To continue the journey thru the incredible world of The Forgotten Realms, I read the second installment of the series The War of the Spider Queen, Insurrection .
Picking up where the first book left off, the Drow city of Menzoberranzan stands on the brink of disaster , with the ability of the priestess to summon magic from Lolth gone, the very foundation of the matriarch is crumbling. Now what was a shadow war has erupted into open conflict.
In a desperate effort, Matron Mother Baenre, the supreme ruler of Menzoberranzan, gives the dangerous task of investigating if the silence of the goddess is only manifesting in their city to her daughter, Quenthel. This journey with takes her thru the treacherous tunnels of the Underdark to the trade city of Ched Nasad, the city of the Shimmering Webs.
Joining her to this seemingly impossible task are a couple of familiar faces from the previous book, the arrogant sorcerer Pharaun Mizzrym and the weapon master Ryle Argith.
To round this ragtag party down Jeggred Baenre, a draegloth (half-Demon/half-Drow) that serves as bodyguard to Quenthel, and the scout mercenary Valas Hune, expert tracker and knows every nook and cranny of the Underdark, embark as the small party to try to unravel the mystery of Lolth silence.
The perilous journey is tenfold due to the lack of assistance from the spider queen’s magic, this disadvantage is exploited from the very creatures of the Underdark and the other Drow factions roaming around the dark tunnels.
The most interesting part is the reaction of the society of the Drow, in the wake of such a catastrophic disaster of the integral part of their way of life is removed, all the backstabbing, power grabbing, conspiracies and manipulation become enhance is the face of a shattering paradigm.
The characters become conflicted in whether to continue with the mission, abandon the party, or seize the opportunity to take power into their own hands.
Their arrival to the Shimmering Webs city only make things worse, a full scale crumbling, literally and figuratively speaking, of the magic that hold all the society together, has collapsed and threatens the Drow world to be casted into oblivion
As with the last book, my favorite part is to dwell more into the mysterious Underdark, particularly seeing a city as Ched Nasad, founded by Menzoberranzan exiles with petrified cobwebs of two giant spiders sent by Lolth, and enhanced with faerie fire that gives it a purple and amber hue.
This volume only makes you want more insight into the mysterious Underdark, fortunately there’s still four more books to go.
Insurrection: War of the Spider Queen Book II
Author: Thomas M. Reid
No. of pages: 409
Publishing Date: December 2002
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