The Hunter's Blades Trilogy

The Hunter's Blades Trilogy is a trilogy written by R.A. Salvatore, the famous SciFi and fantasy author. It follows on from the previous book, The Servant of the Shard and the other books of the Paths of Darkness series. It contains three books, The Thousand Orcs, The Lone Drow, and The Two Swords. The Two Swords was his 17th work concerning one of the most famous characters Salvatore has created, the drow, or dark elf, Drizzt Do'Urden. When Drizzt and his companions travel back from their latest journey, a dwarf named Thibbledorf Pwent arrives with a contingent of his kin and tells Drizzt's dwarven friend Bruenor Battlehammer, that the last king of Mithral Hall, Gandalug Battlehammer, has died, and that Bruenor must go and serve the Battlehammer Clan as king. Meanwhile, an evil orc chieftain named Obould Many-Arrows joins forces with Gerti Orelsdottr, a powerful princess of a clan of frost giants. The stories cover the war created by these two, against Drizzt, Wulfgar, Regis, Cattie-Brie, King Bruenor and the Dwarves of Mithral Hall. The series is then followed up by the new installments in the Transitions series.

Works included

 * 1) The Thousand Orcs (2002)
 * 2) The Lone Drow (2003)
 * 3) The Two Swords (2004)

Detailed plot
In The Thousand Orcs, the orc King Obould Many-Arrows, allied with a clan of frost giants, sends a massive army against the towns of the North. On the sidelines, four drow from the underdark orchestrate events behind the scenes, playing each side against the other for their own advantage. Drizzt is separated from his friends during the siege at the town of Shallows. He witnesses the apparent death of the other Companions of the Hall, and turns his attention to slaughtering orcs in retribution, wherever he might find them.

In The Lone Drow, Drizzt Do'Urden is mourning what he believes to be the death of his closest friends. Drizzt only regains his sense of purpose after two elves (Tarathiel and Innovindil) and their two pegasi (Sunrise and Sunset) decide to help. Dwarven "doo-dad" Pikel loses his left arm at the elbow by a piece of slate thrown by a frost giant. Tarathiel, however, meets his demise at the hands of King Obould Many-Arrows, who slices him in half with his flaming greatsword. Meanwhile, the remaining Companions of the Hall, who survived the attack that Drizzt earlier witnessed, are fighting an increasingly desperate battle against Obould's forces.

In The Two Swords, Obould's horde has pressed the Companions to the very gates of Mithral Hall, where Bruenor and his clan launch a desperate, last-ditch effort to push the orcs back. A desperate rescue attempt succeeds, with Drizzt and Innovindil rescuing the latter's pegasus, which Obould had captured and chained as a trophy, and Drizzt is unexpectedly reunited with the Companions that he long thought dead. The only major plot line to be tied up in this novel is the question of what Drizzt will do about his relationship with Catti-brie. Other than that, The Two Swords resolves a few minor plot threads. Drizzt and the surface elf Innovindil bring their quest for the captured pegasus to a conclusion. A few more characters meet their demise in this novel.

Ultimately, the novel keeps the major plot lines active for future novels, and introduces several more.