The entire book is not much more than a glorified, over-extended prologue, which becomes rather frustrating after a while. I was also annoyed by how the Token Female, after being built up as badass for three hundred pages, is in the last few chapters reduced to the status of 'Jilted, Vulnerable and Whiny Ex Lover', and to a creepy man twice her age. I'm sorry, but that's just demeaning, and especially jars when the only other female with even a minor speaking role in the book has been conveniently killed off.Having said that, it's fun, with an absorbing world and characters; yet ultimately it left me unsatisfied. This is partly because I want to read on, but is also down to the fact that essentially in this novel, nothing whatsoever happens. I hereby proclaim R. E. Feist's depiction of elves and dwarves a dreadful sacrilege. Which ought to be banished to oblivion. Other than that, this book contains almost every invention of fantasy genre: mages, warlocks, conjurers, summonings, enchantments, spell castings, magical wards, fireballs!, bolts of blackness, stones of power, mystic energies, gods (dead and alive), dragons, wraiths and specters, hordes of howling demons, tiny imps, religious knights and bishops (?!), criminal brotherhoods, evil cults, secret conclaves, despotic rulers opposing selfless true royalties, trans-location portals, rifts between worlds, planes of existence, some cursing, lots of sword-fighting and endless boring prattling slowly altering to dramatic declarations and back again. The more you stir, the more tasteless it becomes.P.S. Eldar elves? Really?
What do You think about Rides A Dread Legion (2009)?
I have mixed feelings - I liked some things: Well-written, detailed world, fully developed characters. I didn't like other things: One character was described for 4 pages after being "glimpsed," "a garden" later has a door?, and I sometimes couldn't keep track who was who. That said, I'll probably read the 2nd book of this series and other Feist. I haven't read his books before and from what I gathered most books take place in the same world with overlapping characters. So maybe this would have made more sense if I started at the beginning, but this was what my library had at the moment. Just one suggestion: Never name your character "Jommy Killaroo" - Sounds like a kangaroo assassin!
—shriya
First of two in the Demonwar Saga. As usual Mr. Feist brings PUg and his secret group of friends into a world threatening situation, this time involving a horde of demons. In addition an alien group of elves find Pug's world through a portal and establish themselves there after finding it as their original home. This book seems mostly to start setting up the many different aspects to this saga. Got more entertaining as the book went on.
—emily
Felt like 95% of the book was over before anything happened. But then happen it did.
—raerae22
