''The Two Swords'' is a fantasy novel by American writer

R. A. Salvatore Robert Anthony Salvatore (born January 20, 1959) is an American author best known for ''The Legend of Drizzt'', a series of fantasy novels set in the Forgotten Realms and starring the popular character Drizzt Do'Urden. He has also written ''The ...

, the third and final book in his series ''

The Hunter's Blades Trilogy ''The Hunter's Blades Trilogy'' is a fantasy trilogy by American writer R.A. Salvatore. It follows the ''Paths of Darkness'' series and is composed of three books: '' The Thousand Orcs'', '' The Lone Drow'', and '' The Two Swords''. ''The Two Swo ...

''. ''The Two Swords'' was his 17th work concerning one of the most famous characters Salvatore has created, the

drow The drow ( or ) or dark elves are a dark-skinned and white-haired subrace of Elf (Dungeons & Dragons), elves connected to the Subterranea (geography), subterranean Underdark in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy roleplaying game. The drow have ...

, or dark elf,

Drizzt Do'Urden Drizzt Do'Urden () is a fictional character appearing in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game. Drizzt was created by author R. A. Salvatore as a supporting character in the ''Icewind Dale ...

. It follows ''

The Thousand Orcs ''The Thousand Orcs'' is a fantasy novel by American writer R. A. Salvatore, the first book in his series ''The Hunter's Blades Trilogy''. In it, Drizzt Do'Urden is separated from his friends while orcs, giants, and a few drow are determined to d ...

'' and '' The Lone Drow''.

Plot summary

In ''The Two Swords'', Obould's horde has pressed the Companions to the very gates of Mithral Hall, where Bruenor and his clan launch a desperate, last-ditch effort to push the orcs back. A desperate rescue attempt succeeds, with Drizzt and Innovindil rescuing the latter's

pegasus Pegasus ( grc-gre, Πήγασος, Pḗgasos; la, Pegasus, Pegasos) is one of the best known creatures in Greek mythology. He is a winged divine stallion usually depicted as pure white in color. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as hor ...

, which Obould had captured and chained as a trophy, and Drizzt is unexpectedly reunited with the Companions that he long thought dead. The only major plot line to be tied up in this novel is the question of what Drizzt will do about his relationship with

Catti-brie Catti-brie (spelled in later publications as "Cattie-brie") is a fictional character in the Forgotten Realms setting, based on the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game. The creation of American author R.A. Salvatore, she is primarily kno ...

. Other than that, ''The Two Swords'' resolves a few minor plot threads. Drizzt and the surface elf Innovindil bring their quest for the captured pegasus to a conclusion. A few more characters meet their demise in this novel. Ultimately, the novel keeps the major plot lines active for future novels, and introduces several more.

Reception

''The Two Swords'' reached No. 5 on ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

''s bestseller list for the week ending October 24, 2004. It debuted on ''The New York Times'' bestseller list at No. 4 and at No. 1 on ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' Bestseller List in early November. Patrick Bergeron II from fantasybookspot.com found ''The Two Swords'' predictable and expected key sequences such as the character Drizzt "finding out that his friends had not fallen at Shallows". However he still enjoyed the story and characterization. ''The Two Swords'' peaked at #4 on the New York Times Best Seller list in 2004. It reached the top of ''The Wall Street Journals hardcover bestseller list after only two weeks, a record for its publisher Wizards of the Coast. It also debuted at #4 on The New York Times's bestseller list, and #2 on Publishers Weekly bestseller list.

References

2004 American novels Forgotten Realms novels Novels by R. A. Salvatore {{ForgottenRealms-stub