Feist still worthy of a read?

[Darksaber]

if you want god honest truth, Feist is worth the read, he does have some really bad books, but they just blend in with the rest. Its just a shame the newer ones are a bit lacking.. Rides a Dread Legion, bored the pants off me.. i hope the new one is better

[sielah]

The problem I have with Feist's later books is that he seems to have forgotten how to create well rounded, sympathetic characters.

The Conclave of Shadows trilogy was just terrible for this. Talon was so damnably perfect at everything and anything and so utterly lacking in depth and dimension that I eventually couldn't care less what happened to him. By halfway through the second book, I was actually rooting for Kaspar. At least he was interesting, if only in a scenery chewing way.

And I also think Feist has problems with female characters. IMHO, he just can't write them for sh*t now. They are all either buxom barmaids or slutty barmaids or manipulative bitches or slutty manipulative bitches or irritating shrews.

But I know Feist has recently gone through a divorce. Maybe that has worn on him the wrong way, as with George Lucas and 'The Temple of Doom"...

[ser4]

hey guys i was wondering is it just me or does the later books after Darkness at Sethanon get a little ....well not boring but kind of close. I mean it is always something out of this world that threatens Mikdemia and Pug comes to the rescue. Does it get better then this or is it just a waste of time? I just finished "Flight Of The NightHawks"

[Fake Vencar]

The later books are not the same as his earlier efforts; I'd recommend reading them still though. He seems to have cut out most of his mistakes in the newest releases but the storylines are both predictable and, in some cases, more than a little confusing

[CadleyX]

It looks at though he's finally bringing the whole thing to an end with "Magician's End" in a couple of years, so maybe the thought of being able to work on something new will improve the end of the series and anything else he does in the future.

Everything up to Shards of a Broken Crown is worth reading, after that it is very hit and miss, although he is incredibly easy to read, and none of his books are particularly bad as just average.

[fingy773]

Originally Posted by CadleyX

Everything up to Shards of a Broken Crown is worth reading, after that it is very hit and miss, although he is incredibly easy to read, and none of his books are particularly bad as just average.

I Agree with that.

[rdenning]

Oh I think so. Magician was another one of those books I discovered at university and loved at once. Whilst some of his later books are don't have the magnificence of the earlier ones (the sheer scope and scale of the story I mean) he is still a good author.

[Virtuous]

It's interesting that "Shards of a Broken Crown" is often mentioned as his last good book. Like many, I was so blown away by "Magician" that Feist rocketed to the top of my fave fantasy author list, but it was "Shards" that was the final nail in the coffin for my enthusiasm. Not that it was a bad book - it just seemed that Feist had lost his passion for storytelling that was so engaging, and was just pumping out bog-standard fantasy novels. If "Shards" was the last good one, I'm glad I stopped there.

[woodsman]

Well I really enjoyed Shards. The Keshian spy stuff was fairly standard fair, but it was great to see Tomas in action again. I really enjoyed Nakor's temple, I don't think I've read another fantasy where someone started a religion. Then again I have a severe man-crush on Nakor so anything he did was gold to me. I've read a lot of fantasy where everything ends when the good side win out, so it was nice to see some attempts at re-building occuring and all that that entailed.

[fingy773]

well, the main error i found was that erik married kitty in the serpent war, but in the later series it said he was never married.

[MalickaNeya]

I read a lot of confusing things too now in his new books. earlier it was simple, but now sometimes I can´t get it, they talk for so long and I can´t concentrate xD but maybe it´s because of translation too xD but I really love Riftwar saga, Empire saga, Krondor books and Serpent saga too (there I like the beginning when they are training and you know what I mean :-)) and I like Honour enemy a lot too, first time I read it I cried because I really imagined it in my head. It was the same as in the Riftwar and Empire saga, the amazing way to show us how does something look and the the picture shows in my head like a film xD I want to read them again, but I agree with all of you that the last ones are a little weaker in some ways. I´m also dissapointed that it is just too long story (on the other hand I´m glad for something) and almost all of my favourite characters died. If they died in battle or something I would cry and then they would be heroes, but they died because they were old but still love Feist´s books and if I´m recommending books then it´s always Feist xD

PS sorry for my English, I´m trying my best xD

[Turner]

one thing i noticed is that in later books feist gets the names of all his minor characters wrong. half of them are misspelled or changed (don't know which). also i don't know how many more times he can renew pug's life.

[xmurph37]

I have read all 27 books in this series and the last 2 have been dissappointments. They were a bit too mechanical, not passionate, and too short. It seems that he is missing some of his Friday Nighters. I just don't see how he can wrap things up in the next three books when the next one, a Kingdom Besieged, is only 320 pages short. I am hoping for a "Returning" of all the elves to Elvandar to help whatever is going to happen. I am also intrigued by the Anoredhel and the Sven'gar'ri, who they protect, and what role they might play in the end, if any. Lots of loose ends.

[xyz]

They were bad AND too short? Ha!

The last couple that have come out are terrible, don't bother. He must be paying some grad student to write them or something.

[cornelius]

I found the storyline to grow a bit repetitive over the different series. A bit like " New threat, new elves, someone dies unexpectedly, "bad guys" relate to the same main idea, peace with an if-clause, repeat."

I did enjoy most of Feist's books and I think his work is a good introduction to Fantasy, including both Magic and a fictional world with exotic races, politics and the lot.
but once you get into hardcore epic fantasy (Erikson) or hardcore political schemes with just a hint of fantasy (GRR Martin) then Feist will feel a bit... thin.

I don't want to bash Feist here, and it's just my opinion. And I don't mean "hardcore" as a bad thing.