In many respects, Magician (now sold as two books) was a saga unto itself - the time span, events, war, political intrigue, and heck even the physical length of the book. Coming out with a next installment worthy of the first, must truly have been daunting for Feist.
However, with Silverthorn I think he did well. He built upon some fine, solid characters, while introducing a few more. The pace is a little more frenetic, owing to the shorter time period which the book covers. Feist, as usual, laces his work with enough to intrigue us to keep us turning the pages (and wishing to skip pages too, so we can find out what happened next).
The novel centers around Arutha, Prince of Krondor, whose wife, in a failed attempt upon his life, falls to a poisoned crossbow bolt. The cure for the toxin is from a rare flower found only in the north, in the heart of moredhel country - these are the elves of the Dark Path who hate all others with a passion. The mastermind behind the attack is a mysterious and terrifying moredhel named Murmandamus. When Pug, the sole Greater Path magician of Midkemia, learns of this creature and the powerful force, the seat of true power, behind Murmandamus, he sets out for Kelewan to seek answers. This is a bold move, considering the trouble he caused in the Tsurani empire before he fled back to his homeworld of Midkemia.
However, with Silverthorn I think he did well. He built upon some fine, solid characters, while introducing a few more. The pace is a little more frenetic, owing to the shorter time period which the book covers. Feist, as usual, laces his work with enough to intrigue us to keep us turning the pages (and wishing to skip pages too, so we can find out what happened next).
The novel centers around Arutha, Prince of Krondor, whose wife, in a failed attempt upon his life, falls to a poisoned crossbow bolt. The cure for the toxin is from a rare flower found only in the north, in the heart of moredhel country - these are the elves of the Dark Path who hate all others with a passion. The mastermind behind the attack is a mysterious and terrifying moredhel named Murmandamus. When Pug, the sole Greater Path magician of Midkemia, learns of this creature and the powerful force, the seat of true power, behind Murmandamus, he sets out for Kelewan to seek answers. This is a bold move, considering the trouble he caused in the Tsurani empire before he fled back to his homeworld of Midkemia.
So the story unfolds on two tangents - one following Arutha in his quest to find the Silverthorn flower (and in doing so, gauging to some degree the army being assembled in the north) and Pug to uncover the truth of this new and powerful foe out to destroy his world.
Against all of this arises the possibility of the existence of the eldar, and the question of whether the powerful sorcerer Macros the Black is truly dead...
I highly recommend this book, but would urge you to read the Magician novels first to understand the events in this one a little better.
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