Introduction: The text below this introduction was for a written book report.  The type of book was our choice.  This is the type of book I usually read and I enjoyed reading it.  This is a synopsis of The Spine of the World written by R. A. Salvatore.
 
 

        This story takes place in the fantasy world called Fauren.  It is a continuation of the Dark Elf Trilogy featuring Drizzt Do’Urden.  This book focuses on Drizzt’s troubled friend, Wulfgar, who has just been rescued from his torturer, an evil fiend from the Abyss.  He is happy to finally be freed from the fiend’s tormenting which lasted six long years.  Wulfgar is a muscular, nearly seven foot tall barbarian from Icewind Dale.  Anytime he tries to be with someone he knows, he hallucinates and thinks that the person is actually the fiend who mercilessly tortured him.

        He runs away from his friends to a large city called Luskan.  While in the city, he stops by a well-known tavern called the Cutlass.  When he scares the customers because of his large size, the bouncers come after him.  His phenomenal strength and many years of training allows him to remove all five bouncers from the tavern in a massive brawl.  Arumn, the tavern’s owner, is in awe of this and hires Wulfgar to be his bouncer.  He fires the other bouncers.  He pays Wulfgar by giving him all the liquor he wants.  Wulfgar finds that he can use the potent drinks to block out the memories of the fiend’s torture.  He makes his reputation grow quickly when he dispatches of troublemakers by launching them from the door – most of them end up over twenty feet from where he threw them.  Eventually, Tree Block Breaker, one of the town’s most reputable brawlers challenges Wulfgar.  Wulfgar amazes everyone by beating him even though Tree Block Breaker is even bigger than he is.  Wulfgar ended the fight by killing the man with his legendary war hammer (made by his adopted dwarven father), Aeris-Fang.  His hammer is legendary because of the magic on it that will return it to his hand with a spoken word by Wulfgar.

        Now Wulfgar has the attention of the other reputable street brawler.  His name is Morik the Rogue.  When he stays in the inn, he is confronted by Dark Elves, an evil race of elves that are one of the deadliest races on Fauren.  They ask him (in other words he does it or he dies) to watch over Wulfgar and report to them when they return what he has been doing.  He decides to talk to Wulfgar.  Wulfgar becomes a “drinking partner” with Morik and they eventually become friends.  Wulfgar is also friends with one of the serving girls, Delly.

        When he repeatedly hurts her feelings, Arumn tells Wulfgar to leave.  Arumn’s friend, Josi Puddles dislikes Wulfgar because he has feelings for Delly and is jealous of Wulfgar.  He sells Wulfgar’s prized Aeris-Fang it to a pirate. When Wulfgar finds his hammer missing he flies into an uncontrollable rage and the result is a free-for-all brawl between 150 patrons of the Cutlass.  Josi was prepared for this and had asked the Cutlass’s previous bouncers and a couple of their tough friends to come to the Cutlass.  Wulfgar fights very well, but the thugs are seven strong and are armed to the teeth with weapons – too much for him to handle.  Wulfgar is beaten, but hurts the thugs badly.  The smallest injury was to their leader who Wulfgar knocked out in the beginning who only received a broken jawbone.  Wulfgar leaves and is followed by Morik.

        Morik and Wulfgar are then set up by Tee-a-Nick and his partner.  These two pirates are supposed to kill one of Wulfgar’s old acquaintances, Captain Duedermont of the Sea Sprite.  They want to kill him because he is the captain of the most successful pirate hunter ship ever and has sunk more than 50 pirate ships with his crew.  He is a popular figure among the public, but hated by all pirates.  These two pirates are going to try to assassinate him mainly for the money – more than 10,000 gold coins in bounty from several pirate ships’ crews.  While Duedermont meets with Wulfgar and Morik (as they planned), they shoot Duedermont with a cat claw that they coated with a virtually unknown but deadly poison.  Although they are caught by the authorities (Duedermont’s friend, a mage named Robiliard, spies the two pirates waiting for Duedermont and summoned the city guards), they are able to place the blame on Wulfgar and Morik.  Duedermont recovers because of all the attention from priests’ healing spells and herbs he received.  He spares Wulfgar and Morik.

        The two become highwaymen (robbers) and steal from passing merchants.  One time, they attack a royal carriage from Auck, a small city who has a royal leader.  When the lady, Meralda, returns to Castle Auck, she tells her husband that she was raped by Wulfgar (even though it is not true).  She does this because it will give her a reason for her pregnancy (her husband does not know it, but she had an affair with one of the town’s men before she married him about a month ago).  Her husband is enraged and hires a mage to find Wulfgar.  When found, he puts Wulfgar in his dungeon and sentences him to various tortures and then death.  Meralda’s guilty conscience makes her sneak into the dungeon and let Wulfgar out.  She explains to him her reasons and then returns to her bedroom while Wulfgar escapes.

        Several months later, Wulfgar is ready to face his problems head-on now.  He quits drinking.  When he learns that Meralda’s baby has just been born, he heads back to Castle Auck despite Morik’s warning that he will only be killed.  He charges into the castle and finds Meralda in her room with several other people including her husband.  He snatches the baby, claims it as his own, and makes the other leave or Morik says he will kill Lord Auck who he is holding a knife to his throat.  After they exit and go to fetch the soldiers, Wulfgar tells Meralda that she is now free of guild and everyone will believe without a doubt her explanation for her baby.  She is glad for this and tells Wulfgar that he is a truly great man because the towns’ people were starting to disbelieve her.  Wulfgar is provided with two horses, food, and decent clothing and he gallops back to Luskan.  Lord Auck is now happy again - he has no doubt that his wife is telling the truth.

        When Wulfgar and Morik reach Luskan, they enter in disguise (they were exiled even though Duedermont spared them of death).  Morik settles back into the society, reestablishing his many contacts and his great reputation.  Wulfgar goes back to the Cutlass.  He apologizes to Arumn, Delly, and even Josi for his actions, but says that he has overcome, at last, the hallucinations that were projected because of his torturing.  Delly is overjoyed to see him, and decides to quit the serving job to go with Wulfgar to live in Waterdeep.  As story ends, the new couple heads towards Waterdeep, smiling at each other.

Conclusion: I thought this was a very good book.  The book also went into detail about Meralda in the book's beginning through the end, a parallel story, but I had to fit this report on the back on a book cover and therefore was forced to shorten it.  I read the hardcover version.  I have nearly 100 Forgotten Realms and DragonLance books.  This series with Drizzt Do'Urden is one of my favorites.  I started with the trilogy including Homeland, Exile, and Sojourn.  Then, I read the Icewind Dale trilogy.  Finally, I have read the other six books currently released pertaining to Drizzt (The Legacy, Starless Night, Siege of Darkness, The Silent Blade, and this book).  If you ever read about this character, you will surely be as interested as I am with him!