Customer Reviews

Krondor the Assassins: Book Two of the Riftwar Legacy (Feist, Raymond E. Riftwar Legacy, Bk. 2.)

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I gave this fluff a four - which it really doesn't deserve but...Jimmy and Arutha are my favorite characters in the Midkemia world...and Assassins is head and shoulders above Betrayal. And even though we are clearly set up for books 3, 4 etc., I'd rather have mediocre Feist than no Feist at all. Feist makes Assassins a stronger book by concentrating it's limited plot line on Squire James and his Prince. Betrayal had a 'Whoo! Where did that come from.' quality that...well...betrayed the reader. Assassins is much more tightly plotted. I can see how this novel is structured after a video game: fighting in the Nighthawks underground fortress is clearly level x...but it doesn't wack you in the head with it. And, for the most part, I didn't feel I was reading something written for computer geeks who want a further game fix. So I guess I'll be waiting for book 3... Krondor, the Misdemeanor?

During the Riftwar Saga, no one did it better than Feist. A brilliantly crafted world, vivid mature characters and crackling dialogue added up to one of the best series in modern fantasy. The series that ended with ...Sethanon was one for the century, putting the Jordans and Eddings to shame.

We were treated to a few more lovely novels in the series, but after Rise of a Merchant Prince, the quality just went downhill. Characters grew less vivid, actions seemed repetitive, and the underlying story of a greater evil underneath the ones we already knew only served to minimize the impact of the earlier books.

The 'Krondor Books' are simply the worst things he's ever written, and an embarassment to the series. They read more like, well, like adaptations of computer games than the mastery Feist used to show. It's almost as if he's working with a colloborator (and one who does most of the work) and that unknown just isn't up to snuff.

Maybe it's time for Mr. Feist to leave the world of Midkemia and strike out for fresher pastures. But as much as I love Jimmy, Cousin Willy and Arutha (who quite frankly is unrecognizable in this book), it's time to say goodbye before things get even worse.

Here we have a book that surely offers nothing new, but it does offer a further look into the past events prior to the serpentwar series. I feel that this novel is not as bad as some reviewers has put it as.

Granted we have a book that does not fully entertain some because we all have different ways we like books to be. I'll say this: if you are a previous fan of Feist's works you will not be dissapointed with this one if you just be paitent with it and realise it for what it is, a bridge the time book.

Keeping this in mind you'll easily be able to enjoy the writing style you have always been acustomed to. Feist retains his talent with description and dialogue, and I guarentee that you'll not put this one down until it's complete.

I certainly found this an entertaining read. We get to revisit familiar characters such as James the Hand and Locklear before they died in later books and we discover what the whole thing was with the Crawler and the Mockers.

My advice to those who still do not like these books: just be paitent with Mr. Feist. He is doing his best to write something we'll like. Just wait, soon enough the "Dark War Saga" will be upon us.

I know I'm prejudiced in my review because Raymond E. Feist has always been my favorite author, however this book has it all.

It's probably not a great book if you haven't read the Riftwar saga which I wholeheartedly recommend you read first.

This book is a great return to that world and the characters in it. As that world has changed over the years with new books some characters are sadly gone. Without spoiling anything, these books falling in the middle of the timespan of all the books, bring back some characters and it's like seeing old friends again.

I always look forward to new Feist/Riftwar-world novels and hope for many more in the years to come.

If I had to give one downside to this book was that it was short (being an adaptation of a video game) and was over much quicker than I would have liked.

Feist writes another epic fantasy and proves why he is foremost among modern fantasy authors. An absorbing plot and characters that you care about make it an excellent read. It is also nice to read adventures about Jimmy the Hand, Arutha, Locklear, and the rest of the Riftwar characters again. Although Krondor the Betrayal seemed a bit mechanical, Krondor the Assassins recaptures the magic that makes his stories the most interesting on the market today. I can't wait for the next one!

I personally thought that this book was an excellent read in a way that it had an intriguing plot which kept you just turning the pages. In this book, you see the link from other of Feist's books, the later Serpentwar Saga and the in between books. Had he wrote his books all in order, completing this before the Serpentwar Saga, etc, it would have been more suspenseful. As a result, you lose some of that suspense and know that they'll live. I'm a little disappointed but impressed with this 'linking' book, knowing that the next book will simply be another game based book of Return to Krondor. But still a very good book.

Book 2 of the Legacy of the Riftwar

The first thing I have to say is that this is far better than Krondor: The Betrayal. This book feels more like a story rather than a series of action scenes slapped together and called Midkemia. The book opens shortly after The Betrayal and advances the story of something/someone threatening the kingdom. Squire James has more of a role in this book, as does Prince Arutha. For the first time in the series, William (the son of Pug) has a major starring role.

Something bad is going on in Krondor. There are mysterious murders occurring in the city, but instead of it being nobles or common folk, it seems that a lot of criminals are being killed. This wouldn't raise up a red flag, except that they are members of the Guild of Thieves: The Mockers. James is sent to investigate and learns that the Mockers have been overrun by a gang ruled by someone known as The Crawler. The leader of the Mockers, The Upright Man, is presumed dead and James suspects this is part of a plot not only against the Mockers but against the Prince as well. Someone is stirring up trouble.

At the same time, the Duke of Olasko (a duchy later appearing in The Conclave of Shadows series set a century later) is passing through and visits Krondor. He wants to hunt, so Arutha assigns William and some other soliders to escort the Duke. During the hunting trip they are attacked and it seems that someone is trying to start a war between Krondor and Olasko (or the Kingdom of the Isles, and the East). This raises the stakes even more as this mysterious enemy is fighting on several fronts.

Krondor: The Assassins deals with the fight to save Krondor from within as well as stop those trying to kill the Duke of Olasko and prevent a war. As I said, this was much better than Krondor: The Betrayal, and while it doesn't measure up close to Feist's other work like the Riftwar Saga, this was a fairly enjoyable read. It is a step back in the right direction, at the least.

Raymond Feist delivers again, this book is much better than krondor the betrayal, I loved william: pug's son, and how it showed how he first started climbing the ladder of power. Feist weaves a great story with obsorbing characters and a great plot. The only thing bad about this is having to wait for the next book in the series.

The Krondor series is far less epic than the Riftwar or the Serpentwar saga, with problems that are more localized and less 'fate of the world.' Sadly, that takes much of the tension in the earlier books. The characters were also less compelling, making it hard for me to care about the problems they face or what happens to them.

Assassins, like its predecessor Betrayal, is based on the bestselling PC game Betrayal at Krondor, but the parts about the game that were so effective simply don't work so well in fiction. The game suggested all sorts of possible tensions between the Crawler and the Thieves' Guild, and in my opinion, Feist could have resolved the ending in a far better way. We never really find out who is the villain of the piece, and there were so many loose ends in the plot I lost track of them.

Other than that, the plot is halfway decent, and fans of the earlier books will have enough fond recollections of Jimmy and Arutha to continue with this. But if you've never read a Feist book before, my suggestion is that you read the first Riftwar book, Magician, which is a far better read.

I have to start with nothing but admiration for the work Mr. Feist has done with the first books of the riftwar saga. "Magician: Apprentice" through a "Darkness at Sethanon" were fabulous, well rounded stories with vivid characters and settings that you could see. Then when he teamed up with Janny Wurts to do the three books on the other side of the rift I thought he was breaching some new horizons within himself, they didn't compare to the first four books, they were different and more sensual, personal feelings came into play with Mara and her family and the old war horses of Keyoke and Papewaio. Those tellings could not be paralleled. But this writing of books for computer games ... I play games, Dungeons and Dragons is a favorite, but to change the world of Midkemia to adapt to someone's computer games is almost sacrilege. I do not think that these "Krondor" books are worth the deviations. The story is weak, the characters are superficial, there is almost a dumb "computer-type-dialogue" to them and the world is falling apart because of it all.

Mr. Feist, please finish this series of books, then set them off to the side and continue on with the world of Midkemia. Make it sing with life and glow with the ferver of a people that we can feel.