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A factory worker is kidnapped to help an elf reforge a broken spear, in this trilogy opener by the bestselling author of the Legend of Drizzt series. Gary Leger is desperate for adventure. Daydreaming is all that keeps him from going nuts while working a dead-end job in a plastics factory. The next best thing is burying himself in a good fantasy novel, and he spends much of his free time reading in the woods behind his house. That's when adventure finds him. Or rather, that's when he's hit show more with a tranquilizer arrow . . . When Gary comes to, he's still in the woods-but in a world inhabited by creatures from his favorite novels, like a pixie and a leprechaun. There's also an elf on a dangerous life-quest who requires Gary's assistance. As soon as Gary finishes helping him, he can go home. He simply needs to complete the task . . . while surviving encounters with trolls, an ice-hag, a dragon, and a sorceress bent on stopping them at all costs. This first novel in the Spearwielder's Tale trilogy is a great choice for fans of Alan Dean Foster's Spellsinger books and Terry Brooks's Shannara series. Praise for The Woods Out Back "Written as a light-hearted adventure, the book works because the reader sees the world of Faerie through Gary's eyes and Faerie is just as new to him as it is to the reader. . . . The book's fast-paced, good-humored nature draws the reader in and makes the world of Faerie a fine place to visit-good thing there are two more installments!" -SF Site. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
This starts with a fairly standard premise - the unhappy earthling who wanders into the woods and into Faerie. There, he must fulfill a quest or die trying. The overall plot may not be original, but Salvatore does a good job with it.
Entertaining - not great, but pretty good.
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Author Information
443+ Works 90,973 Members
R. A. Salvatore was born in Leominster, Massachusetts on January 20, 1959. He received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Communications and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English from Fitchburg State College in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. He began writing seriously in 1982 and became a full-time writer in 1990. His first novel, The Crystal Shard, was show more published in 1988. His other works include The Halfling's Gem; Sojourn; The Legacy; Starless Night; Vector Prime; and The Two Swords. He is also the author of numerous series including The Dark Elf Trilogy; Paths of Darkness; The Hunter's Blades Trilogy; The Cleric Quintet; Saga of the First King; Neverwinter Saga and TheSundering. He made The New York Times Best Seller List with his title's Charon's Claw, Night of the Hunter: Companions Codex, 1, Rise of the King and Vengeance of the Iron Dwarf. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Series
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Woods Out Back
- Original publication date
- 1993
- People/Characters
- Gary Leger; Mickey McMickey
- Dedication
- To the memory of J. R. R. Tolkien and to Fleetwood Mac , for giving me elfs and dragons, witches and angels, and for showing me the way to find them on my own.
- First words
- "You were caught fairly and within the written limits of your own rules," Kelsey said sternly.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)For Gary Leger looked upon not the expected typeset of a paperback, but upon the strange and flowing script of Mickey McMickey.
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 463
- Popularity
- 65,792
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (3.38)
- Languages
- English, Finnish, French, German
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 10
- ASINs
- 5
