- ISBN13: 9780786951079
- Condition: New
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Product Description
Join the world’s most famous drow elf in the penultimate chapter of the
Legend of Drizzt series!
Spending time in the unimaginable torture chambers of the Abyss for even a day would be enough to break even the heartiest soul, and the barbarian Wulfgar was there for years. When he returns, his friends find him a changed man, and not changed for the better. But Wulfgar’s road to redemption is one he must travel on his own, even if it leads to the bottle.
Amazon.com Review
Attention all Drizzt freaks: our favorite dark-elf hero is not, repeat not, in Spine of the World. Neither is Bruenor nor Cattie-brie nor Regis et al. But don’t think that means the latest installment in R.A. Salvatore’s sweeping Drizzt-and-pals series isn’t worth picking up: Spine sets things straight for the Forgotten Realms’ newest, meanest drunk, the burly barbarian who single-handedly made warhammers cool again despite their measly 1d4+1 damage. Yep, Wulfgar is back, after ditching his buddies in The Silent Blade to become a bottle-swilling bouncer in the mangy port town of Luskan.
The towering tough guy hasn’t strayed from his job at the Cutlass, hasn’t sobered up, and hasn’t forgotten his six years of horrific torture under the nasty balor Errtu.
But it’s time for another book, so all that’s about to change: kicked out of the Cutlass, robbed of Aegis-fang (yikes!), and framed for the attempted murder of his old friend Captain Deudermont (remember him from pirate-hunting on the Sea Sprite?), Wulfgar goes on the run with the rogue Morik, who’s become a true friend despite the mission Jarlaxle and his dark-elf cohort gave him to watch the barbarian. Sure, Drizzt is missing (although he does make appearances in the form of ruminating journal entries), so Spine isn’t a nonstop scimitar-fest. But R.A. still spins a good yarn–as always. With plenty of combat and intrigue, not to mention the ever-familiar monsters and spells, Spine of the World is surely the best show in town for the Forgotten Realms crowd. –Paul Hughes
R. Madrilejos @ 11:20 pm
Though I was a bit disappointed with this novel, well okay, more than a bit disappointed, it is still a book worth reading. Exploring Wulgar’s character instead of Drizzt’s is extremely interesting and shows Mr. Salvatore’s desire to branch out instead of always sticking to Drizzt’s life. Don’t get me wrong, I love Drizzt and I love every single book with him in it, but after oh-so-many books about the stoic elf, exploring the persona and tribulations of another character is an excellent idea.
However, the novel had many downfalls. The story never seemed to move anywhere. The psychology of Wulfgar’s plight could have been explored more and in a more interesting manner because ultimately that is what the book is about; Wulfgar’s mental and spiritual strife. The other harlequin novel type half was really distracting from the main story and should not have been emphasized as much.
Thhough I severly miss the action packed chapters of his previous works, Mr. Salvatore shows he is not restricted to a stereotype of just writing about battle and action. He shows that he can write about love, loss, and the trials of friendship.
All in all, I’m happy Mr. Salvatore’s attempting to explore the diversities of the character’s, but this book just seemed dry and didn’t seem to go anywhere.
I am looking forward to the next novel in the search of Aegis-Fang.
Anonymous @ 2:08 am
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!
Chad M. Feldmann @ 3:27 am
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).
Andrew Sampson (amsampson1@juno.com) @ 4:08 am
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.
S. Thompson @ 5:35 am
I can understand RA giving Drizzy a break, you have to get tired of the same focus after such a long time. I can even happily accept a book dedicated to Wulfgar. So I’m basically pleased with 135 pages of this book.
The rest reminds me of one of those realllllly long jokes where the teller delights in adding pointless details and description only to arrive at a punchline which was never intended to be funny in the first place. The joke’s on you for listening, fool.
There is nothing remoely original about the secondary story, it’s been done a hundred million times just this fiscal quarter. To get to the end result with this much pointless day-time TV stupidity is irritating. Exactly NONE of the secondary characters are interesting and, to be honest, I have no use for Wulfgar’s Luskan pals either.
For a guy who has come up with some pretty decent lesser characters in the past this has to be his weakest effort. I think he was too busy killing Chewie.
I am not a D&D fan, I’m an RA fan and still am. It’ll take a few more of these books for me to give up on him.
And one word about value. This book is a horrible value, even at half the list price. Huge font, big margins, thick paper all add up to a few hours spent for 15 bones. Wait for the paperback and go read some of his original non-TSR stuff, it’s not the best, but it’s good and you get your moneys worth.