The Demon Awakens by R.A. Salvatore

I read it for the first time when I was in 9th grade.  My friend Levi had it in the church van and showed me the scene of Elbryan and Jilseponie's first physical (romantic) encounter.  The sensuality and imminent danger hooked me.  So I picked up The Demon Awakens at my local library and read it quickly, each morning after my paper route.  I vividly remember laying on our couch, sunken and salmon-colored, propped on my elbows, listening to a normal bias cassette of Mudvayne's L.D. 50 in my headphones, and reading The Demon Awakens.  

Salvatore's Demon Wars series lasted seven volumes.  The last was released when I was a senior in high school.  Sadly, I only made it through book five.  So I tried to start the series over again in 2009 and only made it through book three (The Demon Apostle).  

Maybe this time I'll make it through to the end.  I could probably read just part each a year.  My third time through The Demon Awakens took a lot of patience, despite regular waves of nostalgia.  Aside from The Hobbit, this was my first true fantasy book.  I wasn't quite ready for the highly informative nature of Lord of the Rings.  I was idealistic, adventurous, and overall interested in fantasy and DEMONS so Salvatore's books were perfect for me.  Not perfect for everyone.  

Have you read any stories, in your adult life, with heroic centaurs who skin and eat whole deer with their bare hands?  If not, I do urge you to check out this book.  It is probably definitely at your local library.  

Thanks again for taking time to join me in The Zone.