A Darkness at Sethanon by Raymond E Feist

Rate and review A Darkness at Sethanon! | What does everyone else think?

Summary Feist writes as if he’s writing for me specifically.

Review by Joshua S Hill

It took me a remarkably long time to finally pick up Raymond E. Feist’s wildly popular Magician. It was a poor lapse in judgement based solely around the fact that the lead character was another orphan and his name was Pug. Poor reasoning, I know, but there we have it nonetheless. That being said, I did finally pick it up and subsequently ploughed through Silverthorn and then A Darkness at Sethanon.

Feist writes as if he’s writing for me specifically. It’s clever writing with clever storytelling and vivid scenery and characters. And even if there is a measure of reused plot devices it soon becomes unimportant under the new story threads that Feist throws in.

Darkness continues where the previous two books left off, with Arutha once again the focus of attention. He is one of the most intriguing characters I have had the pleasure of reading in my years, and is very relatable. His moods and motives, his distrusts and his likes are all believable and measurable so that the reader finds him or herself in Arutha’s shoes.

The same can be said for Jimmy the Hand, who once again shows up as the mischievous and far too smart for himself sidekick to Arutha’s adventure. Though maybe some could suspect Jimmy for having access to a little too much intelligence, I find myself once again relating to a character who doesn’t just take the party line as truth and makes a life and path for himself.

Feist hasn’t left us with just one plot thread though, ensuring that Pug and Tomas find their way back into the story. We continue to be shown just how powerful and unlike any other these two characters are, and how they deal with the realisation themselves. There are some beautifully constructed scenes featuring Pug and Tomas as they go in search of help for Midkemia, none more so than when they return to the beginning of time and space.

One of the highlights of the book however is a villain from past books, who reappears to be, not so much misunderstood but simply despised thanks to a lack of a fully formed picture of the character. Motivations are a wonderful thing, and can be left out of a characters biography until they are needed to sway the reader. Add that with actions and you will often find yourself liking a character you once disliked, or were intended to dislike.

Feist manages to once again capture my attention wholeheartedly and have me searching for more books in the Riftwar series of books so that I can continue reading one of the better fantasy series I have laid my hands on. It’s a real treat to read Feist, especially with the knowledge that there is so much more to come.

A Darkness at Sethanon: The Triumphant Finale to the Riftwar Saga (Riftwar Saga 3) (Amazon.co.uk)

Author: Raymond E. Feist
Binding: Paperback
Number of pages: 528
Publication date: 2006-09-06
Publisher: CollinsVoyager

RRP: £8.99
Lowest new price: £3.27
Lowest used price: £2.74

A Darkness at Sethanon completes the "Riftworld saga" which started with Feist's Magician. When Raymond Feist's enormous novel was published, critics called it "the best new fantasy concept in years", and Feist has refined and explored that concept over a dozen novels. His "concept" was to bring together two (and later, more) whole, intricately realised Fantasy worlds. Midkemia is a Tolkienian realm, a European-Medieval series of kingdoms in which magic is prominent, and where men share the earth with dwarves and elves. Feist's genius was inventing another sword and sorcercy realm based more closely on eastern models, the Empire of Tsuranuanni, as vast as Ancient China, as formalised and devoted to the arts of war as a samurai Japan. A magical rift in time-space brings these two worlds clashing together, and the young boy Pug and his soldier friend Tomas are thrown into the ensuing maelstrom of invasion and epic battle, before embarking on a more fundamental magical journey towards the very roots of evil itself. Feist's two sequels to Magician, Silverthorn and A Darkness at Sethanon complete the richly conceived "Riftwar Saga", and Fiest has gone on to chronicle other aspects of his invented worlds. With Janny Wurts he wrote the "Empire" trilogy, which charts the rise, through the rigid patriarchy of the Empire of Tsuranuanni, of a remarkable female heroine, a woman who eventually reaches the heights of the imperial throne itself Daughter of the Empire, Servant of the Empire and Mistress of Empire. More recently he has returned to the world of Medkemia, and to his hero Pug, with the Serpentwar saga, beginning with Shadow of a Dark Queen and continuing with Rise of a Merchant Prince, Rage of a Demon King and Shards of a Broken Crown. Heroic Fantasy is a crowded-enough field, but Feist stands out in it for his sheer inventive power, the scope and range of his narratives, the diversity of his characters and his thundering battle sequences. Start reading here, and you may find yourself unable to stop until you have followed the saga right up to date. --Adam Roberts
Amazon.co.uk Review

A Darkness at Sethanon (Riftwar Saga 3) (Amazon.com)

Author: Raymond E. Feist
Binding: Paperback
Number of pages: 528
Publication date: 2006-09-04
Publisher: HarperVoyager

RRP:
Lowest new price:
Lowest used price: $4.95

Submit your own mini-review

Let people know what you think about A Darkness at Sethanon. You can write your own mini-review and give the book the rating that you think it deserves. Your reviews will go towards giving A Darkness at Sethanon its overall rating that will decide where A Darkness at Sethanon finishes in the top 100 fantasy books of all time.

Books you may also enjoy...

The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien

J.R.R. Tolkien's masterpiece. The Lord of the Rings is the best known as most enjoyed fantasy book of all time. If you have never read this, or The Hobbit before, then you are in for a real treat! ... read the full review

Summary: It is hard to put into words the happiness that can be felt when reading literature as good as this.

Reader reviews | Write review

The Earthsea Quartet by Ursula Le Guin

The Earthsea Quartet brings together Ursula Le Guin’s four legendary Earthsea sagas for the first time in a single volume. ... read the full review

Summary: Stunning, thought-provoking fantasy.

Reader reviews | Write review

The Mad Ship by Robin Hobb

The Liveship Traders series continues with the second book, The Mad Ship. Althea Vestrit continues her quest to reclaim her rightful inheritance, the liveship Vivacia. The Vivacia has been seized by pirates led by the enigmatic Kennit, a man who believes that destiny leads him to become King of the Pirate Isles. The Vestrit family are nearing financial ruin which leads them closer to the mysterious Rain Wild Traders who own the ship. Amidst these events the mad ship, Paragon is once again launched despite the history of death and despair that surrounds him. ... read the full review

Summary: A spell-binding story full of wonderful characters and intrigue.

Reader reviews | Write review

Also in this sub-genre...

• The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
• The Earthsea Quartet by Ursula Le Guin
• The Mad Ship by Robin Hobb
• The Judging Eye by R Scott Bakker
• Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
• Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll
• The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
• Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
• Assassin’s Quest by Robin Hobb
• The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien
• Magician by Raymond E Feist
• The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia McKillip
• Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb
• Lord Fouls Bane by Stephen Donaldson
• Ship of Destiny by Robin Hobb
• Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb
• The Other Wind by Ursula Le Guin
• Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb
• Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie
• The Illearth War by Stephen Donaldson
• Wizards First Rule by Terry Goodkind
• The Power That Preserves by Stephen Donaldson
• Tales From Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin
• Fool’s Errand by Robin Hobb
• The Golden Fool by Robin Hobb
• Fool’s Fate by Robin Hobb
• The Last Unicorn by Peter S Beagle
• Silver Mage by CM Debell
• Shaman’s Crossing by Robin Hobb
• The Ice Crown by Sean Beech
• The High Lord by Trudi Canavan
• The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan
• The House of the Stag by Kage Baker
• The Magicians Nephew by CS Lewis
• The Diamond Throne by David Eddings
• The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams
• The Wounded Land by Stephen Donaldson
• The Silmarillion by JRR Tolkien
• Jarrak’s Darkness by Colin R Parsons
• The Riddler’s Gift by Greg Hamerton
• The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
• The Novice by Trudi Canavan
• Magyk by Angie Sage
• The Lost Barkscrolls by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell
• Fire by Kristin Cashore