What do You think about Jimmy The Hand (2015)?
I so desperately want to give this a 5, as I loved it that much, but there are a couple of minor niggles that make it hard to do so. But, I will explain those later.First of all, it appears that I am biased, or perhaps unbiased, in the fact that I haven't read the main series yet - my introduction to Feist has been through the Legends series, so I don't have the familiarity with characters like Jimmy the Hand, who others have seen later on in his life in other books.But, for me, it wasn't a bad place to start, as there are no spoilers of what's to come. And I did absolutely love both the story and the writing. It took me about 10 pages to get into it properly, but once I did I felt like the story flowed.But, for the negative side of things... Firstly, the description on the back cover (the generic one that's used for this edition is similar enough to give you an idea), it doesn't really seem accurate. Normally I expect to read a book and get to a certain point where there's an "aha!" moment when the description comes to life within the story. In this book, that never happened. For one thing, Sarth isn't mentioned at all. In fact, he headed in entirely the opposite direction! With Sarth in mind as I read it, looking out for that as a reference and it not coming, it was rather odd.The only other thing that really annoyed me was in a couple of places where references and descriptions seemed vague, too vague to completely follow or understand without rereading that part and having a fuller explanation later on. It is written with plenty of information for those who haven't read the main series, so that is not what I'm referring to. I'm referring to minor "plot holes" I guess, but not even that drastic as everything was explained in the end. There were just a few, "huh?" places, where I didn't really understand what was going on.The latter is a relatively minor niggle compared to the former, and I guess it might be one of the down sides of how he chose to write his collaborative books. The former is just... Totally wrong. Getting a place name wrong like that just doesn't make sense at all.Anyway, all that aside, there were a couple of really comical moments that left me in stitches as much as the characters seemed to be, (view spoiler)[like with the guards and the pinecones...! (hide spoiler)]
—Susie
This book was the best in the Legends of the Riftwar series...but I am a little biased since Jimmy is one of my favorite characters. However, this one felt like I was reading an adventure instead of a long and drawn-out story of other characters I honestly did not care for in the predecessors. The chemistry between Fiora and Jimmy was interesting to read, but I still wish she was mentioned in the previous books that take place after these events. It seems like it is just an internal story even though it led Jimmy to return to Krondor.Jimmy was also an enjoyable character. I liked how the book took place after the events of rescuing Arutha but before he was given any titles. This shows a different attitude of Jimmy like when he contemplates helping Lorrie find Rip. Despite being almost impossible to find where I am at, I eventually got ahold of a copy and enjoyed the nice read.
—Nicholas Burress
Raymond Feist is my favorite fantasy writer and his character Jimmy The Hand is one of my TOP 5 characters not only in his books, but like ever. So a book just for him is like paradise for me.I think that everyone who reads Feist and read this book, can see the difference in the writing style and the way the story is presented because of Sterling. The book gives you an entirely different view on Jimmy's character and it's really different than the rest books by Feist. Instead of a huge wild war, we have a smaller adventure after the events at The Magician #2 of Riftwar Cycle. The story is not as impressive, but it is an easy read that can be read fast.Jimmy is a young boy here, before he starts being awesome. It's funny because i never payed attention to him at that age at the rest books so it was a little difficult to connect with him. I like how honorable and a good man can be for a thief. I certainly didn't enjoy his character as much as the other books. He seems way more complex and interesting in the rest series while here, he is a simple character that doesn't stay at your mind at the of book. If he wasn't Jimmy, i would have forget all about him.Still i quite enjoyed the book. It's one of the optional books written for the series of Feist. Certainly not as good as King's Buccaneer or Princes Blood but good enough. I have some of the rest optional books already at my shelves waiting to be read. I hope to do it soon.
—Splash Of Our Worlds *Yiota*
