Rating: 
Summary: Extinction by Lisa Smedman
Review: As are all the books that I have read from the War of the Spider Queen series, they are truly a masterpiece of writing. But Lisa Smedman eloquently adds her own flavor of the tale of the drow adventuring party who are in search for their "lost" goddess. I find that in her book, the characters of Pharun and Ryld are more in-depth, while the actions sequences in her novel are equally impressive to that of R. A. Salvatore. At first I was skeptic on how a woman author might take this series on, but I was impressed nonetheless. I also am glad to hear that Paul S. Kemp is going to write the last book of the series. He is freaking awesome, dark fantasy is truly awesome. Its what the fantasy genre is all about, not some white unicorn prancing around while little brownies play merrily under it. Well, its a mixture of the two but nevertheless I am very excited. Paul S. Kemp RULES!
Rating: 
Summary: Good Series but Miss Smedman is a weak writer
Review: Despite the fact that I am totally hooked on this series, as are most readers of the Dark Elf brand of mythology, Lisa Smedman fails utterly to penetrate the depths and exalt the subtleties inherent in the dark elf mindset and culture. The first three books were good and kept an even pace, and even though they were written by three different authors, they managed to follow the same mood. Then there's book 4... (and I include the "..." as a joke because Miss Smedman just can't seem to get away from it. There's always a "..." in her characters' speech.) WHAT'S THAT ALL ABOUT LISA??? It gets old, along with her constant use of hyphenated words (that-should't-be-hyphenated). The storyline, despite the sophomoric writing, remains interesting, and I highly recommend reading this book on through and just going on with the series. Like Gromph with his bottles, forget that it happened.
Rating:
Summary: Extinction
Review: I began reading the War of the Spider Queen series in the hopes of finding new authors to rekindle my interest in fantasy novels. I found my author in Lisa Smedman. Incredibly, she brings unimaginable new depth to characters that I thought I understood too well from the first three books, while sacrificing none of the action that keeps me reading Fantasy. Extinction is, in my opinion, the best of the series so far. This novel has me waiting all too impatiently for the climax.
Rating:
Summary: Extinction
Review: I began reading the War of the Spider Queen series in the hopes of finding new authors to rekindle my interest in fantasy novels. I found my author in Lisa Smedman. Incredibly, she brings unimaginable new depth to characters that I thought I understood too well from the first three books, while sacrificing none of the action that keeps me reading Fantasy. Extinction is, in my opinion, the best of the series so far. This novel has me waiting all too impatiently for the climax.
Rating:
Summary: Predictable, but Fun
Review: I confess, I love reading about the Drow, so I'm not an unbiased observer here. However, I've really enjoyed this series so far, and this book is no exception. Yes, the theme of drow-redeemed-from-evil has been done to death, and so far I haven't seen anyone do it better than R.A. Salvadore, but this is, after all heroic fantasy. It is possible to write great fantasy wherein all the characters are evil, but it's usually better when there is at least some conflict between "good" and "evil." Yes, the other protagonists aren't doing anything spectacularly innovative or terribly unpredictable. However, they are moving the series plot along with well written dialogue and a few nifty spell concepts. And this is not groundbreaking fantasy, nor does it pretend to be. It is book 4 of a series in which several talented, lesser-known authors have taken an interesting premise with good marketing prospects and added their own ideas to the foundation already created. I would recommend it for any Saturday afternoon that you have free.
Rating:
Summary: Predictable, but Fun
Review: I confess, I love reading about the Drow, so I'm not an unbiased observer here. However, I've really enjoyed this series so far, and this book is no exception. Yes, the theme of drow-redeemed-from-evil has been done to death, and so far I haven't seen anyone do it better than R.A. Salvadore, but this is, after all heroic fantasy. It is possible to write great fantasy wherein all the characters are evil, but it's usually better when there is at least some conflict between "good" and "evil." Yes, the other protagonists aren't doing anything spectacularly innovative or terribly unpredictable. However, they are moving the series plot along with well written dialogue and a few nifty spell concepts. And this is not groundbreaking fantasy, nor does it pretend to be. It is book 4 of a series in which several talented, lesser-known authors have taken an interesting premise with good marketing prospects and added their own ideas to the foundation already created. I would recommend it for any Saturday afternoon that you have free.
Rating:
Summary: Number 2 of 4
Review: I enjoyed this book a lot- It must have been a difficult story to write as it had to follow at least three story lines whereas the other three books did not have as many seperate groups of characters to keep track of. There is one minor editing flaw where two duergar are reffered to as two drow and I didn't think the Yarno story added enough to warrant as many chapters as it sucked up. Apart from that I think the handling of Gromph was probably the most enjoyable part of the book and the binding of the demons was fun too. It was strange reading a book with out any sword fights, maybe if the Yarno business was chopped there would have been room to fit it in. I'm not sure how everything was packed into insurrection (not as many characters?) but I would say this is the best book in the series after that. Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: A middle book with some flaws, but a good read
Review: I read this book last night, and did not feel my money was wasted. I think really this author has had the toughest job so far, she had to bridge the gap between 2 big events. The last book had the epic ending in the Abyss, and the next book promises to be as big a event. This book had to fill that gap. Calling it just filler though doesn't do it justice. All the authors have done a good job maintaining the personalities of all the characters, and Smedman was no exception. She handles Halistra's conversion well, and handles the romance of Ryld and Halistra very capably. I felt both of these stories were a plus to the series, and makes a nice sharp contrast against all the other evil characters of the series. Some seem dissapointed with the werewolf storyline, but I felt it was a good addition. The werewolves highlighted Ryld's aversion to the zeal of the priestess' who hunt them. I did not like their unwavering desire to kill everything they considered monstrous, especially after reading about the more human side of the "monsters".
I am glad Halistra did not fall into murderous zeal again for another faith, it showed growth on her part. Pharaun once again was a excellent character, and is a rising star imo in the Forgotten Realms stories. Danifae really doesn't do anything for me, and I don't think she has a future. Valas is a ok character, but he is not a major character, he simply has abilities that gets the party from place to place.
Quenthal still doesn't have much of a personality beyond the archtypical drow priestess stereotype. Her weakness as others call it is interesting, but doesn't really make a major difference yet in the story. She is only trying to bring back Lolth to have her spells back it seems. The antagonism of Pharaun and Quenthal however is great, I like that part of the series very much. It will be interesting to see how that concludes. Other characters that deserve mention are Triel, and Gromph. I happen to like both characters in this story. Triel comes off wiser and slightly more humble(Since House Baenre isn't quite as strong as it used to be) though still ruthless of course. Gromph on the otherhand though arrogant, is wise and clever. He comes off very well in the story. Nimor's story isn't advanced much, though he does get sent to another place, trapped. I am sure we will hear more from him. Overall the story sets the stage well for the next bookm due out this summer. I would recommend any book in this series. It is one of the best I have read in a long while.
Rating:
Summary: Great Series!
Review: I wasn't sure how the series was going to flow using a different writer for each volume, but thus far I have been pleasantly surprised. This latest volume had quite a bit of suspense to it, and I'm liking the development of several of the characters. Valas especially was developed in this story and is really shaping up to be one of my favorite characters. I'm definately looking forward to volume 5.
Rating:
Summary: Great Series!
Review: I wasn't sure how the series was going to flow using a different writer for each volume, but thus far I have been pleasantly surprised. This latest volume had quite a bit of suspense to it, and I'm liking the development of several of the characters. Valas especially was developed in this story and is really shaping up to be one of my favorite characters. I'm definately looking forward to volume 5.
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