The Dragon King is the final book in the exciting Crimson Shadow saga. Luthien and the mystic wizard Brind Amour take on the mighty wizard Greensparrow in a final fight for land and freedom. 2 on 1 seems a bit unfair but Greensparrow has gathered up his council of evil wizards and sorceresses to help him carry out his evil deeds. Of course with Brind Amour awaken from his slumber Greensparrow is taking no chances and has conjured up evil demons from hell. How will this saga end? You'll just have to read it for yourself. If you like deception and mayhem in a mystical world I highly encourage you to pick up this book and read it for yourself. R.A. Salvatore does a great job in scripting the battle scenes in this book. You will literally find yourself sweating and wanting to read more as the story goes on. I gave this book and enthusiastic 4 stars.

A decent conclusion to a lackluster series missing in originality - but the action scenes make it a worthy read, coupled beside the wonderful character that is Oliver De'Burrows. The final confrontation with Greensparrow does not disappoint, and I left the series, having read this book, feeling like I had put my time to fair use, in spite of my opinon of the first 2 books. Overall, not bad, but Salvatore could do much better. He's proven that!

I must say that this book was excellent, although the first chapter or two starts off a bit slow. But once again, Salvatore produces an excellent story. There was one problem with the trilogy, and that was the fact that it was a trilogy. The third part of this story (the dragon king) could have been written as a trilogy by itself. It seems Salvatore spent too much time with TSR (or whomever) writting the forgotten realms books, and it would appear that now he thinks everything must be a trilogy. I wish someone would tell him that there is nothing wrong with writing a series of 4, 5, or 6 books (or even a story that can be told in one book). I really think he could have lengthened this epic story and increased the pleasure of his fans. After all, parts of this book flew by with little or no detail. But all in all, it was an excellent story.

I tried really hard to like this book. But ultimatly it is merely an ok read. I know people that compare every fantasy book to Lord of the Rings and while I consider LOTR to be the father of modern fantasy in many ways. I try to not compare them.
However every now and again a book comes along that has a LOTR feel. I thought this one did. Shalmistra the Elven forest seemed alot like Lothlorien, the Elves themselves seemed to be a copy and sterotypical.
I found that disappointing as R.A Salvatore is quite a good author. I have enjoyed many of his other books, but this one just seemed to miss the mark.
There were some nice ideas. A scholar who was not an adventure as the main character is a cool concept and something I have not often come across in fantasy novels. In the first book of the series Cadderly show a reluctence to kill. This was refreshing compared to so many books I have read where death is handed out like candy at Halloween. When he had killed he had very mixed emotions about it. This was also good character development. But he agonises over so much to become tiresome. He spends much of the second book killing Orcs and Orges and then whining about it. It just gets old after 2 books.
Having said all that the series isn't all bad and some good backup characters make the series workth reading.

The second book of the Cleric Quintet begins with the elves of the nearby forest of Shilmista seeking the aid of the keepers of the Edificant Library. Not long afterwards the group of unlikely heroes sets out to save the forest. The rest of the book chronicles the exploits of the small group that ultimately serves as the deciding factor in the war in the woods.

This book reminded me a lot of Siege of Darkness in the Drizzt series. The novel was a lot faster paced than the first novel in the series, Canticle. I would definitely say I enjoyed this book more than the previous one. However, I would not consider this a great novel.

What I did like was the struggle for power in Castle Trinity. One thing Salvatore has a knack for is writing interesting villains. The intrigue between the evil forces truly is what drives the story. I would have said the same about the elves, but I have seen the same story in the Lord of the Rings. As for the rest of the forces of good, well its not all bad. Danica continues to be interesting and her fighting abilities are wonderfully portrayed. Ivan also continues to impress and his sarcastic attitude always makes me smile. However, Pickel is still the annoying dolt sidekick and dumb as ever. And Cadderly is what really pulls the story down. His constant whining is taken to an art form and it had me yearning for his demise through half the book. But fortunately, by the end of the book he changes his tune a little. He continues to oppose the taking of life, but he grows up and does what he can to help his friends.

To me this novel, like the first, was a mixed bag. The battles scenes were much better in this book. But while the character interactions generally improved by the end of the book, parts of the book are just annoying to read. There is one thing that really bothered me. The fleecing of ideas from Tolkien does bother me and it is something I also noticed in Streams of Silver, written by Salvatore as well. I like most of Salvatore's books, but he needs to write his own story.

"What?" I thought to myself "Five books about acleric? How good could that be?" But because it was Salvatore Iread and, boy, am I glad I did. Cadderly is one of the best characters I have ever read about. He fancies himself a scholar a priest who is not adept at the clerical magic of his faith...or is he? ...There are complaints about the ending, and I too must admit that it is not the most heartwarming in the world in was necessary for the transfer into the next book, just as Cadderly's Year Quest was for transition to this book. If you are a fan of Drizzt and Salvatore's books then you will this book and series very ingrossing (I read the first three books in a day, I couldn't help myself) and extremely intertaining. ...Don't be dissapointed that everyone's favorite dark elf ranger is not in this series, Cadderly is every bit as intriguing. IF you did not read this series because Drizzt is not in it then I beg you to reconsider you will not regret your decision.

Fast-paced and action-packed. These words describe just about any of Mr. Salvatore's works and are certainly applicable to this, the latest in the Demon Wars saga. Pony and Elbryan continue their work against the machinations of evil and encounter numerous battles along the way. Definitely, read The Demon Awakens, which is the first book in this trilogy, before starting this one. After you finish that you'll be ready for more. Salvatore creates lovable characters with the emotions and tensions of real life personalities and is a master of battle scenes. If you've read the "Drizzt" books, you'll certainly enjoy these stories; Elbryan embraces many of the same qualities as the dark-elf. If you've never read anything by Mr. Salvatore, give this trilogy a try. It's worth the money!

The Demon Spirit surprised me when I first read it. I expected it to be spectacular, but it was spectacular in a way I had not anticipated. While the usual Salvatorian fight scenes, action descriptions, and dead-on characterizations are present, Mr. Salvatore begins to more deeply explore religious issues in this book, a larger theme that has not been particularly prevalent in his past works. This is what sets The Demon Spirit apart from the previous incredible works by Salvatore: the ambiguity of the morality and ethics practiced by the monks of the Abellican church. While the majority of readers will side with Jojonah, a strong case can be made on behalf of Father Abbott Markwart. This makes for an interesting moral conflict that draws the reader deeper and deeper into the book, forcing one to examine one's own thoughts and feelings on the subject. The Demon Awakens was a fine book as well, but The Demon Spirit truly shows how brilliant the DemonWars series can be. In addition to the aforementioned religious conflict, Mr. Salvatore has introduced a great new character in Roger Lockless, one that I think many readers can identify with. In all, this is a marvelous second book and I look forward with eager anticipation for the third (don't forget everybody--I believe March is the release date for The Demon Apostle). A word of warning for those who have not read the book yet, however: it is much darker than RAS's previous works. A sense of hopelessness and futility are present, and it really makes you think and examine your own stance on the world. However, if you are prepared for that, then treat yourself to a great read.

The Demon Wars series is fantasy. Salvatore's second book in the series was even better than the first. Even so, you really should read The Demon Awakens first. These books are epic fantasy. Salvatore has crafted his own world and breathed life into it. This book fills the story more, and brings back some very special friends. Still, many issues are left unresolved, and the book leaves you wanting the next book. Luckily, we only have to wait until March for it! If you love the Drizzt series for more than Drizzt, The Demon Spirit will blow you away.

"The Dragon's Dagger" continues Drizzt Do'Urden creator R.A. Salvatore's fantasy saga began in "The Woods Out Back." Like the previous novel, it is clearly a labor of love for its creator, as the main character, Gary, is named after none other than Salvatore's brother, while Gary's wife, Diane, is named after the author's own wife, and so on and so forth. Given Salvatore's connection to this tale, it's certainly difficult not to find the work a little endearing, but at the same time it lacks the punch and pacing of his far superior Drizzt Do'Urden stories (the early ones, and not some of his dawdling later efforts).

The premise is certainly a good one, and carries on that which began in the previous tome. Gary Leger, resident of the mundane Real-earth (or our world) is summoned to return to the magical realm of Faerie (think Middle-earth but less compelling) to slay Robert the Wretched, an evil dragon wreaking havoc in the land. Salvatore keeps things colorful and generally amusing in a somewhat light-hearted fashion, but manages to keep a whole lot from happening during the course of the novel. It has always seemed that all three books in the Spearweilder series could have been condensed into one excellent read, but were instead expanded into a trilogy, very much at the cost of pace.

Again Salvatore's tone is also a little unnerving. One moment Gary is lamenting killing his first human being, while the next he feels like he's taking a vacation from the grim realities of Real-earth. To top of it off, Gary's slaying of this human foe, and his guilt, play no real role in the events of the story, and make one wonder why they were ever included in the first place, since it seems so out of touch with the rest of the novel's good cheer. Salvatore also makes the mistake of becoming a little heavy-handed at times when he expresses his own viewpoints through the main character. It's a little preachy, to be sure.

In the end, though, "The Dragon's Dagger" is a lightweight read (only 300 or so pages) full of interesting characters and a decent helping of adventure that, like its predecessor, is worth checking out.

I would like to start by saying that Salvatore is a genius. With this trilogy, he not only keeps your interest, but gives you a genuine feeling of really being in the Land of Faerie. He brings in someone from our time and place, puts them in faerie, and then the true magic begins. The Dragon's Dagger is a wonderful story of honor, excitement, and brilliant battle scenes along with some good wit and humor. It's funny, yet it keeps you holding your breath. Definately a can't-put-it-down book.

Back in the day (1994), this was the first novel I read after The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings. Even for the VERY best contemporary author that's one helluva tough act to follow (impossible to top or even break even with). Take that and the fact that I obliviously started in the middle of the trilogy, and you would think I would have several complaints. I find it hard to come up with any, however. Aside from The Dark Elf series, this is book 2 in Salvatore's best series. Forget about those Demonwars and that Crimson Shadow (both series are highly trite and uninteresting). Pick this up instead - but DO start with The Woods Out Back and avoid those initial hints of confusion I suffered.

I think one of the reasons this series makes it where so many other Salvatore ventures have failed is because he embraces its wackiness and all its cliches (like Elven archers and Dwarven craftsmen, gentle Giants and wicked witches), and he does so in a comic yet adventurous fashion. I also liked the references to Tolkien which seem a respectable homage to the man who started it all and made this novel possible. Good work, Salvatore. Now if only all your other stuff could be like this and those Drizzt books...

While I didn't think this book was terrible, it was a bit of a dissapointment after how good Witch's daughter was. In my humble opinion, this book was really a retelling of that book, with a few different plot points added to the mix to change things up a bit. But beyond that, there are many flaws here.

Like Witch's Daughter, Bastion suffers from too many fantasy cliches (questing for a weapon, saving damsel in distress, etc.) but does not have the great action to make up for it, which was Witch's Daughter saving grace. Also, some of the plot was just plain silly and bad. A certain someone comes back from the grave (don't want to say who it is), and that fact, to me anyway, takes away from the over all story. Salvatore again makes facing a dragon in its lair a key point of one of his novels (he's done this about 4-5 times now, and may want to consider retiring that plot device). And also, a tribe of black carribbean-accented dwarves are introduced, seemingly for no reason whatsoever (that one REALLY had me scratching my head).

At the end of all of this is tacked on an extremely anti-climactic non-battle sequence that is over before it really begins. My advice: this book is only for us diehard Salvatore fans who want to read EVERYTHING he does. Everyone else may want to read something else of his. The Legacy perhaps? Ahhh, now there is a fine novel. In any event, you may want to skip this one and pick something else up instead.

First I just wanted to say that another review on this page contains major spoilers for this book. Be warned!This is the third book in the Chronicles of Ynis Aielle, which began with Echoes of the Fourth Magic and continued with The Witch's Daughter. If you liked those books, you will like this one too...Eventually. It has a very slow beginning that doesn't have the the usual quality Salvatore feel to it. It has the action but the characters and plot are both very hollow. It seems as if the author had a little trouble gettng back into the flow of this series. JUST KEEP READING- it gets very good. The plot really takes off with the usual R.A. Salvatore combination of Great Characters+Great Aciton=Great Story. In fact the story becomes so good that it is easy to forgive the slow start. A very worthy addition to the wonderful Chronicles of Ynis Aielle series.

The good wizards and greatest heros of Ynis Aielle have battled back the Black Warlock, and always he returns stronger and more determined. Now with his Staff of Death, the Black Warlock (also known as Morgan Thalasi) is able to ressurect an army of undead soldiers to do battles. He has also used the staff to bring forth the horrid wraith of Hollis Mitchell his general. Now its up to Rhiannon, the Emerald Witch of Avalon's daughter, and the half elf Brian of Corning to stop Morgan Thalasi, and its up to Belexus Backavar to defeat the wraith of Hollis Mitchell and avangeng his dearest friend. But the only hope of deafeating Morgan Thalasi lies at the heart of a mountain, guarded by a dragon as old as the world itself. Joining the ride to the dreaded Talas-dun is the hyperactive wizard Ardaz, Brielle the Emerald Witch of Avalon, the dead spirit of Jeffery DelGuidice, and the King Benador and the noble Avalon ranger Bellerian. R.A. Slavatore has paid homage to the Magicians and wizards using a discriptive and detailed story of the age old battle of Good and Evil, of Light and Darkness. A wonderful read and exiting tale.

The Chaos Curse, Book Five in the Cleric Quintet - R. A. Salvatore
A Review

The entire series is pretty good, but this particular book I enjoyed the least. When finished the Fallen Fortress, one says to him/herself: "Well, it was pretty good. Happy ending, and all. Why is there another book in the series, though?" I do not know why. The Chaos Curse is wholly unnecessary. From the very beginning, I felt that the series had been stretched beyond it's limit, to an extent of mediocrity that Salvatore should be ashamed of. Perhaps not, though. In my opinion, this is the least enjoyable book in the series. Especially the ending, although I won't say anything of it.
Unlike the previous four books, which are about the fight against Castle Trinity and it's dastardly villians, this one is about a battle against Kierkan Rufo, Cadderly's unrealistic arch enemy, and his minions. There are many things to say on this book, but I shall start my complaints with this:

1. The back cover of the book is somewhat misleading. It is as simply as that. When reading the book, I felt that it was nothing like what I expected it to be, from what I had read on the back cover.

2. Character Development. In this, I am particularly angry: Robert was presented with an oppurtunity for character development within this book. He had the chance to elaborate on Dean Thobicus's, the dean of the Edificant Library, fall from grace. No elaboration is written of, though. I was expecting Cadderly to return and begin dealing with Thobicus, but it was not so. By the time Cadderly returned home to his library, the only remaining residents in the libary were vampires and zombies. And this occured all in a few days!! Without a doubt, I feel that the Dean Thobicus's behavior in this and the previous book is very unrational and completely unrealistic.

3. An acceleration of events. Yes, this is true. In only a couple days, the number of living occupants in the Edificant Library is reduced to pretty much no people whatsoever. All have either been killed or turned into vampires or zombies. When (name removed so that no spoilers are given) begins taking over the libary, the other priests in the library, I am confident, are completely blind!!! Do they not realize that their numbers are being drastically reduced? That the holiness that once was upon Castle Trinity is now gone? Of course they do not realize it. Or maybe they do. The reader does not know, though, because no action is taken until Cadderly and his ilk arrive to save the day.

Unexpectedly, though, Cadderly does not save the day. The Edificant Library has sunken to a level of corrupted decay that is unrepairable. After defeating all the vampires and baddies in the library, Cadderly destroys the library and begins the creation of a new one, wielding the power of his god, Denier.
And here is pretty much where the book ends. The ending, though, is completely surprising. Cadderly sacrifices his youth and strength all to build the construction of his library. He uses to magic to erect pillars from the very ground, that form the foundation of the library. As powerful as he is, though, this taxes Cadderly greatly, as it should. It makes him age much quicker, as well. For the creation of the library to be built so quickly, he must age quickly as well. Or something like that.
So, by the end of the book, Cadderly is an old guy and Danica is still young and pretty. Very sad, actually, because the two still love each other greatly, but one has much longer to live than the other. At least Salvatore did something profound with the series. Although supposed to be deep and meaningful, I was hardly affected in the least for this sad ending of the series.

I shall finally end my review of this book with an extremely profound statement: "I enjoyed the Baldur's Gate book series MORE than The Cleric Quinet." That may be hard to believe, considering the BG book series is written by Phillip Athans, and unexperienced writer, and Drew Karpyshyn (A Bioware worker, who also worked on the games). Anyway, a lot of people (Just check the review on Amazon.com!!) think that the BG books are totally worthless, but those books, upon finished the series, had something of an epiphany effect on me. Very good. I would suggest you read them. This series, however, had no such effect. The Cleric Quintet is possibly the most dissapointing fantasy series I have ever read, and without a doubt R. A. Salvatore's worst series he has written. It does not exhibit his skills as a profession writer. It does the opposite.

... there are some interesting elements here. As hinted at in some of the previous novels of the series, Cadderly has something a reformer attitude. He believes his order has strayed away from its tenets and that it is too consumed with ritual and dusty tomes rather than helping people etc... Cadderly's religious order is headed up by Dean Thobiscus who, in Cadderly's view, personifies the ritualistic and power politics that have corrupted the order. This conflict had potential to be developed more, but this did not happen.

There was one improvement over the previous book in the series. Cadderly finally faces a foe that he finds difficult to combat. Obviously, I don't want to reveal who this last villain is but it was reasonably done. There is also some genuine risk involved here as Cadderly's lover, Danica, is captured. Where is the setting for this confrontation? The Edificant Library which has been overcome by the forces of darkness. Also, he faces an important choice near the end; to follow the calling of his God completely or continue his relationship with Danica.

...

The Chaos curse is the final book in a 5 book series, all of which are great. Cadderly and friends must face an evil in which they never thought they would have to face. They must fight together, facing new enemies, as well as old. This is a great series, and some of these characters make an appearence in Salvatore's other books containing Drizzt. I recommend these books to anyone into fantasy, or if you are just a fan of Salvatore, this book, as well as the others in the series, are a must! The ending of this book is a little sad, so be forewarned, but if you read the later books containing Drizzt, everything comes out to be alright.

After immersing myself in several of Salvatore's tales (Icewind Dale trilogy, Dark Elf trilogy, etc.), I picked up this series. Unfortunately, it was nowhere near as interesting or compelling to read as his other titles. I agree with the earlier reviewer in that I could not for the life of me get into the story. I didn't even finish the last book, simply because I didn't really care what happened. Not at all what I expected to be, I can't really recommend this to anyone but the most devout Salvatore fan. Instead, read the Demon Wars Saga: much, much better.

I would say that I was disappointed, but I wasn't expecting a Dark Elf Trilogy. The characters, especially the main character Luthien, were not very well developed and rather simple. Oliver was interesting, but he was the only developed character. Luthien, the main character, just was not that likeable. I never found myself cheering for Luthien, but Oliver was cool. The plot is ok, but I didn't really find the cyclopians very interesting for bad guys. Some of the things within the book were well written and interesting, but it would hurt anyone's view of the book when you are comparing it to his Forgotten Realms masterpieces.
Salvatore is still a great author, but I would recommend reading all of his Forgotten Realms novels before tackling this one. There are so many great fantasy books out there you can probably find a better one you haven't read, but hardcore Salvatore fans might enjoy it.

If you want good adventure story with a lot of battles, heroes, villains and magic creatures, well, this is your book. The story of Luthien is hardly original, but it is extremely interesting. You can not put the book down, so... I reccomend it.

This book was just OK. It furthered the plot along nicely, but I had the impression that it was really only half a plot that they stretched out to be a whole book. The fighting scenes were almost non existent. The book did not contain the well thought out combat scenes that were expected. The author would simply go to another scene and come back and the fight was finished. I didn't like that at all.

Another thing is Halisstra's bae'qeshel (bard song of Lloth). It is too powerful. If it is that powerful, who needs Lloth's spells anyway.

But saying all that, the book has two plots. The first is the Spider Queens spell-beggars (clerics) go to her domain to see why she isn't answering and the dark-dwarfs start the first strikes of the battle for Menzoberranzan. It does, however, leave you eager for the next book in the series, but is by far the worst of the series so far. Hence I give it 3 out of 5 stars.

I felt the writing was decent, though I found the second in the series to be the strongest in this respect. The story is great great great can't get enough. When the next one come out again, 'cuz I need a fix!!!

I enjoyed the first and third book of this series alot whereas the second was a little dissapointing. Of course this is based on what I like in novel, just personal taste and I realize many people like the action filled second novel. In the end you just can't cram everything into three hundred pages odd pages. If the format allowed the authors to increase the length maybe this tradeoff wouldn't be necessary.

That said one minor problem with this series is the characters nature which changes from author to author. It isn't soo bad and natural character development can account for some of it but it is noticable. Another question is the nature of the drow. Aren't they supposed to be magic resistant? I know having spells fizzle is a waste of paper but it seems when two powerfull mages are dueling some of the spells will be resisted. This is a problem (inconsistencies in Drow nature) in several other novels . . . RAS stated drow don't have very many children in Homeland and EC said they were quiet prolific in her first novel. It is also surprising that many drow reach hundreds of years given the carnage in the various drow books which only reflects a portion of events in the drow communities.

My favorite thing about these novels is the portrayal of the antagonists and protagonists. If I were a drow born 500 years after these books conclude I would probably want the 'bad' guys to win but I like some of the 'good' guys and end up rooting for them which is odd as there society is chalk full of things I rationally would despise in my own life.

I did notice while reading the novels that the author fast forwarded through a lot of battle and was actually a bit relieved as I thought the last one focused on it to the exclusion of character development and conversation etc. Again if the books were a little longer this would be avoided

In all I reccomend this book- I guess I would give it four and a half stars if I could but that isn't an option so it gets four and it isn't exactly "Crime and Punishment" so I will withold the fifth. It was good enough though that I will check out the author's other books.

I usually love Salvatore's books, wishing that they would never end. The opposite was true for this book. The plot is basically this: Luthien fights millions of cyclopeans. That's about it. If you haven't read The Demon Awakens or the other books in that series, get those instead.

The second book of the "Crimson Shadow" is what I have expected - very good adventure story with a lot of combats. However that the first chapters are kinda boring(Luthien doesn't know who to love - Sioban, beautiful female halfelf or Catherin, his first girlfriend), the final is awesome, with hearthstopping magical duel.
Reccomended.

I could go on and on about how excellent this book is, but if you are at this page reading this then you probably know how good Salvatore is. And if you've read the first in this trilogy, well, this one is just as good. What I especially like about this book is Salvatore's description of the battle scenes (although they were a bit lacking compared to the rest of his work). I just have no idea how he can be that descriptive in his battle scenes. Makes you wonder if he was a medival hero in a former life.