Annihilation: War of the Spider Queen, Book V (R.A Salvatore Presents the War of the Spider Queen) Mass Market Paperback – August 2, 2005

It seems as though the author didn't read the other books. Characters' physical descriptions are inconsistent with the other books. Kaanyr Vhok was red, now he's blue. Jeggred was immune to fire, and now his fur gets burned. The dialogue is overly simplistic and is awkward to read. Almost all of the spoken dialogue is broken up: "Hey," said Valas, "don't go in there." instead of "Don't go in there," warned Valas. The overly simplistic dialogue dilutes the characters' personalities as well, so they all come off as bland.The climactic events in the story seem very anti-climactic because they are interrupted by extremely minor events and the effect these climactic events has on the party and the rest of the world is never fully explained. Also, some of the tactics in the battles make little sense. It's almost as if the characters forgot how to fight. Skim this one and pray that the final book isn't this bad. Mel Odom is writing it, so I have high hopes.

If you've been reading the War of the Spider Queen series, you know you HAVE to get this. If you haven't read any of the series start with book 1 - Dissolution: R.A. Salvatore Presents The War of the Spider Queen, Book I (The War of the Spider Queen series 1). Note that each book in the series is actually written by a different author, but the authors have done a good job creating a contiguous story line with consistent characters.

This is - in my opinion - the WORST book in the series. Be warned!Where previous books were maintaining a clear and consistent tone in terms of charactes, this one is just WAY off.The characters seem to converse in much different manner, more simplifieg, often childish, lacking the depth and substance that the in the previous books.Nearly ALL conversations are broken up - it's very annoying, tiring, and makes the story hard to follow.Quenthel telling Pharaun "I hate you" close to the beginning of the book dispels the magic that the previous four books have successfully woven together.This book is filled with this type of "gems" that made me wonder if author actually read the previous ones before sitting down and writing it.The characters also are reacting and thinking differently, almost as if they had personality changes.While I understand different authors' styles, this book has offered the least consistency in the character department.After blazing my way 4 books back-to-back, I have lost interest in the story because of this single book.The book also has several continuity issues that have not been quite addressed. Those of us that do remember what happened in the previous parts of the storey, can spot those easily.Honestly, it makes me wonder whether this was a first attempt of the author into writing, it was so bad. ARGH!

I give this book three stars because it definitely lacks something that the first three had. There are several inconsistancies where events that occurred in the previous book were ignored. Remember a certain character was "taken care of" by another character in book IV but then with no mention of the incident the supposed-to-be-gone character is back in the story as if nothing happened. I also agree with the reviewer that wrote that the dialogue between the characters had definitely changed. Maybe it's just because the fourth books was so well done that this one seems weak but I think it's just a weak link in the series. Overall though it must be read. You must push through to the next book. After coming this far you cannot turn back.

Terrible.No other way to say it. The fourth book was written beautifully, the characters were well-developed and progressed intelligently through a fast-paced story and then this book happened...I was fortunate enough to read the fourth book and immediately start the fifth book and the contrast was stark and potently disappointing.The characters, their dialogue, their actions are so dramatically different in this book, it's almost as if someone started over. I can sympathize that writing a novel with a predetermined plot line and characters that have been fleshed out by someone else would be difficult under the best of circumstances, but since the novelty of the different authors on a single story was the cornerstone of the series, the editors should have insisted on consistency and smooth transitions. It's one thing for subtle changes in characters to occur, but the laundry list of problems is expansive; side-plots mysteriously disappear, characters flip-flop on behaviors and wildly shift even basic, bed-rock personality traits.In my opinion the blame for this failure sits not with Phil Athans, but with Wizards of the Coast and the management of the series. Putting out shoddy work that fails at the central pivot of the idea itself (consistency and quality) is a shameless fleecing of fans that looked at the series with eagerness and hope.Shame on Wizards and shame on the editors of the series.

I hope every one reads all of the be and I have just one left to read. I'm looking forward to it.

Really good story, loved this series and the different authors are all good writers.

After the disappointing book 4, I was glad to see the story get back on track. Many plot lines are resolved here, and it sets the stage for the finale in book 6.I still think books 1, 2 and 3 are superior, but at least didn't continue to go downhill after 4.

The war rages on, the party face the abyss and the mystery of their goddess going silent. Without spoiling anything, the fight between two main characters is great and will have you reading non-stop.

This series is wicked. So cool that there are different authors and this one is as good as the last one! Totally recommend all in this series for Forgotten Realms fans or just fantasy readers!

I'm a big fan of RA Salvatore I love his work

This is a fantastic continuation of the series even written by different writers the books seamlessly keep the story going

Love this series. Action and plots are well constructed. Easy to read.

Another excellent part of the series

thanks!