Road of the Patriarch: The Sellswords, Book III [Mass Market Paperback]

Road to the Patriarch by R.A. Salvatore is the third, and final, book in the Sellswords Trilogy. The first being Servant of the Shard and the Second being Promise of the Witch-King. This book takes place right after the events of Promise of the Witch-King and continues the tale of Jarlaxle and Artemis and their journey together as Artemis seeks to come to grips with his past.

As with most Salvatore books this one has a decent mix of characters and plot, however, no matter how well constructed this plot is - this book is largely about character development. Fans of Salvatore have watched both Jarlaxle and Artemis grow as characters through several books, aside from the Drizzt books, the growth of Artemis in this book may be the single biggest development in a character in one book I have read in a long time. We learn a little about Jarlaxle's past, but this book focuses mainly on Artemis. Jarlaxle is merely along for the ride. There are some things in this book that are not usually found in Forgotten Realms books, some of the content - but to say more about that would be giving spoilers. I will say that the journey that Artemis undertakes in the second half of this book is gritty and filled with heartache.

The plot of this book can really be divided into two parts. The first part focuses on Jarlaxle and Artemis' time dealing with Grandmaster Kane and the Citadel of Assassins in the Bloodstone Lands, while the second half focuses quite a bit of Artemis' individual journey that leads to some shocking moments. I will say that the second half of the book seemed, at times, slightly rushed. Mostly because Salvatore knew what he wanted to happen and needed to fit it all in. I am guessing this book could have been 400+ pages easily. The plot is well laid out and everything that happens makes perfect sense. Salvatore obviously invested a great deal of time making sure the story stayed true to the characters and their situation. This allows the reader to care that much more about what is going on in the story.

Salvatore has a knack for weaving a believable story with characters that seem so real. We all know Artemis is a very skilled assassin, yet, while reading this book you can't help but care deeply for his story and his past and how that played a part in who he is. If you are looking for large scale battles, this book may be a disappointment to you. If you are looking for wizard battles and lots of magic, this book may be a disappointment to you. However, if you are looking for an excellently crafted character driven story, I am pretty you will enjoy this. This is classic Salvatore and fans will surely find something in this book to enjoy.

Fans of the Forgotten Realms and Salvatore will find this book and enjoy it. New fans would be encouraged to go back and read the rest of Salvatore's Forgotten Realms books before reading this one, that way all the events and discussions will make more sense. However, picking up the Sellsword Trilogy should be ok as well. I will continue to recommend Salvatore as an author I enjoy a great deal. This was a ride well worth taking.

as a long time (15 year) fan of R.A. Salvatore, I speak with some certainty that Road of the Patriarch as well as Promise of the Witch-King are hands down his poorest works.

no one wanted to like these novels more than myself. Artemis Entreri has always been my favorite character from Salvatore's world, with Jarlaxle close behind. so my disliking of these two novels has nothing to do with preference for his more goodly characters.

my disliking comes from a very solid belief that Salvatore had no idea where he was going with this trilogy. most of it was rushed, the intrigue was poorly planned and poorly executed, resulting in a sort of "Ta Da! I knew what I was doing all along!" kind of feel. like when someone trips and then attempts to play it off as if they meant to do it on purpose.

I didn't fall for it.

there was no reason for any of it. even the characters behaved as if they had no idea why they were doing the things they did! Jarlaxle should have been murdered by Kimmuriel for his horrendeous gaff at the castle. or at the very least, slinked into the shadows to leave his former master to his self made doom. Entreri and Jarlaxle never do ANYTHING without considering the repercusions, and without thinking 10 moves into the future. the entire adventure was them "winging it". those two do not "wing" anything. especially Jarlaxle.

the Heros of Bloodstone were annoying, cliche' characters with zero originality to any of them. I found their entire concepts trite and worthless. Salvatore excels at creating memorable characters that deny expectations and stereotypes. the Heros of Bloodstone were the living, breathing stereotypes of a generic campaign party.

overall, I expected much, MUCH more from Salvatore's Deadly Duo. the guile, cunning, and skill of Entreri and Jarlaxle are the thing of legend. and Road of the Patriarch and Promise of the Witch-King delivered neither.

Salvatore needs to take a breather from his own world, or hand the reigns off to someone with fresher ideas and a new passion for the characters. because both of these books read like a poorly planned MMORPG quest.

I bought this book the day it came out, just as I have bought every other book R.A. Salvatore has ever published the day it came out...including the first of course. However, never have I been privaledged with being the first person to review any of his books on this website, and for that I am grateful. Not only that, but to write the first review of one of his BEST books...

However, I didn't come here to write an in-depth review of the book, go over everything I liked and disliked, or accidentaly reveal and therefore spoil anything for you. I will however tell you this, I have loved most of R.A. Salvatore's books, and even hated a few. I am also a minority in the fact that I kind of disliked the book before this one, the second book in the trilogy. That being said....

Not a single one of the books in this long and ongoing Forgotten Realms series made me laugh out loud so often, almost bring a tear to my eye several times, nor made my jaw hit the floor in amazement so frequently as this book has. This book was simply brilliant, a masterpiece. And what person reading this book out of the millions, would NOT want to learn who, why, and what Artemis Entreri really is?....because his early childhood was FINALLY answered! The beginning of this book was fun, the middle was confusing at first, the ending was one of the best endings to any book I've ever read. 5 out of 5 stars, more easily than any book I've read has earned it.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 49 reviews  3.9 out of 5 stars