Reviews

Wrath Of A Mad God by Raymond E. Feist

thomascyke's review against another edition

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4.0

More like 3.5 stars. A worthy continuation of the two previous books, this one ties up a lot of loose ends and brings about some earth-shattering changes in the Riftwar universe. Imaginative world-building and interesting characters continue to be the back-bone of thew series. And once again there are too many typos to count (what's wrong with that editor!)

ngeru's review against another edition

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3.0

Another Riftwar book. Feist writes well, and his charcters are better than many in this type, but I think he is exhausting this genre and subject. Too much reliance on deus et machina I think.

ysle's review against another edition

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3.0

While this book was still a very enjoyable read, there are a number of inaccuracies/retcons compared to previous books in the Riftwar Cycle.

At one point it is stated that Kaspar never interacted with Elves before save one instance where he met an Elven messenger, which is untrue as his stay in Elvandar was throughly detailed in a previous book.

Also bothersome is the fact that the Minwanabi clan are retconned back into existence whereas they were previously exterminated at the end of the Empire trilogy.

The most infuriating retcon in my opinion is the statement that Erik von Darkmoor never wed, while his wife was often mentioned and interacted with previously in the series.

In hindsight I'd still have read this book, but the various retcons, or perhaps, mistakes, needlessly detract from the overall quality of the story.

cherrick8's review against another edition

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4.0

I'll go ahead and give this one 4 stars because it wrapped up the trilogy satisfactorily. This set was a decent read but that's about all I have for it. It didn't suck, but it didn't wow me either.

jamsl94's review

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3.25

This one was a mixed bag. On one hand you have some great battle scenes, touching ends for long running characters and a moon being thrown at a villain. But on the other is a slow first half, continuity errors and a plot in Quor that just feels there to fill pages. 

ellyrarg's review against another edition

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3.0

Glad to be done. It was fine, plenty of new to still be interesting, but there were some errors that bothered me (like the existence of Minawabi, when it was clear in the empire books that Mara obliterated the line). Also, well over characters who keep other characters alive (ahem, Jimmy the Hands great grandson, also named Jimmy. The explanation of his history was convoluted and served no purpose). And if I didn’t have to read about the ‘bump of trouble’ again, that would be great.

Still, Nakor will always be one of my favourites (I was sad when he was out of oranges), and I enjoyed the Bek storyline too. Didn’t love the Marcos storyline. He was fairly unnecessary I thought. Hey ho. Glad I’m done with that series!

kenlaan's review against another edition

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3.0

A disappointing three stars for the conclusion of a trilogy that started strong. This book started well but was bogged down by an ending that managed to be both a little boring and depressing simultaneously.

Tad, Zane, and Johnny, characters that I enjoyed following in the previous two books, continued fading from focus, until I think Feist nearly forgot about them, and certainly had nothing for them to do. Even in their own narrative thread they were supplanted by Jimmy the Hand 2.0, who was a decent enough character in his own right, but far too similar to others and a seemingly unnecessary addition this late in the trilogy.

While Pug is and should be the lynchpin of the larger Riftwar Cycle, Feist is at his best when he's writing about the "ground-level" people: Eric, Jimmy, Roo, and yes, Tad, Zane and Johnny. That this book focused almost exclusively on all-powerful gods and magicians battling and scheming against one another and is one of my least-enjoyed books that I've read by him is no coincidence.

The world and culture of the Dasari, which I found compelling in the last book, didn't end up being so, and the mysterious Bek likewise ended up not making a whole lot of sense.

Still, this remains a compelling universe nonetheless and I look forward to seeing its conclusion.

siriuschico's review against another edition

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3.0

If you're looking for a book that will take you on a wild ride through a fantasy world filled with non-stop action and madness, then 'Wrath of a Mad God' is your ticket. Just be sure to hold on tight - this book is like a rollercoaster, except instead of loops and drops, it's filled with dark magic and deranged deities.
As a horror fan, I especially loved the dark world of the Dasati - their madness and cruelty really got my heart racing. The images of a mad god devouring endless lines of living beings warmed my desiccated heart. That's why I was a little bit disappointed that the whole Dasati world was put a little bit in the background. Sure, events are happening there, but there is much less information about their world and culture. Valko is still there, but his storyline is overtaken by the mighty Pug, which was a little bit disappointing. I really feel that Pug is a little bit overpowered to be really worried about him. And let's not forget Miranda, the screamer. Several chapters start with the same sentence - 'Miranda screamed.' - but I quickly realized that every chapter starts with the name of the main character. It's a simple but efficient way to inform the reader which storyline we're jumping to. Hamilton, take note!
However, it falls a bit short of the second book, 'Into a Dark Realm'. I mainly disliked the information dump at the end. If you're reading the whole series from the beginning, then it may be a good conclusion to some major story arcs. But for me (since I started with the book 'Flight of a Nighthawk'), it was a little overwhelming with all the new names and concepts to wrap my head around.
And let's be real - Raymond is in desperate need of a good editor. There are a lot of errors, including some seemingly wrongly placed passages (it seemed like a whole flying paragraph was in the wrong place) and even some silly mistakes like double periods. Overall, it's a very nice and enjoyable fantasy. I'll probably digest it for a year or two, but I know I'll revisit Riftwar, and this time I may even start from the beginning.

ayla_derammelaere's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

4.25

pat17's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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