Rating: 
Summary: Disappointment
Review: There are a number of problems here. First of all the character is a stereotype, the young boy destined for great things. Second, throughout the book a variety of characters refuse to tell the boy what he is being trained for. And so there are thousands of passages where the boy asks questions and people mysteriously tell him he must wait. This gets pretty boring after 150 pages, as there is no real sense of direction and very little action of any type, except for the cheap "coming of age through sex" scene. No character, even the main one, comes through strongly and the "world" is seldom described in any detail despite the fact the main character is new to everything from a fishing reel to free love. Even Pug, who appears briefly, just putts around and is referred to as a man of obvious power.If you read a few fantasy book each year, there are plenty of better ones than this. If you gobble these books down like M&M's then get this one in paper, knowing it won't be great. If you loved Magician and the early Feist books, this won't satisfy you but may give you comething to chew on until another George R. R. Martin book comes out. Sorry to say but none of the later Feist books matches the success of his first few. Clearly he needs to start over with a new world and new characters. Get a used paperback of this one, not a hardcover.
Rating: 
Summary: Feist is simply a wonderful storyteller
Review: Raymond Feist is simply a great storyteller. This book, just as Magician, keeps the reader enthralled through a fast-paced tale. The plot proceeds rapidly, but never in lieu of detail. I would highly recommend this book along with the Magician novels. Also, for a new taste of Feist, I would recommend Faerie Tale as well. Regardless of his repetition (most of his novels are set in Midkemia), he still weaves a great story and keeps you interested.
Rating:
Summary: Eye in the Sky
Review: Raymond Feist's last few books have seemed a wee bit contrived as if the master was running out of innovative steam. Talon of the Silver Hawk reasserts Feist's position as a fantasy wunderkind and hearkens back to the likes of Shadow of a Dark Queen and Rise of a Merchant Prince. Feist takes the reader to a different area of Midkemia and introduces the story's main character Kielianapuna-Kieli for short. For Kieli the novel opens on a special day for him. The tribe he is a part of has a naming ritual in which a boy leaves his tribal family and awaits in the wilderness for a special sign that will indicate his new name-his name of manhood. For two days Kieli has hovered beneath the peak of Shatana Higo awaiting his vision. He has fasted with only the traditional Spartan fare of the warrior. Unfortunately, he sees carrion birds hovering over one of the neighboring villages. Worried that something wicked approaches his own village, the weakened Kieli makes his way quickly home. Kieli arrives in time to see his village being slaughtered. Every man, woman, and child is put to the sword by a mysterious army bearing the colors of the Duke of Olasko. Kieli attacks the barbarian horde but is quickly struck down and left for dead. His naming vision is the last thing he sees as an eye in the sky in the form of a silver hawk invites Kieli to bide his time, be the bird's talon and rend all enemies. A mysterious man known as Robert de Lyis rescues Kieli. Soon, Kieli finds himself bound to de Lyis through blood debt. Put simply, Kieli-who now calls himself Talon of the Silver Hawk-very nearly bled to death before the ministrations ordered by Robert de Lyis saved his life. Talon quickly finds himself being taught many curious things: how to cook, hunt, fight, and even how to recover from the pains of romance gone wrong. Eventually, Talon's training takes him to the mysterious Sorcerer's Isle located in the eastern Bitter Sea. Talon's thirst for revenge and Robert's plans for him soon converge as Talon encounters many strange, exotic, and bizarre people, localities, and situations. The book has a highly satisfactory ending and establishes what appears to be an exciting series of stories simply called the Conclave of Shadows. One does not have to have read Raymond E. Feist's previous books in order to understand the magical combination of American Indian mythology and Midkemian folklore...but it helps. Put simply, Talon of the Silver Hawk is a fascinating read and will capture the reader's imagination and attention from the opening page.
Rating: 
Summary: Good start for the new series
Review: Raymond Feist began his new saga with this book and did it well, I believe. With new and interesting characters, many adventures and powerful magic, it is a promise to something grand.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent example of Feist`s transparency
Review: I really would like to give this book two stars because of Feist`s standardization of his books, but it is not that bad. Feist is good at writing, although he does not have much creativity. Practically all Raymond E. Feist`s books have the same storyline: Something tragic happens to the main person, which means that he must abandon his old life and start over in a new life. The main person becomes extremely important in a fight against evil, and without him something tragic would have happened. The main person miraculously survives encounters that by all likelihood he should have died in, and succeeds in his objectives. Through his actions he also gets revenge on his enemies. Whether the main person`s name is Rupert, Eric, Talon of the Silver Hawk or Pug, the story is the same. Feist`s lack of imagination is tragic, since the "Riftwar Saga" in my opinionreally is some of the best fantasy ever. Since then, the story of Midkemia really has become a parody on itself.
Rating:
Summary: A welcome return to near-form for Feist
Review: At last, Feist returns to Midkemia in the way that we prefer: writing original stuff instead of novelizing the video games. That being said, _Talon of the Silver Hawk_ still falls slightly short of the high-water marks Feist set in his earlier series. _Talon_ begins in classic Feist style, with a young protagonist getting caught up in events beyond his/her normal experiences and expectations. Like the first books in the Riftwar and Serpentwar series, Feist spends a great deal of time following the main character as he copes with a lot of change and emotion and faces crises both emotional and physical. But unlike the other three series, _Talon_ seems to stay at that point throughout the book. Feist's other first Midkemia books scale up the scope of the conflict before the end of the first book. We were shown how important the Riftwar and Serpentwar were by the end of each book. _Talon_, however, stays small. Readers familiar with the other series will know about the larger conflict, but Feist keeps the focus squarely on his protagonist, only allowing him hints of the larger conflict. In fact, the pacing of this book resembles _Daughter of the Empire_ more than any of his other books. The readers know that something major is occurring in the world...the main characters do not, or not in full. This is a little bit of a departure for Feist...not unwelcome, but different. This book is far better than the Krondor series and Feist's fans should exhale in relief to see that he's still got "it." It will be interesting to see what he does with this new character and how this series will compare with its predecessors.
Rating:
Summary: Bond, Talon Bond
Review: Much like the Serpentwar series started out as a fantasy retelling of "The Dirty Dozen" (a bunch of death-row convicts are covertly recruited for a dangerous mission behind enemy lines), book 1 of the Conclave of Shadows starts the new series out by detailing the creation of the world's greatest gentleman spy. Follow Talon as he masters every linguistic, martial, cullinary, scholarly, and seductive craft with an effortless ease in but a few relatively short years. That's not to say its an entirely bad book...Just very derivative and, at this point, small. The characters frequently talk about the tremendous consequences of what they are about to embark upon, but you never really get the sense that it is as epic as The Riftwar or Serpentwar sagas (Like many others who have posted reviews here, I will not officialy count the Krondor books in the Midkemia pantheon).
Feist is a very good storyteller, and the world he has realized has room for many, many incredible tales. Perhaps this new series will grow into something more fantastic in future volumes. But at the moment, it doesnt feel that way.
Rating:
Summary: It's a start...
Review: Let me preface this by saying I am a huge Feist fan. Talon of the Silver Hawk is not as good as the first Riftwar series and it is much improved over those fairly poor Krondor the Betrayal series (the ones based on a computer game) The book focuses on Kieli, who has his whole village slaughtered while he is on a vision quest and his subsequent need for vengence. He becomes entangled with the Conclave of the Shadow, a mysterious cult working for the forces of good lead by our old friend Pug. I give Feist credit for not rehashing all the old characters and the few cameos that are in here are done well. Feist also does some name dropping throughout the book so you know where some of the characters we read about in the Serpent War saga are now without them actually being in the book (yet). It helps to continue the continuity of the world and the rich history of Midkemia. The two problems I had with this book are as follows:
1. There was an overall blandness about this book especially in terms of supporting characters and the "new" sections of Midkemia that are in this book. Fiest spends alot of time developing Kieli and his people the Orosoni (think Native American culture) but the same is not true of the supporting cast. For instance the two characters who find Kieli in the destruction of his village, Robert De Lyis and Pasko I think are poorly developed. They turn out to be fairly high agents of the conclave but after reading the book I don't know a whole lot more about them. I didn't find myself becoming attached. I think they need to be fleshed out a bit more and maybe that will come in the next book. The same holds true of the world itself. The second half of the book takes place in Roldem, a city often mentioned in Feist's other books but not visited unitl now. I have to say I didn't know what to expect but I was disappointed. It's just a generic city. Again I didn't feel the city was developed as well as say Krondor in his previous books with the its various distinct quarters and districts. My second gripe is small but I'll mention it anyway. At times the book seemed a little too coincidental. It felt to me there was a little to much "right place at the right time" feel. All in all it is an enjoyable read. Not his best and not his worst. The foundation is here for a saga. Let's see what he does with it.
Rating:
Summary: Exciting and well written fantasy
Review: Talon is in the mountains waiting for the vision that will usher him into manhood when mercenaries attack his village, destroying it and every other village of his people. Talon is leff for dead, but rescued by a band of magicians who save him at the price of his service. Talon begins a long period of training, first in mundane skills of hunting and food preparation, but later in language, swordfighting, and art. The magicians intend to use him for their purposes--good purposes, they assure him. Talon is willing--he is honor-bound to serve those who saved his life, but his patience is not unlimited. His most important, sacred, goal is to revenge his people. Author Raymond E. Feist combines solid action with the emotional richness of a young man who has his entire future uprooted on seeing the genocide of his people. Talon is imperfect enough to be sympathetic, yet uncannily skillful with weapons and women. TALON OF THE SILVER HAWK is set in Feist's Krondor/Riftwar universe and shows Feist's mastery of world-building. Feist's strong writing keeps the reader moving forward although much of the book serves as preparation for the action at the end. Even in this preparation, however, Talon finds himself facing truly evil enemies and wrestling with that most difficult of all subjects--women. TALON OF THE SILVER HAWK is an enjoyable and exciting opening to a new series. Good stuff.
Rating:
Summary: It's good, but not stellar......
Review: At last, a new Feist novel has arrived!! I've waited quite patiently for the next saga and rushed to pick it up when it was available. I wasn't disappointed with the story, but it didn't live up to my expectations. It has the foundations for a great saga, but in my opinion the first part was just not that fascinating. Some of the characters were a bit stereotypical and the main hero was at times, quite cliched. During certain parts of the story, I found that I already knew the outcome of the events. But, on the plus side, the story does explore more of Midkemia. It introduces some great elements that were only hinted at in the earlier stories. And if there is one thing that Feist is great, its continuity. You'll find some obvious and subtle references to characters and events from past novels. As a fanboy, I take great joy and picking those out. I would say, definitely pick up the book. Even if you're not crazy about this story, it does set up the next parts and those seem to be very action packed.
| 
