Exile tells a story of the strength of friendship among the most unlikely of allies, in the most unfriendly inhospitable of places. In his exile, Drizzt finds that being alone and simply surviving is not a fulfilling or worthwhile existence. The morals that define him do nothing for a person in solitude. The dark elf Drizzt allies himself with with a handful of diverse inhabitants on his journey despite the tribal nature of The Underdark, while he continues to avoid capture and death at the hands of the dark elves of Menzoberranzan. The lesson learned is that trusting in others can help you overcome the steepest of odds.

“Greater indeed are pleasures that are shared.”

The dark elves of Menzoberranzan have not forgotten that Drizzt has forsaken the spider Queen Lloth and now his death is an appealing outcome to those even outside of the Do’Urden family. Matron Malice deploys the reanimated corpse of Drizzt’s father and mentor Zaknefein with the explicit goal of destroying Drizzt so that the Do’Urden family can regain favor with Lloth. Zaknefein follows Drizzt to the ends of the Underdark under the direct control of Matron Malice, and comes close to achieving his goal but finds that the friends of Drizzt Do’Urden are too difficult an obstacle to overcome. As Drizzt escapes death in the perilous Underdark, he comes to the conclusion that the only way to truly escape is to leave his cherished friends and the Underdark behind for the surface world, where the dark elves and Lloth have no influence.

During the adventures of the dark elf trilogy you will become familiarized with some of the most imaginative creatures and settings you could hope for in a fantasy novel. You never know what quite to expect while following a single character such as Drizzt through a journey in the Forgotten Realm’s universe, and it will keep you intrigued and engaged throughout. So much of what makes this book great is that anything can happen, and you will experience things outside the scope of your own imagination. In a world of magic and adventure there is nothing to stop the author from incorporating an idea such as an eccentric human wizard with a transportable tower who would wreaking havoc amidst the gloomy caves and winding passages of The Underdark. Why not? Why not caverns of acid or formidable glowing cities of shaped stone by the deep gnomes?

To be honest when I reached the end of this book I immediately picked up the last book in The Dark Elf trilogy Sojourn and began reading it, inevitably delaying my write up for Exile. I’m thoroughly enjoying my time with these books and highly recommend that you take the dive.

9/10

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