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ellyrarg's review against another edition
3.0
Well that was infinitely more interesting than the first book, and I’m grateful the conclusion was also held back. Well done middle book for being a proper middle book!
Not loving the Tad/Zane/Jommy storyline, and also feel that despite her power, Miranda was awfully slow and practically deserves her predicament. I also wonder how much that line features in the general patriarchy/objectification that is in much of the Feist books.
Not loving the Tad/Zane/Jommy storyline, and also feel that despite her power, Miranda was awfully slow and practically deserves her predicament. I also wonder how much that line features in the general patriarchy/objectification that is in much of the Feist books.
kenlaan's review against another edition
4.0
This was an excellent second entry to a surprisingly good trilogy - I thought I had seen that the Riftwar Cycle falls off near the end? maybe that's later to come - and I'm immediately continuing on to the conclusion.
Feist plays the old hits - more young men training, for two separate distinct sets of characters, more of Pug and Nakor running around doing their thing - while also introducing an extremely horrifying and compelling new world of the Dasati, a world that was fully taken over by The Nameless One where concepts of morality and empathy are completely foreign.
I was fully invested throughout, though this does suffer a bit from middle book syndrome, as it ends extremely abruptly, basically mid-scene. Luckily, the third book was published about 15 years ago, so I don't have to wait!
Feist plays the old hits - more young men training, for two separate distinct sets of characters, more of Pug and Nakor running around doing their thing - while also introducing an extremely horrifying and compelling new world of the Dasati, a world that was fully taken over by The Nameless One where concepts of morality and empathy are completely foreign.
I was fully invested throughout, though this does suffer a bit from middle book syndrome, as it ends extremely abruptly, basically mid-scene. Luckily, the third book was published about 15 years ago, so I don't have to wait!
wyldkyss's review against another edition
3.0
After the one-note read I got from the first book in this trilogy, I picked up book two with some trepidation. Thankfully the writing style in this book gave more to look forward to and it got truly interesting about 3/4 through. I ordered book 3 before I finished book 2.
siriuschico's review against another edition
4.0
I'm very much impressed with how easy it is to read Feist. This is my second book from this massive series (number 25), and I'm starting to get hooked. Initially, I just wanted to go through The Darkwar trilogy to get a glimpse into a slightly different genre which my wife likes, but now I think I may read a little bit more Feist in future.
The world of Dasati is terrific - I love horror and feelings of dread, and in this word, it emanates from everybody and everywhere. We have a rigorous society that doesn't care for its children and well being of others. They battle endlessly, and the price of life is negligible. And into this brutal world Pug and his group of magicians go for a trip for god knows what reason, just like kindergarteners on their way to buy ice cream through Hollywood Boulevard (run before Weinstein gets you, you fool).
I really enjoyed the shift from the youngster in training into more of the exploration of the new, dark realm.
BUT, (there is always some but isn't it?), there are a few flaws which keep it from five stars. For example whole Valko storyline seems to be pasted from The Greatest Book Ever, just instead of Bene Gesserit we have Bloodmothers; instead of Paul we have Valko, and instead of Shai-Hulud we have Dark One. Also, there were two scenes where the author forgot who was present - I needed to double-check if I just missed that, but I was not at fault ( Vordam can teleport and Servan thinks he is Godfrey sometimes). Well, I should blame editors for these. I still enjoyed it and look forward to reading the last book of The Darkwar trilogy.
The world of Dasati is terrific - I love horror and feelings of dread, and in this word, it emanates from everybody and everywhere. We have a rigorous society that doesn't care for its children and well being of others. They battle endlessly, and the price of life is negligible. And into this brutal world Pug and his group of magicians go for a trip for god knows what reason, just like kindergarteners on their way to buy ice cream through Hollywood Boulevard (run before Weinstein gets you, you fool).
I really enjoyed the shift from the youngster in training into more of the exploration of the new, dark realm.
BUT, (there is always some but isn't it?), there are a few flaws which keep it from five stars. For example whole Valko storyline seems to be pasted from The Greatest Book Ever, just instead of Bene Gesserit we have Bloodmothers; instead of Paul we have Valko, and instead of Shai-Hulud we have Dark One. Also, there were two scenes where the author forgot who was present - I needed to double-check if I just missed that, but I was not at fault ( Vordam can teleport and Servan thinks he is Godfrey sometimes). Well, I should blame editors for these. I still enjoyed it and look forward to reading the last book of The Darkwar trilogy.
ayla_derammelaere's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
pat17's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
rossdent's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
teis's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
kahawa's review against another edition
3.0
Kind of entertaining, but not really a stand alone novel. The ending just kind of happened, obviously requiring the next book. The 'lore' is sort of interesting, and sort of too complicated - so many gods and high level magicians, making it hard to keep track of what's possible anymore.
arthurbdd's review against another edition
2.0
As Feist's Riftwar books progress, the series increasingly suffers from the same problem as Dragonball Z - namely, that you get an increasingly large gulf in power level between the top-tier characters and the more ordinary folk, which means that increasingly more and more of the stuff the ordinary characters do is meaningless busywork which at most is there to give the big guns a chance to strut their stuff. This volume has that syndrome bad. Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/2013/09/12/dungeons-dragonball-z/