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

Road of the Patriarch “flips the script” on the standard DnD story. It is a tale of a human assassin and a drow elf mercenary pitted against a “Lawful Good” adventuring Party at the peak of their narrative and powers. Artemis Entreri, the nemesis of Drizzt Do’Urden the drow ranger, and Jarlaxle Baenre (uncle of Drizzt) seek adventure in the Bloodstone Lands, a kingdom in which the major evils have been vanquished by cliché heroes which are emblematic of the AD&D character system. A Paladin King, an old crabbely Wizard whose name is similar to Merlin, a fat Friar, a Grandmaster of Flowers (highest level title a monk character can attain), etcetera.Up until this point the Drizzt novels had mostly the same antagonists, Entreri, the spider goddess matriarchy of Drizzt’s Homeland, and some sentient artifacts. The reversal is very satisfying, building on a plot established in the previous novel. Jarlaxle is a more humorous and entertaining protagonist than pious, strident and uncompromising Drizzt. In some ways, things are a little too easy for him to manipulate the mighty heroes of King Gareth’s band.As with each of Salvatore’s Drizzt novels, there is a philosophical crux to the book, which the plot and characters are meant to illustrate. “By blood or by deed” is Artemis Entreri the lower class “evil” assassin’s ethical challenge to Gareth Dragonsbane the highborn “Lawful Good” King of Damara. Does an inherited title grant moral supremacy? Or is leadership earned through conquest? Are the ethical compromises of conquest forgotten in the laurels and titles of leadership?I would have liked to see more of King Gareth’s band which is a credit to Salvatore’s ability to satisfy a die hard AD&D players cravings. Every dungeon Master has led a campaign in which the players realized the full potential of each character class which would result in a peaceful but stagnant kingdom like the Bloodstone Lands, ruled by omnipotent “good “ characters. Then the game is played again with less stereotypical characters which combine law and chaos, good and evil.The character investigation of Entreri continues with a coda to Road of the Patriarch, in which Entreri returns to his ghetto hometown and confronts his biological father (a corrupt priest of Seluné) regarding the abuse of his mother (a homeless prostitute). The author is taking on more complex moral and social issues, allowing his readers who are growing up to take on bigger questions in life.It is a pleasure to kindle and re-read each of the Drizzt novels for review, and look forward to the next release this fall, in which Drizzt’s father will reveal more detail about life in Menzoberranzan the underdark Capital of Lolth worship, prior to the birth of our favorite drow ranger.

Salvatore has the unfortunate fate of being a writer of some really great fantasy novels, and now each subsequent work will, no doubt, be compared to them. That said, this book is good, but not as good as "Servant of the Shard." R. A. Salvatore is one of my favorite fantasy writers, and I enjoy reading his books about Drizzt and Entreri. Reading this series of books with Jarlaxle and Entreri gives me a break from the other novels featuring Drizzt because these novels tend to be a bit darker, more chaotic, less moral, to some extent, considering the two characters around whom the stories take place.The plot in this book was a bit weak. Firstly, there is an investigation into the events of the preceding novel, in which a number of notable characters are killed. After this, Jarlaxle manipulates an artifact and entices a king to enter a war against him to basically unite two realms into one kingdom. It's a stretch of manipulation, even for a drow like Jarlaxle. And there is this whole philosophical thread in the novel (voiced by Entreri) about the right to rule and such.When the book should really end, there is a subplot at the end of the book, where we see a culmination in Entreri's reconciliation of his inner turmoil. It seems like the end of the novel should have been after their forced exit from the Bloodstone lands. The subsequent part could have been the start of another novel altogether.There is a lot of serious to the book, particularly with Jarlaxle's manipulation of Entreri's feelings about his past (and, of a lesser extent, Athrogate's, as well). There is also a betrayal that Entreri has to face. But there is humor in the book, too, mainly between Jarlaxle's bantering back and forth with Entreri. The character of Anthrogate is a great addition to the novel. I love how he was developed, and I hope Salvatore brings him back in future books.There are a variety of well developed characters in the novel that really give it a sense of being alive. It gives the characters a robust world in which they play out their parts. I particularly liked the powerful players with which Jarlaxle and Entreri have to deal. The dragon sisters were great (the bit where Athrogate tries unsuccessfully to attack one of them in a bar, not knowing they are dragons, is really funny!).All things considered, it was a good read, an enjoyable escape into Salvatore's fantasy world, and I hope to read more books starring Jarlaxle, Entreri, and Athrogate. Don't skip this book!

this books gtrst thank you.

I've been through the many books in the Drizzt Do'urdan series' a couple times but always bypassed "The Sellswords" series and that of Caderle.This time, however, as I approached the chronological place for this series, I chose to read it through. The Sellswords details the continuing adventures of anti-hero Artemis Entreri and his ever-present friend and partner, Jarlaxle, dark elf extraordinaire.This final book in the series ties up most of the origin questions fans have had about the unparalleled assassin. Artemis Entreri continues his journey towards feelings and enjoying life, that began in book 1, thanks to the meddling of his friend Jarlaxle. He goes home, after the disastrous events that unfold in the realm of Bloodstone, and uncovers answers to questions he never knew to look for. Along the way, he gains a degree of justice for his mother and the other young girls like her, and does some necessary housecleaning in the house of the priests of Selûne.Always entertaining, book 3 of The Sellswords brings a clear conclusion to many matters, as well as placing Entreri in a position to possibly settle down for a time, while Jarlaxle busies himself with his newest friend and 'project.' Although Entreri might get a reprieve from being Jarlaxle's active project, it's clear it'll be a temporary reprieve, as Jarlaxle has set events in motion that can only end in bringing Artemis back from the 'retirement' he'd wished himself. I'm looking forward to whatever tales may come!

The last few books had definitely been a lead up to this. And as painful Artemis’s journey has been it continues. There’s twists and turns in this that are surprising and entertaining.

A trilogia que termina perfeitamente nesse livro. Já chega a dar uma saudade dos Jarlaxle e Entreri lutando lado a lado.

Although this is written with the same qualities of R A Salvatore's Drizzt series of books this is nowhere near as good. Maybe this is down to the fact that I can't find anything to like about the lead characters. Artemis & Jarlaxle are good supporting characters but there is nothing likable about them & the rapport between them is pretty unbelievable. The third in the series & the characters are still as dis-likable as the first. In the end I was pleased when I finished the book & unlike the Drizzt series it's not a book I'll read again.

This is the concluding book in the Sellswords trilogy. Whereas the second book, Promise of the Witch King, was pretty much hack n' slay, which is great since Salvatore is the master when it comes to writing battle scenes, Road of the Patriarch concentrates more on the development of several parties, namely an assassin's guild, a dragon duo, a band of drow and of course Artemis Entreri. While we thought we had met some pretty powerful characters in book 2, that's nothing compared to King Gareth and his friends, who turn out to be the group who had destroyed Zhengyi. Salvatore makes a point of one person of this group in particular, the monk Kane, to be a most powerful force to reckon with. For destroying the dracolich, King Gareth bestows an apprentice knighthood on Artemis, which, as Jarlaxle found, is quite amusing as Artemis is hardly a knight in the making. Indeed members of Gareth's band were pretty dubious about awarding some unknown person such an honour. I found it quite strange that Garath, being a powerful paladin, didn't use his inherent detect evil ability on Artemis, because I'm sure if he did, he would most likely change his mind.Minor quibbles aside, I really enjoyed the book. I found it to be the least predictable Salvatore story yet. You're kept guessing as to whether Jarlaxle and Artemis will have to confront these powerful characters and despite the foot having been taken off the action accelerator, there are some good fights, especially between Artemis and an axe-wielding ranger.The last section of the book comes as a complete change and explores in quite some depth Artemis' background. Salvatore sets up some nasty charaters that you really want Artemis to dispose of.Great fun.

I've done alot of audiobook listening of the legend of drizzt series but audiobook 16 being missing I bought the paperback, and the sellsword series is very interesting full of intrigue twists and turns, very interesting I found it hard to put down.

This final book really does bring home salvatores evolution of characters. I was and avid Drizzt Dourden fan. But this series and especially this last book makes Entreri and Jarlaxle far more believable and interesting and I have never loved reading about them after this book. This last book really does move away from classic good vs bad to various shades of grey (and most of them a edging towards really dark, touching on child abuse), making it easier to relate to, as this is the case with human nature and the many internal contradictions of our own moral compasses and insecurities. It's great to see Entreri spitting justified arguments at the Paladin king, in some ways this is more exhilarating than the action passages. This shows that salvatore as a writer is moving away from what his comfort zone of enjoyable devious plots from evil villains and great action pieces to a far more interesting level of writing. Like all good fantasy it reflects the real world with ease and flow without being mundane and boring. If you bought the first two you will be buying this last book. If you're looking for a series to read, this won't let you down. It does help however to know a little about the whole D&D world. A bigger help is if you have read any of the Drizzt series (starting with the crystal shard series) which Entreri and Jarlaxle are often in.