The Crystal Shard

Fantasy

First published: 1988
Print length: 384 pagesWizards of the Coast, 2007

Description

In the frozen reaches of Icewind Dale, the renegade drow ranger Drizzt Do’Urden remains distrusted by most humans despite his friendship with local dwarves. While patrolling the tundra, he discovers that barbarian tribes plan to attack the Ten Towns and warns Regis and Bruenor, who struggle to unite the rival settlements. Elsewhere, the failed wizard Akar Kessel finds the sentient Crystal Shard and falls under its influence. With the artifact’s power, Kessel assembles an enslaved army of goblins, orcs, barbarians, and a demon bent on conquest. As Bruenor trains the young warrior Wulfgar under Drizzt’s guidance, personal loyalties and old prejudices become crucial to the region’s defense. The fantasy combines military adventure with an outsider’s search for trust and belonging.

Reading profile

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.

Writing style

Descriptive · Dialogue-driven · Direct

Pace

Brisk

Tone

Atmospheric · Dark · Hopeful · Tense

Structure

Braided · Linear

Focus

Character · Plot · World

Emotional intensity

3 / 5

Reading complexity

1–5 · higher means more demanding

Writing: 2 / 5
Ideas: 2 / 5
Structure: 3 / 5
Background knowledge: 2 / 5

Themes

BelongingCommunityFriendshipIdentityPowerWar

About 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.

Series

Forgotten Realms: The Legend of Drizzt · Book 4

The Icewind Dale Trilogy · Book 1

The Legend of Drizzt · Book 4

Anayurt Apple Books

Book details

For the print edition listed above.

Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
Language: English
ISBN: 9780786942466

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