Demon Awakens

Rating:
Summary: Too predictable
Review: This book is just like all of Salvatore's others. And that's not a good thing. I liked the Dark Elf books and the Icewind Dale books but they all had a formula-like approach to the story. Something bad happens to main character, MC goes off to become stronger, comes back and gets revenge. This formula worked well with the Drizzt books, but this endless use of a one time plot line makes his books too predictable, and too similar to one another. Salvatore has the potential to be a very good writer, if only he would spend some more time with his books and try to make them more interesting. Throw in some unpredictable plot twists, or some non-stock characters. Anything to give it a fresh feeling. In my opinion, once you've read one of Salvatore's stories, you've read them all.

Rating:
Summary: This book is too slooooow!
Review: Ok, so I bought this book with great expectations . But do I get? The first chapters are good and promising, but... Mr. Salvatore, you are a good writer, but this...Yuck! Too tedious, too long-winded (we all know what is gooing to happen in the end!) - and TOO BOORING!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: ANOTHER BRILLIANT MASTERPIECE BY THE GOD OF FANTASY!!
Review: I don't know what there was to dislike about this book. I guess that maybe the fans that are into more of the D&D setting MAY think that this lacks a bit, but I think that it lacks nothing. I'll admit that the book starts a bit slow, but after the first 60 pages of this 600 page book, the non-stop action begins. I would say that of his Dark Elf, Crimson Shadow, and Cleric Quintet series, only Homeland, Exile, Sojourn, Streams of Silver, The Chaos Curse, Night Masks, and Luthien's Gamble can compare. I know that may seem like a lot, but it actually isn't, due to the large quantity of books that he has written. This book is a must-read!

Rating:
Summary: The characters are unforgetable
Review: This is one of the best books i've read. You will always remember the characters. The action and adventure makes you one of the characters. They need to make a movie on one of Salvatore's books,especially the Crimson Shadow Series.

Rating:
Summary: Spectacular novel, not at all a let-down
Review: Ok, I've read his other books, just about all of them, and I'd have to say that this is his best one to date. A lot of people express distaste at the way he models Elbryan off of Drizzt. but I say it's great! In this novel, he is able to do so much more than usual because he's not tied down by the constraints of TSR. But besides that, Elbryan and Drizzt aren't all that similar in background. What's so remarkable about Drizzt is that by all rights, he should be just another evil Drow, but what makes him so wonderful is that he transcended the bonds placed before him to become an agent of good. Elbryan's character is also an exception, he is not consumed by the increasing evil in his time , but he is still in touch with his human side. But what I loved about this novel so much was the scale in which it was presented. Never before has Bob created a scenario in such an epic manner. Though this book will undoubtedly have sequels, it is certainly a novel that stands alone as a single novel and leaves the reader, in my opinion, more than satisfied.

Rating:
Summary: This book is not to be missed.
Review: This book is a perfact example of Salvatore's talent as a writer. "The Demon Awakens" is probably the best book I have ever read. It has fast paced action. The character development is ingenius, while the plot is very captivating. It is not to be missed

Rating:
Summary: Heart stopping, page jumping , blood spilling genius.
Review: When I first read The demon awakens I was skeptical of the genius behind it. It took me a while to realize that it was a true work of art, faultless except that it is not more readily available in England. The love that you know will bring the two soulmates together is always aticipated but never the less incredible. Salvatore weaves the elements of a true fantasy classic into this astounding book. I started to feel as if I knew the characters within, I respected what they thought. So consuming was Salvatores writing that I went and started a book of my own.

Rating:
Summary: Best Salvatore book since the Dark Elf books.
Review: This is the best Salvatore book outside of the Forgotten Realms books of his that I have read. The characters are much deeper than in some of his other books, like Luthien Bedwyr. Elbryan has a very Drizzt like apeal. Not up to the Dark Elf standard I have for Salvatore, but much better than some of his other books.

Rating:
Summary: It was the greatest book i've ever read!!
Review: I was in a book shop when I first saw it. I picked it up and read the back cover. After I read it and saw the excellent reviews of other good authors,I thought to myself "...Monty this sounds like an exceptionally good book. Why not buy it?" So I did, and it inspired me not only to look at the world in many different perspectives, but it also gave me ideas to write short stories. It is a great book and earns my 5 stars.

Rating:
Summary: This book is more or less terrible
Review: Salvatore's need for explanation and a need for safety, coupled with plot predictability and a healthy dose of ridiculousness are his undoing in this "could have been much better" book. This book is an excellent example of what happens when a good author happens to turn out a bad book. Unlike his previous excellent "Dark Elf" series (of which I am a die-hard fan), this series has cardboard-cutout superhero characters and a plotline so predictable that I almost never found myself wondering what will happen. His villain, as some previous reviews have stated, is a study in ridiculousness, and caused me no response other than laughter upon reading of it. A "demon dactyl and his evil hordes"? Ha. His need to describe and delineate things are his undoing in this book, as he leaves no mystery around any of his characters and the reader knows exactly what they are thinking at all times. Salvatore tends to beat the reader over the head with the truths of his world, using far too many words to illustrate that which should be either left in mystery or slowly made apparent over the course of the entire novel. This trend can be seen in the later "Dark Elf" books, but is kept under control to the point where the books are still extremely good and highly recommended by myself. The few attempts at mystique and wonder in his novel are so apparent as to be humorous, and evoke no response in the reader other than derision. A good example is his treatment of the afterlife, which should be shrouded in mystery for perhaps all of the novel, but instead is illuminated far too early: again the reader is beaten over the head with it rather than having it subtly introduced over the course of the novel. This book reads on the emotional level of a third grader, and the best way that I can describe this book is as a watered-down rip-off of the standard Tolkien-type of novel with little character development and none of the emotional impact associated with the genre. The book is not a total loss, though: Salvatore's world of Corona is a very nicely created one with all the elements one would come to expect from such an otherwise-great writer. The "stones" are very well done, as are the battle scenes, Elbryan's "milk stone" training, and other associated Salvatore-type things, but in general the book reeks of unoriginality and stock characters that do not touch one and do not move one. In general, aside from a few good points, this book is a cobbled-together work that goes careening from ridiculous event to ridiculous event without any self-consistency or explanation for how these events are happening at all, beyond slight two-line explanations that only serve to enhance the ridiculous nature of the book. The characters are stock characters with little dimensionality and no creativity in their characterization. This book is certainly not one of Salvatore's better works, but if one wants a bookcase filler to round out their Salvatore collection, be sure to pick this one up.