Johan's Blog

Rating: 7/10

The Demonwar Saga part 1 – Rides a Dread Legion by Raymond Feist

This review does not contain any spoilers. If you haven’t read any books of Raymond Feist yet, this book is not a good place to start. Although it is the first book in a new series, The Darkwar Saga just like the other series (The Empire Trilogy, The Riftwar Saga, The Serpentwar Saga, The Riftwar Legacy, …) is part of a bigger series. I recommend reading them in a more or less chronological order.

Review

Rides a Dread Legion

Fans of Raymond Feist will probably love or at least like this book and that includes myself. Regardless of the critique that will follow, Rides a Dread Legion, the first part of The Demonwar Saga is still a page-turner. But with this book some impressions that I had with the previous series, Darkwar, have become more clear. It’s quantity over quality: bigger battles, bigger onslaughts, bigger demons, more demons, bigger threats, bigger mysteries, … and were we really waiting for yet another lost tribe of elves ?
Over the years a lot of characters have died, either in battle or of old age like Aruthra conDoin, Martin conDoin, Nakur, Jimmy the Hand the later Duke of Krondor, Erik Von Darkmoor, … but they haven’t really been replaced. Yes, new characters are introduced on a regular basis, but they lack in depth. The characters that endure, especially Pug and Thomas, and the new ones are becoming 2-dimensional cardboard characters that move from scene to scene instead of persons of flesh and blood who live their lives. The scenery or landscape was always part of the story, but now it is becoming background noise. The first chapter in the first book, Magician tells about Pug as a boy and his fears when he has to run for his life to avoid drowning in a storm surge. It is much better written and more moving than the pain he has to endure in Rides a Dread Legion. Even everyday life in Crydee in The Riftwar Saga or life on Kelewan in The Empire Trilogy is much better described, with more attention for the scenery and the development of the characters. Is a craft being replaced by routine mass-production ?

Recommendations

I would like to recommend Raymond Feist to start a new side-project just to take his mind of demons and ever bigger onslaughts. I consider The Empire Trilogy, Jimmy the Hand, The Messenger, The Wood Boy, Honoured Enemy, … as side-projects. They introduce new characters even if it is just for one book, you get to see life on Kelewan or Midkemia or a confict form a different point of view. They provide a fresh breath of air for the bigger series. Some examples:

• New Kelewan. Just before the destruction of the planet Kelewan, millions of Tsurani were moved to their new home and left to conquer a new world, surely this should provide a fertile soil for some new stories, heroic deeds and even legends.
• Dwarfs. A story mainly about dwarfs …. you know mining, gold, a singsong and beer .
• Alien exchange students. The sorcerer’s isle houses students from other worlds. Why not a story about how one of them got there ?
• Honest John’s in the Hall of Worlds. Think of the stories that could be told, for example how did John get there, how did he build his inn, what about the people who make a living there, … ?

Extra challenge: no Mad God or Nameless One, no demons, no rifts, … in any of the side-projects mentioned above.

Conclusion

This book definitely is worth more than a 6/10 and for old times sake I gave it a 7. A rating of 7/10 for me means that it is worth the money. Being a fan of Raymond Feist’s work for a decade I still enjoyed this book, but I also noticed that the quality (story telling, characters, subjects) is declining. It was easy for me to compare them because I am rereading the series in English. I switched to English starting from Flight of the Nighthawks, that’s 4 books so far. His other books I have in my native tongue, Dutch. Uptil now I have reread the Riftwar Saga, Krondors Sons and The Riftwar Legacy in English.
Another question I always ask before buying a book is, ‘Is it worth the shelf-space ?’. I find it very hard to part from a book once I have it and I am already hard pressed for shelf-space as it is, so this is something worth considering. Most of my books are stored in boxes in the attic and buying a new book means that one of the books on my book-shelves will be banished to the attic. My answer to the shelf-space question is a hesitant yes.
I’ve bought this book less than 2 weeks after it became available, but I think I will wait for some reviews before buying the second part of The Demonwar Saga when it comes out in 2010. Considering that I have all his other books in hardcover this is quite a harsh judgment. But if you are a fan of his work, you will still enjoy Rides a Dread Legion, the first part of The Demonwar Saga.

Books fantasy, review