The cover of Red Magic. A bald wizard in red robes with a tattoo on his forehead is holding a hand over a glowing red orb that's shooting tendrils of energy all around. He holds a staff with a skull on it. (I think that means he's a bad guy.)

Red Magic

“But even I know enough about wilderness survival to be sure that you shouldn’t treat a freely bleeding stab wound by rubbing a bunch of ferns into it, and you shouldn’t try sliding around the forest on gobbets of raw antelope.”

The cover of Canticle. In the background, a robed young man with a walking stick is strolling down a path with a mountain in the background, reading a book. In the foreground, an evil-looking red-robed figure is holding a glowing vial and staring off to the side.

Canticle

“With five books all focusing on one overarching story, the temptation to indulge in sloppy characterization and meandering plots requires immense discipline to avoid. “Disciplined” isn’t really an adjective that springs to mind when I think about Salvatore’s writings thus far.”

The cover of Elfshadow. On a rocky outcropping, a graceful black-haired woman wielding a sword stands next to a tall blond man who looks like a chubby football player. A giant moon fills the sky behind them.

Elfshadow

“It’s good to see elven society finally getting some attention. Despite their thousands of years of culture and history, most authors don’t go any further into characterizing elves than the usual ‘nature-loving hippies’ stereotype.”

The cover of The Parched Sea. Three people are sitting on the floor of a tent with a meal set in front of them. One is a black-robed Arab man waving a curved dagger around. The second is a veiled young woman recoiling from him. The third is a desert-robed white man who looks unconcerned about the display. The roast chicken in their meal looks like the author had never seen a cooked chicken before and drew it from a description.

The Parched Sea

“So what are we to make of this Lawrence of Anauroch? It may be derivative, but it’s certainly not boring.”

The cover of Sojourn. Drizzt, a white-haired dark elf, stands at the mouth of a cave. Outside is the open sky and the surface world. His left hand rests on the back of Guenhwyvar, his giant panther companion who's posing next to him.

Sojourn

“Montolio feels like a much more sinister character to me now as an adult than he did when I was a teenager — the personification of the ugly questions about racism that the Drizzt books keep raising but then never addressing.”

The cover of Feathered Dragon. In the foreground is a colourful pyramid standing in a flat desert. In the blue sky above it are various disconnected images: a man wearing a jaguar hood and face paint and carrying a spear, a metal-armored orc, a dragon, and some random Maztican warriors.

Feathered Dragon

“Just once I’d like to see Niles write a book with no divine intervention or mystical prophecies in it, where someone in the plot has some real agency… but I’m not getting my hopes up.”

The cover of Song of the Saurials. The background is a scene of mountains and forests. On the left, Alias, a red-headed young woman, poses dramatically and holds the glowing yellow Finder's Stone above her head. In the centre is Finder, a greying older man looking proud and holding an ornate horn instrument. On the right is Grypht, a large scaly humanoid with the head of a triceratops, wearing robes and holding a staff.

Song of the Saurials

“‘The gods give you a quest’ ranks right up there with ‘You all meet in a tavern’ and ‘You’re the chosen one’ amongst the pantheon of role-playing game clichés.”

The cover of Crusade. In the background is King Azoun, an older man with greying brown hair, a jewelled crown, and a world-weary expression. In the left foreground are two armored dwarves, one holding a falcon and one holding an axe. On the right is Alusair, a blonde young woman in full plate armor staring at her drawn sword.

Crusade

“1991 brought us many momentous events: the first Gulf War, the fall of the Soviet Union, the end of apartheid, and the release of the final book in the Empires trilogy. (Curiously, that last one takes up much less space in the history books than the others.)”