Rating: 
Summary: The more things change....
Review: I have read pretty much read most of Feist's books and after the end of the "Krondor" series I had had enough of Midkemia and decided to explore elsewhere, fantasy and other fiction mostly. I returned to Feist with this book, although I had no idea what to expect. There has been quite a change in the cover styles of Feist's books in this new series, in Australia at least, and I initially assumed that Feist had departed from Midkemia and taken up residence in a new world - and one could hardly blame him, with the lacklustre nature of the "Krondor" series which appear to have been inspired by the computer games (Betrayal at Krondor and Return to Krondor), rather than the usual vice versa; great plots for computer games but not so good for a novel.But in reality, returning to Feist's Midkemia is like returning home. Feist gets a bit of flak for his cliched plots and borderline cliched "nations", based on historical peoples from our well-known earth (I picked the Orosini culture as a simple splice of Native American and Highland Scottish societies). But in the end, this is is why I read Feist and can become immersed in the stories and the action - my brain is not too taxed in imagining the cultures or the appearances of the people, which are quite convoluted in other authors' Fantasy worlds, and I can concentrate on the story and enjoy the ride. It is good, well written escapism, and a fantastic ride indeed. And we can mourn the death or passing of certain characters (I am curious to know what happened to Erik, Calis, Roo etc) but did we really need book 5 of Serpentwar? Book 4 was pushing it if you ask me... Anyway, I was delighted to discover that Feist was still writing about Midkemia but had taken a whole fresh, new approach, starting the story way over the other side of the continent, east of Rillanon and Roldem - a part of this world we have not really discovered much of previously. In fact I was a tad disappointed at the appearance of Pug, Miranda (never get sick of Nakor though) etc because I was quite hoping for a complete departure from that old scene, and to play out an entire plotline in a different part of the world. Anyway, enough of the gripes. IMO this is one of Feist's best books, and it is interesting that all of the "first" books in each series seeem to be the strongest. As an entertaining, exciting, action-packed, fast paced novel, this is really great reading, and has me absolutely "spewing" that the next book "King of Foxes" is being flogged here in Australia for up to $45 when I am eager to get on with the next part of the story... If you are a Feist fan who has become a tad bored or disillusion with the whole scene, then buy this book and soak it in, because this is a whole fresh new direction for Feist's Midkemia books, without anything really having changed; and that's what I really enjoyed about it.
Rating:
Summary: A great novel with enormous promise for the series!
Review: Another great novel set in my favorite place: Midkemia! I hate to give Feist, my favorite author, anything less than 5 stars, but there were a few things missing from the book that I've come to expect from him.
The main character, Talon, was very well-built, however, he lacked the sensitivity that Feist usually lends to his characters. I did not come to love him as I had the numerous characters in Feist's other books. Still, I believe that he will continue to grow out of this... or at least I hope so.
As for the other characters, very few were more than just names.
Most of the locations in the book are just place-names, lacking Feist's usual rich geographical descriptions.
The book starts to pick up and gets really good towards the end, which leads me to think that the next book will be better than this one. Overall, this story was magnificently woven, with the adventure, emotion, and cleverness that Feist continuously delivers. I can't wait for the next installment in spring, so I'm going to buy the UK edition which supposedly comes out in November! Oh, the anticipation =O) I recommend reading Feist's works from the beginning (Magician: Apprentice) rather than starting with Talon of the Silver Hawk. Pick it up and delve into Feist's fantasy masterpieces! Mr. Feist, KUDOS!
Rating:
Summary: Feist's best book in years
Review: A new charcter, a new nation, even a whole new culture. The lead is Talon who with the help of Pug and Miranda's sons and onld friend Nakor is out to get some old fasioned revenge for the murder of his clan.
Rating:
Summary: The more things change....
Review: I have read pretty much read most of Feist's books and after the end of the "Krondor" series I had had enough of Midkemia and decided to explore elsewhere, fantasy and other fiction mostly. I returned to Feist with this book, although I had no idea what to expect. There has been quite a change in the cover styles of Feist's books in this new series, in Australia at least, and I initially assumed that Feist had departed from Midkemia and taken up residence in a new world - and one could hardly blame him, with the lacklustre nature of the "Krondor" series which appear to have been inspired by the computer games (Betrayal at Krondor and Return to Krondor), rather than the usual vice versa; great plots for computer games but not so good for a novel. But in reality, returning to Feist's Midkemia is like returning home. Feist gets a bit of flak for his cliched plots and borderline cliched "nations", based on historical peoples from our well-known earth (I picked the Orosini culture as a simple splice of Native American and Highland Scottish societies). But in the end, this is is why I read Feist and can become immersed in the stories and the action - my brain is not too taxed in imagining the cultures or the appearances of the people, which are quite convoluted in other authors' Fantasy worlds, and I can concentrate on the story and enjoy the ride. It is good, well written escapism, and a fantastic ride indeed. And we can mourn the death or passing of certain characters (I am curious to know what happened to Erik, Calis, Roo etc) but did we really need book 5 of Serpentwar? Book 4 was pushing it if you ask me... Anyway, I was delighted to discover that Feist was still writing about Midkemia but had taken a whole fresh, new approach, starting the story way over the other side of the continent, east of Rillanon and Roldem - a part of this world we have not really discovered much of previously. In fact I was a tad disappointed at the appearance of Pug, Miranda (never get sick of Nakor though) etc because I was quite hoping for a complete departure from that old scene, and to play out an entire plotline in a different part of the world. Anyway, enough of the gripes. IMO this is one of Feist's best books, and it is interesting that all of the "first" books in each series seeem to be the strongest. As an entertaining, exciting, action-packed, fast paced novel, this is really great reading, and has me absolutely "spewing" that the next book "King of Foxes" is being flogged here in Australia for up to $45 when I am eager to get on with the next part of the story... If you are a Feist fan who has become a tad bored or disillusion with the whole scene, then buy this book and soak it in, because this is a whole fresh new direction for Feist's Midkemia books, without anything really having changed; and that's what I really enjoyed about it.
Rating: 
Summary: What happened to the post-serpantwar legacy?
Review: I am a huge fan of Feist's writing. I read "Magician: apprentice" eight years ago and have been an avid fan ever since. I was very dissapointed to find out that the post-Riftwar and the post-Serpantwar stories came to such a sudden and inexplicable stop. This book deals with an entirely new character, Talon, and the period the book takes place in is well in the future, far removed from the time and characters I was following in "The Conclave of Shadows", "Tear of the Gods" or "Krondor- The Asssasins and Krondor-The Betrayal". If by some mirracle, Feist happens to read this review, I would beg of him to continue writing about my favourite characters: Jimmy, Arutha, and the others. These are the characters I have fallen in love with, and it is they that have kept me involved in his world for all these years. Raymond has much to explain and inform me about before I can fully apreciate the new series he has begun!!! Talon is a well developed and interesting character. However, the book starts of with a progressive and clearly chronological order, but midway trough, suddenly skips to Talons life and adventures at the Academy and the Court intrigues he becomes involved in, at which point he is a man and no longer a young teenager. The book left a gap I felt uncomfortable with. His character had undergone a transformation I did not see coming. There was information that was missing about this young adult, and the book felt a little disjointed as if the writer had spent too much time on Talons youth and the hard lessons he had to learn, and so had to hury up the plot. The book is full of mysteries, plots, and secrets that have not been explained or revealed, and although there are hints that the enemy is one we have encountered before, his last book had only started to introduce this mystrious Sorcerer to us and we do not know much about him or his organization.I hope that Feist will enlighten me in the next instalment. He has already draged on the mystery, secrecy, and suspence long enough.
Rating:
Summary: Get that file out!
Review: Revenge-fantasy books are almost a dime-a-dozen (and almost as clichéd as the phrase "dime-a-dozen"). I don't know how many books have the main protagonist be the last survivor of his people, out for revenge against the bad guys who murdered them, but I do know that there are many. So when I heard that Raymond E. Fiest's Talon of the Silver Hawk was that kind of book, it already had one strike against it. Style can make up for a lot of things, however, and thankfully Feist's style brings this up a few notches. Not enough to make it an outstanding book, but enough to make it thoroughly enjoyable. It is part 1 of a series (Conclave of Shadows), however, so be warned. It is set in the Krondor universe, though it evidently takes place many years after the Riftwar, for those of you who are already fans of Feist. Kieli is about to become a man by going through the vision quest that his people, the Orosini, use to mark the onset of adulthood. After they have their vision, boys come back to the village, having received their adult name in their vision, and find out who their parents have chosen to be their bride. However, Kieli doesn't have time for all this. Right after his vision, he sees smoke from his distant village, runs there, and arrives just in time to almost be killed along with the rest of his people. In fact, he's left for dead. Found by a kindly yet secretive old man, who's much more then he appears to be, the newly christened Talon of the Silver Hawk goes through years of vigorous training to fulfill his duties to his rescuer. He becomes a member of a super-secret organization, a secret weapon in a fight against evil. He creates a new identity to ingratiate himself in high society in order to keep close to the evil-doers. In his service to this organization, he will take his first steps on the road to vengeance for his family and his people. But will he lose his own identity in the meantime? It's a good thing that Feist can write an interesting yarn, because there is nothing in this book that's very original. As I said, we've seen the "last member of a people out for revenge" story before. We've also seen the "secret organization on the side of good but can do some shady things" before. The setting is almost Dungeon & Dragons with the serial numbers filed off. In fact, this organization almost reminded me of the Harpers in the Forgotten Realms series of books. Thus, the book bears a heavy burden on its rise up the hill of quality. Thankfully, Feist makes the book a lot of fun and Talon is actually quite the interesting person. There is a bit of a culture clash between his own people and the society that he ends up trying to infiltrate. He has to learn a lot of things, including the art of seduction. His people don't believe in sex before marriage, but the character he becomes has to become a lady's man. His first two "conquests" actually conquer him, and they couldn't be any more different. One's blond and beautiful and the other is brunette and kind of mousy. He eventually doesn't avoid promiscuity, but he still has to be taught a harsh lesson in love and loss before he can be fully ready for his role. The characters aren't really anything special (with the exception of Talon, of course). They fulfill their roles admirably. The duke is subtly evil rather than twirling his moustache, but then he's only the ultimate goal of the series, not for this book. The main villain for the book, Raven, doesn't get much characterization at all. It doesn't really detract from the book, however, since it makes it almost a force that Talon is fighting against. There are both good and bad things in the structure of the book. The good thing to mention is an interesting stylistic choice. Every chapter starts with a one sentence paragraph, along the lines of "Talon waited." Most of them are two words, though occasionally there are more, like "Talon sipped his wine." I don't know why this style intrigued me so much, but I really got a kick out of it. The main problem I had with the book, however, is that Talon almost seemed too perfect. He rarely makes a mistake, and when he does he's able to rectify it pretty quickly. This isn't so much the case when he's being trained, but it certainly is afterward. He's a great hunter, bowman, swordsman, he has ladies falling all over him (once he's in society). It just doesn't appear to be a lot of work for him. As I said, the only time this doesn't happen is his training, which actually does take up a large portion of the book. I started out thinking that it was too drawn out and much more could have been glossed over in favour of an interesting story afterward, but the more I read, the more I was intrigued. There are almost sub-stories in the whole thing, the most interesting being his doomed dalliance with a fellow student. After it was over, I was glad it all had been included. We learn bits and pieces about the Conclave of Shadows as Talon does, and it makes it more interesting. Ultimately, I just have to say that this is a fun book. That's the only reason that I'm giving it four stars, as going strictly by quality, I'd have to say it's between three and four. I'm glad I read it, and I'm eagerly devouring book two now. David Roy
Rating:
Summary: takes a while to love
Review: I read all of Feist's books and was intrigued that this book furthered the story of the Conclave of Shadows as mentioned in the end of the serpentwar saga. I was rather shocked that this story takes place maybe 9000 years after Erik and Roo's adventures. Seems everybody we know from the previous books are dead, except a suddenly boring husband-wife pair of Pug and Miranda, who are still 30 years old. James and Dash are now grandpas running Krondor, and we don't even get to see any of them in action. For readers looking to revisit with familiar characters, this book is a MAJOR letdown. The story itself is also very weak compared to the previous stories. The main character is too perfect to be believable. The enemies suck so bad you'd think old Admiral Trask could have pounded all of them by himself. All the good guys, however, are god-like. Heck, might as well be a Marvel Comics rip-off, being as powerful as they are. The only reason I finished this book was because I bought it, and because I loved all the other Feist books. I'll probably try out the next book, but if that goes nowhere, it might be the last I read Feist. All in all, reminds me of Brother Bear a little: high expectation, lousy delivery, and you ask "why did I bother."
Rating:
Summary: A new part of an old world: All by a master
Review: I, like so many others, am an avid fan of Raymond Feist and will read just about anything he writes. I have even purchased some spin-offs from amazon.co.uk. My first exposure was the pc game "Betrayal at Krondor" which offered a great stories for an RPG. I simply had to read more about this world. I picked up Magician and the rest is history. I have every book in hardback and loved all (some more, some less). That said, I too was initially disappointed that a new book would be essentially a new world. I was wrong. Rather than a distraction from from Midkemia, Silver Hawk provides a fresh addition to that world. I think this new trail was every bit as rewarding as the Empire series, but with more Feist-like characters and writing (by the way, I loved Mara). Character development is good and provides just enough pain to be effective, while not brutal. I cared about the main character, but probably not as deeply as I did about Thomas, Pug, Mara, etc. Even so, I think some great foundation has been laid and I am looking forward to King of Foxes, which should be arriving soon. Any fans of Feist should buy and read this without reservation, give it a chance. New readers of Feist I would direct to Magician first. It is a masterpiece and really builds love of this world (plus it was chronologically the first book written).
Rating:
Summary: Talon of the Silver Hawk (Conclave of Shadows, Book 1)
Review: I have read all of Mr. Feist's works. I got a little tired of him for a while, I felt like I was reading a guide book to a video game. The Conclave of Shadow series seems to be back on track with what I have come to expect from him. If you have read his other works, this continues on a few generations after his last series. If you haven't read all his other stuff, you can pick this up and not be lost. Although there are references to back stories, nothing is critical to plot (yet).
Rating:
Summary: Good Introductory Book
Review: I'll admit for the last couple of years I haven't quite known what to think about Feist. He was the first author of adult fiction that I started reading. Since then, I have read many authors, including Goodkind, Martin, Jordan, Hobb, King, Friedman, Brooks, Salvatore, Clavell, and Williams. The last thing I had read by Feist was Tear of the Gods nearly two years ago, and I found it mediocre. Then, not too long long ago, I read The Wood Boy, a short story in Legends, and it was very bland. I began to question Feist's skill as an author. Had he just gone bad over the last couple of years due to the divorce, or, had I simply been exposed to a better standard by those other authors, and his work seemed worse by comparison? I knew that that question would be answered when I read Talon of the Silver Hawk. I discovered that it was a liitle bit of both, though with more of the first than of the latter. I had been exposed to a better level of characterization by those other authors, but in all other areas, Feist was still unbeaten. His characterization isn't bad, it just lacked the usual depth and intimacy that I had come to expect from my other authors. Aside from that, I was still able to understand what was going on inside Talon's head at all times, and his characters didn't lack depth and complexity. Feist just didn't waste time with things that could be implied. He set a brisk pace to the story, and after reading Jordan's latest fiasco, that was a welcome change. This book begins in the eastern kingdoms, a place as yet unexplored by Feist. After a boy watches his tribe murdered by savage mercenaries, he is rescued by two men, who nurse him back to health. Eventually he becomes intwined with the Conclave of Shadows, that society created by Pug at the end of the Serpentwar Saga. This novel looks to be set about thirty years in the future. Some old faces show up during the novel, but the story remains primarily Talon's. Most of this novel is essentially a coming-of-age story for Talon. I know it's been done before by Feist, but Talon's story is very different from Pug's, or Erik's, or anyone else's for that matter. There were certain times in Talon's life that the author skipped, the most being two years, but it is only because those were times of inertia in Talon's life, when nothing happened. Overall, the book spans about five years. The last hundred or so pages reminded me that Feist writes best when he's writing action sequences. (In a side note, Mr. Feist, I think you should FINISH THE RIFTWAR LEGACY. You said you have at least two more to go, but you just stopped. I know it wasn't well-liked by your fans, but you can't just stop. In Talon of the Silver Hawk, they're already talking about Sidi, and we haven't even found out what happened between him and Pug in the first place! And the deal with the Crawler hasn't yet been settled, and I know we're going to see more of Jimmy's half brother. In the Serpentwar Saga, there were several spoilers regarding events in the Riftwar Legacy, and I get the feeling there's going to be more in the Conclave. I don't want to move forward when there's still an unfinished story eighty years prior!) All in all, this book serves as an introduction to a series that is going to be five or six books long. It hasn't really gotten into the story yet, but it is still enjoyable all on its own. The reason for my four stars is the somewhat lacking characterization and the fact that most of the action was at the end. And, while reading this book, it brought back memories of the earlier books, and I was able to remember just how good they were. Better than this book. But, as an introduction, it doesn't try to be a great piece of art. It's paving the way.
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