I first came upon this novel thinking very little. I expected it to be nothing more than some typical fantasy trash. I just could not stand "The Hobbit" at all, yet I wanted to venture into fantasy, so a friend (who hasn't read this) referred me to the novel itself. He had mentioned that "Homeland" by Salvatore was better than decent. But still, I was rather skeptical. All in all, this is a tremendously great read.
Adventure Value: 9/10- This book contains numerous battle scenes and heroic combat moments
Romance Rating: 3/10- Wulfgar the Barbarian does do a little hitting on the female protagonist, but nothing more.
Character Development: 7/10- Drizzt, Bruenor, Regis, and Wulfgar are well developed, but there is some slacking on the antagonist: Akar Kessell.
Climax: 8/10- The ending of the read draws to a beautiful close.
Plotline: 6/10- The plotline was thin at random points, though at times it was as thick as molasses...
Creature Feature: 8/10- there are barbarians, goblins, orcs, ogres, giants, and even an ice dragon...it's well done...
My overall commentation on this book is that it is very good, and I recommend anyone new to the genre read it soon!