Do You like book King Of Foxes (2005)?
In which Raymond E. Feist displays absolutely no creativity whatsoever. Ugh. I know in my review of the first book in the series, I was ranting about what a lovely trait a bit of predictability can be... but seriously, I'm pretty stupid. This book did absolutely nothing I haven't seen in another fantasy novel; furthermore, it did nothing I haven't seen in a FEIST novel. It's pretty bad when you start cannibalizing your own plot lines.What doesn't suck: Um. Lets skip this part.What sucked: In the first book, Talon actually developed a little. In this book, he did not change even slightly--but at the end of the book, the reader is expected to believe he has undergone some sort of metamorphasis into a better person. Bullshit. There was no epiphany, no reason his entire outlook would so suddenly change. His entire life revolved around vengeance, and just as he gets it he decides he wants to be the bigger man? No. That's just the author deciding he did in a few sentences. LAME.The plot was boring to the extreme. Sometimes I don't think you're even trying anymore, Feist. It turns out it's the same Big Bad its been in half of his books, but this time only Talon can save him! Because he doesn't have magic! Or some such crap. It doesn't really matter.The worst part is I have to read the next one. That's what sucks the most.Deep Thoughts: This book does not warrant any further thought. Ever.Rating: Sucked. 1 star.
—Ben O'neill
8/10Another enjoyable read by Feist and a good follow up to the first book of the trilogy, “Talon of the Silver Hawk”. The majority of the story was really enjoyable and fluid but the ending came up short and sort of tied things up nicely which seems odd to say this is the 2nd book in a trilogy. I found that there wasn’t much character development after the first book, which did play out little like a training montage in some parts, but I don’t think the story lacked for this and could concentrate on the plot. I enjoyed the whole double and triple crossing of some of the characters and I liked the Duke of Olasko and his ruthless plotting. The best part for me were the time on The Fortress of Despair and also the subsequent raft voyage. The whole story was enjoyable and some of the ideas were, whilst not unique, played out well. At times it did feel like I was missing out on some of the history of the world and their could have been potential spoilers for the earlier books which I will eventually read so be warned.The reason I couldn’t rate this higher is down to an ending that left me scratching my head. It all seemed a little neat, too neat for book 2 of 3. Where is the next book going to go? Apparently, it will follow another character completely and I’m not sure if that is a good thing (to keep things fresh) or a bad thing (a whole new introduction storyline). I’m sure it’s not the best fantasy story out there and I think my lack of fantasy background may have made this better for me as supposed to coming from it after reading Sanderson, Jordan, & Martin et al for example. Overall it was an enjoyable read and recommended if you enjoyed the first.
—Richard
I really wanted to give this a 3.5 - after reading it I was certain a 4 would be sufficient, but after mulling over it I have decided to drop it down a notch.Why?I felt a little cheated by this book. Sure, it had some swashbuckling snippets and intrigue, but in the end the reader comes away with so little.The foundation of the story is lost to another storyline; one I had no real connection with. Who did I care about more - the big-hearted 11y.o. Talon or man-whore 23y.o. Talwin; clearly the virgin won in this round.Without realising it, I began to hope Talwin would succumb to downfall; in my review of the first novel this man knows no bounds. Whilst he became the brains-trust in Book 1, in Book 2 he overcomes bodily displacement people, someone tell James Cameron that the Terminator is alive and well in Feist's books!Although engaging, I felt this book was more of a junk-food read and the ending quickly sown up. I am having second thoughts about reading Book 3; I don't feel it completely necessary to read it.
—Laura
