Third, and maybe final, trip to Krondor

Finished the third, and possibly the last, of Feist’s Riftwar Legacy books or as I refer to them as the Krondor books. This one, Tear of the Gods, is supposed to be the mid book of the series with two more to follow. According to his website however there are unresolved issues with the producers of the video games linked with these books and so they are on hold until if/when they are resolved. He does state that there may be a non-traditional project to the series but since it ain’t books it is no good to me. Speaking of unresolved issues, though Feist gives satisfaction in bringing the arc of the book itself to a conclusion there are still issues of the overriding arc concerning the series, or sagas as he calls them, that are left hanging. In fact the proposed 4th book was to be titled Krondor: The Crawler, The Crawler being a mysterious character that is mentioned in the first two books but never actually takes the stage, yet is a major player in all the chaos that is going on.

With Krondor III Feist has again written a good fantasy novel that both stands on its own well and yet ties in to a much larger story. A number of familiar characters are back and a new one, at least to this saga, introduced. She comes to take her place in the Prince’s Court as his advisor on things magical, except in religion. Her name had been bandied about in the previous books as the Prince, Arutha, debated on whether he needed such an advisor and later, who would take the post but she finally makes an appearance here. She is an interesting introduction because of a number of factors. She is a woman and until recently women were not supposed to be trained as magicians. She is from a neighboring kingdom, Greater Kesh, one which isn’t always eye to eye with the Kingdom of the Isles. Both of which make many suspicious of her. Even better she is related to the royal family of said kingdom and her great uncle is the ambassador to the Royal Court and who just happens to be the head of Kesh’s intelligence service. Throw in the fact that she’s the former lover of the son of the Duke of Stardock, the magician’s city, and top magician around, and that said son is a member of Arutha’s household guards, and his family by adoption, makes for fertile ground for plot threads both current and future.

Again while titled Krondor a lot of the action takes place in the hinterlands though the first part of the action does take place in the city. The main plot revolves around a missing magical artifact, the Tear of the Gods of the title. Seems that this artifact, which is renewed every ten years, is the object of a bit of piracy at the start of the book. The piracy goes awry and the object sinks into the sea and the race is on to recover it. It seems if the Tear isn’t where it belongs before the old one’s lifespan is over the consequences range from disaster at best to destruction if the bad guys get their hands on it. Can you say demon fodder? The consequences are not only to the Kingdom either; it seems the whole world is in danger even though most of the world doesn’t even know about it. Seems the power of this thing is a closely kept secret among some of the religious orders, a few of the royals and nobles and now the people sent to recover it including the new court magician and our old friend Jimmy the Hand. Also a new character is brought on stage whether just a minor one to further this story or to play a major role in the overriding arc. We also find out about the differences in magic in Feist’s world. It’s not really explained but it seems there are two branches of magic among magicians themselves, Greater and Lesser Paths as they are called. Then it seems that priests of the various temples, of which there are a damn lot, also practice forms of magic that don’t seem to be within the purview of the magicians. Then there are the women involved with magic. If they mix up a few potions and they are generally considered benign then they are village wise women. If they actually show signs of power it seems there is a prejudice against them, the power must come from making a deal with some dark power and so are witches. Why men can practice magic but women can’t is never really explained. Pug, the most powerful magician in the land is doing his part to combat the prejudice, witness the Prince’s new advisor, but the notion isn’t making a lot of headway among the masses.

In addition to the main plot the saga arc is also advanced in this book. The piracy of the Tear is part of the plot to advance the fortunes of the bad guys though this book makes it a bit more apparent that the bad guys aren’t really all n the same page. There is a lot of jealousy among the ones working for the main goal and a number of others who have joined with them in a marriage of convenience to further their own ends and still others in this marriage we still don’t know exactly what their purpose is. Suffice to say it’s all enough to be a giant pain in the arse to Arutha and his principality.

Speaking of pains in the arse the biggest one is the fact that this series may not be completed. Sure the books are good stand alone stories and the plot of the saga itself is there but not so overbearing so as to be what your mind keeps dwelling on but it is still there and there are still unresolved issues you really want to know about, at least I do. Who is the Crawler and how does he benefit from all the chaos he’s unleashing in Krondor? Is he in league with the some of the other villains because he’s a believer in their cause or is it for personal reasons, like taking over the city? Who is the dark magician who seems to be behind most of the mischief going on and what is the power he serves? Is this new power that is introduced just a plot device for this book or is it to play a larger part in the overall story as seems likely? I just hate loose ends. It’s been a decade since this book was written; you would think they could have settled their differences by now.

Ok, we’ll give you a rest from mr Feist’s books for awhile though I’m now reading the original saga in the series. Library books I am afraid as I can’t afford them just now for my collection. Thanks for the listen.