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faehistory's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
zoeamac's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
duffypratt's review
3.0
The makers of "Seinfeld" had a motto: "No hugs, no learning." It's one of the things I like, for example, about dark fantasy a la Joe Abercrombie. Feist puts himself more to the other end of the spectrum. A pair of royal twins get sent to a foreign land for a light diplomatic mission, and for some seasoning. There are assassination attempts, sales into slavery, some betrayals, a lot of good old fashioned male fantasy sex, and, in the end, lots of hugs and lots of learning. I enjoyed it, though I found it mostly predictable.
I especially liked the development into old age of Jimmy the Hand, a favorite from the Riftwar series. And also the introduction of Nakor, a mad magician who insists he is merely a trickster. I think Feist did a pretty good job with laying out the empire of Keth, plying it with political intrigue, and keeping something of a mystery/suspense plot going. I found the whole thing enjoyable, but somewhat mediocre. I have the impression that Feist writes consistently good, and entertaining books, but that they aren't great.
I especially liked the development into old age of Jimmy the Hand, a favorite from the Riftwar series. And also the introduction of Nakor, a mad magician who insists he is merely a trickster. I think Feist did a pretty good job with laying out the empire of Keth, plying it with political intrigue, and keeping something of a mystery/suspense plot going. I found the whole thing enjoyable, but somewhat mediocre. I have the impression that Feist writes consistently good, and entertaining books, but that they aren't great.
givethatbooknerd's review against another edition
3.0
3 stars: the basic bitch of fantasy books. I enjoyed it but it was Not Very Good.
The storyline: quite early on, the story gets torn into two sides when our two princes Borric and Erland (or as I like to call them, Chad and Brad) are separated. One needs to survive a desert, escape slavery, travel across an empire and enter an immense castle. The other needs to navigate court and have sex with a few girls (or as Feist calls it, ~lovemaking~), and maybe discover a political plot. Along the way, they face different small and big challenges and meet new friends and foes. To be honest, it's quite a basic storyline, but it's still enjoyable. Another reader described it as 'popcorn adventure' and I think that's a pretty fitting description.
The characters: let's start with Chad and Brad. Their names might be Borric and Erland but they deserve Chad and Brad, given how much of jock dudebro's they are. Borric has a decent development in becoming a better person (being sold into slavery and almost dying in the desert have that effect on you, I guess), but Erland remains a jock dudebro without a lot going for him. I found I didn't really care about him throughout the story. Jimmy the hand got an upgrade to Baron James, and with it, his personality seemed to have changed from when we last saw him in A Darkness at Sethanon. This isn't necessarily a bad thing: people grow up. It would have been nice to once in a while see the young Jimmy shine through, though. Locklear felt replacable to me: his character didn't add anything to the story. In this book, we meet gruff mercenary Ghuda Bulé and strange happy trickster Nakor, who in my opinion really add to the story, although like another reviewer pointed out, Nakor is a bit of a deus ex machina, getting the crew out of trouble when trouble seems inevitable. Suli, a small boy who's big ambition is to serve some noble men, was nice to read about, but felt a bit like a device to make Borric grow up and show some responsibility.
"But wait!" I hear you cry. "What about the women? There must be some women, right?". Well, yes and no. There are female characters, but they are used more as plot devices than true characters, like the men above are. Let's start with poor Gamina, who is only there because of her skills to communicate telepathically (quite convenient in a court full of spies). She and one of the men fall head over heels in love after meeting each other for about 0.382 seconds and from there she tags along as a mind reading device. We don't know anything about her feelings or history and she's written quite flat. The other women, three, are of the Keshian noble line. Custom among them is to wear nothing to conceal their upper body. Erland was like a child in a candy shop, with all the naked chests of the beautiful ladies (the exception being the Empress, because at 70-something, your boobs are too ugly for the Keshian court). The princess Shojiana and the servant Mia are there as playthings for Erland, Shojiana has the bonus of being the object of a treason/revolution pact.
The biggest flaw of these characters is how they relate to each other. When Borric was thought dead, Erland wasn't all that sad about it really ("It just doesn't feel like he's really gone"). One character got an off-screen death, but deserved more, and no one seemed to grieve for him. Another character died, and the most emotional response was another character saying: "That is sad."
The worldbuilding: while it felt like the empire of Kesh was just a collection of 'This was inspired by Africa/Middle East/Asia', there was a nice depth to the descriptions and most places seemed to come to life. Not exceptional, but pretty good.
The atmosphere: like said before, 'popcorn adventure' is a pretty good description. It's not all that good, but it is action-packed and descriptive enough to be enjoyable. A bit of a basic bitch, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I've already read the next book (before reading this one), and it was better than this.
Best part: Borric's journey from when Ghuda and Nakor joined him.
The storyline: quite early on, the story gets torn into two sides when our two princes Borric and Erland (or as I like to call them, Chad and Brad) are separated. One needs to survive a desert, escape slavery, travel across an empire and enter an immense castle. The other needs to navigate court and have sex with a few girls (or as Feist calls it, ~lovemaking~), and maybe discover a political plot. Along the way, they face different small and big challenges and meet new friends and foes. To be honest, it's quite a basic storyline, but it's still enjoyable. Another reader described it as 'popcorn adventure' and I think that's a pretty fitting description.
The characters: let's start with Chad and Brad. Their names might be Borric and Erland but they deserve Chad and Brad, given how much of jock dudebro's they are. Borric has a decent development in becoming a better person (being sold into slavery and almost dying in the desert have that effect on you, I guess), but Erland remains a jock dudebro without a lot going for him. I found I didn't really care about him throughout the story. Jimmy the hand got an upgrade to Baron James, and with it, his personality seemed to have changed from when we last saw him in A Darkness at Sethanon. This isn't necessarily a bad thing: people grow up. It would have been nice to once in a while see the young Jimmy shine through, though. Locklear felt replacable to me: his character didn't add anything to the story. In this book, we meet gruff mercenary Ghuda Bulé and strange happy trickster Nakor, who in my opinion really add to the story, although like another reviewer pointed out, Nakor is a bit of a deus ex machina, getting the crew out of trouble when trouble seems inevitable. Suli, a small boy who's big ambition is to serve some noble men, was nice to read about, but felt a bit like a device to make Borric grow up and show some responsibility.
"But wait!" I hear you cry. "What about the women? There must be some women, right?". Well, yes and no. There are female characters, but they are used more as plot devices than true characters, like the men above are. Let's start with poor Gamina, who is only there because of her skills to communicate telepathically (quite convenient in a court full of spies). She and one of the men fall head over heels in love after meeting each other for about 0.382 seconds and from there she tags along as a mind reading device. We don't know anything about her feelings or history and she's written quite flat. The other women, three, are of the Keshian noble line. Custom among them is to wear nothing to conceal their upper body. Erland was like a child in a candy shop, with all the naked chests of the beautiful ladies (the exception being the Empress, because at 70-something, your boobs are too ugly for the Keshian court). The princess Shojiana and the servant Mia are there as playthings for Erland, Shojiana has the bonus of being the object of a treason/revolution pact.
The biggest flaw of these characters is how they relate to each other. When Borric was thought dead, Erland wasn't all that sad about it really ("It just doesn't feel like he's really gone"). One character got an off-screen death, but deserved more, and no one seemed to grieve for him. Another character died, and the most emotional response was another character saying: "That is sad."
The worldbuilding: while it felt like the empire of Kesh was just a collection of 'This was inspired by Africa/Middle East/Asia', there was a nice depth to the descriptions and most places seemed to come to life. Not exceptional, but pretty good.
The atmosphere: like said before, 'popcorn adventure' is a pretty good description. It's not all that good, but it is action-packed and descriptive enough to be enjoyable. A bit of a basic bitch, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I've already read the next book (before reading this one), and it was better than this.
Best part: Borric's journey from when Ghuda and Nakor joined him.
julieabe89's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
slow-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
5.0
This was such a good development of the universe. We got to see more of the original side of the universe outside Rillanon. I loved the politics and intrigue so so much.
arthurbdd's review against another edition
2.0
Alright bit disposable adventure story, blemished by some double standards in the depiction of the world's cultures. Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/2009/09/09/the-reading-canary-riftwar-the-next-generation/
brokensky's review
5.0
Great seeing the kids of Arutha tearing things up - this could be considered a stand alone book but well worth the read