A Demon Awakens

Taken in by elves, Elbryan is raised to become a formidable ranger—a fateful role that will lead him into harrowing confrontation. Meanwhile, on a far-off island, a shower of gemstones will fall onto the black sand shores. These heaven-sent stones carry within them an incredible power—the key to all that is good in the world and all that is evil, and it is up to one young monk to liberate them from the corrupt monastery that harvests them.

The New Jedi Order series. He has sold more than fifteen million copies… More about R. Bob is perhaps best known for writing terrific battle scenes. Rich in characterization, myths and legends, action and emotion, the world is enthralling. In particular, one of the aspects of the world I like very much is the magic stones. There are many different stones, different colors, different sizes, and they contain different types of powers. Soon after I read the book I asked Bob about them. In fact, I thought I had detected a situation where one of the characters had forgotten about a stone they had in their possession and had failed to use it at a crucial moment.

I was wrong and I found out that Bob assiduously keeps track of each and every stone that is mentioned in the world. For any stone, he can tell you where it is or who had it last and where and when it was lost. That level of detail and involvement by an author shines through in the story. I look forward to many more books in this world! The Demon Awakens By R. Also in The DemonWars Saga.

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See all books by R. A great evil has awakened in the land of Corona, a terrible demon determined to spread death and misery. His goblin armies and fearsome giants ravage the settlements of the frontier, and in the small village of Dundallis their merciless attack leaves behind two shattered orphans: Pony and her lifelong friend, the youth Elbryan.

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Taken in by elves, Elbryan is raised to become a formidable ranger--a fateful role that will lead him into harrowing confrontation. Meanwhile, on a far-off island, a shower of gemstones will fall onto the black sand shores.

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These heaven-sent stones carry within them an incredible power--the key to all that is good in the world and all that is evil, and it is up to one young monk to liberate them from the corrupt monastery that harvests them. Pray that they don't fall into the wrong, clawed hands. Mass Market Paperback , pages. Published April by Del Rey first published To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

To ask other readers questions about The Demon Awakens , please sign up. I cannot fathom anyone, even in a fantasy world, saying this on purpose or even habitually. See 1 question about The Demon Awakens…. Lists with This Book. Nov 24, David - proud Gleeman in Branwen's adventuring party rated it it was amazing Shelves: Buddy-Read with the most wonderful Branwen!

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If anything, I'm lowballing that number! Salvatore's previous work, additional depth and multiple themes being explored make "The Demon Awakens" my favorite work by him yet! After a goblin is found near his home village of Dundalis, Elbyran tasks himself with keeping a lookout so he can warn the villagers of any potential threats.

The villagers humor Elbryan, believing him to simply have an overactive imagination. But humor quickly turns to horror when a goblin army does indeed invade Dundalis, mercilessly slaughtering the villagers who foolishly wrote off Elbryan's warnings. Seemingly the sole survivor of the attack, Elbryan is discovered by a society of elves who take the young man in.

There, Elbyran discovers a new world, a world full of enchantment, wonder, and most of all, purpose. Years later, Elbryan returns to the place of his childhood, once again determined to keep the villagers safe from harm, and once again finding himself the subject of ridicule from the very people he swore to protect. But with an ancient evil having awakened and sending a monstrous army to enslave all in its path, Elbryan will defend his people whether they want his help or not It's been said nice guys finish last Jilseponie, the fighter Jilseponie was known as "Pony" by her friends, but after a goblin army lays waste to her home of Dundalis, Pony now believes all her friends are gone.

A lost soul unable to come to terms with the cruelty fate subjected her to, Pony wanders through a world that is now uncertain and terrifying to her. Refusing to ever be a victim again, Pony claws and scrapes her way through this new world, learning how to fight, and more importantly, how to fight back! Eventually, Pony encounters a man known as "The Mad Friar". This man describes a great evil that is poisoning the land and warns of a terrible attack that is coming, an attack that sounds all too familiar to the young woman.

With an invading army marching towards her, an army made up of thousands of goblins and dwarves and giants, Jilseponie responds to the overwhelming numbers and impossible odds in the only way she knows how Many people resign themselves to whatever fate has in store for them Jilseponie prefers her fate to be self-written!

Avelyn, the believer Raised to put all his trust in God, Avelyn joined a monastery at a young age. Through hours of discipline and training, Avelyn is able to utilize the magical properties of the sacred stones of his religion, stones that are believed to be a gift from God. Due to the strength of his abilities and his faith, Avelyn is charged with a holy mission, to procure the magical gemstones that are falling from the Heavens themselves.

But in trying to obtain the magical rocks, Avelyn sees a darker side to the religious Order he put so much trust in, a side that is willing to sacrifice and even murder anyone to keep these sacred stones out of anyone's hands but their own. Avelyn discovers that his monastery is not being guided by God, but rather by something that is the complete opposite. Realizing that a demon dactyl has woken up and is now corrupting the lives of everyone around him, Avelyn prepares to defend the world from the very people claiming to want to save it!

He was taught to believe in God Since Branwen and I first met each other while discussing an R. Salvatore book, we decided to go back to the very author who originally brought us together for our latest buddy read! As the lovely Branwen clearly looks like a warrior princess in her profile picture, in order to keep the theme going, I decided to adopt the look of a knight while reading this book, so I put on my finest suit of metal I don't think I'm doing it right To simply say I enjoyed this book would be like saying the sun is kind of warm.

The truth is, I was completely blown away by this novel. While I have enjoyed the works of R. Salvatore in the past, I can't deny that there is a certain simplicity to his earlier works. The Drizzt novels are certainly a fun read, but there's no denying they often fall into the trap of "McFantasy" , trotting out the same fantasy tropes that have already been used hundreds of times before.

The Sword Of Bedwyr was an even greater offender of overly-simplistic writing, where the main character pretty much finds the magical artifact that leads to him becoming the Crimson Shadow entirely by chance. Indeed, the way Salvatore characters just happened to stumble upon the very thing they need is so convenient, it harkens back to the early days of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, when enemies would often be held in the library, because apparently all high school libraries have cages these days OK, Whedon, I'll let you off the hook for this But in "The Demon Awakens", Salvatore's writing has become much more ambitious.

Clocking in at over pages about twice as long as any of his early Drizzt novels , Salvatore spends much more time developing the backstories for the main three characters. And this ambition pays off big-time. Because the characters have so much depth and pathos to them, they resonated with me in a way his previous creations yes, even Drizzt never did.

This larger scale applies not only to the characters, but to the story as well. While Salvatore's past work often follows a pattern of having the heroes "walk, fight, repeat", this time around the story is much more diverse and unpredictable. For part of the novel, Elbryan, Pony and Avelyn all find themselves going in different directions, and I truly didn't know where their journeys would take them at times. Along with the more traditional "sword and sorcery" aspects of the fantasy novel, Salvatore also takes an opportunity to explore religious themes, addressing both the good and the bad that is done in the name of a deity.

While Salvatore's writing may have matured, that doesn't mean he didn't deliver on some things he could always be counted on in the past. One thing I've always admired about his work is the way Salvatore can so beautifully describe action sequences, to the point where you more feel like you're watching the fight instead of reading about it.

Salvatore's incredibly detailed fight scenes are in full force again this time around, but in addition, his fluid descriptions extend to the very setting itself.

The Demon Awakens by R.A. Salvatore

Everything in the book is beautifully detailed, from the lights in the sky to the joy of a first kiss. And despite all the tragedy that befalls our heroes from time to time, Salvatore's trademark humor offers some much-needed comic relief at just the right moments. Now, while this wasn't a deal breaker for me, there was one minor nitpick that I had with the story, and this was in regards to the lead villain.

Quite frankly, the demon dactyl's actions sometimes didn't make sense to me. It is implied throughout much of the book that the demon is growing stronger as his influence is growing, so I didn't find it odd that he spent so much time behind the scenes. But then later in the book, he is seen flying throughout the land and tracking some of his enemies. So it seems odd when, after displaying these abilities, the demon simply tasks his minions to track the heroes for him and goes back to sitting on the sidelines.

The book explains the demon's behavior by stating that he is so confident, he doesn't feel the need to confront his enemies directly, but once the heroes keep defeating his soldiers and interrupting his plans, you would think the demon would just seek the heroes out himself and destroy them once and for all especially since we're lead to believe he's pretty much all-powerful by this point. Actually, go ahead, I deserve to be judged for that! Still, when I'm having this much fun reading a book, I'm willing to forgive a loophole like this. Now, since I love my GoodReads friends and followers, I feel obligated to point out a potential problem some of you may also have with this novel.

Readers who don't like getting peanut butter in their chocolate may also not enjoy the exploration of religious themes. Granted, the religion in this case is one unique to the novel's setting of Corona, but all the talk of a monotheistic God could be frustrating to people who would rather not have religion mixed in with their literature. Also, one final grievance I had, and that would be Avelyn's catchphrase of "ho, ho, what"!

I admit, I kind of liked it at first, but when it gets to the point where Avelyn incorporates it into just about every single conversation he has, it did grate on my nerves after a while. It was possibly a mistake for me to read this so close to Christmas, since now I cringe so much from hearing "Ho ho" , I'm liable to punch a store-Santa in the face!

Just kidding, kids, Santa abuse is never cool! Fans of Salvatore's earlier works will most likely love this one as well.

The Demon Awakens

And if you didn't like Salvatore's prior work, this one may just make a fan out of you. Recommended for any fantasy-lover! View all 14 comments. As the entire Demonwars Saga has been gathering dust on my shelves for over ten years now, boy do I feel foolish for not having read The Demon Awakens before now.

There were so many elements I loved, and at one point was even considering a 5 star rating I'll address what knocked it off that in a minute. It dazzled me with great characters, an interesting magic system, exotic fantastical settings, and a fast-paced plot filled with loads of action and excitement with plenty of that brilliant ha As the entire Demonwars Saga has been gathering dust on my shelves for over ten years now, boy do I feel foolish for not having read The Demon Awakens before now.

It dazzled me with great characters, an interesting magic system, exotic fantastical settings, and a fast-paced plot filled with loads of action and excitement with plenty of that brilliant hand-to-hand combat that Salvatore is known so well for. The characters were fresh, exciting, and really fun to get to know - totally on par with their Forgotten Realms counterparts if perhaps a mite less memorable. I had been a little worried that they'd be carbon copies of Drizzt and his gang, but thankfully they weren't.

It's always a concern I have when reading a slightly less popular series by authors known primarily for other works. It's kind of silly, because logically good writing knows no bounds. Anyway, Salvatore has definitely shown me here that he's no one trick pony. It took a while to get past the spoiler-ish summary I'd read before diving in which is why I usually don't more than glance at overviews — does knowing key plot points of a story before diving in bother anyone else is much as it does me?

Character development was one of them. I know I just spent a moment gushing at how great I thought they were; what I'm referring to here is how these great characters changed throughout the novel. One of my favorites underwent a seeming degree personality flip over a very short time period It felt like two totally different character profiles were given the same name and slapped together.

Also, the only relatable female character, who had strong growth arc through most of the book, eventually became second fiddle and almost incidental near the end. Story trajectory was my other issue. Salvatore took my least favorite plot point and beat it to death with a small cudgel. I acknowledge that at some point that plot point needed to be resolved, but that doesn't mean I was obligated to enjoy it ;P. The parts I wasn't excited about earned a 2 star it was just okay rating. That said, I'm still definitely continuing on with the series, as there was a significant parts of this book I loved with a fierce passion.

I'll just keep my fingers crossed that some of my favorite plot elements make their way into the next installment. Other books you might like: View all 4 comments. Another lovely buddy read with the wonderful David! Such a pleasure to have him as my book buddy! That is the inescapable truth of this existence. It is a truth that can paralyze us with fear, or one that can energize us with impatience, with the desire to explore and experience, with the hope- nay, the iron-will!

To be alive, under sunshine, or starlight, in weather fair or stormy. To dance with eve Another lovely buddy read with the wonderful David! To dance with every step, be they through gardens of flowers or through deep snows. Salvatore In the enchanted and magical realm of Corona, an evil demon plots and schemes and bands together all manner of creatures in a volcano to attack and destroy the towns in the south, with the eventual goal of world domination. The story centers around three main characters; Pony, Avelyn, and Elbryan, and their quest to end the demon dactyl's influence.

Elbryan and Pony are friends who were seperated at the age of twelve when tragedy strikes their home. Avelyn is a monk who lives on an island where gemstones rain down from the sky, which contain magical properties. When his corrupt superiors cause young Avelyn to lose his faith he strikes out on his own. When the three come together and become companions, they find the future of their world at stake.

It seems as if I have always, always been a fan of R. His books featuring the dark elf Drizzt are some of my favorite fantasy books of all time. One of the things I have always enjoyed about his writing is that he is such a constant sort of writer. When you pick up one of his books, you can basically tell what is going to happen from beginning to end. And I like that. It's a comfortable feeling.

So I was expecting a similar sort of story this time around as well. But to my complete and utter surprise all of my expectations were blown right out of the water with this story! The writing style itself was the same brilliant and utterly descriptive style that I have always adored with Salvatore's writing. It was such bliss to lose myself in this book. Once I got towards the end of it I actually slowed down reading it because I didn't want it to end! It was that good! I really really enjoyed this book and look forward to continuing on with the series! I highly reccomend it to anyone who enjoys well-told fantasy stories!

Feb 04, Mark Halse rated it it was ok. I'm always wary about "old school" fantasy and rightly so. It's almost like a transition book between the two styles. Old School- -The ol' farm boy destined for great things malarkey. I just can't believe how prominent this horrible cha I'm always wary about "old school" fantasy and rightly so. I just can't believe how prominent this horrible character is. She also has amnesia so she's a double troupe. I can't stand goblins. They're like the crown cheesy jewel of the old school.

The first half of the book had wonderfully rich characterization. That is until the three main characters met and they all became two dimensional altruists. This too was interesting and not too overpowering until about half way through at which time it took over as the main character. This book started out really strong despite the goblins. But once the characters' POVs intertwine their personalities fall flat and I ended up just not caring anymore. It went from a well written rainbow of adventure and drama to a gray blah quest to do something uninteresting. If you've read any modern fantasy this book won't do anything for you.

If you're new to the genre this may be a good place to start. May 17, Kristin's rated it really liked it Shelves: Yet again, another book by Salvatore that I really enjoyed.. The characters are flawless Salvatore's characters usually are.. Drizzt will always be my favorite Character of his, but these characters were amazing too.. This is slightly different than the Forgotten Realms books, because it takes place in a different world, Corona..

Elbryan and Pony were separated from each other at the age of 12 when goblins attacked their home and killed everyone that lived there.. They both thought the other w Yet again, another book by Salvatore that I really enjoyed.. They both thought the other was dead.. They had no hope of seeing each other again.. The end of this book keeps you wanting more.. It left off in a good spot to want you to immediately pick up the 2nd book and start reading right away.. Too bad it was too late and I needed to go to bed..

Aug 16, Lisa Schneider rated it it was amazing. This is one of my favorite books of all time. This novel is told from the point of view of three characters: Elbryan, Jilseponie, and Avelyn. Each have their own unique voice and they are very well developed characters. The world is beautifully created by Salvatore, and his fight scenes are detailed and exciting.

The three characters are on a collision course with a demon, there's some humor, plenty of action, and a lot of "ho, ho, what! Mar 13, SinisterAgentMulder rated it really liked it. Sep 24, Paul rated it liked it Shelves: I listened to The Demon Awakens on graphic audio. These are audiobooks that have music, sound effects, and a full cast of voice actors. Things that can be explained with sound are sometimes overlooked in the narration to create a more cinematic experience.

I think that the graphic audio definitely added more to the story. The Demon Awakens is a typical fantasy romp from R. Those that are familiar with his Dark Elf Drizzt books will be familiar with Salvatore's writing style. The big I listened to The Demon Awakens on graphic audio. This allows Salvatore some level of freedom to create his own world but a lot of it is still very Forgotten Realms in feeling.

The Demon Awakens follows three different characters as they converge to stop an ultimate evil that has awoken, sending goblin, giant, and dwarven armies to destroy the towns and cities of men. The first half of this book have our characters apart and it is during this part the strength of the book happens. The world and the characters are much more interesting in their own setting and stories than they are when they come together, and it becomes mostly about fighting.

Avelyn is a monk that can wield the power of gemstones to create magic. When he learns his abbey of monks is corrupt he flees with a cache of gems and warnings of the world's impending doom. Elbryan is a human ranger that lives with the elves after goblins destroyed his town as a child. He grows up learning the ways and powers of the elves to protect the countryside. Pony is from the same destroyed town as Elbryan but she can't remember her past because of her traumatic experience.

She finds herself adopted in a city by a tavern owner. The characters are all rather cliche' character archetypes but Salvatore makes it work. I think that is one of R. Salvatore's strength, even though the characters are familiar he figures out a way for the reader to end up really liking them. Even though I knew these characters were less than stellar I still really liked them. Pony's character is definitely the weakest of the three main characters and my main criticism of Salvatore is that he bases value of female characters off of the male characters a lot. If you are looking for a good female character look somewhere else.

This is really an action packed adventure once the characters come together. The backstories and discovering the world is fun but people read Salvatore books for the action. Salvatore just writes combat scenes that readers love and this series is no exception. The graphic audio elements gave the book an even more epic feel when the fighting happened. I was hoping for a little bit more in this book and less of the expected.

I wanted to be surprised but everything just seemed rather by the numbers fantasy. Regardless I still enjoyed it, and if you like Salvatore's Drizzt series, you'll probably enjoy this too. I'm hoping for more complexity in future installments. Feb 15, Chris rated it really liked it. Salvatore's first story in a series set in a world of his own making rather than the more well known Forgotten Realms setting Oct 02, David rated it did not like it Shelves: I half-read, half-listened to this one.

I bought the series but didn't quite manage to get around to reading it, and then the audiobook by Graphic Audio became available so I started it off. First off, Graphic Audio is a more cinematic take on audio book narrations. It uses different voice actors, and the narration is punctuated with appropriate sound effects, which mostly does add to the immersion. But this comes at a "cost", in that where sound effects or dialogue will do, Graphic Audio will tr I half-read, half-listened to this one.

But this comes at a "cost", in that where sound effects or dialogue will do, Graphic Audio will trim or replace the actual written words. Sometimes I have no idea what a sound effect meant, and sometimes the voice actors sound comical. I most especially didn't like that Graphic Audio would also sometimes choose to insert their own words where the author didn't - the most offending to me were inserting dying words for one of the characters later in the plot - I felt that it drastically changed the mood of the scene.

I just don't like the idea that Graphic Audio would play "director" in the audio books they read. Which is what made me half-read the novel - I would listen to it, then skim through the pages again later on, just to get a "truer" picture. I'll pass on Graphic Audio narrations - they're not for me.

Now for the book itself. I came in expecting a great story and deep characters, but I found great disappointment. Was this really written after the Legend of Drizzt?!

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I'm sorry to say that this book was really amateurish. Being the first book of a new setting, I expected a bit of world-building. But all I got are several very generic human villages, one elf village, and one small- to mid-sized city that mainly just focuses on a tavern. Aside from a beautiful halo northern lights sort of thing and an order of monks from where one of the protagonists hail dedicated to the worship of a divine being, this world of Corona as of book 1 is very bland. The only culture I got was a generic patriarchal human kingdom whose societal "feel" content and seemingly prosperous are at odds with its military complacent and gilded.

One other thing that annoys the heck out of me are the names in this book - they're incredibly inconsistent. Individuals of the same village, city, or people-group can have wildly different sounding names and completely different constructs. Names are a pet peeve of mine; I just get irritated when authors just randomise weird-sounding names with no thought to world-building.

Despite monologues being heavier than actual conversations, the main characters are surprisingly one-dimensional characters. Their motivations are not always consistent, and the events that happen to them are too convenient. The situations that "happen" just happen because they need to happen. I guess the destruction of his home and family is to "toughen" him up?

And don't get me started on how he managed to earn a horse's friendship and how he acquired a sword. Get her into a bad marriage and divorce her into the military! Oh, and this soldier suddenly develops a strong sense of duty to fellow man and country, just because! And this dutiful soldier, after barely escaping a rout, then decides to tag along someone who earned the moniker "the Mad Friar" who likes getting into brawls, just because! This part of the plot started off a bit tedious, but it turned out to the best part of the book because Avelyn at least has believable and consistent motivations.

Too bad the completely unnatural "Ho, ho, what! And that's a theme for the book. The earlier chapters, where things are getting set up, feature better plot coherency and dialogue. It just goes downhill as those protagonists grow up. The pacing didn't help. It goes very slowly, then speeds up drastically as it approaches a milestone. This repeats several times, so it makes for uneven pacing.