The boys' growth entails some of Feist's most notable feats of characterization, feats that testify to the substantial improvement he has made as a writer during a career now approaching the 20-year mark. Reinforcing him are two fugitive farm boys, Tad and Zane, and their mentor, Caleb, whose aid proves invaluable as all three youngsters mature, the farm boys with the additional help of another mage's daughters. Right now he is trying to contend with evil sorcery and win the tolerance, if not allegiance, of the emperor. In it eventual arch-mage Pug (see * Exile's Return, 2005) is much younger, his vast powers are still forming, and he hasn't yet acquired the array of family ties that will make him so wonderfully human later on. From Booklistįeist expands the * uber -saga of Midkemia again with a new trilogy, The Darkwar Saga. (Apr.)Ĭopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. Those looking for the numinous wonder of Tolkien or the beautiful language of Ursula Le Guin will have to look elsewhere, but readers seeking to move one step up from adventure-gaming tie-in novels will find this a good starting place. The result does not add up to any sense of a real, other place like Middle Earth or Earthsea, in which mythic events might plausibly occur. All the characters talk in completely 21st-century vocabulary, and while some of the inhabitants of the imaginary setting have unusual names suggestive of alien language and culture, we also meet folks named Miranda, Tomas, Magnus, Caleb and Zane. This first of a new fantasy trilogy from bestseller Feist ( Exile's Return) reintroduces a now ancient but well-preserved Pug (the juvenile hero of Magician) plus numerous generic situations, not the least of which is the return of Pug's old nemesis, the evil wizard Sidi, and a further menace that threatens the land of Midkemia. For a nightmare of treason, intrigue, and murder is brewing among an ancient Brotherhood of Death-a clan of merciless assassins whose name is spoken only in fearful whispers.

And in far Stardock town, two boys-untrained, unready, and barely come of age-will be called upon by the mysterious Conclave of Shadows to confront a sinister plot that implicates even the highest-ranking nobles in the land. Even the formidable might of the Tsurani Empire will not beat back the alien invaders.

A portent of annihilation awakens the powerful sorcerer Pug in the dead of night-a dread vision warning of a vast and terrible army descending upon the exposed heart of Midkemia.

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