The Spine of the World - A Review

Its been awhile since I did this, with good reason I would assume. But I feel the need to share my thoughts once again. That and to try and better justified why I didn't write today.

The Spine of the World by R.A. Salvatore is the second book in the Paths of Darkness series of books. Unlike the previous entries in the Legend of Drizzt series Drizzt doesn't appear in this one. Neither does Cattie-Brie, Regis, and Bruenor. Though they are mentioned. At the start of every Part of the book(5 of them if I remember correctly) there is the customary bit of Drizzt discussing his philosophy, questioning the nature of things of good and evil, and often sets the stage and mood or elaborates on concepts in the previous parts. I always found these 'journal entries' as they seem to be interesting and has me pause to think about its contents.

The story follows Wulfgar a month or so after the end of The Silent Blade. After being subjected to torture beyond imagine by a demon named Errtu for 6 years, Wulfgar finds the answer to solving his inner demons and tormented past by the only way he knows how. At the bottom of a bottle. He has made an interesting living on Half Crescent Moon Street as a bouncer of sorts for a tavern called The Cutlass. Drowning out his pain in alcohol and sleeping with a whore, and enjoying the company of Morik the Rogue, he has been able to live a rather painfree life. That is until his actions, starting fights and throwing anyone for minor offenses through the walls, windows, and whichever way he thinks is fastest. For those unfamiliar, Wulfgar is a Barbarian and... well his strength would probably make the Hulk timid. the owner of the Cutlass has had enough and fires him. Which results in a pretty cool brawl. From there... everything for Wulfgar goes downhill.

Meanwhile in a fiefdom in a rather isolated part of the Sword Coast called Anuckery or some such thing. A peasant girl is being courted by the young Lord Feringal. Much to the displeasure of his older sister. Meralda, the peasant girl, is torn between Jaka Sculi a young peasant man and her responsibilities to her family. Her mother has been sick for some time and with winter coming it isn't expected to live through it. If Meralda would marry him, it was promised that her mother would be healed. Though luckily its learned that Feringal had no intentions of using this to get his way. But it leaves Meralda torn and her father beating her when he learns she doesn't want Feringal but rather Jaka Sculi.

Jaka Sculi is... a really odd character. Often shouting to the world in what is supposed to be rather poetic ways in the injustice of the world and such when he learns that Meralda is to be wed to Lord Feringal or whatever his name is. At first I was rooting for the two and was dead set against that Lord Feringal. Though both in the end , in my opinion, turned out to be... well I didn't like either one of them.

Of course Meralda, before she was to be married, had a one night where she would allow herself one last thing. The choice of giving her virginity to a man she truly loved. Which pretty much screws her over and eventually Wulfgar.

I have to admit Wulfgar's personality and his indifference towards the world was rather annoying. I guess its a drastic change compared to who he once was, and who he was in the book. But the book was largely about him trying to come to terms with his past and deal with what happened to him.

also at first I wondered if someone had changed the ebook I was reading from because I couldn't figure out exactly how Meralda's story fit into things. The two stories. One with tormented Wulfgar and no longer giving a damn about life, and Meralda a young girl seeking romance and happieness and dealing with love, was an interesting contrast.

The Ending.

The way Wulfgar claimed the kid as his, after returning back to Anuckery or whateverthatstupidplacewascalled after being accused of raping Meralda and being threatened to be castrated and killed slowly, was great. It was the Wulfgar I knew from The Cystal Shard. But he was concerned for what would happen to Meralda and her kid when Lord Ferignal discovered the truth of the child. Which he did and his sister demanded it dead along with his wife for cuckolding her brother. Though I doubted she ever cared one way or another, just as long as Meralda was gone from her life for good.

In the end Wulfgar, admiting to the rape so that both the child and Meralda could live, takes the baby(with the blessing of the mother of course) and leaves them.

Though its a good thing it all ended happily. I mean do you really want to publicly castrate and put a man to a slow and torturous death if he had powerful allies? One a Ranger Drow, Cattie-Brie with a deadly bow, King Bruenor with one of the largest dwarven kingdoms(and once ate a leg of a dog thinking it might be taste good... turns out dog doesn't taste good) and all of the Icewind Dale tribes(who they want Wulfgar as their King)

...

Yes I would have enjoyed that sort of ending. Mostly because I hated Feringal and his sister. But the ending, though I still wish Meralda would have left the man, was great and better because Wulfgar is quickly returning to how he once was.

A good read.

Ok I am done.