The Halfling's Gem

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The Halfling's Gem
The Halfling's Gem (first edition).jpg
Cover of the first edition
Author R. A. Salvatore
Cover artist Jeff Easley
LanguageEnglish
Series The Icewind Dale Trilogy
Genre Fantasy
Set in Forgotten Realms
Publisher TSR
Publication date
1990
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (Paperback)
Pages314 (first edition)
ISBN 978-0880389013
OCLC 21414621
813.54
LC Class PS3569.A4625 H34
Preceded by Streams of Silver  

The Halfling's Gem is a 1990 fantasy novel by American writer by R. A. Salvatore, the third book in The Icewind Dale Trilogy .

Contents

Plot summary

The dark elf Drizzt Do'Urden and Wulfgar the barbarian race to Calimport to rescue their friend Regis—who is being held as a captive, along with Drizzt's magical panther Guenhwyvar, by Artemis Entreri—and his stolen gem from the vengeance of Pasha Pook, Regis's former boss whom Regis betrayed by stealing his hypnotizing gem. While Drizzt and Wulfgar's chase continue, it is shown to us that Bruenor is not dead. It turns out that after Bruenor jumped onto the back of Shimmergloom, he survived the fall and fire due to having hold of Drizzt's scimitar, Icingdeath. Having been invulnerable to the fire, besting the dragon, he crawled back to the surface. Breunor then fails to sneak past the duergar and fights through scores of them before facing off against a giant spider. Lady Alustriel finds the poisoned and near-dead dwarf, heals him back to health, reunites him with Catti-brie and sends both of them after Drizzt and Wulfgar by supplying them with a burning chariot. Meanwhile, Drizzt and Wulfgar are on the sea, chasing Entreri by boat with the help of his good Captain Deudermont. In the middle of a fight with pirates, Bruenor and Catti-brie arrive and "The Companions of the Hall" are united once again.

Later, the heroes arrive in Calimport and storm in into Pasha Pook's palace, only to find wererats, Pasha Pook's new-found allies led by Rassiter. Bruenor, Catti-brie and Wulfgar fight the horde of wererats while Drizzt finally duels Artemis Entreri. The two of them duel both in the sewers and in the streets of Calimport but the duel is left unfinished when the wounded Entreri, in an effort to escape, calls to everyone that Drizzt – who had been hiding his appearance with the help of a magical mask acquired earlier – is a drow. Bruenor, Catti-brie and Wulfgar come to the rescue of Drizzt, protecting him from the frightened and angry crowd.

In the throne room, Pook imprisons Drizzt and his friends in Tarterus with the help of a demonic artifact called "The Taros Hoop". Just when there seems to be no hope, Regis comes along, taking the wand that controls the portal and helping his friends. Our heroes try a desperate attempt to break free from the demodands but Catti-brie becomes unconscious, floating in the air because of the circular plane that is Tarterus. Drizzt sends everyone and rescues Catti-brie by fighting savagely with hordes of demodands. In the end, Pasha Pook dies by the claws of the freed Guenhwyar, the six companions are united once again, soldiers from the surrounding dwarven kingdoms, barbarian tribes, and human cities reclaim Mithral Hall and all turns out well. Entreri is still alive and plans his vengeance against Drizzt.

The novel holds several key events and introduces a number of important characters like Captain Deudermont of the Sea Sprite. Also, this novel is the starting of Drizzt's romantic feelings for Catti-brie-he even kisses her during Drizzt's rescue in the demonic plane (although Catti-brie was unconscious at that time.)

Reception

Banophernalia gave 3.5 stars for The Halfling's Gem. [1]

The Halfling's Gem reached 12 on The New York Times Best Seller list on March 4, 1990, [2] and was ranked 14th in The New York Times Best Seller list on March 11, 1990. [3]

In the Io9 series revisiting older Dungeons & Dragons novels, Rob Bricken commented that "Gem feels like it was written by the most talented, experienced author—which is absolutely wild given it's the same guy who wrote The Crystal Shard a mere two years earlier". [4]

Related Research Articles

Forgotten Realms is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fantasy role-playing game. Commonly referred to by players and game designers as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 as a setting for his childhood stories. Several years later, it was published for the D&D game as a series of magazine articles, and the first Realms game products were released in 1987. Role-playing game products have been produced for the setting ever since, in addition to novels, role-playing video game adaptations, comic books, and the film Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drizzt Do'Urden</span> Fictional character from Dungeons & Dragons

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 Trilogy. Salvatore created him on a whim when his publisher needed him to replace one of the characters in an early version of the first book, The Crystal Shard. Drizzt has since become a popular heroic character of the Forgotten Realms setting, and has been featured as the main character of a long series of books, starting chronologically with The Dark Elf Trilogy. As an atypical drow, Drizzt has forsaken both the evil ways of his people and their home in the Underdark, in the drow city of Menzoberranzan.

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Catti-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 known as the love interest of the drow ranger Drizzt Do'Urden and has appeared in multiple media alongside Drizzt.

<i>The Dark Elf Trilogy</i> 1990–91 book trilogy by R. A. Salvatore

The Dark Elf Trilogy is a prequel to the Icewind Dale Trilogy by R. A. Salvatore. Drizzt Do'Urden, a drow, or dark elf, was originally written as a supporting character in the Icewind Dale Trilogy to Wulfgar the barbarian. However, the author soon realized how popular the character was, and Drizzt became the main character. The final book Sojourn made The New York Times Best Seller list.

The Icewind Dale Trilogy is a trilogy of epic fantasy novels by the American writer R.A. Salvatore. The books are The Crystal Shard, Streams of Silver and The Halfling's Gem. They tell the tale of ranger Drizzt Do'Urden the drow, Wulfgar the barbarian warrior, Regis the halfling, dwarf king Bruenor, and Bruenor's adopted human daughter Catti-brie. It is the first of Salvatore's Forgotten Realms novels which introduces some of the best-known characters in that world. The final book of this series, The Halfling's Gem, appeared in The New York Times Best Seller list.

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References

  1. "R.A. Salvatore". Banophernalia. Retrieved 2008-03-03.
  2. "Paperback Best Sellers: March 4, 1990". The New York Times . March 4, 1990. Retrieved 2009-01-09.
  3. "PAPERBACK BEST SELLERS: March 11, 1990". NY Times. 1990-03-11. Retrieved 2008-03-03.
  4. Bricken, Rob (January 27, 2021). "Dungeons & Dragons & Novels: Revisiting The Halfling's Gem". io9.