Book Review - The Stowaway by R.A. and Geno Salvatore

I picked this up at a library sale a while back, but just got around to reading it. I had previously read The Spine of the World by R.A. Salvatore, which I quite enjoyed. I also have a pretty long history with Dungeons & Dragons, through the game, novels, and comics. So when I saw this book I thought it was worth a shot.

My first impression was that the writing was pretty rudimentary, but it was only about halfway through reading that I realized this book is aimed at teenagers. The book and writing style made a lot more sense at that point, but I still think it's a bit too basic. There are several points where they introduce a potential conflict, only to have it resolved almost immediately with no real ramifications. Something like "I could see the waves crashing ferociously, and I feared we wouldn't make it to the ship. But then we climbed aboard the boat and everything was fine." I've simplified things a bit for this example, but not by much.

I also think the cameos by Drizzt feel like they were just thrown in to sell books. He's not really an important part of the story, and it feels pretty unnecessary. I guess you could argue that he plays the role of sage to young Maimun, but any one of a number of other characters can and do fulfill this function at various points throughout the book.

However, if you go into it expecting a book for young adults, it's actually a pretty fun coming-of-age adventure tale, with pirates, magic, and all the elements you would expect from a book set in the Realms. The ending made it pretty clear this is the first in a series of books, so if you've got a teen interested in fantasy, this could keep them going for a while.

Here's the summary from the dust jacket.