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| View Larger Image | Extinction (Forgotten Realms: R.A. Salvatore's War of the Spider, Book 4)
by Lisa Smedman
| | List Price: | $6.99 |  | | Available: | Usually ships in 24 hours | | | | | Sales Rank: | 42234 | | Studio: | Wizards of the Coast | | | Binding: | Mass Market Paperback | | Number Of Pages: | 384 | | Publication Date: | February 01, 2005 | | Publisher: | Wizards of the Coast |
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Product Description
The New York Times best-seller is now in paperback!
Now available in paperback, Extinction is the fourth title in the epic Forgotten Realms series about one of the most popular races in the setting. This title landed on the New York Times best-seller list for two straight weeks upon initial hardcover release. Best-selling author R.A. Salvatore wrote the prologue to Extinction 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.
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CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 31 reviews)
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Smedman ruined it for me. 
*slight spoiler alert*
At the end of the 3rd book, the previous author leads the group back to a cave to a portal that was said to be a 2-way portal. Lisa Smedman at the beginning of her book decides it's just a 1-way portal instead.
Lisa Smedman also not only changes how the characters are (as would be normal) but she takes it to extremes. I understand that Drow are chaotic and all that stuff, but to take Hallistra..who basically in the end of the 3rd book is a former priestess of Lloth questioning her faith, and then turn her into this almost "damsel in distress" character is pathetic. I don't care how chaotic the Drow are..this shouldn't have happened. And on top of that, she turned Ryld into this big, strong, caring, teddy bear type to tag along with Hallistra. Again, that is NOT what a Drow would do. Maybe over time of living on the surface world, they would change to be more caring..but not as fast and cheesy as Lisa Smedman did it.
So far I am only upto chapter 9 I believe..but I am really wanting to just get done with this book as I can go onto the next ones. So far Smedman is doing a horrid job with Drow lore.
September 05, 2007 | |
Awesome Series 
Incredible six part series "War of the Spider Queen" is best of the best when it comes to F.R. fantasy novels. I am a big fan of the Drow and love the chaos their lives cause. I will forever be a Salvatore reader and recommend this book and it's entire series to any fantasy novelist. An author as good as Salvatore can ensnare you from first word to last quotation, so read on and enjoy!
July 30, 2007 | |
A decent entry to the series, but probably the weakest thus far 
Lisa Smedman's effort comes up a little short for me. Coming off the tidal wave that ended Condemnation, I had high expectations for this book. While it had some strong points and highly entertaining moments, I felt overall it was a bit unorganized and somewhat "soft".
First i'd like to point out, it was very noticeable that this entry was written by a female, because the book has a sort of sentimentality and soft side the other books did not. This was good for telling the story of Hallistra and Ryld, but bad for other things. The drow in this book didn't have quite that same overall negative feel they should have, and that the other authors held onto. There are also some events of the book that go somewhat unexplained and are told haphazardly. For example: (no spoilers, dont worry!) there is a part where Quenthel and Jeggred are instantly underwater with the aboleths without explanation. I suppose Smedman wanted us to assume Pharaun did that with his "do it all" magic? You will also notice in this entry that Pharaun's magic seems to be of archmage status... getting the expedition out of virtually any situation and saving his hide every time. That was somewhat hard to believe at times.
The book was not without its good parts though! On a positive note, I really like how Smedman wrote both Hallistra Melarn, and Gromph Baenre. We really got to see a new side of Hallistra in this book, and I feel Smedman had the sentimentality to write the female drow well. I also like how she handled Gromph, as she seemed to capture his nature and personality well.
One must question the more weak willed role Quenthel Baenre is taking in the series though.I dont know if this is deliberate, or if its just how Smedman portrayed her, but it seems with every book she becomes less of a leader and more of a fumbling ill-willed priestess who relies on her vipers for advice more than her own instinct.
There were many enjoyable parts of the book, but given its shortcomings, I could not give this book 4 stars. Its not a bad entry to the series, but I feel its been the overall weakest thus far.
May 24, 2007 | |
One of the best books in the series...
Sharp, witty... contains more twists, turns, and clever tricks than one wouldn't expect. It fits perfectly with the drow nature!
Characters are well developed, interactions well written out and thought out. It's been a great pleasure reading it!
This book reads amazingly well and keeps you on the edge with a turn of every page. Things that seem to be one thing turn out to be another, which makes it even more exciting.
Highly recommended! You won't be disappointed - unless you carry the expectation of the high level of quality that this book sets into the next book, Annihilation, which is a let down...
August 25, 2006 | |
An Ongoing Adventure 
This being the fourth book in this series.. really just seems to continue on with the ongoing struggle for the Drow to find out what is wrong with their god Lloth. This being the case - I found this book to be very straightforward and - just more of a middle area of a book then a book in itself... as that is what it is. The WHOLE of The War Of The Spider Queen has been pretty good. To see the deceit and malice as it is in true drow fashion is interesting - also it seems there are some among the group that have begun to doubt the ways of their kind.
An interesting story as Ryld and Halisstra have been separated and seem on a differing quest than the rest. This was a very good change in the story, but other than that everything else was more of an ongoing ( as in just a middle ground for the big stuff to start happening later) I am looking to finish this out and believe I will enjoy the next few as much as this one - honestly I hope I will enjoy them more!
I would say that starting with the War of the spider queen as a first for Forgotten Realms reading is a mistake.. It would be best to do some reading of R. A. Salvatore's character Drizzt before embarking on the journey in War of the Spider Queen.
August 03, 2006 | |
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