Customer Reviews

Wrath of a Mad God (Darkwar)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I have read every single book Raymond Feist has put out, starting with Magician: Apprentice. I consider Magician, and the subsequent books - Darkness at Sethanon, etc, to be his greatest work. However, in this novel there were some glaring problems that just did not seem like Feist was on his game at all.

In the first two books of the Darkwar Saga, we were introduced to Tad & Zane & Jommy, who played a predominant role. In this book, Tad & Zane have maybe 3 lines. Jommy has a few, but not really. It is as if these characters were just removed from the whole plotline, they influenced the book not at all. I was very disappointed in this. Why do we have characters being introduced in the first couple of books, and then suddenly they are not killed off, but just relegated to supporting characters.

Secondly, the interaction between Pug & well, let's say, the powers that be... It seems like Feist has taken his once beautiful setting with imagery and characters that you could really enjoy, and instead turned it into a Terry Goodkind knock-off. If the characters are so powerful and the storyline so dull that they need to chum it up with Gods, perhaps it is time to put an end to the whole Riftwar/Midkemia deal.

Now, I read all the Conclave of Shadows novels and I felt they were of lower quality as well, but the Darkwar saga has extremely disappointed me, and if you are looking for traditional Raymond E Feist quality work, you will not find it here.

If anyone disagrees with my viewpoint, I highly encourage you to read this book (from the library) and then re-read Magician: Apprentice, Master, Darkness at Sethanon, etc, those books really drew you into the story, and made you feel like these were living, breathing characters. With the Terry Goodkind-esque omnipotent characters in this book, the believability is gone and there is no way to empathize with either the characters or with the Tsurani, which was probably the hardest thing to reconcile.

Daughter of the Empire, Mistress of the Empire, Servant of the Empire, with Feist/Janny Wurts - Those were also excellent novels in which you were drawn to the characters. If I had to pick between another Midkemia book or a Tsurani one, I would shoot for a Tsurani one with perhaps Wurts collaborating again.

Anyways, I hope that the next book Feist comes out with has a little less bling and a little more substance.

Thanks

In this sequel to Into a Dark Realm, author Raymond Feist takes us back to his magical world of Midkemia. Things are becoming desperate as the Dasati prepare for their invasion. But which world are they going to hit, Midkemia or Kelewan? There is much more involved here than meets the eye, and powerful players lurk in the back ground. Many questions will be answered, and great truths will be revealed, but the cost will be great, very great indeed.

OK, what can I say? I have been a Raymond Feist fan for many years, and I love his books. Reading them from the beginning, I can tell you that each one goes onto a bigger realm and more powerful players. It's almost like traveling outward from the center of an onion - when you think you've reached the end you instead find yourself moving out to a bigger world. And, this book is no exception.

But, has Mr. Feist finally gone one step too far? Well, personally, I liked this book. Perhaps there were some imperfections that should have been ironed out when the story was being fleshed out, but I did nonetheless find this to be a fascinating and highly enjoyable story. I liked the characters, the action, the worlds, and how the book kept me on the edge of my seat right up to the end!

Yeah, I thought that this was a very good book, and I don't hesitate to recommend it!

I began reading Feist almost from the begining and he's always been one of my favorite authors. The characters introduced in the first book of the trilogy (Flight of the Nighthawks) are almost non-existant... and that's a good thing since I rate that as being Feist's worst solo job. You could completely remove the "Flight" characters (Tad, Zone, & Jommy) and their scenes from the book and you wouldn't notice. Nothing they did advanced the plot (particularly that bit with the Quor... what the heck was that all about?). All in all a well written page turner that most Feist fans will enjoy.

Pros: Well written, draws you in

Pug, Nakor, & Co.

Not too many loose ends (except Quor... and I don't want to revisit, thank you very much)

Cons:

Thomas - when did his character become so one dimensional?

That whole Quor business

Why didn't Kaspar or anyone else on Quor protest the killing of his injured peeps? You'd think that might upset him a little.

How about include some more maps inside the book?

When did the Dread folks become such major bad... keisters?

This novel is a good conclusion to the Riftwar books of Raymond E. Feist.

If you have read his other books, this is one to pick up.

If you have never read one, DO NOT START WITH THIS ONE!

Fun to see some familiar faces, as always. There are some good twists and turns.

While Feist's first Riftwar Saga was his best, this is an enjoyable read and is worthy of his efforts. Feist does a good job of tying up so many loose ends you forgot they were there.

Wrath of a Mad God (2008) is the third fantasy novel of the Darkwar Saga, following Into a Dark Realm. In the previous volume, the necromancer Leso Varen traps Miranda and gives her to the Dasati Deathpriests. The boys are captured by Salmater troops. Pug and his friends travel the Star Bridge to Omadrabar and find Macros the Black in a Dasati body.

In this novel, on Kelewan, Miranda escapes from the Deathpriests and alerts the Assembly of Magicians to look for the present incarnation of Leso Varen. The dome where she had been held is now gone, but the Dasati minions of the Dark God will be back. Miranda briefs the Assembly and the Emperor on her experiences and starts preparations for the invasion.

On Omadrabar -- the Dasati homeworld -- Pug and his friends avoid the Great Culling and then find the enclave of the Bloodwitch Sisters. Macros is dying, but tells them various secrets before his death. Returning to Omadrabar City, Pug finds that Nakor also has news.

On Midkemia, Jommy and the other cadets are surveilling a cove and watch a group of pirates rowing to the beach. They are accompanied by a sorcerer of some sort, who conjures a demon that appears to be made of molten material. They are holding off the pirates, but loosing to the demon, when an elf appears and destroys the demon. The elf and his friends take the Conclave forces as prisoners and march them off to their fort.

In this story, Miranda finds herself in a war between the Dasati and the Tsurani. The Tsurani kill countless Dasati, but they are losing men at the rate of thirty to one. The Dasati are also dying from the ambient energies, but they are still gaining ground.

Pug learns that the Dark God is a Dreadlord. Then the White learns that an invasion of Kelewan is imminent. Volka orders the White forces to gather for their ultimate attack on the TeKarana. They only hope that the Godkiller will eliminate His Darkness.

Jim Dasher sneaks off from the elf stockade and reaches their ship on the other side of the point. He reports the situation to the captain and uses a teleport ball to return to Sorcerer' Isle. He again describes the situation and then gets Miranda to take him to Elvandar. There he gains the aid of Tomas and the dragon Ryath.

This tale concludes the Darkwar Saga. The deathrate in this tale exceeds that of the whole Riftwar. Mostly people die to feed the Dark God, but there is also plenty of action. We also discover that the humans have been tools of the gods in this story. So what else is new?

The story involves at least four worlds in two separate levels of reality and two places in between the levels. Other such levels are shown in divine visions, but nobody actually sets foot on them in this plot. And one world is partially evacuated before its destruction. Could this work be considered "mage opera"?

Highly recommended for Feist fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of interdimensional travel, gigantic magic, and tragic sacrifices.

-Arthur W. Jordin

This final book in the Darkwar Saga is full of adventure and answers, as the events that began all the way back in Magician come to something of a close. The storyline that includes Tad, Zane, Kaspar, and the other non-superpowered characters continues to be filler, as in previous books, but overall Wrath of a Mad God moves forward at breakneck speed.

Side note: since the "truth" behind all the events occurring on Midkemia, Kelewan, the Dasati worlds, etc. keeps changing with each new trilogy, the human stories in these books are seeming more and more insignificant. Whichever cause the characters believe they are fighting for, the fact remains that no matter what they do, millions are being drawn into, and ground up by, the struggle of characters that are now near god-like in power. Hopefully with the Demonwar trilogy, this trend does not simply continue, but Feist finds a way to bring it back down to a manageable level. Otherwise, I expect to see magicians throwing planets at each other soon. Oh wait, didn't that happen already?

Great Read! The last book in the cycle that provide some closure to many sub-plots across many of the previous books. The major plot centers on the Invasion of Kelewan and how Pug has to carry the torch that started with Marcos and playing the Game of Gods. Some goodbye to some friends and some interesting discoveries about some of the characters! If you are true fan of Fantasy a great read and you won't be disappointed!

With this book, Feist has finally lost me as a reader. I've been reading his Midkemia books for years; Kings Buccaneer was really my introduction to the fantasy genre when I was a kid, and still one of my all time favorites. My Riftwar Saga books are practically falling apart because I've read them so many times. But when I finished this book, I set it down and said to myself "what the hell was that?!?" When you have to force yourself to finish a book by one of your favorite authors, it's time to leave that author behind.

The plot made next to no sense, the pacing was disjointed and dull, and as for the characters...let's just say that he's finally completely abandoned everyone but Pug, who's reduced to whining and brooding more than anything else. To be fair, Pug was always the central character, but several of the characters in earlier books were just as well developed: Jimmy and Arutha, for instance. With this book it's more clear than ever to me that Feist has been discarding characters left and right in increasingly implausible ways so he can introduce new ones in an effort to capture the original chemistry. Even within the Darkwar trilogy itself, he gave up on several characters that figured highly early on, but barely get a footnote here.

And now he has a new "saga" where Midkemia is threatened worse than ever by the forces of yet another deep dark level of hell and an all new cast of lackeys to kill off or relegate to some background role when they display the slightest sign of being interesting. Thanks, but I'll pass.

Book three of the 'Darkwar Saga' is a top recommendation for any reader of the prior books and for collections holding these as popular lends. Here the Darkwar rages upon Midkemia and Kelewan, bringing destruction to both worlds. A friend thought dead may bring the key to resolution in this momentous story of a final battle that concludes the saga.

This trilogy was a very intriguing story peopled with extraordinary characters. Raymond E Feist is now one of my favorite fantasy authors.

I also loved how a person gave this a 2 star review because it came out in hardback and they hadn't even read it yet. Do not be fooled by naysayers, I highly recommend this trilogy.