The Spine of the World

Spine of the World picks up from the end of Silent Blade, and was a suprisingly dark story. The reader gets to see the trusted, and tortured hero Wulfgar coming to terms with the apparent shambles that his life has become. Drunk, and disorderly, and becoming increasingly violent, I had to wonder if this may be Wulfgar's last stand. His violence soon costs him the only home that he is known in the city of Luskan, and he is expelled. Wulfgar, and his traveling companion/Drow spy Morik are soon accused of attempting to murder an old friend, and what follows makes the torture scene in Braveheart look tame! Wulfgar, and Morik manage to escape, and move on to a very different future, and one that I could not stop reading. Salvatore really explores the depths of his characters in Spine of the World, and yet I sorely missed Drizzt save for the periodic diary entires. It was an excellent read, and I plan to read it again. Just give it a chance, and I am sure that you will not be disappointed in this very different story from the Forgotten Realms. Enjoy!!!

Firstly, I am throwing my support in with those who enjoyed this book. Drizzt is-and always will be-my favorite character in this huge progression of novels, but I have always been interested in it's other characters as well. Wulfgar, Bruenor, Jarlaxle, Entreri and others have always been excellently portrayed by Salvatore, and I was quite excited to hear he had written a novel entirely devoted to one of those characters. If you enjoy these books for RA's characterization, buy this book. It would have been a bit unbelievable to have Wulfgar bounce back into the shake of things after so many years of torment. These books are about something deeper than scimitar-wielding rangers and angry dwarves, and if you read a bit more intelligently, you'll find interesting philisophical ideas that thrust Salvatore above mediocrity and into excellence.

For a Dungeons and Dragons book that is not about either I am impressed. For once the author treats the character Wulfgar with respect and sheds believable light on the inner turmoil the barbarian faces after being in the Abyss. This is in stark contrast to how I have seen other science fiction and fantasy stories deal with this type of situation (like Star Trek). You do wonder if he will really ever fully recover as you read the story.The part of the book not devoted to Wulfgar was totally unexpected yet I found myself truly caring for Meralda and the non-adventuring characters and their small part of the realms. The way the author weaves her story into that of Wulfgar is masterful, and made the ending of the book truly enjoyable.When I saw the title I had thought that "The Spine of the World" meant that he would be spending lots of time in that part of the realms fighting giants and finding himself. After reading the novel is becomes clear the mountain range represents the separation in his soul between what he had been (to the north of the mountains) and what he had become (to the south).

Yet another amazing work by my favorite fantasy writer. I was certainly not dissapointed after reading this novel. In fact, I had, when I first picked up the book, no worries that I would miss Drizzt. From what I know about Drizzt from the previous eleven books, I'm sure he is doing just fine. Which brings me to another point. I am beginning to notice a change in what I love to read about in these books by Salvatore. When I first read the Icewind Dale Trilogy and the Dark Elf Trilogy, I loved it when Drizzt or any of his companions got in battles. I would play the mental imagery over and over for the greatest satisfaction. But now, as I have finished the 12th book, I realized how much more I enjoy reading about character developement. I thrive off learning more and more about each character Salvatore presents. Certainly I enjoy the battle scenes as reminders of how powerful these characters are, but I grow more and more fascinated with the ongoing struggle of Wulfgar's past and present life. As the reader learnes more about Wulfgar's horrific torment, he/she comes to understand why an entire book is necessary to cover his redemption, perhaps even more than one book...perhaps an entire trilogy...who knows, I just can't wait to find out! A great read for any who are not as closed and simple minded as those who criticize the book for a lack of Drizzt.

When I heard Drizzt was not in this book, I was upset. When I heard it was all about Wulfgar, I was even more upset (I used to hate Wulfgar). But because it was Salvatore, I went and bought the book and sat down to read it.WOW!!!!! I was pleasantly surprised, incredibly so. It was so well-written, I couldn't put it down. It wasn't the action--it's not a page-turner in that way--but you just want to know what kind of hell Wulfgar is going to go through in the next chapter. It was great (the only thing I have qualms about is the whole thing with the peasant girl... there was too much of her and Auckney... way too much). The Drizzt element was fantastic--a true philosopher, the stuff he had to say in the journal entries were great, and tied in so well with the stuff happening. Now I can't wait to see what happens in the next one! Surely Wulfgar will meet up with his friends again... and won't they be in shock!Oh, yes... and I love Morik the Rogue!