Given the chance to read R.A. Salvatore’s newest work set in the land of Faerun, I didn’t hesitate to dive right in.
R.A. Salvatore has returned to the land of Faerun with a new story, but for the first time in many years this one doesn’t follow Drizzt Do’Urden. Rather, this new book, The Finest Edge of Twilight, follows Drizzt and Catti-Brie’s daughter Briennelle Zaharina, also known as “Breezy” as she starts to head out on adventures of her own, away from her parents.
The Finest Edge of Twilight
Written By: R.A. Salvatore
Published By: Random House Worlds
Release Date: October 7, 2025
I was a little anxious heading into The Finest Edge of Twilight because, while I have all of the Drizzt novels, I’m not completely caught up on the overall story and was understandably anxious that I would have a hard time following the story. To my delight, I quickly found this wasn’t an issue at all. R.A. Salvatore writes the story in such a way that any past plot details you need to know are woven into the story to provide context as needed. This is quite hard to accomplish given how big the overall story of Drizzt and his companions has become and I applaud the author for creating a good stepping on point for those who are either new to this world or haven’t checked it out in a while.
The Finest Edge of Twilight, as mentioned before, focuses on Breezy and her adventures. Drizzt, Catti-Brie and many other familiar characters still appear, but they are definitively placed as side characters to Breezy’s story. And what a story! This was my first time encountering Breezy and she wasn’t anything like what I expected. For some reason, I imagined Breezy would take more after her father, but Salvatore wastes no time in reminding readers that Breezy takes after both her parents, for better and for worse depending on your view of the various scrapes she gets into.
Speaking of Breezy, I deeply appreciated how the author wrote her as someone who is neurodivergent. Being on the autistic spectrum myself, I could empathize with Breezy’s frustrations at wanting to follow her own path in life and encountering resistance in almost every direction from well-meaning friends and family who have their own “suggestions” on that idea. I’m not stating outright that Breezy is autistic, but the way she’s described (not unkindly) as being “scattered” in her interests suggests ADD/ADHD at the very least. Seeing this kind of representation in a fantasy setting just means a lot to me.
Then there’s the contrast between Breezy and Dahlia Sin’felle, Drizzt’s former lover among many other things. It took me a number of chapters to fully understand what part Dahlia plays in the story relative to Breezy, but then suddenly it dawned on me: Dahlia is a foil for Breezy. Both women seek to reinvent themselves after undergoing massive changes in their lives. But whereas Breezy slowly but surely begins to find her niche, Dahlia’s story…takes the complete opposite direction. Oh, without a doubt Dahlia does find a niche in the world, but not in any healthy or sane sense of the word. It was chilling to think that Breezy could’ve turned out like Dahlia had a few things in her life gone differently.
There is literally so much to love about The Finest Edge of Twilight. Watching Breezy truly come into her own and deciding to take what she wants from life is just so cathartic to watch. I hope the rumors are true and R.A. Salvatore is going to focus on Breezy for the foreseeable future. It certainly seems like a distinct possibility: the author laid in several story hooks that could be followed up in future installments. I just want to see what happens when a fully trained Breezy is set loose in Faerun, it will lead to unimaginable adventures for sure.
If you love a good fantasy story, you will love The Finest Edge of Twilight; it builds off the foundation laid by the Drizzt novels that came before, while also providing a new entry point for readers new to this story world. Highly recommend checking out this book when it hits shelves.
