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Rating: 
Summary: Excellent read
Review: Fast-paced and action-packed. These words describe just about any of Mr. Salvatore's works and are certainly applicable to this, the latest in the Demon Wars saga. Pony and Elbryan continue their work against the machinations of evil and encounter numerous battles along the way. Definitely, read The Demon Awakens, which is the first book in this trilogy, before starting this one. After you finish that you'll be ready for more. Salvatore creates lovable characters with the emotions and tensions of real life personalities and is a master of battle scenes. If you've read the "Drizzt" books, you'll certainly enjoy these stories; Elbryan embraces many of the same qualities as the dark-elf. If you've never read anything by Mr. Salvatore, give this trilogy a try. It's worth the money!
Rating: 
Summary: The Demon Spirit - Second only to The Demon Awakens
Review: I would truly like to give The Demon Spirit a 10 rating, for it does, in fact, deserve it, but only one book can be the "best" and for me, that book is The Demon Awakens. This, the sequel, is, in and of itself, an excellent book, and in some ways, surpasses its predecessor, but as a whole I felt 'Awakens' was a slightly better read. Don't get me wrong, The Demon Spirit is great! In it, Salvatore brings us back to the world of Corona, but does NOT simply rehash what we've seen before. He brings us to Corona through new eyes and new perspectives. The war continues, but the enemy is new. In the last book, Bestesbulzibar's corporeal form was destroyed (and is he EVER upset about that!), so our heroes think that they are facing the disorganized, yet still dangerous, remnants of the demon's armies. They find this is not the case. Enter Jojonah. In Master Jojonah, we find a new protagonist. Yes, we met him in the previous book, but now we REALLY meet him. We find out where his loyalties lie. We find out that the war is hardly over. I highly recommend reading this book. The Demon Spirit can stand alone. Reading the prior book is not necessary to understand what goes on here, but The Demon Awakens is such an incredible read that I suggest you read it first.
Rating: 
Summary: Pulp Fantasy
Review: The Demon Spirit is abysmal. The favorable reviews this book is receiving seem to be written by readers who have never treated themselves to anything better than palsied works of "imagination" such as The Demon Spirit. Books like The Wizard of Oz, The Hobbit and Alice in Wonderland are good fantasy literture. The Demon Spirt is a lifeless waste. R.A. Salvatore only seems to know the pulp fantasy he has read for Dungeons and Dragons games. He cannot break himself out of the orc, troll, goblin, ranger, druid, monk cycle that D&D perpetuates, and he assumes that his readers know standard D&D fantasy. Salvatore regularly uses words like "ranger" and "fomorian" without explaining what he means, so the book is basically written in a sort of fantasy-speak code. He assumes we can all rattle off D&D game stats in our heads. When Tolkien wrote of Strider, I was mystified. When Salvatore writes of "Nightbird" I am nearly asleep. The Demon Spirit is a Gygax/Tolkien derivative work with no spark. You only have 70 or 80 years, do not waste your precious free time on books like this. Try the Nibelungenlied, Bulfinch's Mythology, or The Lord of the Rings instead. Your spirit will thank you and more dismal pulp fantasy like The Demon Spirit will not be published.
Rating:
Summary: A great book in a great series
Review: The Demon Spirit surprised me when I first read it. I expected it to be spectacular, but it was spectacular in a way I had not anticipated. While the usual Salvatorian fight scenes, action descriptions, and dead-on characterizations are present, Mr. Salvatore begins to more deeply explore religious issues in this book, a larger theme that has not been particularly prevalent in his past works. This is what sets The Demon Spirit apart from the previous incredible works by Salvatore: the ambiguity of the morality and ethics practiced by the monks of the Abellican church. While the majority of readers will side with Jojonah, a strong case can be made on behalf of Father Abbott Markwart. This makes for an interesting moral conflict that draws the reader deeper and deeper into the book, forcing one to examine one's own thoughts and feelings on the subject. The Demon Awakens was a fine book as well, but The Demon Spirit truly shows how brilliant the DemonWars series can be. In addition to the aforementioned religious conflict, Mr. Salvatore has introduced a great new character in Roger Lockless, one that I think many readers can identify with. In all, this is a marvelous second book and I look forward with eager anticipation for the third (don't forget everybody--I believe March is the release date for The Demon Apostle). A word of warning for those who have not read the book yet, however: it is much darker than RAS's previous works. A sense of hopelessness and futility are present, and it really makes you think and examine your own stance on the world. However, if you are prepared for that, then treat yourself to a great read.
Rating:
Summary: A good book. I recomend it.
Review: There are only a handful of plots that books in this genre generally follow. One of which is the mixed-group of adventurers out to destroy the center of evil and attempt to stop a massive war. This book and its accompanying series do not vary from this tried-but-true theme. But what can seperate a book apart from others, is the storytelling and characters. The Demon Spirit has some good storytelling and characters. Unfortunately these characters are made secondary, while the primary characters are pretty static. The fighting scenes are "stock" and even skippable at times. The story develops well for the first 80% of the book, then the main characters do something totally out of character and frankly, stupid: They decide that a tavern-hopping nobleman and a battle-naive young man would be fine guards for a dangerous assassin that was captured . After this the storyline plummets, the characters lose their respect in the eyes of the reader, and the book ends with no real resolution. The redeeming quality is the writing and depth of the lands, and hope of improvements in the third installation.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful read!
Review: This book and its predecessor, The Demon Awakens, are two of the finest novels I have read in a long time. They are rich with everything that makes a good fantasy novel and the fact that Salvatore has created his own world makes it all the better. I loved this book and the way that it dealt with Elbyran and Pony's growing relationship, as well as the fact that they didn't want it to go too far until after all the fighting was over. That gave it a sense of realism that I haven't seen in a fantasy novel in a long time, unless it is written by R.A. Salvatore. If you have not yet read The Demon Awakens or The Demon Spirit, you need to run out and buy them now and get started. The third installment in the series is sure to be just as good, if not better and is slated to come out March of next year I think. You might want to check on that just to be sure. I can't wait to see how everything will end, especially the fight with the church! Father Abbot Markwart is a formidable foe and will be one hard to defeat.
Rating:
Summary: A Great, Fast Paced Continuation of an Intrgiuing Series
Review: While not as great as I expected, this was a very entertaining and fast paced continuation of an exploration into the world of Corona. Salvatore, as always, kept my attention and focus and I truly enjoyed turning the pages. My only complaint is that after the victory over Dactyl (maybe/maybe not?) the story begins to focus more and more on the Abellican monks. At times I found this boring and lacking of slow. Once the goblins and powries left the stage the story began to grind to a slower pace. Although I did eventually get into the new direction of the story, it did take some getting used to.Overall I'd recommend you pursue the continuation of the First Demon War Saga and pick up this novel. I look forward to reading the Demon Apostle.
Rating:
Summary: A Great, Fast Paced Continuation of an Intrgiuing Series
Review: While not as great as I expected, this was a very entertaining and fast paced continuation of an exploration into the world of Corona. Salvatore, as always, kept my attention and focus and I truly enjoyed turning the pages. My only complaint is that after the victory over Dactyl (maybe/maybe not?) the story begins to focus more and more on the Abellican monks. At times I found this boring and lacking of slow. Once the goblins and powries left the stage the story began to grind to a slower pace. Although I did eventually get into the new direction of the story, it did take some getting used to. Overall I'd recommend you pursue the continuation of the First Demon War Saga and pick up this novel. I look forward to reading the Demon Apostle.
Rating:
Summary: Powerful Gemstones
Review: While this one was not as good as the first, many of the excellent characters and character development are still factors in why this book is good. One thing I like about this series is that Salvatore isn't afraid to eliminate a "hero" or villian no matter how good they are. Which is a problem I have with some of the Forgotten realms and Dragon lance books, those characters are immortal. Could you imagine those heroes just dying? Nope! Anyway, The Demon Spirit is a good sequel to Awakens. I recommend it highly.
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