Customer Reviews

Extinction (Forgotten Realms: R.A. Salvatore's War of the Spider, Book 4)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Sheesh, if all you want is action and cool locations, play a game -- if you enjoy true character development and depth of story and plot, then "Extinction" is a breath of fresh air for this series. I'll agree that "Insurrection" was amazing, and Thomas Reid must be half Drow, as his understanding of them is incredible. "Condemnation" is by far the weakest of the series thus far, as the author completely let the characters become as shallow as parking lot puddles, much like his understanding of Drow behavior and inner-workings. "Extinction" is captivating, and Smedman has not only returned depth to the characters, but expanded it significantly. For writing the challenging and pivotal middle book, Smedman has proved her skill and made an already excellent series just that much better.

So far, the series has been great. If you love twists and turns and revelations that turn events in a completely new direction, Extinction is a must-read. Honestly, I love fantasy novels, and one that revolves around one of my favorite fictional races- the drow. Finally it is revealed how Quenthel managed to return form the grave after being killed by Drizzt. However, there are some discrepancies, which rather confused me. First and foremost, WTF happened to Bregan D'aerthe? What, did they sit on their royal bottoms while the duergar attacked? Jarlaxle is nowhere to be seen, nor Kimmuriel either. Very, very strange, considering their mercenary group is comprised of elite warriors. 2. It seems strange to me that Halistra could begin to deceive Quenthel as she was planning to. Quenthel has her snake whip, which can detect emanations of power- The Crescent Blade, the emblem of Eilistrae. Which would give her away completely. However, these hitches are minor, and anyone who truly enjoys fantasy should not shy away from buying this series simply because it is an amazing work, considering it is written by 6 authors who have doubtfully even met each other more than once. They all have their own approaches, which makes each book unique and different in its approaches to certain situations.

Book #1- Dissolution: *****
Book #2- Insurrection: ****1/2
Book #3- Condemnation ****
Book #4- Extinction ****1/2

My opinions on the books.

Opinion on this entry into the War of the Spider Queen series seems divided. I come down on the side of those who much enjoyed Lisa Smedman's contribution. Richard Baker's Condemnation was not much to my taste (though obviously necessary to follow the plot), but this one amped up my interest again.

As with the other books in this series, I had to deal first with the jarring alteration of character presentation. Each author obviously has his or her own perception of characters, and it can make them seem extremely different from book to book. I'm starting to put this down to Drow chaos. :) On the plus side, Ryld is more interesting here than in any novel since the first, and Quenthel becomes more complex and intriguing. I have less interest personally in the Menzoberranzan part of the story, much preferring to follow the transitions of Ryld and Halistra.

My biggest problem with the character development in this book deals with the growing conflict between Pharaun and Quenthel. Pharaun generally seems highly sensible through most of the story, but his antagonism of Quenthel (though nothing new) crosses the line of self-preservation by a mile and a half in this story. And Quenthel, though often irrational, does seem smart enough to understand her own best interests too well to retaliate as she does. These two do seem to be heading towards open confrontation, but their actions here smack very much of "cutting off your nose to spite your face."

There's no real big pay-off in this novel. As others have noted, it is transitional, making necessary set-up for the conclusion.

I began reading the War of the Spider Queen series in the hopes of finding new authors to rekindle my interest in fantasy novels. I found my author in Lisa Smedman. Incredibly, she brings unimaginable new depth to characters that I thought I understood too well from the first three books, while sacrificing none of the action that keeps me reading Fantasy. Extinction is, in my opinion, the best of the series so far. This novel has me waiting all too impatiently for the climax.

In book 4 of the War of the Spider Queen series, Lisa Smedman lends her voice to tell the continuing story of the Drow caught up in this grand plan to find out what's going on with Lloth. As with the past three books in the series, each book is written by a different author so there is a slight variation in how the characters talk, act, react etc. but, that is quickly forgotten here.

Smedman moves the plot along at a brisk pace and leaves the reader little time to sit back and think about what's going on (in a good way). There are some authors that have a major scene happen only to let the reader digest it over the next 100 pages because nothing else significant happens. Not the case here, as the author is constantly bombarding us with things that we need to know not only for this book but the last two books as well. She does a masterful job at combining all the material that has been written before this book.

Thw War of the Spider Queen is proving to be some of the best work done in the Forgotten Realms in a long time. I am a big fan of the series.

I wasn't sure how the series was going to flow using a different writer for each volume, but thus far I have been pleasantly surprised. This latest volume had quite a bit of suspense to it, and I'm liking the development of several of the characters. Valas especially was developed in this story and is really shaping up to be one of my favorite characters. I'm definately looking forward to volume 5.

This book continues where Condemnation left off. The plot was great, but seemed a little repetitive. Also some of the characters seemed to have life changing revelations and behavioral changes, which seemed too unbelievable given the circumstances. I did however like the complex thinking of the characters, their elaborate tricks, and plots within plots. It was true to the Drow way of (suspicious) thinking. There were many of these examples. The fighting was great, but sometimes I got the feeling that fights were thrown in for "filler," that didn't add much value to the overall story. Still for a sextet, this series is turning out to be a winner. If you loved the series before Extinction, this will not disappoint. Can't wait till Annihilation comes out.

I am almost done with this addition to the series. I have just now read some of the rather harsh reviews and would like to offer a rebuttal. I fancy myself a discriminating and experienced fantasy reader. Quite frankly I was not all that fond of Salvatore's original works and latest series. I have really enjoyed this series, though. While this may not be the strongest title in the series it is certainly worth reading if you have read the others. I did not find any serious inconsistencies between this book and the previous ones in the series, as other reviewers have noted. There were a lot of distracting typos and editorial errors, though. I thought the authorship was quite good and in line with the rest of the series up to this point. This is very predictable reading, but it is intended as such. It is meant to be a linear and entertaining action-based novel. You will find that, as with all of Salvatore's works, and inspired works apparently, there is absolutely no consequence to anything that the main characters do - and nothing bad ever befalls them. This makes the story predictable. In all I found this an enjoyable read, and not at all poorly authored as others have criticized. If you have read the first three you would do yourself a disservice to balk at this one due to a few bad reviews.

Lisa Smedsmen wrote part four of this six part series dealing with a band of elite drow searching for the whereabouts of their patroness, Lolth, the Demon Queen of Spiders.

In the previous book, Condemnation, the band reached the very realm of Lolth herself, because of the actions of a treacherous priest of Vhaeraun, the Drow was forced an early exit from the Demonweb Pits. In Extinction, the band of Drow champions decided to return to the Abyssal layer. To get there, they returned to the Underdark and have to deal with the repulsive aquatic aberrations called the aboleths in the hopes of finding the whereabouts of a Ship of Chaos. With the ship in tow, they will return to the Abyss. Meanwhile one of their numbers, Halisstra, has lost all her faith in the Spider Queen and is on a path that leads to the goddess Eilistraee, whereas Quenthel herself is beginning to express doubt.

What I like about Lisa Smedsmen's style is that she truly captured the underlying deceit and contempt the Drow has for each other...especially between Quenthel and Pharaun. She also put a new and compelling twist that the previous writers didn't really focus on....Quenthel and her five headed scourge. In previous books, they just hissed warnings to Quenthel, here, she carried on full telepathic conversations with them....each of the heads turn out to be as devious and sadistic as their mistress. One can only wonder if Quenthel is not shcizophrenic and these voices are really coming from inside her head and not the snakes.....Just a theory.

One thing that Smedsmen and the other authors still hasn't been able to adequately protray with a fresh twist was the half-demons Aliisza and Kaanyr Vhok. For some reasons, these two remain two dimensional cardboard cutouts. Kaanyr spent most of his time standing around in his armor scowling about how his plans are going while Aliisza spent her time alternating between spying on Pharuan and trying to attract Kaanyr's attention. The conversations between the two of them remain predictable and monotonous. In fact, the pair are pretty annoying.

Despite not much really happened or progressed in the Drows' quest for Lolth in Extinction, but Lisa Smedsmen do managed to make it a worthwhile read.

I confess, I love reading about the Drow, so I'm not an unbiased observer here. However, I've really enjoyed this series so far, and this book is no exception. Yes, the theme of drow-redeemed-from-evil has been done to death, and so far I haven't seen anyone do it better than R.A. Salvadore, but this is, after all heroic fantasy. It is possible to write great fantasy wherein all the characters are evil, but it's usually better when there is at least some conflict between "good" and "evil." Yes, the other protagonists aren't doing anything spectacularly innovative or terribly unpredictable. However, they are moving the series plot along with well written dialogue and a few nifty spell concepts. And this is not groundbreaking fantasy, nor does it pretend to be. It is book 4 of a series in which several talented, lesser-known authors have taken an interesting premise with good marketing prospects and added their own ideas to the foundation already created. I would recommend it for any Saturday afternoon that you have free.