Artemis i.e the bitter rival of Drizzt has stolen his love in the form of Dahlia so there is nothing that could make Drizzt smile as he moves forward in life.
Victor Bevine has played the role of the official narrator of the series since the beginning but he too altered his voice to some extent to depict the grief of the main character. Exile and The Orc King are decorated with special elements of their own so we cannot say that one book of Salvatore is better than the other one he has created.