I had not read any of the other Demon Wars books and until looking around did not know that the Highwayman was in anyway part of a bigger story. I felt that the book stood well on its own and although the slight cliff-hanger ending was a put down my, hopes raised immediately when I realized that there must be more books continuing after this one.

The book was definately up there with some of the best, and has put Salvatore on my all time favorite authors list. The story was intersting to say the least and not to spoil the story I can only say that I am an avid fantasy reader and this book is one of the best that I have read.

So in short READ IT!

In reading the critiques of so many "knowing critics" of acclaim, and especially after having read "The Highwayman" for myself, it becomes clear to me that either the critics never read the OTHER three books in the Demonwar saga, or else they choose to ignore thier existance.

I say this because of a few criticism's of Salvatore's latest work.

One, they say he didn't develop the world enough, or the characters enough. I believe that Salvatore wrote this book with the intention that it would suppliment those who HAD read the previous novels.

Secondly, some say he didn't develop the characters enough, but then criticize how long it took Salvatore to develop the base line of the story. Come on critics! Don't you know this is the start of another trilogy? At least I hope so! I was INTRIGUED by Salvatore's characters, especially Bransen...Can you imagine the power Stephen Hawkings would have with the ability to put his mind in alignment with his body?

And this IS the story! How a seemingly retarded person, of amazing intellect (it was intentional, you moronic critics, that Salvatore said Bransen memorized the entire book his father had scribed) could use that knowledge, that WISDOM gained, to alter his life, and those around him.

I found the book not shallow at all, found the characters interesting and well developed, and was captivated by the story...which is, after all, the very purpose of fantasy writing.

I would recommend the Demon Wars novels FIRST to someone before they read THIS book and its hopefully to come sequels, but find the reviews of the major SciFi critics unfounded, and certainly biased. Darn TV video-game generation! Get some foundation, will ya?