Perhaps we can even excuse Salvatore the goblins, orcs, and giants, given the constraints of writing in an established game world, but that pardons the author, not the work. For this, at least, the blame falls not on Salvatore but on Gygax, original creator of the Dungeons & Dragons dark elves. That these inherently-evil people are dark-skinned is even more problematic. The book reinforces rather than subverts racial stereotyping with the character of Drizzt Do’Urden, the sole exception (or perhaps one of two) to the otherwise universally-evil dark elves. Goblins, orcs, and giants all obey their apparent genetic imperatives to be violent, selfish, and cruel. The book labels the native northerners as barbarians without apparent self-consciousness. The book’s primary flaw is racial essentialism, not a surprise given its D&D origin. Salvatore knows how to tell an adventure story and write a fight scene without letting it drag. It’s an entertaining book, if a product of its time. It takes place in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting for Dungeons & Dragons, owned at the time by TSR and now by Wizards of the Coast, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hasbro. The Crystal Shard is a minor classic of fantasy literature, the first novel by R.A. This book review was part of a podcast discussion.
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