Customer Reviews

Rides a Dread Legion Signed Edition (Demonwar Saga 1)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The awkwardly-titled Rides a Dread Legion is a more promising beginning than Feist's last several series have started with. Although new characters, even a newly discovered people, play an important part in the story, old favorites Pug and Tomas again assume important roles in the story.

Most readers who have stuck with Feist since the 1980s have become accepting of his style, reminiscent of the space opera of Doc Smith, of following up a universe-saving battle in one book with a far more vital multi-universe struggle ten years later in the next series. That's been the Feist pattern so long that it can't be regarded as a bug, it's simply a feature.

We're back to the threat to Midkemia and other worlds coming from the various demon circles, and this book makes use of several new demon raising characters to more systematically explore what these beings are and what they want. There's a fair amount of conferencing between the various principals and experts, but action is not neglected either. The book does bog down in such scenes at times when Feist suddenly jumps to a fight between obscure characters or peoples who were only briefly introduced in prior series.

Really this book's strengths lie in the interplay between the various characters - especially Tomas, Pug and his family, and new additions Amirantha and Gulamendis, a being with a very different background than most of Midkemia's races, despite his people's connection to the world. Tomas again gets to flex his Valheru muscles on the side of good.

If you have no idea what that last sentence means, this would NOT be a good place to start reading Feist. He's written over 25 books set in or based on the Midkemia world, and although not all are vital to understanding this story, at the very least the first series, known as the Riftwar Saga, should be the starting point for anyone attempting Feist. It kicks off with Magician, which you may find split into two parts beginning with Magician: Apprentice. The Riftwar Saga, and the Empire Trilogy co-written with Janny Wurts, are classic fantasy series, even if not every Midkemia sequel has been up to those standards. But a new reader who does like Riftwar could do worse than to follow up by reading this book and its forthcoming continuation as well.

I might have given Dread Legion another star if it had more resolution. It's become (too) typical in fantasy for the individual books in multi-volume series to simply be long chapters, with the end of each book prior to the final one not particularly resolving anything. And because it's now the standard, if Feist were a 26 year-old newcomer I'd accept the 2009 style without comment. However, Feist is not that newcomer, and this what I consider lazy and sloppy new trend represents a backward step for writers of his generation. Magician had a point as a novel, despite being part of a series. So did Silverthorn, and Daughter of the Empire. I'm judging Feist by Feist standards rather than Brandon Sanderson standards, which I don't think is unfair. Feist is still published at all simply because he is grandfathered in as an established fantasy stalwart. If he had never been published and he walked into a publisher's office cold today with a Midkemia manuscript, he'd get it tossed back with a scornful comment about this not being 1983 and DelRey Books. Now I don't have a problem with my old favorite authors still writing sequels to those 1983 classics - obviously or I wouldn't still be reading them - but they can't have it both ways. If you're going to still live off 1983 fantasy, then give us self-contained 1983-style novels, not 2009 installments.

As is apparent, I regard 3 stars as an above-average rating. I have no quarrel with those who seldom give anything below a 4, but for my purposes I find it works best to save more room at the top while crowding all the average and poor stuff into the 1-2 range.

I have to start by saying that I am a long term fan and have read the entire series from that first book from the SciFi/Fantasy Book Club many years ago. I would have loved to give this book a 5, or even a 4, but I just couldn't do it.

First off, there just is not that much to the book. Ray (Hey, I've been a fan long enough to use a personal version of his name) must at this point believe that his fans know all about Midkemia and therefore does not need to waste much time with world building. Not that it was ever a strong feature of earlier works, but it was far better than represented here. Maybe that explains why the book is so short. In a time when I am reading contemporaries of R.F. (some newer to the scene) and finding massive stories loaded with rich characters and easily twice the length, I just have to ask, "What's up!"

I will, of course, continue to read the stories, just to know where Pug goes next. And I will admit that in the last few pages, he finally starts to realize that he has to not be just a player in the grand opera understanding only his part, but he needs to understand the opera itself. Launching himself towards godhood perhaps?

Anyway, read it, enjoy it, just don't get too disappointed when after a few hours of reading you turn the page and realize the book is done and you now have to wait for another year for the next, short installment.

As soon as the "biggest threat ever" is vanquished, Feist's next series introduces a bigger threat. This is part of his formula, and his ultra-powerful protagonists struggle mightily before winning the day, while the world around them is slowly wrecked.

In this book, Feist takes a very long time to set up his pieces on the board and introduces the massive danger that is so bad it is destroying the newly introduced race of super-elves.

While the reading is good, it does take a long time to set up, without much of the action I've come to expect.

Which is why the ending seems so strong and shocking. There is a twist which I didn't see coming, and a reminder that the reader shouldn't rely on the preconceptions which might be brought from earlier Feist novels.

My review is 3.5 stars, boosted up by the better than expected close to the story. In fact, I think the ending is the only thing that salvaged a book which sort of dragged.

I have read all of Feist's works going back to 1983 in order as they came out, so I am old now ;-). As many of these reviews will show, there are those who get ticked that there is not more closure to the story and it does not stand on its own. Well, folks, it is a SAGA and those tend to be very long stories in mnay volumes. Feist is not the only author in fantasy doing that now - everyone is. I think the writers are being pushed in this direction more than they want to, but I digress. This is actaully one of Ray's strongest books in quite some time. The two orignal trilogies from back in the 1980s starting with Magician and Daughter of the Empire are the best and most essential to read before getting into these later stories of Ray's because he uses the same fantasy world and old characters, and also much of what happens in later sagas is reflective of past sagas/trilogies. Pug, Tomas and the old crew from the past books are like old friends and I'm always glad to see them again. However, be warned Ray has started knocking off some of the old gang in the last couple of series so there are some unexpected things out there. I found this to be a fun book, not overly complicated, and look forward to the next couple in the saga. Anyone who likes Feist will to.

This is the first book without major typos, so congrats to the editors for getting it right finally. However, the Book Jacket does have errors. For instance, Miranda is not an Elf Queen.

This book is actually pretty short at 365 pages or so. The description leads you to believe there is a lot of angst between the characters and everyone is plotting to backstab everyone else. However, with a couple of exceptions that really doesn't come through in the book and even in those exceptions it's mild unless you have a great imagination.

Overall the book is obviously a setup book. The characters kind of amble around performing minor tasks, meeting with each other, and basically setting up the final couple chapters.

I liked the book and as Feist says we start to see the big picture, but it's definitely not a novel that could live on it's own. I anxiously await the next book in the series. Now if we could only get Mr. Feist to write faster!

I realise this might get Feist fans' ire to rise but the last series have come across as footnotes to the grandiosity of Magician, Silverthorn and A Darkness at Sethanon. Not that I am complaining. If I could write a fraction as well as the master of fantasy I would depart this life extremely happy.

The opener in his latest series follows swiftly on from Wrath of a Mad God. About ten years have passed, the same protagonists appearing in a supporting role in a manner that has become prevalent in Feist's decision to take Midkemia into the universe of demons. Kaspar, Magnus, Miranda et al serve good purpose in introducing us to a story that promises a greater evil than the preceding novels hinted at. There is a darkness now, but it is shadowy to the point of nebulous. As we are taken on this new voyage we are learning much about the demon realms. Learning, I suspect, as Feist himself is learning.

The premise is simple. The demons are no longer a mindless horde, but one which appears to be structured. Without wishing to give overly much of the story away, Feist opens with the somewhat charlatan, Amirantha and Brandos, meandering their way around Kaspar's current demesne charming their way out of gullible township gold. An unexpectedly difficult encounter leads us to realise the former is one of a set of three brothers - one being Nalnar who has made a previous appearance as Leso Varen, the other the imminently more dangerous Belasco - who are somewhat responsible for (or agents for) a darker power of the Demon Legion.

Mixed in with this is Sandreena, Knight-Adamant who provides a new feisty (excuse the pun) heroine sent to investigate the dark summoning and wholesale slaughter of villagers around Akrakon. Inevitably, she finds herself mixed up in more than she can readily handle but as the novel grows, so does she into her role.

Meanwhile, a rift away, we meet the Elven Laromendis and Gulamendis, demon masters of the elven taredhel, the branch that had fled Midkemia (The Home) before the last of the Valheru, Ashen-Shugar had given them freedom. Fled to Andcardia where now their millions have become thousands under the onslaught of the Dread Legion.

The return of the taredhel to Midkemia brings Aglaranna and Tomas into the mix before a very lengthy meeting on the Sorceror's Isle of all concerned parties leads to a rapid denouement with startling consequences for all concerned.

Rides a Dread Legion actually reads like a prologue to a new chapter in Medkemia's history. The narrative is as taut as ever, the plot extremely tightly focused on a few places, a few people. There is no sense of a wider world or universe in here but you get the feeling that as this series is published we are about to be subjected to a power well beyond those that we ever dreamed Pug and Tomas (all those years ago in Crydee) would ever know about, let alone be instrumental in.

It is simple. It is Feist.

Buy it.

Considering the appalling dross that Feist has attempted to pass off as fiction in the last decade I approached this, his latest work, with a massive amounts of skepticism and resignation: let's note for the record that I continue to purchase (and read) Feist's works because I am 'complete-ist' - a less kindly inclined individual would probably label me a masochist but that's neither here nor there.

I'm not going to waste people's time with a brief precis of the plot for Feist has relied on his usual tropes and stylistic elements to guide us through yet another Midkemian saga - he's found more elves though, we can only guess at how many books into the future we will go before he runs out of nouns ending in 'dhel'?

Let's be frank, people - at least those who've grown up with Feist's world - have continued to follow the story out of a dogged loyalty to a beloved set of characters and a world that helped establish a benchmark for fantasy writing. At least that's my reasoning. I'm not entirely sure what else could explain the massive sales Feist continues to enjoy as he has, over the years, continued to peddle erratically constructed narratives with no focus, less plot and about as much resonance as the latest HBO 'disease of the month' special.

You can forgive much if the story make some semblance of sense - I can't say I retained much in the way of forgiveness when approaching 'Rides a Dread Legion'. But, lo (and these are the major, salient points of note I could list other more minor elements):

- Feist has rediscovered the art of plotting inasmuch as we have cause and effect instead of the ILM school of 'isn't that whizzy' of writing.

- Feist has rediscovered internal consistency: characters not only do things for a reason but that reason makes sense in the present and into the future; further, future actions referencing past actions are logically consistent with those actions/ decisions.

- The virtual obliteration of the throwaway/ one-dimensional/ pointless characters that so marred his previous trilogy: it's so much easier to to care about what the characters are doing if the author has actually taken the time to invest something, other than apathy, in their development/ creation.

Of course, this being Feist, there is some incredibly trite dialogue, some ridiculously obvious foreshadowing and a reliance on a bucketload of cliches, however, given past efforts this is a worthy return to (something that could be considered to be) form and well worth long-time fans taking the time to return to the nest.

3.5 stars [It's better than a 3 but not a 4]

Pug is an old friend. I saw him grow to manhood, as so many of you did, in Magician, and then enter the realms of power. He has grown puissant and wise over the years, and he is, ultimately, the cornerstone of Feist's neverending Midkemia series. But I think I'm reaching my limit. This review is for the fans, newcomers beware -- this is not the place to start.

Guess what, we're fighting Demons again (or are we?). As you may have already gleaned, the first reviewer has most of the facts wrong, so that's not going to be much of help.

Power-hungry elves...oh, we've seen those already.

Sidi is back, well not really, but the next best (worst?) thing.

Fundamentally, Midkemia is again at risk of extinction (how is this worse, as proclaimed in the book jacket, then each time before?) and it's up to Pug, the ever ready for battle, Tomas, and a few others to again save it.

Prior revieweers have been generous, but I empathize. You see, this latest installment in the Midkemia world IS in fact better than several prior. The characters seem (only seem, mind you) to have some depth, the storyline is sufficiently intriguing to turn the pages, and the pace moves quick enough to avoid being painful (albeit not by much).

Unfortunately, the return to an earlier, more exciting form, is limited in scope as this novel merely "sets up" the underlying conflicts that one can only hope will be expanded in future books.

I'll finish reading this saga, but I may start waiting for paperback.

Rides A Dread Legion is the first book in The Demonwar Saga. And I must admit I was pleasantly surprised to find that is quite a good novel with a great many mind blowing SUPRISES. However when I look back to Magician or the Serpent War Saga the quality just isn't there, that being said so far the beginning to this series has much better promise than that of the Wrath Of A Mad God. So maybe there is hope for The Demonwar Saga.

On an unknown world far from Midkemia there is a terrible war being waged between an Elf race (the Tarendhel) and the armies of the the Demon King. Over three worlds the Elves have fought with the death of of millions of their people, finally the Elves make their last stand. Behind the scene the Lord of the Tarendhel's chief mage opened a rift to their legendary home world of Midkemia to evacuate the remains of their race. How will the people of Midkemia except the refuges or will the refuges simply take what they want.

I'm writing this review a few months after having read the book and I had to look up the plot to remember what happened in this book... turns out nothing much, the world is still in danger and Pug saves the day using magics only availbale to him! It is time this series ended, I've begun to feel in the last few books that there is no real danger facing Pug, he is basically immortal and its hard to attach myself to the new characters introduced since they will not likely be around very long. Pick this up only if your a fan of Feist and are invested in the world he created.