Just before my comprehensive exam, I finished Road of the Patriarch by Robert A. Salvatore. Now, those of you who know me well probably recognize that name as he is one of my favorite authors. For me, Road of the Patriarch did not disappoint, and was quite a good novel. Spoilers below.
Road of the Patriarch picks up where Promise of the Witch-King left off and follows the exploits of Artemis Entreri and Jarlaxle in the Bloodstone Lands. Of course, while Entreri doesn’t mind things getting a little cushy, Jarlaxle is always shaking things up. This time, he wants to make a power grab for the entire Bloodstone Lands… …And put Entreri as the figurehead.
This, of course, doesn’t fly with the King of Vaasa, who decides to retaliate. Jarlaxle decides not to stick around, and instead runs off… …Leaving Entreri imprisoned. While Jarlaxle eventually does come through, by that time Entreri has already talked himself out of the situation. But, the king exiles the pair, so it’s about time to move on. While Entreri would rather leave Jarlaxle to take care of some personal demons, Jarlaxle (always the meddler) tags along anyway…
Overall, this has much of the standard faire I’ve come to expect from Salvatore. Good swashbuckling action, Entreri and Jarlaxle kicking the crap out of baddies, and good humor between the two. In this book, however, we definitely get to see more of Entreri as the protagonist. For me, at least, I really understood Entreri better, and really got to like him as a character. On the other hand, Jarlaxle really is the antagonist of this book. The things he does to Entreri are really quite awful, and while they didn’t instill hate toward Jarlaxle, I really did begin to find him annoying by the end. In more ways than one, I really wish he would just go away and leave Entreri alone. Still, he does pull Entreri out of some bad situations, so I guess he’s useful after all.
I would say that this wasn’t my favorite Entreri story to date, but I do hope to hear more from that one – especially if there is less Jarlaxle.