Rage of a Demon King (Serpentwar Saga , Vol 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

~ (Author) "Erik signaled..." (more)
Key Phrases: demon realm, serpent priests, second barricade, Emerald Queen, Duke James, Prince Patrick (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

Feist's fantasy saga continues (Shadow of a Dark Queen, 1994; Rise of the Merchant Prince, 1995) as the folk of Midkemia, already battling the snaky Saaur and their Emerald Queen, face an invasion of hungry demons seeking new wellsprings of toothsome lifeforce for their insatiable leader, Great Maarg. Returning to the fray are the familiar magicians Pug, Miranda, and Macros, along with soldiers Erik von Darkmoor and his sidekick, Roo Avery--and they will still need help from their former enemies, the Black Robes of Kelewan. There's probably a kitchen sink in here somewhere, too. Somehow, Feist always manages to wring out another plot twist or scrape together a new and improved gaggle of bad guys to keep the stew bubbling; the real puzzle is how the fans tolerate his graceless, often downright inept prose and limping dialogue. (First printing of 100,000) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"A fine yarn...vivid...suspenseful...the action is nonstop." -- --Booklist

"An epic reading experience." -- --San Diego Union-Tribune

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 608 pages
• Publisher: Eos; 1st THUS edition (February 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380720884
• ISBN-13: 978-0380720880
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (108 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #23,293 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars What have you done?, August 2, 1998

By A Customer

Everything we were led to believe in previous novels, including of course the entire Riftwar Saga, has been proven false. The Dragon Lords (Valheru) were, in fact, nothing but pawns from the beginning, Macros' entire existence was a lie. The "truth" about Macros hit me hardest of all. He was one of my favourite characters, and I liked the idea of this immeasurably-old, powerful magician (clearly god-like in his ability), travelling from world to world, never able to rest, always driven to solve the conflicts he cannot help but foresee. Now he is revealed as nothing more than a Keshian magician who was granted great power by the dead god of magic. He could not be more than five hundred years old. He of course had the power to time- and dimension-travel, explaining his appearance on Kelewan millenia before, and his having been remembered by the elf Tathar, but it is still disappointing and, I must say, a great let-down. Macros previously had this incredib! le mystique. He was old beyond measure and had powers, as I've said, to rival the gods. He had been able to battle (and survive) the Enemy, a creature of the combined life-essence of the Dragon Host. His true origin was very poorly executed and greatly lacking creativity. If Feist could not have found a better way to treat this great character, he should have left him where we last saw him in "A Darkness at Sethanon," departing Midkemia to pursue new challenges. Oh, the humanity!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Appalling, sometimes it is better to stop writing., April 24, 2006

By	Doc Johnny (NY USA) - See all my reviews

This book attempts to "reboot" the continuity of several major characters by changing their backstory in midstream. Mr Feist is faced with the problem writers face when their major characters become too powerful (Both Pug and Tomas are almost gods). You end up just inventing more and more powerful adversaries. At some point it becomes both tired and ridiculous. This is way past that point. Yet somehow I still kept reading. Sigh. I am sure there are still Midkemia stories to be told. But vast end-of-the-world stories should not be one of them. After all, just how many times can Midkemia be threatened with "the end to everything" before it becomes just another yawn.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A satisfying conclusion (?) to another great Feist saga, May 8, 1998

By	Lance M. Gentile "SubEffect" (Willowick, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

There is a difference in this saga than the former, and many have already mentioned that it seems to hurry along too much.

I thoroughly enjoyed this series, but thought the ending was a little "too easy" and just too expected. I was hoping for something more.

I disagree with others that say the characters were not interesting, i was happy to re-visit Pug, Calis and Tomas all over again.

Alot of people also gripe about the revelation of mysteries previously proposed in the previous series. Well, as a long-time reader of sagas that just never die (DragonLance), I was thoroughly happy to finally learn WHO Macros, understand Miranda's history and I love the "Simpkin-like" (Weis/Hickman reference) character in Nakor.

Everyone is a bit too critical, but i agree that it was sad to see Midkemia reduced to ruin. Parts of the story were EXTREMELY SAD, but then, all characters cannot live to be realistic.

I feel Raymond's goal in this series was to put to rest an excellent era of life on Midkemia. Some have mentioned the posibility of another book, I feel one could be written, but this ROADK really seemed like an end-all to everything.

Also, this has to be the most reviews I have ever seem on Amazon... wow!