King of Foxes (Conclave of Shadows, Book 2) (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "A bird soared over the city..." (more)
Key Phrases: former assassin, silver hawk, greatest swordsman, Duke Kaspar, Leso Varen, Lady Natalia (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

After destroying the vicious mercenary Raven and partially avenging his people wiped out in 2003's Talon of the Hawk, Tal Hawkins, last of the Orosini, sets his sights on the person who ordered the massacre, Kaspar, Duke of Olasko, in bestseller Feist's latest stirring fantasy. But to get close enough to Kaspar to exact his revenge, he must first win the duke's confidence—and accomplishing that may cost Tal his soul. Devoted fans will welcome the author's focus on Roldem and the Eastern Kingdoms, lands that barely figure in earlier books set in Midkemia. The unstable political landscape of the Eastern Kingdoms provides fertile ground for intrigues the like of which have not been seen in the Kingdom of the Isles. Despite his internal conflicts, Tal, an archetypal swashbuckling hero who's unbeatable with a sword, a brilliant tactician and handsome enough to make the ladies swoon, ranks among the least interesting of the characters who populate this part of Midkemia. Far more complex are the supporting cast, chief among them Petro Amafi, a former assassin and Tal's retainer; Quint Havrevulen, Kaspar's Special Captain who took part in the raid on the Orosini; and Kaspar himself—all of whom assume unusual depth as the plot progresses. The novel's relentless pace and explosive climactic battle will ensure another crowd-pleaser for Feist to add to his already impressive resume.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

The second Tal Hawkins novel (after Talon of the Silver Hawk [BKL Ja 1&15 03]) expands the saga in Feist's usual deft fashion. Tal is now high up among what might be called the agents of the Conclave of Shadows and assigned to the duke of Olasko, his mortal enemy for destroying his family and people. To be effective, Tal must further disguise himself to enter the duke's service and there ferret out his secrets and find his weak points. Readers who remember how quickly Tal rose in Talon of the Silver Hawk will stop complaining that he hasn't earned the pleasures and privileges he then enjoyed once they get far into this book. Olasko's manners and morals would make the Waffen SS blanch, and they go totally against Tal's principles. Eventually, he rebels, betrays himself, is cast into the Fortress of Despair to die, and manages to escape in another sweating ordeal leading to a not-unexpected cliffhanger ending. The well-balanced pair of protagonists make this a particularly solid achievement for Feist. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Eos; 1 edition (March 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380977095
• ISBN-13: 978-0380977093
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #132,526 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 2 in The Conclave of Shadows Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Are there women in this novel?, June 1, 2004

By	David Roy (Vancouver, BC) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

I have been on record as wishing that fantasy authors would start writing some stand-alone titles (see Mystic Warrior for the latest). When I started book 1 of The Conclave of Shadows series by Raymond E. Feist (Talon of the Silver Hawk), I thought that I was embarking on yet another long, winding series of books. Imagine my surprise when I finished Feist's latest book, King of Foxes and realized something. It ended! I couldn't believe it. Ending after book 2 is almost unheard of nowadays. That was already one plus for the book. Now, the question was: was the book any good? Much like Talon of the Silver Hawk, the book was somewhat enjoyable if predictable, with a few other problems besides that manage to bring it down.

Talon, the last surviving member of the Orosini, has successfully taken the first step in avenging his people, having killed the man who was leading the attack on his home. He still has to kill the man who ordered the attack, however, Kaspar, the Duke of Olasko. Talon has been taken in and trained by the Conclave of Shadows, but thankfully their goals coincide. The Conclave wants to get information on the evil wizard, Leso Varen, who has been aiding (perhaps controlling) Kaspar. In order to do so, Talon must swear an oath to Kaspar in order to enter his employ. Talon, being the kind of man he is, cannot swear a false oath, but he agrees to do it knowing that Kaspar will eventually betray him and the oath will be void. Then Talon can kill him. In doing so, however, Talon has to do some things he's not especially proud of. Will he be able to stay the man he is without losing his humanity? Once the inevitable happens, Talon has to face his toughest challenge yet as he fights to bring the Duke and his wizard down.

King of Foxes continues the story of Talon, and thus Feist writes in the same way as he did in the first book. That should be a good thing, right? Actually, in this case it's not. Some of the bits that were delightfully eccentric in the first book (such as starting each chapter with one sentence along the lines of "Talon stared") become increasingly annoying in the second book, as Feist doesn't keep them consistent. These stylistic mannerisms end up drawing attention to themselves and start to grate.

Another thing that I didn't mention in my review of the first book, but perhaps should have, is the portrayal of women. It becomes prominent in my mind by being worse then the first book. There is not one sympathetic female character in King of Foxes. Every woman in the book lusts after Talon (and seems to be promiscuous even away from Talon) and he manages to bed every woman who is actually named in the book. Natalia, Kaspar's sister, comes closest to being fleshed out, but even she is just a tool in her brother's schemes. She reaches out to Talon as a bed-partner because she knows that she will eventually be married off as an alliance for somebody. She claims that the ability to love has been taken away from her, but if there were anybody who could fill that role, it would be Talon. Even the "good" women (that is, the female members of the Conclave) can't resist Talon's lure. I realize that, as part of his "cover" in society, Talon was trained to seduce women, but this was ridiculous.

There are other problems with the book as well. Some characters and events are prominent but then disappear without having any real effect. Alysandra, the woman who hardened his heart in the first book, appears very briefly and is quickly dealt with. A chapter ends with Talon thinking that this particular character is "a very dangerous man" but then we don't hear anything about him again. Also, once again Talon is almost perfect in his planning and abilities, except for one mistake he makes (trusting someone) that was so obvious that there's no way a man even half as competent as Talon has been shown to be would make that mistake.

So far, this has been nothing but complaints. However, I did ultimately enjoy the book once I was got past these issues. Talon has always been an interesting character, and he continues to be here. In fact, he becomes more interesting as he sinks deeper and deeper into his role and fights desperately to keep real the good part of him. He starts to have doubts about his revenge and whether it will be worth it. The ending, while anticlimactic and predictable, is fitting for the story that's been told, as Talon comes full circle. Feist definitely knows how to tell an exciting tale, and I read through the last 150 pages very quickly because I wanted to see how everything was resolved. There is one bit left unresolved, though it's not something a sequel would fix. There's one bit of closure that Feist just neglects, which is a shame.

While the book does end on a final note, there is the possibility of a sequel. Be assured, though, that this particular story, the story of Talon of the Silver Hawk, is over. Any further books will just be additions to his legend, or taking another of the characters and doing something with them. This 2-book series is self-contained. If I can't have just one book, I'm glad to have it limited to two. Kudos to Feist for that much.

David Roy

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Grand ol' Raymond E. Feist, April 5, 2004

By	J. Stinson "dragonflykelly" (Klamath Falls, OR) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I purchased this book April 1st. I waited and read the reviews of some of my favorite reviewers and then read the reviews of the "normal" people. I expected this book to be somewhere between okay and bad. I enjoy Raymond E. Feists' work. He creates a world that you can smell, feel and touch. His characters are works of art. I still say he is one of the best fantasy writers we readers have.

Talon is one of my favorite characters, but this new addition brought back Pug and Magnus as well. I think that if you enjoy Feist you will enjoy this book. He does repeat a couple of things and I wondered, "why on earth does he do that?" But other than that I think this is a wonderful book and it is a rich addition to his Riftwar and Krondor volumes.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars It wasn't awful., May 22, 2004

By	Abraham H. Silverman "Abe" (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

.. and after Feist's last couple of books, that's a major step in the right direction. The Magician books are simply brilliant. I've read each of them dozens of times. And the Daughter of the Empire series are also delightful and are some of my favorites.

But this book simply isn't up to that standard. Still, it's far better than that gawd-awful recent couple of books with Bear that completely lacked a plot and simply stunk on every level.

Still, my fundamental complaint is this: in the first Magician book, Pug was a failure. Or at least he was for about 2/3 of the length through the book. He fought and struggled with his magical studies and struggled with Caroline and struggled with life in general. The same element permeates the Daughter series - sure Mara had certain advantages, but she worked for her sucesses and nothing came easy. She made her way in the world through sheer determination and smarts, with a little luck thrown in.

Here, Talon's path through life - tragic though its roots may have been - seems to have left him completely unscarred (both physically and mentally). His success never seems in doubt and he's everything from a great fighter to a gourmet chef to a wine buff -- not to mention his stunning levels of success with the ladies. And the deus machina healing towards the end of the book -- pathetic. In fact, the story would have worked better without it.

In sum - a decent bite at the apple, but still a disappointment to those of us who wonder where the person who wrote the first couple Midkemia books has wandered off to. Hopefully he'll find his way home soon.