But the winner, hands down, takes place in chapter 20 of The Legacy, a 1992 book, seventh in my dark elf series. Drizzt and Artemis Entreri, his arch-nemesis, the person he fears he might have become had he stayed in his homeland, stand on a flat ledge on the side of a mountain and finally get to the battle that's been building for three books. The fight itself is ten pages of non-stop action, not a break, not a side story to be seen. I think I wrote it in one sitting, never coming up for air. I watched it in my head while my fingers played on the keyboard. I could hardly keep up. The fight itself is very clean, with few props outside the two scimitars, the sword and the dagger. This is the purest dance of my two best dancers. Ever since I wrote that battle, I try to measure every new fight against it. I always just give a resigned sigh, because I can't quite get there. Ah well.
-R.A. Salvatore, How to Write A Damn Good Fight Scene
I'm still working through Salvatore's series, I've read through four and have started volume I over again, and I must say it's among my favorite. His fight scenes are indeed incredibly vivid and while sometimes I don't quite understand a description or two, the rest of the scene more than makes up for it. I don't mean to review the series, but after reading this part of the article I can't wait to get to that book, because ten pages of a fight scene sounds amazing for this series. Ten pages!
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