Annihilation: R.A. Salvatore's War of the Spider Queen, Book V (Forgotten Realms: R.A....

Annihilation: R.A. Salvatore's War of the Spider Queen, Book V (Forgotten Realms: R.A. Salvatore's War of the ... | Philip Athans | Not as bad as all that!

books:

Annihilation: R.A....

	Annihilation: R.A. Salvatore's War of the Spider Queen, Book V (Forgotten Realms: R.A. Salvatore's War of the ... Philip Athans Wizards of the Coast, 2005 - 384 pages average customer review:based on 42 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

The New York Times best-seller, now in paperback! This paperback edition of the New York Times best-selling title expands the civil upheaval among the drow, one of the most popular races in the Forgotten Realms setting. Best-selling author R.A. Salvatore wrote the prologue to Annihilation and continues to consult on the series, lending his expertise as the author who brought drow society to the forefront of the Forgotten Realms setting.

frakkin awesome!!

Screw all those people who say this book sucks or whatever...! The series gets better and better... So many things in here you just don't see happening and when they do, they blow you the frak away!! The battles, the gore, the intrigue, the deciet, it's just too good to say anything negative about it. If they say it wasn't good, ask em why they all read 6!!

for more information click here

Not as bad as all that!

I should state for the record that I actually know the author. We played D&D together for years back near his hometown. Now that I've disclosed my bias, I will say that I liked this book. It's not Tolstoy or anything. Understand that books like this are outlined to death in committee with all the authors in the room. So possibly there was little to be done about the actual story arc. And I have to say that it's not my favorite series in the world either. But it was interesting to see the dark elves and their interaction with each other. Hopefully with the Forgotten Realms trilogy he's writting he will be given more creative licence.

for more information click here

With both good and bad, this is a solid book in the series but also wishy-washy

This book in the series is somewhat difficult for me to review. There are many parts I enjoyed, namely the ongoing battle between the lich drow Dyrr and Gromph Baenre, but also parts that weren't good and seemed to just "fill up space". First off I feel this book makes for the largest departure in character personality and attitude. A certain degree of character difference is to be expected from different authors in such a series, but this book took some of the characters even farther out of their pre-written element. The first 4 books managed to maintain a certain character consistency that didn't seem to hold in this entry. Pharaun and Danifae in particular seemed to be the largest examples of this.

As for the actual meat of the book and its place in the series, the first 3/4 of the book, while enjoyable, seemed to be sort of a filler rather than a true and necessary part of the story. This changed near the end though, when big and important events unfolded that will undoubtedly come to fruition in the final book, Resurrection.

On the brighter side of things, I felt Athans did a good job of telling the story of Hallistra Melarn and her "new way of life". In contrast to some of the other reviews here, I believe it was not to far fetched and made perfect sense for the alienated priestess of House Melarn and the ruined Ched Nasad. I also thouroughly enjoyed the battle between Gromph and the lich drow. It was handled well and allowed for many a different spell and incantation to be unleashed, showing us the true power (and weakness) of the archmage of Menzoberranzan.

All in all I think it was a pretty good book, but could have made more of an impact than it did. Having read it, I can't help but feel half of the book was unnecessary in the telling of this epic story! If I could rate this book 3.5 stars I would, but it was tough for me to give it the benefit of the doubt, when considering other books I've given 4 stars were better. I am looking forward to Resurrection though, as im sure there are big events to come!

for more information click here