About 7 h 45 min · at 30 minutes a day, about 16 days
Estimated from the page count of this edition. Dense books can take longer than the estimate.
About the book
Bruenor Battlehammer leaves Icewind Dale to search for Mithral Hall, the dwarven homeland his people lost to a shadow dragon. Accompanied by Drizzt Do’Urden, Wulfgar and Regis, he follows uncertain memories across the northern Forgotten Realms, through hostile settlements and troll country. Beyond the community that knows him, Drizzt faces strangers’ fear of dark elves as the companions try to find a route home for Bruenor’s people.
Reader notes
Frequent battles punctuate the journey, and a separate pursuit runs alongside the companions’ search. The second volume of the Icewind Dale Trilogy, this is quest-driven epic fantasy, combining dangerous travel and forceful combat with Drizzt’s struggle against prejudice.
How it reads
Writing style
Descriptive · Dialogue-driven
Tone
Atmospheric · Earnest · Suspenseful · Tense
Driven by
Plot · Relationships · Worldbuilding
Point of view
Multiple viewpoints · Third person, omniscient
Setting
Mithral Hall (invented world) · Northern Forgotten Realms
Reading complexity
Writing
2 / 5
Ideas
2 / 5
Structure
3 / 5
Background knowledge
2 / 5
About this profile
Collected’s assessment, not reader ratings. Complexity runs from 1 (least demanding) to 5 (most demanding).
Writing
How much attention the sentences and language require.
Ideas
How much interpretation or abstract reasoning the book asks of you.
Structure
How much you need to keep track of speakers, timelines and connections.
Background knowledge
Prior knowledge needed to follow the book, beyond what it explains.
Emotional intensity
Emotional pressure, from gentle (1) to intense (5). Separate from difficulty.
15Promise of the Witch-King: Dungeons & Dragons · 2005
16Road of the Patriarch · 2006
17The Thousand Orcs · 2002
18The Lone Drow · 2003
19The Two Swords · 2004
21The Pirate King · 2008
Questions readers ask
Where does it fit in the series?
It is the second volume of The Icewind Dale Trilogy and fifth in Forgotten Realms: The Legend of Drizzt, following Bruenor’s search for his people’s lost homeland.
Is it hard to read?
Not really. The prose is descriptive and dialogue driven, with a brisk pace. Multiple viewpoints and a separate pursuit alongside the companions’ search add some structural complexity.
Is there plenty of action, or is it mainly travel?
Frequent battles punctuate the companions’ search for Mithral Hall. Dangerous travel through hostile settlements and troll country combines with forceful combat and a separate pursuit.
How strong is the violence?
Strong violence includes frequent battles and forceful combat as the companions search for Mithral Hall. Dangerous travel and threats to survival contribute to the tense tone.
What themes matter beyond the quest?
Belonging and identity are central: Bruenor seeks a lost homeland for his people, while Drizzt faces strangers’ fear of dark elves beyond the community that knows him.
How long is it?
384 pages in the Random House Worlds 2024 paperback edition.
Which edition is shown here?
Random House Worlds · 2024 · Paperback. ISBN 9780593873106.
How long does it take to read Streams of Silver?
About 7 hours 45 minutes at 50 pages an hour, based on the 384-page Random House Worlds edition. Dense books can take longer.
About the author
R. A. Salvatore
R. A. Salvatore is an American fantasy writer best known for the long-running Legend of Drizzt, set in the Forgotten Realms. He has also worked in his own high-fantasy setting for The DemonWars Saga and in the shared universe of Star Wars. His novels favor direct, descriptive prose, frequent dialogue, and action built from clearly staged pursuits, battles, and journeys. Their larger conflicts often remain tied to questions of conscience, loyalty, and belonging. Drizzt Do’Urden, a dark elf who rejects the cruelty expected of him, gives these interests their most sustained form. Homeland follows his moral resistance within the competitive society of Menzoberranzan, while The Crystal Shard places his outsider status inside a broad military adventure involving rival settlements, barbarian tribes, and an invading army. Salvatore often moves among parallel strands of action, shifting between solitary ordeals and collective danger. In The Lone Drow, Drizzt’s private grief and isolated campaign unfold beside the wider defense of the North, keeping personal resolve connected to the momentum of war.
