The Spine of the World: The Legend of Drizzt

R.A. Salvatore

Jun 2009 · The Legend of Drizzt Book 12 · Wizards of the Coast

About this ebook

New York Times–bestselling series: Join barbarian hero Wulfgar on another action-packed adventure in the Legend of Drizzt saga

Spending just one day in the torture chambers of the Abyss would be enough to break even the heartiest soul. Wulfgar of Icewind Dale was there for six miserable years. Though Wulfgar has since been freed, he is still haunted by the memories of the pain he endured at his captor Errtu's hands. Hoping to distance himself from his past, he flees to the faraway port city of Luskan—but in so doing, isolates himself from his friends and develops an unhealthy penchant for booze.

For Wulfgar, things get worse before they get better. Fired from his gig at a tavern, robbed of his warhammer, and accused of murder, he goes on the run with Morik the Rogue—beginning a dangerous, combat-filled journey toward his redemption.
 
The Spine of the World is the second book in the Paths of Darkness series and the twelfth installment in the Legend of Drizzt series.

Ratings and reviews

Probably my least favorite in the. series so far. Wulfgar's issues are important to the series but should not have had almost two thirds of the book revolving around it. Wulfgar dominates the story where I would have much rather heard about Drizzt. As always, Salvator is an amazing author, but this book was a bit of a disappointment compared to the more Drizzt-centered books in this series. I love Wulfgar and all, but this was a bit too much.

There isn't really any story involving Drizzt nor the Companions of the hall, other then Wulfgar. It is mostly about his fall from grace and his rebirth, taking a very wide side track from the main story line to make the barbarian into a character that could be reintergrated with the remaining 4 companions. There is a lot of investment in new characters for this side arc, and though, on it's own, the story holds, it is an attempt at a storyline based more on character development then adventure.

Absolutely my least favorite "Drizzit" book I have read. Two different story lines of which one is mediocre and another one is utter garbage. Just skip this book.

About the author

R.A. Salvatore was born in Massachusetts in 1959. He is the New York Times–bestselling author of more than forty novels, including the popular Forgotten Realms series, The Legend of Drizzt. His love affair with fantasy, and with literature in general, began during his sophomore year of college when he was given a copy of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings as a Christmas gift. He promptly changed his major from computer science to journalism. He began writing seriously in 1982, penning the manuscript that would become Echoes of the Fourth Magic.

His first published novel was The Crystal Shard from TSR in 1988, and his novel The Silent Bladewon the Origins Award. He is still best known as the creator of dark elf Drizzt Do’Urden, one of fantasy’s most beloved characters.