Customer Reviews

Insurrection (Forgotten Realms: R.A. Salvatore's War of the Spider Queen, Book 2)

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I found book II to be much better then the first book of the set. This book has more adventure with a complex yet easy to understand plotline. We're introduced to a few new characters while revisting those from book I.

It is hard to adapt to the fact that this is *not* a book about an adventure group of friends... but a group of adventurers together by convention alone. If things go bad you never know who may backstab who, and everyone is out to protect THEMSELVES.

And its about time someone worked a succubus into a storyline :) I'm a big fan of odd character types, wizardry and magic, and deceit. This book has all three wrapped up in a nice package of chaos. And after its all said and done you still get to read about another city besides the ever popular Menzobaranzan! A new culture with new houses to dominate! Most excellent.

Admittingly, I have not yet finished the book but I'm having a hard time putting it down. I can't say that about the first book, although it was good, it is not of this quality. As a matter of fact, I think I'm going to grab some tea and sit down on my comfortable chair and read where I last left off...

For those who are a fan of Salvatore's Underdark will not be disappointed. Salvatore's chosen disciples have big shoes to fill but they seem to be doing just fine thus far. Insurrection is a good buy for a Drow junkie and an excellent follow-up to Dissolution. My only gripe with the series is the fact that, typically, shared characters have been something left to the Dragonlance series. While I'm sure it allows the publisher to pump out books at a quicker pace, it does live up to the Forgotten Realms' MO. This may seem like a minor issue that becomes virtually transparent when you simply sit down and read the books... but I noticed the differences of the characters between authors.

In her infinite wisdom concerning the benefits of chaos, Lolth, the Queen of the Demonweb, has fallen silent to the prayers of even the most devout of her followers. Such silence does not bode well for a matriarchal society whose `stability' eternally teeters back and forth upon the chaotic whims of the noble matron mothers. Their rule is absolute for the power they wield is that which is directly channeled from Lolth. Mercy, love, sadness and friendship have no place in the dark world of the Drow. But what would happen if that overbearing power no longer existed?

Insurrection picks up where Dissolution left off, a party led by high ranking nobles of the City of Spiders, Menzoberranzan, is sent to the trade city of Ched Nasad to discover the reach of Lolth's silence. In true Drow spirit, such a monumental opportunity to drastically improve one's station is never given up. Deceit, lies, conspiracy and bloodshed is what ensues... the very lifeblood of Drow society.

May the War of the Spider Queen continue in all its chaotic glory...

After devouring the first book I could hardly wait to read this one. I found this second book to be satisfying, but left me a little disappointed. The action and plot kept me turning and turning and turning the pages. I especially liked the introduction of the new characters and the jealous alu-fiend, and Halistra's uncharacteristically un-drow behavior in saving her battle-captive. Description of the physical structure of the city was ingenious, as was the short trek through Underdark at the beginning.

What was lacking was development and consistency in the series. Quenthel appeared to have suddenly become "soft" in this book, which was a major dissapointment. And I left wanting to know more about politics and social issues in Ched Nasad, which could very well have differed in interesting ways from those in Menzo as presented in Dissolution.

The last 150 pages were dissapointing for three reasons. First, the action just never seemed to stop, which left me exhausted. Second, our Menzo heroes suddenly began to make a long series of unwise choices. Finally, and most annoyingly, our heroes would stop in the middle of the destruction and have little "review conversations" where they would review the plot for the reader in near lecture-form. As the city was falling apart under their feet! heh.

Overall a great read, and a great second novel in the series. But no Dissolution.

The drow live in an oppressive matriarchal society where the women have the power (given to them by their evil-demoness spider-queen Lloth), and the males are second class citizens.. When Lloth withdraws her favor a small delegation of drow travel to a distant city to determine if the affliction is theirs alone or if it has spread to other cities within the underdark.

Phaeron is the hero of this tale, a wise-cracking wizardly drow whose subservience masks an intelligent mind and a strong character. Overall, I enjoyed this novel, but I find some elements don't work for me. The idea of a 100% cold and loveless society seems too alien for me to relate to. Biologically, despite their conditioning drow are still elves. Which means friendships and relationships would develop despite the overall greed and cruelty of masses. Also the complete lack of sexuality is strange given the level of sensuality the drow are reputed for. No, I'm not asking for a romance novel, but making the characters s3xless barbies seems a bit strange, especially given the violence in this book. (Yeah I know there is one sex scene in the book but it is a fade to black scene).

Overall an entertaining novel, but I think the characters need to display a bit more emotion. 4 Stars.

I enjoyed the adventures and antics of some of the characters in the first novel which often ended in combat but also involved a little more problem solving and dialogue. In this book there is a lot more combat and very little actual interaction between the characters apart from arguing over what to do next. The personalities and inner workings of the characters are not very well sketched out. For example one of the characters is tortured at length but apparently is back on her feet right after this with no mention of how it affected her mentally or even physically (she was up and running right after being set free), whereas in the first novel this phsycology would have been fleshed out more satifactorily. The environment of the novel was not as deeply detailed as possible (why bother with the end what it was?), what was going on back home was hardly covered and the ending could still have left the reader curious without the near total lack of an epilogue. Having said that I found this novel satisfactory if a little dissapointing and will still read the next in the series.

Insurrection is an exhausting read. It is very action-packed with huge battles and constant schemeing an intrigue. I devoured it. The author stays very true to the spirit of the Salvatore original series, but brings in fresh ideas/perspectives.

I really enjoyed reading the second book of this series. Even though the books are written by different authors, I felt the characters maintained the same quirks and wit from the first book to the letter. The differences between the two drow cities was a nice touch, rather than being carbon copies of each other. The political fight,as well as the physical fights, were very enjoyable. Can't wait for the next book!

I found it very interesting to read this series because each book has a different writer. Sometimes a very subtle writing style difference can make a worn out subject fascinating.

Thomas Reid has a great way with words. Better than some of the other writers in the series. I'd be curious to know how it was decided who would write what and how the plot was decided. The endless interplay between characters leaves you laughing and grinning with delight. The plot isn't incredibly brilliant but the real value is the way in which the characters interact. For instance, the character Pharaun, the wizard, comes up with one great jab after another at his "superior" mistress Quenthal. You're not quite sure who's in charge at times.

At this point, I've started the 4th book in the series. It basically boils down to an adventure with a group of superheroes. One crisis after another and cliffhangers abound. There are several plot twists.

I really enjoy this kind of stuff. It's light and fun.

This book is excellent. It carries right through the story and had me clamoring to get the next in the series. Even I miss Lolth and am wondering if she will be back.. wouldn't we just hate to see the drow world eliminated.. things just wouldn't be the same!

I understand the difficulty Thomas Reid must have had, picking up with a cast of characters where Richard Lee Byers left off. It can be difficult enough to coauthor a book, and an entire series with multiple authors must be, to put it lightly, something of a challenge. I merely want to acknowledge that before delving into my critique.

That being said, Reid's portrayal of characters throughout the book, those that were introduced in Dissolution as well as newcomers, are wholly flat and uninteresting. They feel like caricatures of their development in Dissolution, and I feel as though Reid is almost being too timid with what Byers gave him to work with. Which brings me to Aliisza, whom a lot of people seem to like for whatever reason. There is absolutely nothing special about her. She is a filled in Mad Lib of the archetypal "sexy demon". Her personality is comically shallow at best and abrasively predictable at worst.

On the whole, I feel the book is rather poorly written. Reid flirts with the concepts laid down in Dissolution but refuses to grasp ahold of them, and it leaves the book--and reader--feeling incredibly wanting. In Dissolution, the sting of betrayal and adrenaline of every harrowing near-miss was palpable, and Reid falls profoundly short of that. Overall, I only finished it to get to book three, for which I hold out tentative hopes.