Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
It could have been so good, but........., 13 Jan 2004
Oh dear Mr Feist, are we bound by a contract to our publishers by any chance? It is sad that a once brilliant author of a book which made it into the Top 100 books of all time (Magician) is reduced to 'writing by numbers'.
As a number of reviewers have already pointed out, King Of Foxes falls a long way short of the book that it ought to have been. Book One of the Conclave series, Talon Of The Silver Hawk, marked a welcome return to gripping fantasy writing following a number of 'collaborations' (for which you can read Feist allowed others to play around with his world and characters, usually to disastrous results in terms of the quality of the books, and took a co-writer credit) and, I hoped, paved the way for greater things to come. I completely agree that it's as though Feist just decided that he couldn't be bothered and so churned out this rubbish as quickly as he could.
It's sad that Talon (now Tal) has become so wooden that his creator doesn't feel it necessary to paint him with any kind of emotions and so even the most major setbacks (one of which caused me to feel physically sick) and betrayals fail to create any sense of despair or sadness in what is essentially the book's only character. Which leads me to the second main criticism of KOF: where are the other plots and characters which made former Feist novels so intriguing and readable. As a nod to loyal readers, Feist manages to name-check a number of former characters (for example we see Erik Von Darkmoor, of the Serpentwar Saga, now in his old age, for a fleeting moment), but where are the sub-plots and other characters to care about? When Feist does his usual trick of showing that the 'good' guys don't have it all their own way, and kills off various people as the book progresses, you just don't care about it. As for a sub-plot, what greater one could there be than the mysterious workings of the Conclave of the Shadows, yet Feist gives the reader absolutely zero insight into their operations. He could easily have done it without Tal being in the know, but that would have involved making the book longer and more effort on Feist's part. The point is that I have only just finished the book and I can't think of a single scene that didn't involve Tal - that may be ok for children's authors but from the writer of 3 of the best series in fantasy history (the Riftwar Saga, the Serpentwar Saga, the Empire series), it just isn't good enough.
I've given the book a very generous 2 stars, simply because the plot itself, one dimensional as it may have been, was sufficient to keep me reading to the end, but if I were reviewing it purely on the basis of things which have made previous Feist novels so enjoyable (character development, multiple plots and sub-plots, epic descriptions etc. etc.), then Feist should count himself lucky that Amazon doesn't allow a zero star rating. If you can't be bothered anymore then just give up and let Magician and co take pride-of-place on my bookshelf without having to sit embarrassed alongside this sort of nonsense.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Quick, predictable, far less exciting than classic Fiest, 4 Dec 2003
After several sub-par collaborations, Raymond E. Feist returned to epic fantasy in 2002 with "Talon of the Silver Hawk," Book 1 of the Conclave of Shadows. The boy Talon saw his tribe slaughtered and was raised by the Conclave, founded at the close of Feist's previous Serpent War Saga. After learning typically Feistian lessons in swordplay and boyhood love, Talon extracted revenge on his tribe's executioners, but without any sense of the greater evil that necessitated the Conclave's founding."King of Foxes" sees Tal swear fealty to Duke Olasko, the noble who ordered his tribe exterminated, and Tal must mesh his thirst for revenge with his Conclave directive to investigate Olasko's magician Varen. The novel starts with plodding court intrigue, but the story quickens as Tal enters Olasko's service. Feist's novels have always relied on plot rather than narrative, but the prose in "King of Foxes" rings particularly wooden, and none of the new settings such as Opardum feel as real as the grit of Krondor in past novels. After Tal suffers a reversal, Feist rushes through a predictable detention and escape sequence and then Tal easily assembles an army of thousands for his personal revenge, since the Conclave's barely mentioned goals fortunately coincide with his own. The predictable endgame effortlessly thwarts the supposedly powerful enemy, with scant explanation of the Conclave's findings. Tal redeems his clouded heart, but his character oddly ends the novel in a state of complete resolution, as though Feist plans to switch to a new main character for Book 3 (of a projected five). In the Serpent War Saga, Feist used two new young characters and half a dozen older ones to tell a spellbinding tale of invasion that took the bold risk of killing old characters and destroying Feist's core city. The Conclave of Shadows novels thus far have centered on only one new character, Tal, with bare flashes of older ones. Tal's plain thirst for revenge and his cold manipulation of fencing opponents and women alike render him dull, and his isolation from the Conclave's motives saps any overall tension of impending doom from the story. Perhaps a shift to a different main character, such as one more involved in the decisions of the Conclave, might enliven this saga.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Raymond has done it again!, 10 Nov 2003
I have to admit, i was a bit pensieve about reading this book because im such a huge fan of the series, and i didnt want feist to take another wrong turn like he did with his "legends of riftwar" series. But thank god that was all for nothing! this book is totally brilliant! the plot is intricate and very well thought out and expertly written! talwin hawkins is amazing! such a good character and you really feel a connection with this chap, hes well good! its great to read about old friends aswell, like nakor, pug and even eric von darkmoor! such a smashing read and a pay great homage to feist for coming up with another great new series to keep his fans happy. A must for any feist fan, fantasy fan and for anyone who loves a thumping good read! well done.
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