carroq's review
3.0
Condemnation is the third book in the War of the Spider Queen series. It takes place in the Forgotten Realms, which is a fantasy world that Wizards of the Coast uses for the game Dungeons and Dragons.
The series is centered around a race of dark elves known as the drow. These elves live underground, are ruthless, and endlessly fighting one another, physically and politically. The females rule over the males with iron fists. Their common ground comes from a feeling of superiority to all other races. In this series, their chief goddess has gone silent. No one can reach her and her priestesses have lost their powers.
Condemnation uses two groups of characters to continue the story. The first group comes from the main drow city, and their mission is to discover what happened to their goddess by any means necessary. They are seeking a group of drow that live on the surface world and venerate a different deity to get answers to their questions. The path ahead of them is long and dangerous.
The second group seeks to take advantage of the loss of power that the females are experiencing. They will use any enemy of the drow they can find to upset the current power structure, hoping to pick up the pieces in the end.
I did not like this book as much as the first two books. The pacing is quite a bit slower. There is quite a bit of action, but sometimes that just emphasizes the low points in the story. The intrigue that kept me interested in the other books just wasn't as present. Plus, this writer focuses on different characters that aren't quite as interesting to me. I felt like the characters were presented well enough, but one in particular is at a very low point that brings the energy of the book down.
Anyone could pick up the first book and enjoy the series though. There are a lot of other books set in this world, which aren't necessary to read before these. Nor do you need to be familiar with Dungeons and Dragons to enjoy the books, though it might help.
The series is centered around a race of dark elves known as the drow. These elves live underground, are ruthless, and endlessly fighting one another, physically and politically. The females rule over the males with iron fists. Their common ground comes from a feeling of superiority to all other races. In this series, their chief goddess has gone silent. No one can reach her and her priestesses have lost their powers.
Condemnation uses two groups of characters to continue the story. The first group comes from the main drow city, and their mission is to discover what happened to their goddess by any means necessary. They are seeking a group of drow that live on the surface world and venerate a different deity to get answers to their questions. The path ahead of them is long and dangerous.
The second group seeks to take advantage of the loss of power that the females are experiencing. They will use any enemy of the drow they can find to upset the current power structure, hoping to pick up the pieces in the end.
I did not like this book as much as the first two books. The pacing is quite a bit slower. There is quite a bit of action, but sometimes that just emphasizes the low points in the story. The intrigue that kept me interested in the other books just wasn't as present. Plus, this writer focuses on different characters that aren't quite as interesting to me. I felt like the characters were presented well enough, but one in particular is at a very low point that brings the energy of the book down.
Anyone could pick up the first book and enjoy the series though. There are a lot of other books set in this world, which aren't necessary to read before these. Nor do you need to be familiar with Dungeons and Dragons to enjoy the books, though it might help.
cavalary's review
4.0
As far as D&D-based books go, I'd say this is a masterpiece! Didn't read many, but it seems to stretch the genre to its limits. Of course, those limits are still in plain sight and pretty much prevent it from being a "real" book, but still... The scale of the events is staggering, there are plenty of characters and locations and, while obviously fights still make up most of the book, there is quite frankly more non-combat action here than I could have expected.
Uh well... Don't have the next three in the series and don't really want them; quite unlikely to have two good ones in any one such series. I'll write it down on my list of book series that I should continue if I find the rest at some point, but with low priority.
Spoiler
One slip though; Quenthel commanded Jaggred to carry Valas when they had to levitate in the Abyss when Jaggred was actually left back on the physical plane. No editors to notice that?Uh well... Don't have the next three in the series and don't really want them; quite unlikely to have two good ones in any one such series. I'll write it down on my list of book series that I should continue if I find the rest at some point, but with low priority.
bloopbloopwilson's review
4.0
Reading the War of the Spider Queen books back to back is difficult. Because each book is written by a different author and each author has a twist on the characters, it makes what should be a very familiar character into some sort of pseudo-version of the character you knew from the last book. It's very jarring reading them back to back because you have a vivid memory of everything from the last book. If they were to be read as they had come out (each a year after the next) your memory could fade a bit and it would not be so oft putting.
All and all though, this was my favorite of the series so far.
All and all though, this was my favorite of the series so far.
the0newh0watches's review
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
felyn's review
4.0
A good third offering. There is a lot of action going on in this installment - our little splinter group spends most of the book fighting their way out of one scrape or another, and the secret male assassin House contrives to bring war to the steps of Menzoberranzan herself. There were a few thing I did not enjoy, such as " Surprise! Halisstra's a dark bard!" and the disappearance of what small amount remained of Pharaun's survival instinct when it comes to shutting the hell up.
nakedsteve's review
5.0
A worthy addition to the series! I really enjoyed this one. It never bogged down, and the many threads of plot kept my attention quite well. I'm pretty much drooling for the next book, hopefully it will keep up the excitement.
brandt's review
4.0
Good book. Lots of traveling and interesting characters were met. Not to mention a divine fight. Also, still no mention of Drizzt. Becoming more and more impressed.
esperata's review
5.0
The drama continues to unfold only now encompassing several planes of existence. The characters who joined the main band are fleshed out here and begin to build ties with those familiar from book 1. Some of the gods also make their appearances and we learn more about what brought about the events of Dissolution. There are plenty of twists and turns with hints of what might come but no certainties. I'm looking forward to reading this series right through to the end.
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