Title: Rage of A Demon King
Author: Raymond E. Feist
Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy
Year of publication: 1997
Rating: 5 stars
Midkemia once again lies under the terrible shadow of the Emerald Queen. Her dark forces are ready to launch a devastating invasion against the Kingdom of the Isles. Come the battle’s dawn the magician Pug, along with his life-long warrior friend Tomas, discover that something far worse than the Queen’s mere sorcery is afoot. For elemental, malevolent forces are being unleashed…forces that threaten to tear Midkemia apart unless Pug and his band of supporters can track down the long-missing sorcerer Macros the Black and confront his formidable powers.
A loyal soldier and a wealthy merchant have served bravely in the flames of an enduring war that is ravaging their land. But swords, bows, wits and courage will no longer be enough to defeat the scourge that is descending upon their home. For a foul and terrible thing has escaped from a world already devoured to feed on one consumed by chaos – an insatiable nightmare creature of dark and murderous nature which seeks to own and corrupt the very source of life itself.
The final conflict is joined, pitting serpent against man and magician against demon. For those who battle in the cause of good, there will be victory…or there will be doom for all.There can be no other outcome.
Warning: This review may contain spoilers for Shadow of a Dark Queen and Rise of A Merchant Prince!
In Rage Of A Demon King Feist goes above and beyond all expectations, and lifts her writing to a new level alltogether. The brilliance of this novel can only be compared with his debut novel, Magician, and even then Rage of A Demon King is victorious. My favourite Feist novel up to date, definately a must-read and one of the most intriguing, breath-taking and indulging fantasy novels ever written. Just when I thought I couldn’t be amazed anymore, I find such a work of beauty.
The first part of this series, Shadow of A Dark Queen, was mostly written from the viewpoint of young Eric Von Blackmoor, former nobody, who manages to climb up to the rank of sergeant-major by the end of the second novel. The latter, Rise of A Merchant Prince, focuses on Rupert Avery – childhood friend of Eric -‘s personal and financial growth, and his path to become the wealthiest merchant in the Kingdom. Both entertaining, well-written novels, with nice twists and turns around every corner, but nothing compared to Rage of A Demon King, where Feist puts everything together. The story is told from all sorts of different views: we have Pug, the greatest magician the Kingdom has ever known, who is now on a quest to find Macros The Black, Eric who is trying the best he can to keep the enemy army at bay, Rupert Avery who single-handedly supports this war when it comes to money, and the entire royal family – William, Arutha, Prince Patrick and Robert -, most of whom are constantly wondering how they can prevent the war, or atleast make it less bloody. The reappearance of familiar and loved characters like Nakor, and overpowered magician Pug (who now finally discovers the limits of his powers) makes this novel heartwarming at times, but icely cold at others.
The storyline, told from all these different perspectives, doesn’t get boring for one single minute. The intrigue, the double-crossing, the clever plans to reduce the size of the gigantic army coming their way, and the growing tension every minute the army draws closer, turn this novel into something brilliant. Feist manages like no other to describe the anxiety staring into the face of war, the sacrifices of men whose loyalties bind them to a Kingdom, the total despair when you lose everything you ever held dear, and the cold and calm realisation that the end is near. A magician with words, a master of human emotions, Feist surprises everyone with this excellent piece of literature. Even me.
[…] book a week and buy atleast fifteen new books this year. Preferably cheap ones. I already read and reviewed Rage of A Demon King by Raymond E. Feist, and have finished reading the follow-up Shards of a Broken Crown yesterday. Didn’t review it […]