzt Do'Urden finding peace and becoming a fighter of the people, (and not enjoying it) was wonderful. His final fight for the memory for his mother, the one person in his life he really loved and let into his heart, was very touching. In all, the Sellswords return to the Sword coast was riveting, and awe-inspiring all around.

Se cierra la trilogía "Los Mercenarios" con este libro que nos explica un poco más de la historia personal de Artemis Entreri. Jarlaxle y en enano que no me acuerdo como se llama se van de parranda en busca de las raíces del humano. (Athrogate, se llama el enano).

Artemis Entreri is GAY and I love him

After 15 books with the same narrator they tried someone new for this book and failed. Thankfully Victor Bevine returns as the narrator of The Thousand Orcs.

3.8/5

*Spoilers*

This book had some strong and weak points. It was really 2 separate stories in one book. The one where Jarlaxle and Entreri are living in King Gareth's kingdom, and one where Entreri goes back to the town he was born in. I thought the first "story" was somewhat rushed and escalates to Entreri claiming to be king too quickly. Although, I really enjoyed the conversations between Entreri and Gareth's 7 when he gets captured.

It was fun getting new details about Jarlaxle's birth and childhood that was expanded upon from the last book, and seeing the parallels with Entreri's childhood. I feel like these 2 should have a lot more stories together, but in the end of this trilogy we see them separate in a not-so-satisfying way. Entreri is still an angry bitter man whodoesnt know the truth of his lover's "betrayal" and Jarlaxle is in roughly the same position he was at the beginning of the trilogy. He gave his prized dragon gemstone to Kimmuriel and has a weaker hold in King Gareth's region being banished. I understand there are subtleties there that could allow him to get a string foothold in the future, but at the end of this mini series I would have liked more growth from both of them. We get so much momentum with Entreri's character only for him to reject his new feelings (breaking the flute) and leave his friend Jarlaxleto go back to Calimport. It's likely Entreri will eventually come to the lght, but in my opinion it seems to be drawing it out too much. That being said, I really enjoyed the story when he goes home and meets his father

This was BAD!!! I didn't even finish the book because it was so boring,which is a first for me!!!!!

This was an odd one. The book as a whole feels quite fragmented and incoherent. The first 2 parts following on from the previous book in the series, pretty much. The first half is pretty weak, with quite a few really shallow characters, but the final part is superb, but doesn't feel like part of the same book in a lot of ways. I'd much preferred the whole book focussing there.

2.5 stars for the aftermath of Promise of the Witch King. Artemis the assassin and Jarlaxle the dark elf find themselves under the scrutiny of a team of 7 heroes called "The Spysong" regarding their questionable circumstances in the defeat of the dracolich.

The theme of this story for me is "Why?" Why Artemis are you continuing to follow Jarlaxle? Why Jarlaxle do you continue to torment Artemis? Why are you instigating a paladin king and his kingdom? The characters themselves even ask "Why?" and are not even to come up with any discernible reason.

There are a load of new characters in this series, it's hard to keep up at times. Perhaps they were characters created in a Forgotten Realms campaign and then translated to the novel? That's the downside of reading a story that takes place in a shared world.

There was one great duel, and a few really great lines of dialogue and interaction between the characters, but it didn't make up for a lackluster story. The last third was almost like a giant epilogue, which actually worked quite well and tied up some loose emotional ends.