Final installment of Salvatore's fantasy trilogy (Luthien's Gamble, 1996) set in the Avonsea Islands, where the good guys- -wizard-king Brind'Amour, rebel leader Luthien Bedwyr (his magical alter ego is the Crimson Shadow), and their elf, dwarf, and halfling allies--must once again battle the evil wizard-king Greensparrow (his other self is a dragon) and his hordes of one- eyed cyclopians. The formula is as before, with swordwaving, magic, and banter, while the whole enterprise remains juvenile in tone and outlook. This would be less irritating if the backdrop was at least distinctive, but it seems composed of an ill-digested mush of sources ranging from myth and medieval romance to The Scarlet Pimpernel, Conan, and Tolkien. Fanatics only.
