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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
Roo is actually a pretty unpleasant character, and he’s hard to root for. I do like that Feist is thinking about the economic necessities of war, but lifting the plot of Trading Places is a poor way to show it.
Another great novel by Feist, although this one takes a turn of action to drama with the rise of Roo Avery in the finacial world. Still, it loses none of it readability and manages to stay engaging even while giving a brief lesson on trading. Including words we still hear tossed around on CNBC like "options".
Towards the end of the novel, we start to see more action as Calis and his company return to the land down under to take on the Emerald Queen's army once again.
I also like how Feist expands on Roo's character here. He is an imperfect hero and there were times that I disagreed with his actions, but that just made me like him all the better.
Towards the end of the novel, we start to see more action as Calis and his company return to the land down under to take on the Emerald Queen's army once again.
I also like how Feist expands on Roo's character here. He is an imperfect hero and there were times that I disagreed with his actions, but that just made me like him all the better.
Feist writes an entertaining story, quick read, but lacks the level of depth that would make it great.
The primary content of the book would've earned a single star; it was interesting, but I didn't enjoy it because of the very unlikable protagonist, Roo.
This book earned two stars from the inclusion of the Erik/Calis/Novindus story-line.
This book earned two stars from the inclusion of the Erik/Calis/Novindus story-line.
this is one of the riftwar ones i'd come back to the most (alongside magician, rage of a demon king, talon of a silver hawk, wrath of a mad god, and magician's end) and until this read, i always thought roo really was a decent main character despite his flaws. unsure if its just what im going through right now, but roo was just a straight up shitty man. i always thought he was a more amoral version of silk from belgariad, but at least by this point in the timeline, roo is just straight up unlikeable. which is fine, i love a book with an unlikeable main character, but for whatever reason this felt grating on this reread.
At the beginning the book we glimpse the machinations of a small demon which had me hooked straight away..! It then continues at it’s own pace gradually building on the characters and their backgrounds after their brush with the enemy.
This book is very Roo centric. To focus on one character in a story is fine but personally I found the next chapter in Roo’s life to be a bit boring. To be fair his role does tie in with the other characters a bit as the story progresses. It’s the topic that I found bland. Unfortunately about 25% in I decided to skip all the pages with Roo in them as I was getting bored.
On the whole a disappointing read and definitely not as gripping as the first. The book still has really good character and world development despite it feeling like it’s focusing on one person. I hoped the book would have contained more about the other characters rather than just a few pages dotted here and there as they were far more interesting to read.
This book is very Roo centric. To focus on one character in a story is fine but personally I found the next chapter in Roo’s life to be a bit boring. To be fair his role does tie in with the other characters a bit as the story progresses. It’s the topic that I found bland. Unfortunately about 25% in I decided to skip all the pages with Roo in them as I was getting bored.
On the whole a disappointing read and definitely not as gripping as the first. The book still has really good character and world development despite it feeling like it’s focusing on one person. I hoped the book would have contained more about the other characters rather than just a few pages dotted here and there as they were far more interesting to read.
Maybe I'm being too harsh and I should give this book two stars, but two stars means that "it was ok" and this book was not ok. This book was awful. Shadow of a Dark Queen was a very mid book. It had potential. If the following books in the series were steps up then this had a chance to be a very solid series. But this was nowhere near a step up. This was a massive step down. When I heard that this book was going to be Roo's story I was so excited because the only two characters who I really liked from book one were Roo and Miranda so there was no way a book about Roo could be bad right? WRONG. I literally could not give a crap about Roo's business ventures. It was boring as crap. And then Feist decided to go ahead and ruin Roo as a character by making him a heartless cheater who doesn't love his children? He's not even a character like Jezal where it's like he's technically a bad guy, but I still enjoy watching him. Roo was just awful. I cannot believe how bad things were. And then just to make matters worse Miranda is a cheater too? Two of the only times we saw her in this book was when she slept with Pug and then when she slept with Calis. This was almost worse than the Roo situation though because it was just never addressed. It was like the Miranda with Pug and the Miranda with Calis were two separate people because the book never bothered to say anything or give any explanation or excuse for how Miranda was acting.
I really wanted to continue with this series. A four book epic within a series containing thirty books. Like that sounds amazing, but it just isn't. I can't continue on with a series that is so perverted with such misogynistic characters who seem to only care about money and sleeping with hot women. I can't continue on with a series where two of the only like three female characters are both sleeping with multiple men and tricking the men into thinking that they're their only lover. I had such high expectations for the Riftwar Cycle, but I have been completely let down and have next to no motivation to read the third book in this quartet.
I really wanted to continue with this series. A four book epic within a series containing thirty books. Like that sounds amazing, but it just isn't. I can't continue on with a series that is so perverted with such misogynistic characters who seem to only care about money and sleeping with hot women. I can't continue on with a series where two of the only like three female characters are both sleeping with multiple men and tricking the men into thinking that they're their only lover. I had such high expectations for the Riftwar Cycle, but I have been completely let down and have next to no motivation to read the third book in this quartet.
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Pretty good! A 3.5 overall. Weaker than the first in the series, but by no means a poor book. I devoured it in less than a day.
Feist's issues with pacing are still present in this book - a major issue with the first - but significantly less so.
The plot felt underwhelming, focusing on a gradual build-up. This didn't feel like a fantasy story, more the first half of a bildungsroman, but I believe it set groundwork which will carry through to the rest of the series, and without this book a piece would be missing. I wish this story had been a b-plot to another story though, or even several. This book's b-plot was by far more exciting and I'd prefer it to have been the main storyline.
As in the first book, the major strength of this writing is in the characters. Roo got a lot of flesh to his character, and it was very intelligently done. I can't say I like him, but I can say he's a complex and well-created character. They all are, in some way, and this is where Feist's true strength lies.
Another of his strengths, world building, was less evident here. However, this didn't feel like a slip, more of a narrative choice - the narrator of most of the novel isn't really interested.
A *lot* of gratuitous sex, but thankfully nothing obscene.
I'll also point out that mine is a twelfth printing and was filled with typographical mistakes, wrong words, punctuation errors - things an editor or proofreader should have picked up, or that should have been ironed out within the first five printings at least. I kept a pencil behind my ear to mark them all.
So, overall, a good book, and I intend to continue reading this series. Should you pick it up? If you like fantasy, yes.
Feist's issues with pacing are still present in this book - a major issue with the first - but significantly less so.
The plot felt underwhelming, focusing on a gradual build-up. This didn't feel like a fantasy story, more the first half of a bildungsroman, but I believe it set groundwork which will carry through to the rest of the series, and without this book a piece would be missing. I wish this story had been a b-plot to another story though, or even several. This book's b-plot was by far more exciting and I'd prefer it to have been the main storyline.
As in the first book, the major strength of this writing is in the characters. Roo got a lot of flesh to his character, and it was very intelligently done. I can't say I like him, but I can say he's a complex and well-created character. They all are, in some way, and this is where Feist's true strength lies.
Another of his strengths, world building, was less evident here. However, this didn't feel like a slip, more of a narrative choice - the narrator of most of the novel isn't really interested.
A *lot* of gratuitous sex, but thankfully nothing obscene.
I'll also point out that mine is a twelfth printing and was filled with typographical mistakes, wrong words, punctuation errors - things an editor or proofreader should have picked up, or that should have been ironed out within the first five printings at least. I kept a pencil behind my ear to mark them all.
So, overall, a good book, and I intend to continue reading this series. Should you pick it up? If you like fantasy, yes.
a bit of a side story that only seems to advance the story line a bit, but maybe I'll see how it fits in better after reading the next book.... This book focused on my least favourite character from the last book (Roo)and his advance as a merchant. There were fun parts of the book, but not the usual adventure of the other books in the series.