Rating: 
Summary: Riveting!
Review: Salvatore reached new heights in Mortalis, but Ascendence is a worthy successor. The action and intrigue continue, and new plot twists are introduced. The world he so richly developed in the original Demon Wars trilogy is again poised on the brink of impending disaster...but from what sector, and who will defeat this new enemy? A must read!
Rating:
Summary: Riveting!
Review: Salvatore reached new heights in Mortalis, but Ascendence is a worthy successor. The action and intrigue continue, and new plot twists are introduced. The world he so richly developed in the original Demon Wars trilogy is again poised on the brink of impending disaster...but from what sector, and who will defeat this new enemy? A must read!
Rating:
Summary: A triumph for Salvatore.
Review: Sometimes, authors of multi-volume book series fall into ruts. The plot plods endlessly forward, the characters become caricatures of themselves, and the reader eventually loses any interest in the characters or the story. R.A. Salvatore is not one of these authors. In recent years, rather than declining, Salvatore's writing has become richer and deeper. From "The Spine of the World", with its alcoholic, despairing protagonist, to "Mortalis" with its considerations on human mortality, Salvatore's writing has risen several notches above common sword and sorcery tales. This trend continues undaunted in the newest addition of his Demonwars saga, "Ascendance". The book's plot continues many of the untied threads from the previous work, "Mortalis", while weaving them with several new developments. Aydrian Wyndon, son of heroes Jilseponie and Elbryan from previous books, chafes against the restrictions placed on him by his haughty elven tutors. Meanwhile, Jilseponie, now Baroness of Palmaris, contemplates marriage to King Danube. Unbeknowst to both Aydrain and Jilseponie, Marcalo De'Unnero, Elbryan's killer (and one of the few characters to survive through all four of the series' previous books) remains at large and a threat to the peace of Church and Kingdom. And behind the events of the kingdom remains the shadowy presence of Bestesbulizbar, the demon dactyl. One of Salvatore's strengths in recent years has been his blurring of the traditional fantasy views of good and evil, accompanied by the humanization of his villains (Artemis Entreri in "Servant of the Shard" is a good example). In "Ascendance", Salvatore shows his readers the human side of De'Unnero, accompanied by some surprising activities for a former monk. In the same vein, the ugly racism of the elves is brought to better light, particularly in the haughtiness of Lady Dasslerond, whose callous arrogance towards Aydrian will hold dire consequences for the future of the elves and the humans. This reviewer found "Ascendance" to be an enjoyable read, and recommends it to the reading public. While "Ascendance" is capable of standing on its own, knowledge of the previous books will greatly improve enjoyment. Five stars.
Rating:
Summary: Highly recommended
Review: This book by Salvatore is one of his best. I was a fan of the original series and believe this one may even beat that! I highly recommend it for readers of the past series as well as new readers to Salvatore.
Rating:
Summary: Ascendance, another great Salvatore novel.
Review: This book was great. I started the Demon Wars saga with Mortalis and had to read this to see what happened next. I was totally impressed. I've gone back and read the first three books and loved them. If you like Salvatore's work you'll love this book and like me you'll not be able to wait till the next one.
Rating:
Summary: Wow!
Review: This was a great Book! The only problem with it was that it was only 380 pages long! We now have to wait another year for the next book:-( But, nonetheless, Salvatore did a great job with Ascendance and has no doubt widened his fan base. The other review on this board gives a lot of the book away, so i wouldn't read it if i were you!!
Rating:
Summary: Deliciously disturbing
Review: Though previous reviewers have expressed dissatisfaction over the triumphs evildoers enjoy in this series, and especially in this book.. I find it a refreshing change from the godlike Drizzt, who prevails against impossible things no matter what. Plot style is akin in this series to George RR Martin's Song of Fire and Ice series in the sense that no one is safe, and anyone can die at the turn of any page. Holds suspense and does away with the more juvenile and hopeful ambience of the Forgotten Realm's Drizzt story, though I love those for their attributes as well. Overall, I finish this book with a heavy heart for the characters that I grew to root for and their unimaginable pain and losses.. and a smirk for the villans who enjoy victories not often seen in this genre.
Rating: 
Summary: Not his greatest work, but...
Review: Well I'd have to say that so far this is the worst book in this series... The first 4 were great (at varied levels) but this one caused more than a little depression. Pony's involvement with the king seemed to me just wrong. It's like all the good characters are gone, (with a few notable exceptions) and the story is still going. One really good thing about this book though, is the villians. Really Salvatore writes villians so well. They're great. My final analysis is that this book is a necessary companion to the first 4 of the series, but certainly not the greatest.
Rating:
Summary: Leading the dark forces
Review: When I bought it, I was instinctively pushed to read it (it was a new novel of my favorite writing after all). But everything social and politics in this book, and of course the great ascendance of the tortured child of Elbryan and Pony, Aydrian, made me enjoy it more and more! I was really impress by the jousting arena that Salvatore created. It was a premiere. However, well mastered, mesmerizing when readed, glad to see Marcalo De'Unnero assuming a leading role in the novel, I grant it with 5 stars definitly
Rating: 
Summary: Not terrible....but highly unlikely
Review: When reading fantasy books, more so than any other literature genre, you need the be able to accept some things beyond what we consider reality. Ascendance takes this to a whole new, possibly unprecedented level. With the amount of luck the villians in this book posses, they most certainly must be lottery players, or whatever the fantasy equivalent is. Worse than being incredibly lucky, the villians seem to be smarter than every single other person in the book combined, able to pick up necessary skills at will. Example, there is a joust tournament which one of the villian participates in. Within one jousting pass, this person is able to figure out the entire sport of jousting? I don't know but I'd be inclined to think that knights, who practice this, would have some kind of advantage. OK, but it gets worse, our villian is unhorsed, not because the best knight in the realm beats him, but because his horse decides to buck him off. The villian is then able to unmount his opponent, even though he has never fought anyone on horse from the ground. The chances of that are, I would say zero. Politics is another example. Apparently, someone who has no experience, can so subtly start an event that begins a chain reaction that...let's just say messes a lot of things up. Magic is used way too much as a lame crutch to forward the story. The book would have been much better, if the author, instead of using magic whenever there is an impass, the villians whip out those gemstones(magic) and all problems are solved, spend the 300 extra pages it would have taken to logically arrive at the conclusion of the story through well thought out political intrigue. Also, I don't know about most people, but when I picture something in my head...like how great it would be to live with The Corrs sisters...or whatever it might be, I don't believe that to be some prophetic vision. Apparently, the people of Corona are incredibly easy to manipulate, as has been a theme throughout, because they always listen to the voices in their head. My final gripe with this book is in the final scene, which is the most ludicrious thing I think I've ever read. The single most potent threat to the throne, and that person is able to just walk away. "This person is not a threat." The king says. Yeah....sure! We all know what should have happened to that person, especially considering who has the kings ear at that point...but there are two more books to write. If you've read the others pick it up so your not lost should the next one be better. If you haven't read The Demon Awakens. It is superior in every way.
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