Murder in Lamut (Hardcover)

The title of the book is possibly slightly misleading - although there is a murder mystery the main entertainment here is in the interactions of the three main characters. Pirojil, Durine and Kethol are three veteran mercenaries who have a rather cynical view of life but are likeable and are very good at what they do. After they are given the unenviable task of having to protect a minor nobleman from rumoured assassination attempts they find themselves sucked into the complexities of LaMutian politics, which despite their reluctance they deal well with. Feist's books have produced a number of memorable characters but these are among the best in the series.

Since the book is set entirely in one provincial city it lacks the epic scope of, say, Magician and there aren't any of Feist's trademark large battle scenes here but the dialogue and characterisation is good enough to make this a very entertaining read.

Like his previous collaborations (with Janny Wurts in the Empires books and William Forstchen in "Honoured Enemy") this book is a high quality as the main-series Riftwar books, while being different enough to be a refreshingly original read.

Having finished Lamut, not difficult given it's short length, I feel strangely non plussed. There is nothing wrong with the writing. The characters do their jobs well enough and the landscape is described in the usual vivid style. However the book lacks two essential ingredients. The first being a tangible feeling of continuity with the rest of the series. This is set in the Feist world but does little to confirm that. Beyond vague references to the world and characters we know and love, this could be any one of a number of fantasy novels. By introducing all new charcters, with the exception of Fantus, the reader is divorced from the Riftwar saga which this book is supposed to be set in.

The second problem for me was the nature of the story. This is no action packed adventure. Indeed this is no adventure, period. What we have here is Feist meets Columbo. Gone are the dramatic confrontations of Magician, Honoured Enemy and Sethanon. Instead we are left with a bog standard murder mystery which in all honesty is not that engaging. I left this book wondering what the point was. It does not add anything to the world of Midkemia as a whole and does not make a great statement by itself, indeed it is instantly forgetable. Perhaps the problem lies with the need for two authors. He does not have time to write all the books he wants too himself so brings in help and guides them in the right direction. As a result we are not reading his work. We are reading another authors interpretation of Feist's world. In my opinion this somewhat dilutes the work. All in all one for the fans, for the sake of completeness if nothing else, but do not worry if you miss it. Ultimately you will not miss anything that adds to the saga...