| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() Trade In this Item for up to £0.25
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in Exile's Return: Conclave of Shadows 3 for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.25, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Product details
|
The story begins with a riches-to-rags upset for Kaspar, former Duke of Olasko, who is now punished for his villainy in a previous volume by magical teleportation to a remote, bleak desert full of hostile nomads. By strength, cunning and a little luck, he just barely survives ordeals that range from mayhem and imprisonment to near-death from heat and thirst.
For a supposed bad guy, Kaspar seems likeable enough as he resourcefully makes his way across an unknown continent. In fact he quickly becomes a reformed character, realizing in repeated flashbacks that his former magician adviser had paralysed his conscience while leading him into naughty ways. The stage seems set for interesting conflict if this ex-Duke can cross the sea and return home.
But then Kaspar wanders into another story, joining a desperate band of men who are under magical compulsion to transport a strange relic towards some uncertain destination. The thing resembles a sealed suit of armour, but is clearly much more. It constantly attracts death and disaster. After one particularly gruelling attack on the party, the "armour" rises and walks.
In unexpected interviews with two of Midkemia's gods, Kaspar learns the nature of his burden and the grave menace to the world which it represents. His homecoming turns out differently from anything he could have imagined, with unexpected good food, forgiveness and violence. The foreshadowed surprise ending promises major complications in books to come.
Despite all these bodings of doom, Exile's Return is a pleasant, unambitious, feelgood fantasy by an author who knows exactly how to please his fans. Ideal train-journey reading.--David Langford --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
‘Feist’s plot races along at break-neck speed… distressingly addictive.’
Guardian
‘File under guilty pleasure’
Guardian
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Exile's Return is largely set on the continent of Novindus and follows the travails of the former Duke of Olasko, none other than Kaspar (the exile of the title), as he strives to regain a life for himself. Feist's real skill is in his description of his fantasy world and in the creation of great characters, and Exile brings this skill to the fore again in a way I have not seen since King's Buccaneer, one of the author's earlier works.
Kaspar is brought to life in this book as we understand the man now freed from the influence of the evil sorceror, Leso Varen. However, Kaspar's fate seems inextricably tied to that of the Conclave of Shadows, and it isn't long before the former Duke is tasked by the Gods themselves with seeking out the secret organisation with a legacy from the Dragon Lords reign that will challenge even the mighty Pug and company.
In summary, this is a great book full of pacey plot, intriguing characters and dialogue and above all, a return to form in terms of quality.
A must-have for all fans of fiction/fantasy - even if you fell out with Feist a while ago. This is his best work in years!
By the end of this book you'll realise that the three books of this series are intended to set the scene for Feist's next series (supposedly the last of the Midkemia/Kelewan series'), the Darkwar Saga.
The story here follows Kaspar of Olasko in his exile in Novindus, where he learns some important life lessons and finds himself burdened with a dark artifact from another world.
Feist remains an excellent writer and this book is very easy to read and appreciate. However, once again there's a feeling of shallowness to the plot, particularly in relation to Kaspar's linear and somewhat contrived quest to rid himself of the Talnoy.
There is a counterbalance to the book's faults in the scenes involving further discussion of the nature of the Gods. Some might find these a boring break in the action, but I love Feist's tangents to explore these concepts.
Another good thing is the new enemy introduced; the cruel Dasati and their (all but) invincible warriors, the Talnoy. The way this new threat is established will leave you in no doubt that the Darkwar Saga will feature a struggle every bit as compelling as those in the Riftwar and the Serpentwar.
The first part of the story is a voyage of self discovery by Kaspar, he gradually starts to come to terms with what has happened to him and gains some insight as to why he acted the way he did. This realisation is very uncomfortable for him on several different levels.
This is however only the first part of the story, it continues with Kaspar meeting up with Flynn and his companions and the mysterious object they are transporting, then finally re-introduces us to some old friends, Pug, Tomas, Nakor et al.
This story is the introduction to a new and even more deadly threat to Midkemia, to find out more read the book, you will not be disappointed.
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
|
|
|