I got a bit bored throughout the book, due to the fact that the only Forgotten Realms books I've read so far belong to Salvatore and I am starting to anticipate everything in the plot, however the revelation on Jarlaxle's origin and knowing him more seemed to worth every cent I paid for the book and the time I've spent for reading it. If you like Jarlaxle and Artemis Entreri this book is a "must have".

This series is a great one to start with. From the story you learn of the trials Drizzt conquers and the evils he must face. From the letters by Drizzt you learn more of his personal beliefs.

This is one of the few series that I have ever found worth reading more than once. There are so many hidden meanings and pieces of forshadowing that you miss out by not going back.

Overall I think it is a great read and one that no true fan of fantasy, Forgotten Realms, Salvatore, or writing in general should ever pass up.

I gave this book 4 stars primarily because of the typos and errors, grammatical and punctuational, that the reader will find all over the place. The publisher should do a better job of catching them.

This is often compared to J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings," but it really shouldn't be in the way that it is. The only thing I noticed, really, was in the first book it mentions how Bruenor's clan, Battlehammer, had "delved too greedily and too deep," almost an exact line from the books. However, when they do reach the mine, you will find it is wholly unlike Moria (the mine from Tolkien's work). Also, these are, for the most part, three seperate stories which are strung together by the assassin Artemis Entreri who quickly becomes Drizzt's rival, the conflict finally coming to a head in the final novel.

You will be brought in by these books in a way Tolkien could never bring me in (it took me a year to read his series; I read this in four days), you will believe these characters are real, you will believe these fights actually happened and Salvatore just happened to video tape them so he could write down what happened later. His descriptions are very good (though they do not tend to drone on like Tolkien's), and his fight scenes are very detailed. Wulfgar, the mighty Barbarian King, does not merely swing his warhammer; he arcs it down upon his enemies side, sending him flying backwards and into another.

The characters are very vividly described, and they are extremely believable. Drizzt has a very hard time trying to fit into the surface world, as he is a Drow; a dark elf. The dark elven society lives deep underground, in the Underdark, and are quite evil. Everyone fears the drow elves, and not only is he often refused to enter towns, he is quite frequently attacked by the guards. This causes great inner tormoil, as all he does is try to do good, but he cannot live down the reputation of his people. Bruenor Battlehammher is a surly old dwarf, who has trouble expressing himself to his friends, but they know he cares just the same. His adopted human daughter, Cattie-brie, keeps everyone sane (and alive) with her blatant logic and intelligence. And then of course there is the assassin, Artemis Entreri. The polar opposite of Drizzt, he abandoned his emotions long ago, but still matches Drizzt's skill in battle, and they both strive to prove that the path they chose in life was right The other characters you will simply have to meet for yourself.

There is of course a reason I gave it four stars. The manuscript was quite obviously scanned, and never read over. M's turn into two r's, y's into v's, stuff like that. It is still quite readable, and only happens every few pages, not every few sentences. If it would really bother you, just buy the seperate books.

If you liked Tolkien, you will like this. If you like fantasy novels, you will like this. If you can read, you will like this.

The real low-down on these books is the character development. Drizzt Do'Urden (the main hero of most of Salvatore's Forgotten Realms novels) is expertly developed. Drizzt is a dark-elf that must overcome the nightmares of his own heritage, and most importantly, gain acceptance among the highly paranoid and unwelcoming surface dwellers. Throughout his travels in the frigid wastelands north of the Spine of the World, Drizzt finds many good friends and fights against unspeakable terrors. Yet, he upholds his own personal code of ethics and virtues like that of a noble paladin. The reader can't help but feel empathetic to him and the entries of his personal memoirs gives an insight into the very essence of Drizzt.

Upon finishing the Icewind Dale saga, I have become an avid reader of Salvatore and I would highly recommend all of the novels in his series. If you are a Tokien fan, this is a must buy. I've debated whether Icewind Dale or the Dark Elf Trilogy would be the best place to start in this series, but I've determined that Icewind Dale is your best bet. On top of everything, this collector's edition (while containing some typos) is well bound in a very attractive package. Make yourself a good cup of coffee and get comfortable, because you've got an excellent read ahead of you. Just remember to allocate plenty of time because I gurantee you won't be able to put this one down.

Now, on to R.A. Salvatore's adaption of the movie. I have respected Mr. Salvatore's work before this, especially the Dark Elf trilogy, and I was expecting a good novelization of the movie. Well, AOTC is definetly subpar. Overall, the book seems as if it was rushed and wasn't edited properly. Descriptions are used over and over such as "his broad shoalders" and "the diminutive Jedi Master" and I felt that a lot of these could be changed to give the book more variety. Also, there are many grammatical mistakes.

The beginning of the novel is okay but the ending climax is rushed. A part that should have taken up a good amount of the novel takes place within a span of 30 pages or so, and does not do any sort of justice to the movie's end sequence which is great.

Although the novel has its flaws, there are some benefits for reading the novel. A lot of scenes are added into the book which were not found in the movie. These scenes make the book worth reading for a Star Wars fan, but for someone who isn't a Star Wars fanatic I wouldn't suggest reading the book.

I feel that this book could have been much better, especially since such a talented author was behind it. Still, I was not mad that I read it and reccommend it to any Star Wars fan interested in learning more about the Star Wars Universe.

I won't bore you with what you already seen in the movie, but I do believe that the novel of Attack of the Clones is required reading for all Star Wars fans, as it fills in many blanks that seemed to be missing from the movie. It also ties the spanning years between Phantom Menace and AOTC. Actually the reader won't even recognize the start of the movie until he is in chapter 5.

The first four chapters explains where Obi Wan Kenobi and a 10 year older Anakin Skywalker have been up to. We are also introduced to Padme Amidala's family back on Naboo and learn much more on how she became a queen. The detailed conversation between Padme and her sister (never seen in the movie) are a great set up on how she eventually falls for Anakin.

Also we learn how Shmi Skywalker was abducted by the Tusken Raiders, and much more origin information is given on Beru and Owen Lars (Luke's eventual uncle on Tantooine) and the dynamics of the Lars/Skywalker connection.

Throughout the remaining novel the reader is treated to more bonus material (much of which was indeed filmed, but hit the cutting room floor before release) that seems to open your eyes to the bigger political picture of that famous galaxy far, far away. Questions such as: Who were the lost 20 Jedi? How did Dooku ascend to power? Why Jango had Boba created, and how was young Fett trained? How did the Separatist factions begin? It was this great filler material which earned 4 stars for me.

However, there were a few drawbacks. Salvatore seems to rush through many of the epic battle scenes....I realize reading a novel is not the same as seeing your favorite characters and millions on CGI effects in a theatre, but I felt cheated reading the Obi-Wan/Jango Fett confrontation, the chase scene in the skylines of Courascant, and most of all the very rushed feeling of the climatic battle. I couldn't shake the feeling that Salvatore was rapidly approaching the 300 page mark, and hadn't got to the main battle at the arena on Geonosis so he had to rush the writing taking a lot of steam and strength out of what should have been the mother of all battles for the book. After that, the remaining plot points were only given a paragraph or two to be wrapped up, end of book. This should only be worth three stars, as it could have easily been expanded properly with another 30-40 pages.

This movie, however, is anything but unexciting!! It totally rocks, actually. The story is really good this time. I don't wanna tell anything about it here cause you should really go and watch it for yourself. Just the basics: Obi-Wan is now Anakin Skywalker's master. Anakin meets Padmé Amidala (who is now a senator) again, and they fall in love. The Republic faces a new threat in the shape of the Separatists, many star systems who seperated from the Republic under the leadership of Count Dooku (Christopher Lee does an awesome job here!)....

To sum it all up: The movie is great, the love story is nice, so are the action scenes. Obi-Wan rocks (good job, Ewan!), Anakin is kinda hot (for the girls), Padmé is pretty sexy (for the guys!), Yoda just rules (if you have seen the movie, ya know what I mean). Good story, too, though people who havent seen the other star wars movies will probably have difficulties in understanding it.

The BOOK is just the same, actually even better cause it focuses more on the characters, their thoughts, feelings and motivations and so on. Buy it and go see the movie! It's worth the money.

This is book one of the Icewind Dale trilogy. The pace is good, the characters have some depth (although they are somewhat caricaturistic or archetypal), and the setting is well-described and exotic, but the plot is somewhat simplistic. One minor issue that bothered me slightly was Salvatore's naming of places and characters; half of the names are exotic and original (e.g., Drizzt, Catti-brie) while the other half are borrowed (e.g., Wulfgar, Bremen, Rheged).

Overall, this a fun, fast-paced, well-written fantasy novel that lacks some of the grit and complexity of George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series, but that is also a plus for those who find Martin's work too dark and/or convoluted.

Oh well--Even though the villain is half-hearted, the main protagonists are well-developed and will make you wish the book was 1,000 pages longer. Wulfgar, the human barbarian--strong sense of honor, especially after five years as a "prisoner" of Bruenor Battlehammer and Drizzt. Bruenor, the dwarf--a gruff outer personality, designed to hide his inner kindness. Catti-brie, Bruenor's adopted human daughter--seems to like Wulfgar, and has the same high principles. And last, but greatest, Drizzt Do'Urden, drow elf, who has deserted his evil kin of the Underdark, in the city of Menzoberranzan. The tormented dark elf is, in my opinion, one of the best fantasy characters ever created.

A friendship has formed between these characters (and with Regis the halfling, a fat, lazy but smart blob who has a lot of good luck but a knack for getting into trouble) as they battle the evil Akar Kessell and his minions: enslaved goblins, orcs, trolls, and even giants. Extremely well-done action sequences take up the majority of the pages in the book, most centering around Drizzt and Wulfgar.

Sometimes, the plot is somewhat shakily tied together, but those occasions are rare. This is actually one of RA Salvatore's worse books, but it is still extremely good. A must read!!

His world (Corona) has a few neat elements, but DA falls short of the epic story that it tries to be. Corona's prevalent religion draws many parallels with Christianity, and it is almost as if one of the religious characters tries to teach us morals. However, he justifies premarital sex, so I think it sets a bad example. Most of the fantasy elements Salvatore employs are stereotypes, except for the ones he changes. (Usually to bad effect, i.e. a centaur, the very noble creature from Forgotten Realms that we have come to respect, is displayed in a very Dionysian and rather depraved way; it made for some awkward reading...)

Although his magic system is something I've not read in many books, his plot line draws dangerous parallels with LoTR, especially near the end. Copying Tolkien might be good for business, but it's not the best way to endear yourself with fantasy readers. Furthermore, I don't hold to the convention of changing 'i's to 'y's as a method for creating fantasy names, and many of Salvatore's originals were just plain awkward. It seemed as if he was trying to match Tolkien's elfish grace, but IMO, things like "Bellimar Juraviel" sound rather bungling when spoken aloud.

The Demon Awakens was not bad by any means, but it is not great literature, and not nearly as fun as the Icewind or Dark Elf books. The story did not captivate me to a point that I would read the rest of the series to find out what happens.

I would love to give this book a 10, but I can't. Salvatore was losing his touch, especially with the last book in his dark elf series. Like I said, though, he's returning quite well.

The biggest problem is that there is no real challenge to the characters through the story. There is no sense of urgency in their mission. There is no real "bad guy."

The original description of the Demon Dactyl is impressive. I was looking forward to learning about him/it and the history behind it, but there was nothing. It was just an unimpressive bad guy.

There were a few other problems. The good guys were too perfect. Elbryan was a better Drizzt than Drizzt was, Pony was a better Catti-brie than Catti-brie. They didn't have anything remotely challenging. Also, sometimes the writing style got a little overdone.

That said, I will say that this was a definate good read. This was especially true of the first two-thirds of the book. I literally stayed up half the night reading it.

The transitions between each character work well by chapter, and you really end up caring about each of the main characters. The difference between this and the Drizzt novels is that all the charactes are vunerable. In other words, some of the characters you come to love may not last, let's just leave it at that.

The only problems are the usual problems with Salvatore's writing, overuse of certain words (ex. stoic, stoically...). It's a small price to pay for such a fun and exciting book. The holy stones make magic seem new and interesting also.

Definitely pick up this book if you have the chance, you won't regret it.

As you might expect, "Underboss" is a fascinating read. (Author Peter Maas previously wrote the books "Serpico" and "The Valachi Papers", among others, so he knows how to tell a good crime story). Gravano does not portray himself as a saint. He candidly reveals in horrifying (though not gory) detail crimes he committed in the mob, including some nineteen murders and literally hundreds of burglaries, armed robberies, and kickback/extortion plots. All the major New York crime bosses of the time (Carlo Gambino, Joe Columbo, Paul Castellano, Vincent Gigante, and of course Gotti) figure in the proceedings, as Gavano had dealings with them and others, as well.

Unlike some true crime books where you end up skipping chapters to get to the "good stuff", this book was gripping every step of the way. So much so that I ended reading it cover to cover, all 301 pages, in less than a week. If you're looking for a good insider's book on the Mafia, this is it.

I understand he is now out of the witness-protection program. Don't know how he is still around.