Book Review - Rides A Dread Legion by Raymond E Feist

Raymond E Feist was my introduction to the fantasy genre. I was given Krondor - The Assassins for Christmas in '99 and put off reading it for at least six month due to the fact I then regarded fantasy as not being a 'proper' genre. When I did get round to reading it through sheer boredom one day, I was hooked. Now I have a bookshelf full of fantasy books, from Feist to Martin, Hobb to Tolkien and most in between and far apart. Having started out on a Raymond E Feist book, I have amassed the majority of his works.

I had purchased Rides a Dread Legion before going to Germany for my placement earlier this year but did not read it until this week as I deemed it too much of an additional weight for my suitcase.

Many have hailed it as a return to form for Feist whose more recent books such as the Conclave of Shadows trilogy and Darkwar Saga may have disappointed some fans.

*** Spoiler Warning ***
While I try not to give much of the story away, I may have slipped up on occasion.

Rides a Dread Legion had enough momentum to keep me gripped for the six hours it took me to finish it. Thos familiar with Feist's works will recognise the return of the major characters. And this is where things start to disappoint. To me the storyline was a mash up of everything he has written before. We have Demons (i.e. similar to the Serpentwar Saga), we have Elves pertaining to The Dark Path and conquest of the Kingdom (i.e. similar to the Murmandamus uprising in Darkness at Sethanon; with the death of Leso Varen / Sidi (the bad guy) in the last saga, we have a replacement for him who is reportedly worse, we have rifts and we have of course, Pug and Tomas seeking to protect Midkemia.

However the book left me with a distinct feel of finality. It was as if Feist was writing his last Saga with regards to Pug, Tomas and the world of Midkemia. I have since found out that Rides a Dread Legion will be followed by At the Gates of Darkness (Expected: January 4, 2010) and further by the Chaoswar Saga:

• A Kingdom Besieged (TBA) No announced release date, Not yet published
• A Crown Imperiled (TBA) No announced release date, Not yet published
• Magician's End (TBA) No announced release date, Not yet published

which going by the titles looks like the final stretch for Pug and Tomas.

Overall I wasn't too disappointed with the book, it was a good read at a good pace. While this is not his best, it does not mean I will not get the next book or the three after. For anyone who has not even heard of Feist I would definitely recommend Magician, his first book (I have three copies) but be aware it was written in a single novel style (think Lord of the Rings but not that massive) mainly because Feist was probably not sure of the success of the book . Or my personal favourite The Empire Trilogy, written with Janny Wurts.

Looks like I'm Stealing a TV

The pictures were taken a couple of years ago but people who know me personally can actually recognize me and my friend. This is one of my "conversation fillers" as it looks for all the world like we are stealing a TV. I'm in Blue in the front, leading the job. Judge for yourself:



So that was at 7 Balunie Avenue, Dundee, Scotland.
So what do you think? I have managed to convince a few people that we were stealing a TV in broad daylight, with the Google Streetview car capturing our every move (from another view you can see us at the car with the TV) and plenty of people around.

I was in fact helping my friend Neeraj (in Black at the Back) move house and that was his TV we were carrying to my car which is the orange one parked on the street in front of the flat. I'm actually quite glad of this um... publicity. It is a great conversation filler especially if you are able to show the pictures to the person you are talking to.

So do you know anybody who appears on Streetview? Or do you know of any pictures from Streetview showing some dodgy stuff?