This book had got me taken totally back from the very first time I read it to the 5th time! It is just as exciting and heart breaking the whole way through and be prepared to shed a tear or so! It is definately a book to read for all ages.

Great book with tons of info that will keep you informed and educate

First, an admission. I got this book less for the story than for the format. CrossGen comics is experimenting with a smaller-size graphic novel called a "Traveler," and I wanted to see if it was any good.

The story was pretty good too, thankfully. I haven't read any of Salvatore's "DemonWars" prose novels, but the graphic novel Scott Ciencin set in Salvatore's universe was good enough to get me interested. It doesn't seem like anything groundbreaking in fantasy -- a mysterious ranger, assorted colorful characters, bad monsters to slay -- but it's a solid story and the characters are intriguing, and if I've got that much, I can deal with a standard fantasy setting.

I also appreciated the short story "Three Ships" that Salvatore contributed to this volume. It's an early story of Grave Mungo, a dwarven character I understand hasn't appeared in the novels but was created for this comic. The purpose of the red caps the dwarves wear struck me as being particularly clever.

On to why I bought the book -- the format. Spectacular! CrossGen has found a way to shrink comic book artwork and lettering to a size only slightly larger than a normal mass market trade paperback without degrading the quality one iota! Plus, it's cheaper than a regular trade paperback and it takes up less shelf space. I'd be happy if all graphic novels came out in Traveler format from now on!

I picked up this book in paperback, because while the first couple Drizzt books were good, the last few have, well, stunk. I'm actually rather glad he's not in the book, and I'd've appreciated it if those journal entries were gone. Oh, well. The last novel was only readable because of Wulfgar and Artemis Entreri (who I believe is the focus of the next novel...which should be good).

In this novel, Wulfgar's story is interspersed with that of a peasant girl in a small realm in the North. Obviously, they come together at some point, and the book actually doesn't get good until after Wulfgar and his friend leave Luskan. Before that, he mostly wallows in self-pity; while understandable, 200 pages of that is rather uninteresting.

The book becomes much more pleasant to read once Wulfgar starts confronting his problems, rather than avoiding them through massive drinking bouts. The end is rather satisfying, actually.

Problems with this include the dialogue; I'm not that convinced that Salvatore writes dialogue well. The peasant boy, Jaka Sculi, is an acute case; while I suspect Salvatore might be trying to convey his feigned romanticism, he doesn't do it that well, and this character's lines feel forced. The other characters are spotty, and Salvatore could really do better at imparting their motivations without using a brick.

All in all, a decent book. It's not literature, but it's not meant to be, either.

this book, though it is brilliant like all of Mr. Salvatore's books, is lacking in many areas. For one thing, i personally feel let down when i see the once proud and noble barbarian stoop to so low a level as to begin raiding caravans! but, the saga needed a twist, and this was nothing short of a twist. Wulfgar struggles to defeat the inner demons that have consumed him after 6 years of torture at the hands of a balor. He quickly forgets all his usual principals, and becomes nothing more than a big slob. though it fits in well with what is going on in the saga, it still doesnt seem right. Another thing to test your patience is the fact that there are many people in this book who arent necessary at all. the tale of lord feringal and meralda will bore you to the point where you throw the book across the room and say "wheres the goddamn heros in this story?" im only 16 years old, so my judgement may be a little incorrect, but i expected this to be a book focoused soley on wulfgar, struggling in a noble way to find the life that he thought he had lost. i would definitely reccomend reading it to anyone though.

My favorite books in the series were always the Icewind Dale Trilogy and the sequel to them, The Legacy (all five out of five stars). This was mainly because my favorite character was always Wulfgar. I found myself wishing (sorry Drizzt fans) that it had been Drizzt who fell to the Dark Elves instead of Wulfgar (but then where would the next book go?). And I always hated (even at its first mention in Halfling's Gem) the thought of a relationship between Drizzt and Cattie-Brie. I was disapointed in The Silent Blade ( 3 out of 5 stars) because of Wulfgar's fall from grace, but The Spine of the World was one of my favorite Salvatore books. I can barely wait for the next one, and I hope it is about Wulfgar, rather than Drizzt and co. (they have been played out) Of course, I would love to see the group reunited on Deudermont's ship.

First of all, I love R.A. Salvatore's work, and thus I'm not writing a hatchet job on this book just because I don't like fantasy novels. I actually love Science Fiction and Fantasy books, and have read all of Salvatore's books. Unfortunately, I absolutely hated this book. The beginning of Witch's Daughter, which sets up a trilogy, was confusing, difficult to believe, and basically made me question that it was written by R.A. Salvatore. While this book is not absolutely horrible (after the beginning scenes it isn't that bad) this book does remain Salvatore's worst. Perhaps because he is such a great author I expect too much, but this book definitely let me down. If you've never read Salvatore's work, PLEASE begin with the Icewind Dale or Dark Elf trilogies, and if you've read all of his books, I humbly recommend that you pass on this series and wait for his next offering.

All believed the Black Warlock to be defeated. But Thalasi and Reinheiser were now both sharing the same body. Once harmony was established, he and his evil Talons began their campaign anew to make a new dark world.

Brielle had forever lost Del, but now had a lovely daughter, Rhiannon, who was blessed with the same powers as her mother witch. On her twentieth birthday, Rhiannon's wish was to travel with the Rangers and see the world. She found more than she bargained for! The Black Warlock had thousands upon thousands within his army. The witch and mages were kept busy against the warlock as the others were out numbered 4-to-1 or 10-to-1. But Rhiannon was learning her own powers and feared the devastation she could call up through her magic. But once she learned to control her fear and do what must be done, the Black Warlock and his dead General Mitchell would be in trouble.

**** Exciting from the beginning! Much better than the first of this series. Magical spells, dragons, and battles on nearly every page. A fast paced read that you will fully enjoy.

R. A. Salvatore outdid himself. This novel has everything, action, humor and romance. I'm waiting for a fourth book in this series. It's worth reading.

This is book is fair overall but contains multiple errors. It is good as a supplementary text but I would not base my studying for the USMLE boards on it.

Oh golly,

This was so swell I don't think I'll ever read another anatomy book. Oh well I guess that's all I can say right now. Thank you Dr. April. The cover was so red.

I am a medical physics graduate student starting medical school in 8 months. I find this book excellent for reviewing what anatomy I have had, filling in holes in my knowledge, and preparing for my upcoming classes. This entire series, presented in a uniform manner, is easy to read, comprehensive, and well done.

This book was pretty good, and it definately has a distinctive flavor that sets it apart from other previous Star Wars novels. I liked the new alien race, although I wish some more background information was provided on them. Still, I do have some criticsm on this book. 1) There are some parts that completely left me in the dark, such as Mara's disease. How and when did she acquire it? 2) Another thing is the rivalry between Jacen and Anakin. It seems as though all jacen ever does is preach and Anakin is close to following Vader's path. 3) Why was Borsk Fey'lya put in charge of the New Republic, out of all people? There have been plenty of beings mentioned in previous books that would be perfect, such as Ambassador Cilghal from the Jedi Academy trilogy. 4) Finally, the last thing is the event that seems to be in most people's minds. Chewbacca's death is just not in character with the other Star Wars books. Even if he had to die (which he didn't) at least it could have been over something fitting for a veteran and hero of the SW books. Besides, these characters eventually do have to die, but the averahe human lifespan is 70 to 80, and a Jedi's lifespan is considerably longer, as is a Wookie's lifespan. If you've read the Han Solo trilogy (which I have) at that time Chewie was about a 100 years old. If the author had let him live, he wouldn't have died for a long time. The book did have it's good points, such as the softening of Mara's razor edge character. Ultimately, I'm looking forward to the next book, especially since I am hoping Chewbacca would be brought back. If you are reading this, Mr. Salvatore or any other SW author, remember that bringing back Chewie is not impossible, and it will only make you and your books more popular for bringing back a character that is one of the most realistic and beloved in the Star Wars universe.

The story is good, the characterization is decent, but the writing is sometimes slow and sometimes annoying. As far as plot goes, because this is the first book of a spectacular new series, it can hardly be described as anything short of groundbreaking. I have read many Star Wars novels and never has anything like what happens in Vector Prime happened in any of them. This is a great relief, since Star Wars books often seem to repeat themselves (how many times can the Solo children really get kidnapped or threatened with kidnap?!). It's invigorating to read something so fresh and new. This is good, non-formulaic sci-fi.

The chararacters are written pretty well. They are consistent and show some depth. On the whole, I would compare Salvatore's scheme of building up characters through consistent behavior and speech patterns with little recourse to omnicience that reveals inner thoughts to Timothy Zahn's writing. I think Salvatore does a particularly good job of showing us Solo children who are a little more grown up than we've seen them in the past, and of elaborating on Kyp Durron, who has likewise grown up. I hope to see more of this Kyp in the future, because he will make a great foil to Luke Skywalker.

The book is not without flaws. The plot is exciting because it is new, but sometimes Salvatore really drags it out and it gets a bit boring. Also, he has a hard time expressing feelings of affection or nostalgia without getting too cutsie or annoying. This shows up a lot in the women--Mara going on about wanting a baby doesn't sound like Mara at all (I'm sure Zahn could make her want a child without compromising her character), and Leia similarly comes across as too weak. But where it is maybe the most obnoxious is in Salvatore's need to use some epithet like "dear wife" or "precious wife" every time he talks about Mara. Okay, she's sick and Luke loves her and is worried. But really...there are other ways to express it.

In sum, then, this is a pretty good book. It has a few quirks that some editing could have fixed, but they're no big deal. It's not the best in the NJO series, but it's also far from the worst. Vector Prime is definitely worth a read, though I should add that the very momentous event that takes place at the end has offended a lot of people, perhaps in part because if it was going to happen, it deserved to be in a better book by a more trusted Star Wars author like Zahn.

The original Star Wars trilogy provided an entire generation with a landmark story of legend and mythology. Nearly a decade after Return of Jedi was released, the excitement of the Star Wars was rekindled and expanded for the original fans (and introduced a whole new generation to the Star Wars Universe) with the release of "Heir to the Empire" by Timothy Zahn. This introduced a-45 book sequence over the next 8 years that took covered everything from the early days of Han Solo to the final truce with the Empire (also written by Zahn) and several story lines in between. The unique approach was to have several stand-alone novels and many trilogies each handled by a separate author (though some had return engagements). With the final peace with the Empire being achieved, the original 45-book sequence had run its course. The creative forces at LucasBooks sought to create a brand new story arc, introducing a new menace (hinted at in the final original series book "Vision of the Future") that was so horrifying and dangerous that the conflict could not be resolved in one or three books. Rather, it would be carried out over a new 5-year, 25-book story arc. "Vector Prime" is the first book in that series that introduces to the truly terrifying Yuuzhan Vong race. This race of tattooed, mutilated warriors believe embrace pain the way a human would embrace a loved one. This extra-galactic species invades the New Republic with a determination to eliminate the 'abomination' of artificial technology (through the use of organic ships and technology) and destroy or enslave the indigenous 'infidels' who don't embrace the Vong philosophy. The invasion had been plotted for over 50 years. In "Vector Prime", the first faction of Vong (a political group known as the Praetorite Vong) penetrate the seemingly impenetrable galactic barrier at a point known as Vector Prime (hence the title). By taking over a small research planet and transforming its ecology to support the growth of more ships, the Vong establish a foothold from where they plan to control the rest of the galaxy. "Vector Prime" introduces or develops many new characters while bidding farewell to a longtime favorite. For the first time in a mainstream Star Wars novel, Han and Leia's Jedi children come into their own. They now have distinct personalities and destinies they must face independent of their parents. For the first time, the reader also reads about Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker as a married couple, as Mara battles a brutal disease brought upon her by a hidden Vong agent. This book also means the death of the great Chewbacca. The death had been hinted at for months and doubtless angered many longtime Star Wars faithful. However, Chewie died in the most honorable way possible: Saving Anakin Solo's and many other lives on the planet Sernpidal which was about the be destroyed by its moon knocked out of orbit by one of the Yuuzhan Vong gravity-warping Dovin Basals. As the Millennium Falcon is forced to speed away in order to save the lives of all aboard (and having no chance of saving Chewbacca) the last indelible image of the great Wookie standing tall, fists raised, howling at the moon as it crashes. A more honorable, heart-wrenching finale could not have been made. The loss also has a devastating effect on Han Solo, who is so grief-stricken by the death of the person he considered closer than a brother that it will be several books before he is even able to remotely come out of his depression. The invasion sparks panic and controversy throughout the New Republic. In the end, the Republic is able to mount an offensive that is able to destroy in the Praetorite Vong's invading world ship. But, the seeds of the invasion have been planted and the New Republic seems powerless to stop it. "Vector Prime" is a truly fabulous introduction to this struggle. R.A. Salvatore has remained true to the original characters while effectively developing brand new ones. Hopefully, Salvatore will be brought back for future engagements. "Vector Prime" launches a brand new era in the Star Wars Universe, the New Jedi Order, and inspires the promise of a gripping and compelling story arc for all Star Wars fans.

I picked up this book after having read over a dozen of his other books (Demon Wars, Cleric Quintet, Icewind Dale, etc.) and have loved some, but at least liked all of them. This book, though written in the same story telling style, is a empty story with little substance. The witch was the only interesting character in the book. I would most all of his books a second time. I am sorry I read this one at all.

But what future *isn't* post apocolypic these days?

But seriously, this wasn't a bad book. As I understand it, it was actually Salvatore's first written book. (Note, written. The Crystal Shard was his first published novel)

Note that I haven't read this book in about four years, and don't remember it too well.

It is about a submarine crew that is transported, sub and all, to a post world war III time when magic has returned, and much of the world's population has mutated into Goblins and other such happy creatures.

Once at this future, some of the crew splits away from the rest to join with the "dark side" and hijinx ensue.

This wasn't one of my favorite Salvatore books, but I did enjoy it. If nothing else, it's a good one to see where he started.

Incidentally, I understand that this book is being re-released in the near future with a few revisions from the author.

The Unicorn was an undersea discovery sub in which any nation in the world could help fund. Those nations that did got to share all the new discoveries from the vessel. However, while a huge storm ravaged above the sea, the sub was sucked into a black void. Most of the crew died. The few who lived emerged to find themselves far into the future.

Captain Mitchell, Reinheiser, Doc Brady, Billy Shank, and Jeffry DelGiudice "Del" found themselves to be the ancient ones who were prophesied to come and change the world.

The race of Man had destroyed themselves. Four humans were chosen by a being to become wizards to help the world in its change.
Brielle, the Emerald Witch of the Woods.
Ardaz, the Silver Mage.
Istaahl, the White Mage.
Thalasi, the Black Warlock.
The world now consisted of elves, known as Moon Dancers, and misshapen lizard beasts known as Talons.

The Ancient Ones, battling amongst themselves, joined the new races to help battle the Black Warlock and his gruesome Talons before all good and the entire race of Moon Dancers were destroyed forever!

**** I found the beginning to be very slow. But after the first few chapters, the story picked up and held onto me. I understand it to be the first of a trilogy or series, but I am not sure. Salvatore fans will NOT be disappointed. However, expect a Sci-Fi, instead of a Fantasy, for the beginning to set up the plot.

This, the fourth book, in Salvatore's "Cleric's Quintet," is probably the worst novel in the five book series. There were a few promising ideas that could have been developed more but alas, no such luck. This book is meant to be the climax of the story, which resolves around the plans of Castle Trinity to conquer part of the Realms.

Cadderly, the lead character, becomes more and more powerful with each passing page. His development seems to have been arrested and I found him less interesting than in the previous books. In "Canticle" (which I've reviewed), Cadderly was inexperienced and he depended on his friends to help him. He also had several internal struggles that gave him some depth. However, here, Cadderly seems to be able to overcome any obstacle with little trouble.

The story development leaves something to be desired as well. Salvatore brings back one of the interesting villains from a previous book ("Nightmasks") and then dispatches him without so much as the villain facing off against Cadderly. Other reviewers have mentioned this and I have to find myself agreeing with them. Cadderly's incredible and frequent use of magic becomes something of deus ex machina. There are supposed to be limits on what magic (i.e. power) can accomplish and it seems something of the balance was lost here. It is a pitfall that every fantasy author must always attempt to steer clear off.

There is one development in this book that hints at what will happen to the Edificant Library (a bastion of priests and good gods) in the following novel. I don't want to say anymore on that note for fear of spoiling the plot.

Please refer to my review of all the other novels in this series.

The Fallen Fortress, Book 4 of the Cleric Quintet - R. A. Salvatore
A Review

I'd like to start things off by saying that the back cover of this book is somewhat misleading. Rather than this novel being just another short episode in the ongoing war between Castle Trinity and Cadderly and his friends, the Fallen Fortress is more like something of a conclusion to the series. It encloses the "fall" of Castle Trinity, which is where the name of the book comes from. If you've read my reviews on the other books in the series, you'll know that the series really isn't anything exceptional, but is still pretty good. If you have never read Salvatore before, though, I would strongly advise you not to start reading his works with the Cleric Quintet. I shall make the following announcement:
"The Cleric Quintet is Salvatore's least enjoyable series."
And although I have not read all of his books, I am pretty sure that this series has to be his worst. If it is not his worst, if he has written something that is even crappier than this series, then that goes to show that he most assuredly is not much of a writer.

One, when reading this book and very near the end, thinks why would Salvatore write a fifth book in the series? All the possibile plot variations have been exhausted! Not so, as is obvious when considering that there actually is another book in the series after this one. Just read the Epilogue, and you'll see why. It is true, though, that the plot variations have been exhausted. The fifth book is very tired, but. . .

(spoiler)

The plot of this book is nothing more exciting than the similar plots of the other books in the series. The character's are self-righteous and sickening, and always more intelligent than the supposedly "brilliant" villians. That is one thing about fantasy that always irks me. Good forces do not always have to prevail. If one is intelligent enough, he or she can come up with a plot or idea that is a bit more original than the typical fantasy series. Anyway, there is an evil red dragon in this book, Fyrentennimar, that Cadderly manages to charm so that he and his friends can use the dragon to their own whims. Eventually, Cadderly loses control over Fyren and the dragon turns on them. A battle ensues, and I won't even bother mentioning who the victor is. This "dragon" segment of the book, though, is unusual and I appreciated it greatly. But that alone does not make it any better than the other books in the series.
Anyway, like I have said in all my previous reviews for the books in this series, the Cleric Quintet, specifically this book, isn't really all that bad. It's classic fantasy, and nothing more can be expected from it than what one expects is contained in the words "classic fantasy." Yes, I suppose the series is worth reading, this book especially, but I can't really say the same for the Chaos Curse, the following book.

I will give this book all my 5 stars and highest compliments, I hope any of you who have followed the series enough so far didn't get off course with the horrible reivews people have put in, this book is by far one of the greatest in this series, the series is great the characters are well developed and they do continue to develop unlike what other people have been saying, this book is basically the climax to everything in Castle Trinity and it couldn't have been done better, yes it's hack and slash but it's good hack and slash and the climax was worth the fun reading, you are perhaps expecting a Luke Skywalker thing with Cadderly and Aballister but I will tell you now that the father and son rival thing was done well by salvatore and the ending to this book was great, this book is my second favorite book in my favorite series by Salvatore and I know that if you give the book a chance you will find that there are more exciting things to Salvatore then Dark Elves! I give this book and series 5 stars because it deserves it and I will gladly defend the book in anyway if an argument comes up, read this book my friends and I promise the people who have found this series fun so far that this climax will not disappoint you.

James Lowder, ed., Realms of Valor (TSR, 1993)

Realms of Valor was the first short story collection to showcase the continuing adventures of various well-known personages in the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons world of the Forgotten Realms (a second, Realms of Infamy, appeared later). Each of the stories is written by someone who was instrumental in the creation of the original characters, e.g. Scott Ciencin, who wrote parts of the Avatar Trilogy under the name Richard Awlinson, gives us a tale about Adon, the priest from the adventuring party in those books, and Robert Salvatore brings back Drizzt Do'Urden, who's spent time on the New York Times bestseller list on quite a few occasions over the past decade.

The book's probably not a starting point for reading about the Realms, but for those who have a few series' worth under their belts, it's great to see one's old friends again. The stories, in general, live up to the novels that introduced the various characters within. They do so well enough, in fact, that some characters with which the reader might not yet be familiar may inspire the more industrious reader to go looking for the books that the characters came from. Very good stuff. *** ½

ok, i only read 3 of the stories so far, so dont count my rating. the one with drizzt was unbelievably boring though, as was the one with arilyn. the really cool one was "the last drink" by christie golden which had the vampire elf jander summerstar, who is really cool. i liked that story.....:)

"Oldies, but Goodies," still hold true today. I re-dug this book out of the boxes of Forgotten Realms books and read it again for the first time. Valor isn't just a word, it's an idea. Take a spin and read this book, as you put yourself in each main character's shoes, and see if you think you might have Valor. I highly recommend this book to those who think deeply and have an open mind to different opinions in Valor.