So is it me, or did I miss a book in the series, or is it the book or Salvatore's style of writing?
I'm reading "The Dames" by R.A. Salvatore and getting bogged down in names and events. More so the names: the areas of the land (Honce) seem to have no bearing to one another. There is a mystical land called "Mithranadoon" and another town called "Pellinore." The origins of those names seem to be directly from Tolkien; if that's the case, such non-originality bugs me. But for the most part, the place names seem chosen at random and do not have any consistency in dialect, region, and the like. A mountain range is called "Belt and Buckle" but there are no other such descriptive names anywhere else on the map.
Is this a technique Salvatore usually uses?
Also, some of the character descriptions and names are equally non-place specific - Brennan and Brennigan, and they're not related, and I'm not really sure which one has done which. I think Brennan is the Highwayman (and this is a character I was counting on reading a lot about, the mythos of the highwayman and all that), but I think that they're on opposite sides of a battle. Not the one between the Lairds; is it instead between different regions of Honce? Vanguard and another place? And are the Samhaists good guys? And some of the character descriptions seem to be geared towards "I want a particular actor to play this particular character" and overly descriptive, not leaving much to the imagination.
I really, really think I missed a book in there somewhere. This is the first in the Saga of the Kings series, but I think Salvatore mentions a previous book with the Highwayman as one of the characters. Can a Salvatore geek provide any insight?
I see Salvatore's books everywhere, and this looked like a good one, and I'd prefer not to dislike a book if, in fact, I'm the one who's missing something.
Thank you!
posted 4 months ago. ( permalink )
