Annihilation (Forgotten Realms: R.A. Salvatore's War of the Spider, Book 5) (Hardcover)

by Philip Athans (Author) "Gromph found himself growing accustomed to seeing the world through his familiar's eyes..." (more)
Key Phrases: spider fortress, portal drake, old drow, Master of Sorcere, Demonweb Pits, Agrach Dyrr (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
The fifth title in the New York Times best-selling saga of civil war and chaos in the darkest part of the Forgotten Realms setting. This latest title expands the civil upheaval among the drow, one of the most popular races in the Forgotten Realms setting. Best-selling author R.A. Salvatore wrote the prologue to Annihilation and continues to consult on the series, lending his expertise as the author who brought drow society to the forefront of the Forgotten Realms setting.

About the Author

Philip Athans is the author of Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn, and a range of short stories. Currently he is the managing editor of Wizards of the Coast's Book Publishing department.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Wizards of the Coast (June 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786932376
• ISBN-13: 978-0786932375
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #376,336 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not good....not bad, August 4, 2004

By	B. Lorenz (Munich, Germany) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I must say I was quite annoyed in the very drastic way some characters changed in this book. I was overall disappointed the way characters acted in battles giving me often the impression they are novices of their trade.

The battle with Gromph and Dyrr in particular is just utterly pathetic, not only does it stretch itself trough the whole book but it also fails to keep the suspension, dramatic and epic feeling up while leaving the impression both characters repeat their actions (mostly using rings or wands all the while levitating and flying around) time and time again in every chapter.

Characters like Triel, Vhok or Horgar are totally neglected and barely even mentioned. The whole siege loses it`s dramatic importance giving us no insight of the struggle of the other Matron mothers and their houses while the author focuses on confusing and drastic changes for Danifae...suddenly able to teleport to whereever she wants to go to with her ring and other things that are just too much to list here...

All in all the book ain`t totally bad but the tranistion from one author to another and the changes that come with that are so drastic and disturbing that in my opinion the editors really failed to do their job

Benny

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars BAH, December 3, 2004

By	Jeff Briere "StormCloak" (Vancouver Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

SPOILERS IN HERE:

Ryld.. What more can I say? TO see my favorite character die was more then disappointing. Had to skip through the rest of the book to see if it was true or not. I Thought Jeggard was going down, that is how it should have been.

He dies for no reason. Somehow his powerful sword with magic dispelling properties got cracked with some humans axe? Not likley. He could have contributed to this series. I cant believe Mr salvatore let this happen.

Hopefully the next author fixes this grievous problem. Because that is what it is. As a writer myself that act was a bad decision ;concering plot formation/ the crecendo of such a large event.

Obviously Phillip Athans had no grasp of the impact Rylds pointless death would have.
If your going to kill off a character it is common sense to do it for a good reason.

You would have thought the other authors would have stoped this mistake...

I think he did a good job with the other characters. Not great.
On a bright note I still liked this book, and am looking forward to the 6th.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed - this book is a let down in the series, August 24, 2006

By	Quincy (Vancouver, WA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Annihilation: R.A. Salvatore's War of the Spider Queen, Book V (Forgotten Realms: R.A. Salvatore's War of the Spider) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is - in my opinion - the WORST book in the series. Be warned!

Where previous books were maintaining a clear and consistent tone in terms of charactes, this one is just WAY off.

The characters seem to converse in much different manner, more simplifieg, often childish, lacking the depth and substance that the in the previous books.

Nearly ALL conversations are broken up - it's very annoying, tiring, and makes the story hard to follow.

Quenthel telling Pharaun "I hate you" close to the beginning of the book dispels the magic that the previous four books have successfully woven together.

This book is filled with this type of "gems" that made me wonder if author actually read the previous ones before sitting down and writing it.

The characters also are reacting and thinking differently, almost as if they had personality changes.

While I understand different authors' styles, this book has offered the least consistency in the character department.

After blazing my way 4 books back-to-back, I have lost interest in the story because of this single book.

The book also has several continuity issues that have not been quite addressed. Those of us that do remember what happened in the previous parts of the storey, can spot those easily.

Honestly, it makes me wonder whether this was a first attempt of the author into writing, it was so bad. ARGH!