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The Serpentwar Saga #4
Shards of a Broken Crown
The whole of the magnificent Riftwar Cycle by bestselling author Raymond E. Feist, master of magical adventure, now available in ebook
The demon is no more…
The enemy has been routed, yet peace still eludes the Kingdom. Midkemia lies in smouldering ruins following the Demon King’s siege. Many lives have been lost, including that of the brave James, Duke of Krondor.
As the people turn their hands to rebuilding their once great nation, a new threat arises from the ashes of war: the fearsome Fadawah, former Commanding General of the Army of the Emerald Queen. He has grasped the fallen reins of command and seeks to forge a personal empire out of the wreckage of the Western Realm.
And so it falls to two young men – Jimmy and Dash – grandsons of the late Duke, to gather together the shards of the broken crown and resurrect the Kingdom to its former glory.
Shards of a Broken Crown is the fourth and concluding book of the Serpentwar Saga.
532 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 1, 1998
400 people are currently reading
4480 people want to read
About the author
Raymond E. Feist
285 books9,496 followersRaymond E. Feist was born Raymond E. Gonzales III, but took his adoptive step-father's surname when his mother remarried Felix E. Feist. He graduated with a B.A. in Communication Arts with Honors in 1977 from the University of California at San Diego. During that year Feist had some ideas for a novel about a boy who would be a magician. He wrote the novel two years later, and it was published in 1982 by Doubleday. Feist currently lives in San Diego with his children, where he collects fine wine, DVDs, and books on a variety of topics of personal interest: wine, biographies, history, and, especially, the history of American Professional Football.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 246 reviews
April 17, 2019
These last two Feist novels have been rather wonderful, a return to the grand epic-style stakes and battles that drew me to the writer in the beginning. The aftermath of the Serpentwar mainly focused on the fate of the survivors from all over the place scrambling to take control of the rubble and while we follow some rather sympathetic characters in this, INCLUDING a ton of Pug, I found a ton action and intrigue to love.
But more importantly, and other than the big battles, I particularly loved the reveals about the gods. And the results of our long-lived characters' choices. This kind of thing is both very satisfying and sets up the rest of the series for some really spectacular blowouts.
Mad gods, sleeping gods, new avatars, new religions... it's all great. But I particularly love how lawless this place has become. And Pug's final decision. And I agree with him. Screw them all. :) Not worth it. :)
It's going to be a wild time in the rebuilding. :)
But more importantly, and other than the big battles, I particularly loved the reveals about the gods. And the results of our long-lived characters' choices. This kind of thing is both very satisfying and sets up the rest of the series for some really spectacular blowouts.
Mad gods, sleeping gods, new avatars, new religions... it's all great. But I particularly love how lawless this place has become. And Pug's final decision. And I agree with him. Screw them all. :) Not worth it. :)
It's going to be a wild time in the rebuilding. :)
February 7, 2017
In this book, Pug is all like:
Another great book from Feist - this one wraps up the Serpentwar Series and is almost more of a full book Epilogue than a final chapter (I hope that description makes sense). I think that might be one of the main reasons I didn't go the full 5 stars on it - it was great, but after how much the last book blew me away, I wasn't feeling the full score for this one.
Also, I wish Feist would have been a bit more creative with names. I know he is trying to honor past characters, and that is a common thing for royalty to do, but for the first third of the book I got confused if he was talking about a current character in the story line or one from previous storylines. This also led to confusion as to the character relationships - if your Dad has the same name as your son and you are talking about both in the same discussion . . . it's gonna get confusing!.
But, overall, the series keeps going strong. I believe some of the next books in the suggested reading timeline are flashback stories so it will be interesting to see how those go now that I am used to the timeline where it is.
Another great book from Feist - this one wraps up the Serpentwar Series and is almost more of a full book Epilogue than a final chapter (I hope that description makes sense). I think that might be one of the main reasons I didn't go the full 5 stars on it - it was great, but after how much the last book blew me away, I wasn't feeling the full score for this one.
Also, I wish Feist would have been a bit more creative with names. I know he is trying to honor past characters, and that is a common thing for royalty to do, but for the first third of the book I got confused if he was talking about a current character in the story line or one from previous storylines. This also led to confusion as to the character relationships - if your Dad has the same name as your son and you are talking about both in the same discussion . . . it's gonna get confusing!.
But, overall, the series keeps going strong. I believe some of the next books in the suggested reading timeline are flashback stories so it will be interesting to see how those go now that I am used to the timeline where it is.
October 14, 2025
Goodreads zgubił tę książkę w moich przeczytanych...
November 26, 2019
This was the fourth and final book in the Serpentwar Saga, one subseries in the middle of Feist’s very large Riftwar Cycle. I think I enjoyed this one the best out of the books in this subseries. This is an ensemble book, but the two grandsons of get a large chunk of the page time and I really enjoyed them, both separately and together.
The story held my attention well, although I think that was as much because I was invested in the characters as it was because of the story. There’s a pattern to these books that causes me to roll my eyes a little bit more in each book. I enjoy the writing and the characters and the stories, but I’m also hoping Feist will find some new types of stories to tell in the later books or I can imagine reaching a point where I get tired of it.
I have some notes on the reading order in the unlikely event that somebody who’s trying to decide how to read this series happens to randomly run across this review for a book right smack in the middle of the entire series. This book was published in early 1998, before Krondor: The Betrayal, the first book in the next subseries, which was published later that same year. Sounds logical so far, right? However, this book takes place later chronologically then Krondor: The Betrayal. Ok, well, sometimes authors do that, so what? Well, Krondor: The Betrayal is based on a video game that was released in 1993. This book therefore has several references to and spoilers for the events in Krondor: The Betrayal, because that story already existed in a video game format when this book was written, even though that story hadn’t yet been published as a book. This whole mishmash is further complicated by the author’s revised edition of Prince of the Blook from the subseries before this one. That book was originally published before even the game, but it now makes references to events in that game due to being revised at a later date. If I were ever to read through this series again, I think I would do it in chronological order instead. The first time I read these books, I did read them in chronological order based on some random list I had found on the internet and I think the story flowed better that way.
I have a couple other things to discuss inside the spoiler tags…
The story held my attention well, although I think that was as much because I was invested in the characters as it was because of the story. There’s a pattern to these books that causes me to roll my eyes a little bit more in each book. I enjoy the writing and the characters and the stories, but I’m also hoping Feist will find some new types of stories to tell in the later books or I can imagine reaching a point where I get tired of it.
I have some notes on the reading order in the unlikely event that somebody who’s trying to decide how to read this series happens to randomly run across this review for a book right smack in the middle of the entire series. This book was published in early 1998, before Krondor: The Betrayal, the first book in the next subseries, which was published later that same year. Sounds logical so far, right? However, this book takes place later chronologically then Krondor: The Betrayal. Ok, well, sometimes authors do that, so what? Well, Krondor: The Betrayal is based on a video game that was released in 1993. This book therefore has several references to and spoilers for the events in Krondor: The Betrayal, because that story already existed in a video game format when this book was written, even though that story hadn’t yet been published as a book. This whole mishmash is further complicated by the author’s revised edition of Prince of the Blook from the subseries before this one. That book was originally published before even the game, but it now makes references to events in that game due to being revised at a later date. If I were ever to read through this series again, I think I would do it in chronological order instead. The first time I read these books, I did read them in chronological order based on some random list I had found on the internet and I think the story flowed better that way.
I have a couple other things to discuss inside the spoiler tags…
October 10, 2008
The shadow of the Riftwar Saga hangs heavily over this series. I couldn't make any judgement on the series as a whole until I finished Shards of a Broken Crown. But now that I have, there grows in my mind a sneaking suspicion that Feist's ghostwriter had a lot to do with the writing of this final, fourth volume in the saga. I mean, there has to be a reason why the gradient of quality between the Riftwar Saga and this cycle of books is so great.
There are three major problems with this book, all of which Feist is completely capable of correcting and avoiding since he has shown himself to be a great writer in his Riftwar Saga. I will get to these issues at the bottom of this review. If you don't want spoilers, click to something else!
At the end of the third book, the demon king Jakan was defeated (with no drama or tension) by Pug, Tomas, Miranda and the annoying Nakor. Although that was an abrupt and disappointing ending to an otherwise good fantasy tale, it at least answered the question of who was behind the bad stuff happening in Midkemia. For some reason, Feist decided to extend the story to one more book, which would presumably be a long denoument to the Serpentwar, dealing with the political, military and personal fallout from the destructive path that the demon horde inflicted on the Kingdom of the Isles.
Shards of a Broken Crown is a book that foreshadows so much but delivers on very little of that promise. Even the title suggests high political drama, and strong military narrative. It is time for a story on the King of the Isles, the Prince of Krondor, and the devious shenanigans of Rupert Avery, our hero from the second book. But what we get instead is an inconsistent, jumpy narrative from one part of the world to another, without any strong ties until the very end, when all the stories are awkwardly pulled together. Somehow I would not be surprised if Feist did not write this. On the other hand, in the mid-90s when he was cranking out multiple parallel series, it is far more believable that he wrote this last volume far too quickly and rushed to the publisher as soon as he met their minimum words requirement. What other explanation for the odd, rushed ending? What other explanation for the numerous errors in typesetting and basic grammar? This book is poorly edited and badly organized. In short, this whole thing could have been crammed into a single chapter of epilogue at the end of Demon King, which for all its faults, was a much better story than this.
The first irritation for me is the constantly mysterious Nakor, who disguises any and every true mystery and pleasure in the book with cryptic phrases and silly smiles. Feist keeps telling us how much Nakor knows, but never gets him to say anything! It is one of the most frustrating things I have ever had to read and it was pretty damn bad in the third volume. In this book I simply skipped the vast majority of pages that had Nakjor's dialogue in it, because it was such a waste of time. Secondly, the hero of Magician, Pug, becomes a caricature of a proper wizard-hero. He is underutilized throughout the entire series (apart from being blown up in the last book in a silly-ass attack) until the very, utter end of this volume, when he literally brings the war to a screeching halt with his magical abilities and vanishes in a cheesy puff of smoke. Feist has concluded his four volume saga with the most contrived and unbelievable deus ex machina of all time, and that includes the one in Beowulf! You can't have regular people fighting for their lives and the ones they love, and go through character journeys, and hundreds of pages of warfare just to have it all wrap up at the snap of a magician's fingers. Sorry but that's cheap. Very poorly done, you lose two stars right there. Thank God I skipped so much of this book. Thirdly and lastly, Feist utterly abandons his characters at every turn. Rupert is given short shrift in this volume. Erik virtually disappears after his usefulness to the narrative runs out. Dash becomes leader of the Mockers (right, sure). Jimmy wanders off somewhere. Throughout this fiasco, major people of the Kingdom are killed in terribly written sequences, only to be forgotten ten pages later. It is a travesty, all of it. Why even write a saga if you aren't going to finish what you started?
This is worse than Wheel of Time's famous flameout. At least Jordan was trying for something cohesive at the end of his last book. Feist does not even attempt at an honest conclusion here. He has no intention of doing right by his readers.
Don't read this book. It gets a one star, but it ruins the entire series. Save your time.
August 28, 2022
Najbolja knjiga u Serpentwar serijalu!
Po meni ovde je Fajst na vrhuncu svog pisanja, sto se samog kvaliteta pisanja tice.
Ali da budem iskren radnja je takodje dobra i u ovoj knjizi necete naici na neke slabe delove ili filere.
Ovom knjigom je uspeo da privede Sepentwart serijal kraju ali i da postavi nove temelje za buduce borbe jer Riftwar Saga ima jos dosta toga da ponudi.
Po meni ovde je Fajst na vrhuncu svog pisanja, sto se samog kvaliteta pisanja tice.
Ali da budem iskren radnja je takodje dobra i u ovoj knjizi necete naici na neke slabe delove ili filere.
Ovom knjigom je uspeo da privede Sepentwart serijal kraju ali i da postavi nove temelje za buduce borbe jer Riftwar Saga ima jos dosta toga da ponudi.
August 22, 2020
3.75 stars
The first third was a little monotonous and dull but it quickly picked up the pace with an amazing last 200 ish pages
I HIGHLY recommend this series
Hannah xoxo
The first third was a little monotonous and dull but it quickly picked up the pace with an amazing last 200 ish pages
I HIGHLY recommend this series
Hannah xoxo
December 28, 2024
A great conclusion to the series. The fourth book begins for the most part after the big battle of the series, and deals with the repercussions of rebuilding and solidifying a new regime while still cleaning up the mess of the war. I especially liked early on the exploration of the succession of nobles: how an offspring of a great leader may be lacking, and how this influenced some character choices. As the action ratcheted up towards the end, Feist again excelled at plotting and keeping the story moving forward, while still keeping sight of the initial conflict of this series, as the book had begun to feel like a bloated epilogue. The ultimate ending was great, with a great blend of finality with enough revealed as to where the overarching Riftwar Cycle may go next. 4.5/5
September 30, 2022
A perfectly adequate wrap up of this perfectly adequate boiler-plate fantasy 4-book arc of this long running series. I could just copy and paste everything I said about the previous 3 books. I won't actually do that, but it would be a valid approach.
October 17, 2022
A great wrap-up to this sub-series of The Rift War Cycle. If you're a fan of Feist's ability to write battles, you will love this book. The action is non stop and there are quite a few WTH moments (at least for me there were).
I am reading Feist's entire library with a buddy and it is so great to have someone to talk to about this amazing world. It has been a joy to see how Feist has grown as a writer. I anticipate more great reads as we carry on. There are, I believe, 31 books in the entire series and this was # 13 for us.
So many of my favorite characters from this series are now gone, but Feist managed to get me attached to some new ones. Moving on to the next sub-series, The Riftwar Legacy: The Complete 4-Book Collection, which looks like it is taking us back in time. Maybe some of those old characters will be back 😁
I am reading Feist's entire library with a buddy and it is so great to have someone to talk to about this amazing world. It has been a joy to see how Feist has grown as a writer. I anticipate more great reads as we carry on. There are, I believe, 31 books in the entire series and this was # 13 for us.
So many of my favorite characters from this series are now gone, but Feist managed to get me attached to some new ones. Moving on to the next sub-series, The Riftwar Legacy: The Complete 4-Book Collection, which looks like it is taking us back in time. Maybe some of those old characters will be back 😁
October 18, 2017
Σε αυτή τη σειρά ο συγγραφέας επιστρέφει στην κλασική του συνταγή και μας μεταφέρει το χρονικό ενός μεγάλου πολέμου στον οποίο εμπλέκονται πολυάριθμα στρατεύματα αλλά και οι πανίσχυρες μαγικές δυνάμεις, δημιουργώντας ένα αποτέλεσμα ιδιαίτερα ενδιαφέρον. Στο πρώτο βιβλίο ξεκινάμε κάπως ήσυχα, γνωρίζοντας τους νεαρούς και οι ήρωες μας και την απλή ζωή τους, η οποία γρήγορα ανατρέπεται και τα μπλεξίματα τους οδηγούν στην καρδιά των εξελίξεων. Στο δεύτερο κάνουμε ένα διάλειμμα από τη σωτηρία του κόσμου με μία ιστορία επιχειρηματικού Πνεύματος που νομίζω ότι μπορούσε να είναι μικρότερη και απλά να ήταν ένα subplot της ιστορίας. Το τρίτο ο μεγάλος πόλεμος φτάνει στο αποκορύφωμα του καθώς οι ήρωες μας αντιλαμβάνονται ότι παίζονται πολλά περισσότερα από τον έλεγχο κάποιων εδαφών, με τις σκοτεινές δυνάμεις του σύμπαντος να επιδιώκουν την καταστροφή. Σε αυτό ο συγγραφέας πραγματικά μεγαλουργεί, περιγράφοντας μας με τον πιο συναρπαστικό τρόπο όλη αυτή τη μάχη, κάνοντας μας να μην μπορούμε να ξεκολλήσουμε από το διάβασμα. Στο τέταρτο, όμως, η κατάσταση δεν είναι δεν είναι και τόσο καλή καθώς μετά την κορύφωση δεν υπάρχουν και πολλά να πούμε, με αποτέλεσμα να μοιάζει με ένα τεράστιο επίλογο που αν και αυτός έχει μία κορύφωση που στο τέλος στην πραγματικότητα λίγο ο συγγραφέας μας ξενερώνει. Συνολικά πάντως μπορώ να πω ότι αν και δε φτάνει την πρώτη σειρά σίγουρα πρόκειται για ένα εξαιρετικό δείγμα του είδους που πιστεύω ότι μάλλον αφήνει ικανοποιημένους τους φανατικούς. Υπάρχει φυσικά η δράση, υπάρχει η περιγραφή του φανταστικού κόσμου που φτάνει σε μεγάλο βάθος με τη λεπτομερή περιγραφή της μεταφυσικής διάστασης του, υπάρχουν αρκετές συναισθηματικές καταστάσεις - αν και πιστεύω ότι σε πολλές περιπτώσεις είναι βιαστικά γραμμένες - και γενικότερα όλα είναι στη θέση τους. Οπότε στο τέλος σίγουρα δεν είναι χαμένος ο πρώτος που αφιερώνεται στην ανάγνωση.
April 13, 2022
5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This saga Was so exciting & excellent a great ending to a 4 book series!!!!!
This saga Was so exciting & excellent a great ending to a 4 book series!!!!!
August 18, 2019
Yet another good read.
January 12, 2011
To be honest, I don’t know what Feist was thinking when he wrote this novel. It’s like he put everything he had into the previous one, Rage of a Demon King, and was now left to tie the knots of storylines that were half-developed, or spin a new beginning and end to plotlines that were already long passed their due time, and had no inspiration whatsoever to do this in the marvellous way he knows how to. It’s very peculiar how Feist portrays his greatness as master of the fantasy genre in Rage of a Demon King, and then totally and utterly fails to even get half-way the standard he set, in the last novel of the series. Maybe I’m getting something wrong here, but I was always convinced that the last novel of a series should be its greatest, as everything finally comes together and it’s time for the final showdown. Unfortunately it seems as if the showdown already happened, and Feist just wrote another novel for the sake of it.
Right from the start, there was something about Shards of a Broken Crown that bothered me endless. It was like I couldn’t get a grip with the characters, although we had been bonding for three novels now, and I knew the attachment was there. I just couldn’t find it. The characters seemed flat, emotion-less, and kept reminiscing about the past and great heroes like Prince Arutha conDoin and Jimmy The Hand, who made it to Duke of Krondor. Yes, I got the message first time around: Feist killed off all his masterly-crafted characters, and is now stuck with a bunch of wannabes of whom none has even the slightest potential to do something extraordinary. However, c’est la vie, and move on already. Unfortunately there aren’t incredibly clever or undoubtably courageous people in every war we end up fighting. I don’t see any reason how continuously whining about it is going to get the Kingdom back. Not only is the total lack of effort of any character in the first hundred pages in the book absolutely annoying, it also made me feel one emotion I have never felt before when reading a Feist book: boredom.
Yes, sorry to admit it, but this book bored me. And not even slightly, but a whole lot. The characters were dancing in front of my eyes doing God-knows-what, fighting off the army of the Empire of Kesh (who found no better time to attack the Kingdom then now, when it’s lying in complete ashes and a trail of devastation right across the land) or the demon army of the now-dead Emerald Queen, and I found myself not caring in the least. I actually flipped through some pages, sighed when once again the heroes were fighting an epic battle without any good cause, and wished they would already do something useful, unexpected or funny. Anything. All I got from this novel was: battle, battle, battle, Patrick does something stupid and acts like a spoiled brat and everyone hates him but he’s the King so no one will tell that to his face, battle, battle. No clever games in the style of Jimmy the Hand or heroic endavours by any of our heroes, no.
The thing is that Feist tried really hard to give the general feel of a kingdom at war here, with the perils and feelings of devastation, the civilians turning on each other, and the hardship of each day. But he took two wrong turns with that, and suddenly all I get from the novel is ‘blah’. First thing he did wrong is that he focused too much on the actual battling, especially when he added the ‘sort of plot twist with the dark energy that I saw coming from the start of the novel’ and we were off again for another heroic showdown between Pug and who-the-hell-cares. Secondly, he tried so hard to make Patrick seem like the worst ruler in history and to be able to think back of old times when the kingdom was still led by Prince Arutha. But newsflash. Patrick isn’t really such a bad ruler. Sure enough, he goes and bosses Pug around which you don’t do towards a magician who could basically made you explode in a matter of seconds. And yes, he doesn’t always make the right decisions, and he’s short-tempered, and sometimes a bit childish. But are Feist’s chosen two, main characters Jimmy and Dash really that much better?
In comes Malar, some fellow whom Jimmy and Dash found along the road. Everything about this fellow screams “SPY” yet the two chose to trust him, a mistake their grandfather would never forgive them for, had he known. Naturally Malar The Spy turns against them at some point, and they end up greatly endangering their Kingdom by trusting The Most Obvious Spy in History. Later on, Dash gets romantic feelings for a young and supposedly really, really hot female thief. Now I don’t want to spoil everything for you guys, but the decisions he makes afterwards are very irrational, and sometimes even downright stupid. Once again, Jimmy the Hand would turn around in his grave, and do everything he possibly can to come back and haunt his most idiotic grandchildren. And the thing about these two? They think they’re all-so-awesome, and everyone likes them, but in fact they’re no more grown up than Patrick is.
That being said, Patrick was the only character in this novel I could remotely relate to, and that’s saying something. Really, I can imagine it can’t be easy being so young and unexperienced and being in charge of the only army standing between the enemy and the total destruction of everything and everyone you’re ever loved, and you are responsible for. Plus, everyone is counting on you to make decisions wiser and greater men would have trouble making. But I can tell you, at some point in this novel, when against all odds Patrick appears on the stonewall facing the enemy, I was cheering for him. I really saw a King in the making, a King who will be able to rule properly one day, once his Kingdom is restored. But nevertheless, when the only character you can actually relate to is the one the writer has desperately tried to portray as being childish and immature, you know something is wrong with the book.
I wouldn’t have shed the tear had Feist just written another fifty pages to Rage of A Demon King, and called it the end. Start another series on how the Kingdom rebuilds itself, or whatever, or just rewrite this novel completely, because it really isn’t good. Flat characters with hardly any personality, a predictable storyline, and just…bad. Not the Feist I’m used to, and definately not a Feist I want to read more books from. Ofcourse you should read it for the sake of the rest of the series, but after seeing what amazing things this author can do in Rage of A Demon King, Shards of A Broken Crown is nothing but a major dissapointment.
Read the review on my booklog.
Right from the start, there was something about Shards of a Broken Crown that bothered me endless. It was like I couldn’t get a grip with the characters, although we had been bonding for three novels now, and I knew the attachment was there. I just couldn’t find it. The characters seemed flat, emotion-less, and kept reminiscing about the past and great heroes like Prince Arutha conDoin and Jimmy The Hand, who made it to Duke of Krondor. Yes, I got the message first time around: Feist killed off all his masterly-crafted characters, and is now stuck with a bunch of wannabes of whom none has even the slightest potential to do something extraordinary. However, c’est la vie, and move on already. Unfortunately there aren’t incredibly clever or undoubtably courageous people in every war we end up fighting. I don’t see any reason how continuously whining about it is going to get the Kingdom back. Not only is the total lack of effort of any character in the first hundred pages in the book absolutely annoying, it also made me feel one emotion I have never felt before when reading a Feist book: boredom.
Yes, sorry to admit it, but this book bored me. And not even slightly, but a whole lot. The characters were dancing in front of my eyes doing God-knows-what, fighting off the army of the Empire of Kesh (who found no better time to attack the Kingdom then now, when it’s lying in complete ashes and a trail of devastation right across the land) or the demon army of the now-dead Emerald Queen, and I found myself not caring in the least. I actually flipped through some pages, sighed when once again the heroes were fighting an epic battle without any good cause, and wished they would already do something useful, unexpected or funny. Anything. All I got from this novel was: battle, battle, battle, Patrick does something stupid and acts like a spoiled brat and everyone hates him but he’s the King so no one will tell that to his face, battle, battle. No clever games in the style of Jimmy the Hand or heroic endavours by any of our heroes, no.
The thing is that Feist tried really hard to give the general feel of a kingdom at war here, with the perils and feelings of devastation, the civilians turning on each other, and the hardship of each day. But he took two wrong turns with that, and suddenly all I get from the novel is ‘blah’. First thing he did wrong is that he focused too much on the actual battling, especially when he added the ‘sort of plot twist with the dark energy that I saw coming from the start of the novel’ and we were off again for another heroic showdown between Pug and who-the-hell-cares. Secondly, he tried so hard to make Patrick seem like the worst ruler in history and to be able to think back of old times when the kingdom was still led by Prince Arutha. But newsflash. Patrick isn’t really such a bad ruler. Sure enough, he goes and bosses Pug around which you don’t do towards a magician who could basically made you explode in a matter of seconds. And yes, he doesn’t always make the right decisions, and he’s short-tempered, and sometimes a bit childish. But are Feist’s chosen two, main characters Jimmy and Dash really that much better?
In comes Malar, some fellow whom Jimmy and Dash found along the road. Everything about this fellow screams “SPY” yet the two chose to trust him, a mistake their grandfather would never forgive them for, had he known. Naturally Malar The Spy turns against them at some point, and they end up greatly endangering their Kingdom by trusting The Most Obvious Spy in History. Later on, Dash gets romantic feelings for a young and supposedly really, really hot female thief. Now I don’t want to spoil everything for you guys, but the decisions he makes afterwards are very irrational, and sometimes even downright stupid. Once again, Jimmy the Hand would turn around in his grave, and do everything he possibly can to come back and haunt his most idiotic grandchildren. And the thing about these two? They think they’re all-so-awesome, and everyone likes them, but in fact they’re no more grown up than Patrick is.
That being said, Patrick was the only character in this novel I could remotely relate to, and that’s saying something. Really, I can imagine it can’t be easy being so young and unexperienced and being in charge of the only army standing between the enemy and the total destruction of everything and everyone you’re ever loved, and you are responsible for. Plus, everyone is counting on you to make decisions wiser and greater men would have trouble making. But I can tell you, at some point in this novel, when against all odds Patrick appears on the stonewall facing the enemy, I was cheering for him. I really saw a King in the making, a King who will be able to rule properly one day, once his Kingdom is restored. But nevertheless, when the only character you can actually relate to is the one the writer has desperately tried to portray as being childish and immature, you know something is wrong with the book.
I wouldn’t have shed the tear had Feist just written another fifty pages to Rage of A Demon King, and called it the end. Start another series on how the Kingdom rebuilds itself, or whatever, or just rewrite this novel completely, because it really isn’t good. Flat characters with hardly any personality, a predictable storyline, and just…bad. Not the Feist I’m used to, and definately not a Feist I want to read more books from. Ofcourse you should read it for the sake of the rest of the series, but after seeing what amazing things this author can do in Rage of A Demon King, Shards of A Broken Crown is nothing but a major dissapointment.
Read the review on my booklog.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 8, 2020
Same as the other parts of this series, I think it's cute but still lacks something.
I like the building of the Jamissons, both inheriting a part (but not all) of what made their grandfather, Duke James, so special.
I think my major annoyance here is the speed of magic buildup. When the larger series started, we had some lesser Path magicians. Pug went out and brought back the Greater Magic. Oh, no, scrap that, he's one of many paths. Oh, and by the way, in these past 50 years we somehow have sufficient power buildup for what follows.
The line of constructions, the dream of the Mad God, the body-stealing sorceress that somehow evaded the Demon - it's all a bit much. Dark Powers, sure, but armies of the undead are mostly fun when you're training low level characters in a video game.
Have Erik von Darkmoon go and fight his way up to Yabon, actually fighting fortifications and learning how to apply all that theory they had him read. Have him find and master some character flaw.
Have Pug, Nakor, Thomas and Miranda do something else than basically walk into a city, blast the latest attempt of the Mad God back into its unholy pit and then end a war singlehandedly because he was slightly peaked at an adolescent Prince.
Overall, it also just highlights my major annoyance with the larger series. While the stories in each "segment", like this "serpentwar saga", focus on some cute new characters that are becoming who they should be, the end is usually just some demigod magicians blasting away at some attempt at metaphysics in this storyworld. As the series continues, the amount of magic, gods, demons and dreadlords just keeps going up and it becomes a bit too much on the power creep.
I like the building of the Jamissons, both inheriting a part (but not all) of what made their grandfather, Duke James, so special.
I think my major annoyance here is the speed of magic buildup. When the larger series started, we had some lesser Path magicians. Pug went out and brought back the Greater Magic. Oh, no, scrap that, he's one of many paths. Oh, and by the way, in these past 50 years we somehow have sufficient power buildup for what follows.
The line of constructions, the dream of the Mad God, the body-stealing sorceress that somehow evaded the Demon - it's all a bit much. Dark Powers, sure, but armies of the undead are mostly fun when you're training low level characters in a video game.
Have Erik von Darkmoon go and fight his way up to Yabon, actually fighting fortifications and learning how to apply all that theory they had him read. Have him find and master some character flaw.
Have Pug, Nakor, Thomas and Miranda do something else than basically walk into a city, blast the latest attempt of the Mad God back into its unholy pit and then end a war singlehandedly because he was slightly peaked at an adolescent Prince.
Overall, it also just highlights my major annoyance with the larger series. While the stories in each "segment", like this "serpentwar saga", focus on some cute new characters that are becoming who they should be, the end is usually just some demigod magicians blasting away at some attempt at metaphysics in this storyworld. As the series continues, the amount of magic, gods, demons and dreadlords just keeps going up and it becomes a bit too much on the power creep.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 23, 2022
**4.5 stars** almost a 5 star!
I think I enjoyed this book the most of this sub-series and it’s one of the top overall for me in this large world by the author. This book has action throughout, with many battle scenes that I enjoy. Feist sure can write those scenes to make you feel like you’re in the action. In this book we lost many characters that I really enjoyed. This is expected from the author but he introduces more characters that I am hopeful to get to know and like. The book was wrapped up nicely and was a great end to this trilogy. I will definitely be pushing on to find out where the story goes from here!
I think I enjoyed this book the most of this sub-series and it’s one of the top overall for me in this large world by the author. This book has action throughout, with many battle scenes that I enjoy. Feist sure can write those scenes to make you feel like you’re in the action. In this book we lost many characters that I really enjoyed. This is expected from the author but he introduces more characters that I am hopeful to get to know and like. The book was wrapped up nicely and was a great end to this trilogy. I will definitely be pushing on to find out where the story goes from here!
November 22, 2017
This was a perfectly satisfactory conclusion to a good, but not great fantasy series. The loose ends are all tied off quite nicely, and there is the distinct promise of more to come. On that, it looks like Feist has made much more of Midkemia, and when I can't find something else to grab me, I will probably turn to these books. They aren't great, but they are dependably good.
In this series, the character of Erik dominates the first book, but his character is rather thin, and by this book he is relegated to a side story, and he remains rather dull. The second book focuses on Roo, and he is considerably more complex than Erik, at least until he sees the light (which for him is the value of family). By this book, he is also a kind of afterthought.
I am not sure who is the main focus of the third book, which may be one of its problems. This one, however, rests pretty squarely on James grandkids, a Dash and Jimmy. Dash, it turns out, is a pretty worthwhile character. And I liked both of them quite well. I'm afraid however that they have now grown up and will thus be too good to be interesting in later books.
I also enjoyed Pug in this book, and always Nakor. The magic here was better than it usually is in Feist. And Pug actually has something to do here other than defeat some impossibly strong threat to all existence (though there's some of that too).
Not sure when or whether I will get back to these. I really need to latch on to some new writer.
In this series, the character of Erik dominates the first book, but his character is rather thin, and by this book he is relegated to a side story, and he remains rather dull. The second book focuses on Roo, and he is considerably more complex than Erik, at least until he sees the light (which for him is the value of family). By this book, he is also a kind of afterthought.
I am not sure who is the main focus of the third book, which may be one of its problems. This one, however, rests pretty squarely on James grandkids, a Dash and Jimmy. Dash, it turns out, is a pretty worthwhile character. And I liked both of them quite well. I'm afraid however that they have now grown up and will thus be too good to be interesting in later books.
I also enjoyed Pug in this book, and always Nakor. The magic here was better than it usually is in Feist. And Pug actually has something to do here other than defeat some impossibly strong threat to all existence (though there's some of that too).
Not sure when or whether I will get back to these. I really need to latch on to some new writer.
Read
March 13, 2011Please, please it can't end here!: This is a book that hits you at many different levels. Primarily it is about people finding about themselves and being able to live as people within the shadows of legends or of course legends themselves. This has a normalising effect on the characters and you end up seeing them as ordinary people effected by extra ordinary circumstances. On another level it is a great military campaign, the kingdom of the west has to fight a two front campaign and no one but Feist can take you there like this. The only problem with the book is that it ends. There are hints and suspicions woven into the book about Nakor but you still don't know that much about his heritage. I for one am dying to know the fate of Eric and the Crimson Eagles, does Patrick set up a standing army with Erik as general? I only hope that one day Feist will treat us all to another spectacular journey so that we can meet old friends again.
October 10, 2024
Really enjoyed this one, although some aspects felt a bit unnecessary.
We're following mostly James and Dash, grandsons of good old Jimmy the Hand. Roo and even Erik have almost completely melted into the background. Erik still gets a bit of attention, but Roo only makes a few cameos here and there. Which is a shame as he was easily the most interesting character and he supposedly underwent a great character-change/growth but we're not really exposed to it.
That being said, James and Dash are very enjoyable and interesting characters and the plot keeps you grabbed. Majority of the plotlines were quite exciting, and as usual in this series, Feist manages to make you like new characters with just a few chapters. The political intrigues were worked out quite well and made sense.
My only gripe with the book was the supernatural aspect, it did not offer anything new and it diminished what could have been a great power struggle between King Fadawah and the Army of the West.
We're following mostly James and Dash, grandsons of good old Jimmy the Hand. Roo and even Erik have almost completely melted into the background. Erik still gets a bit of attention, but Roo only makes a few cameos here and there. Which is a shame as he was easily the most interesting character and he supposedly underwent a great character-change/growth but we're not really exposed to it.
That being said, James and Dash are very enjoyable and interesting characters and the plot keeps you grabbed. Majority of the plotlines were quite exciting, and as usual in this series, Feist manages to make you like new characters with just a few chapters. The political intrigues were worked out quite well and made sense.
My only gripe with the book was the supernatural aspect, it did not offer anything new and it diminished what could have been a great power struggle between King Fadawah and the Army of the West.
May 2, 2016
Really struggled with this book. Not sure if this is because there was quite a gap between me finishing the previous book be starting this one. I just found that I didn't really care and I had to force myself to finish. Very little tension and even though old characters, such as Pug were included, they did not feel as developed to me. I loved this series but am not sure now whether to continue. Will leave for a bit and then try the next saga and hopefully find my interest reawakened
September 27, 2024
An interesting premise that missed the mark a little.
The main battle has been won, however the Kingdom now needs to pick up the pieces that are left of its western realm. In addition there is still a hostile army on its lands that, though very reduced in size, is still a threat.
As I've mentioned in other reviews of this series, this book was always quite odd in that the climax of the series really happened in the previous book. So that essentially means that this book is really just dealing with the aftermath of a massive invasion, which is really a great premise that is not explored often enough in the fantasy genre. What adds quite a lot of spice is that the enemy army, though defeated in its main purpose, still numbers in the thousands and controls quite a lot of area, while the Kingdom has lost a lot of men in battle and still has to deal with its neighbours who are sensing weakness. Describing it like this makes it sound really great, and it was interesting for the first half or so but then I think it lost its focus.
Feist just can't help raise the stakes with dark magic and evil gods so what starts out pretty grounded in battles and politics then quickly escalates to end of the world scenario again. That definitely has its place and I quite like that sort of stuff, but here it felt tacked on and a bit out of place. Even the main story lost its way (though I really liked the conflict between Pug and the Crown and the issue of where his loyalties lie) and I found the whole Dash and Jimmy storyline pretty underwhelming. And the ending was a total cop out and makes you wonder why it wasn't done sooner, though of course it would have been a much shorter book!
Overall this series was good, with some very interesting and original elements, but also let down with some weak characterizations and plotting, though in general it's held up pretty well.
Please see this and other reviews at https://barrysbloodybooks.home.blog/
The main battle has been won, however the Kingdom now needs to pick up the pieces that are left of its western realm. In addition there is still a hostile army on its lands that, though very reduced in size, is still a threat.
As I've mentioned in other reviews of this series, this book was always quite odd in that the climax of the series really happened in the previous book. So that essentially means that this book is really just dealing with the aftermath of a massive invasion, which is really a great premise that is not explored often enough in the fantasy genre. What adds quite a lot of spice is that the enemy army, though defeated in its main purpose, still numbers in the thousands and controls quite a lot of area, while the Kingdom has lost a lot of men in battle and still has to deal with its neighbours who are sensing weakness. Describing it like this makes it sound really great, and it was interesting for the first half or so but then I think it lost its focus.
Feist just can't help raise the stakes with dark magic and evil gods so what starts out pretty grounded in battles and politics then quickly escalates to end of the world scenario again. That definitely has its place and I quite like that sort of stuff, but here it felt tacked on and a bit out of place. Even the main story lost its way (though I really liked the conflict between Pug and the Crown and the issue of where his loyalties lie) and I found the whole Dash and Jimmy storyline pretty underwhelming. And the ending was a total cop out and makes you wonder why it wasn't done sooner, though of course it would have been a much shorter book!
Overall this series was good, with some very interesting and original elements, but also let down with some weak characterizations and plotting, though in general it's held up pretty well.
Please see this and other reviews at https://barrysbloodybooks.home.blog/
February 26, 2022
I am currently on a re-read marathon, everything read in 2022 so far has been Raymond E Feist, I am loving every single page of every single book
This is the book where pug establishes the conclave of shadows and becomes the black sorcerer. I love Eric more and more, Nakor is a force beyond anybodies understanding.
Raymond was brilliant in making some of the characters long lived beyond normal, so even though we love the new characters we still get to keep all the beloved ones, its just a pity that Arutha and Jimmy was not immortal, but Dash is proving to be a Jimmy the hand in a what - if Scenario, since Dash is the next upright man and all!!
I so love Raymonds fantasy, its just amazing!!! for me the best fantasy writer ever.
This is the book where pug establishes the conclave of shadows and becomes the black sorcerer. I love Eric more and more, Nakor is a force beyond anybodies understanding.
Raymond was brilliant in making some of the characters long lived beyond normal, so even though we love the new characters we still get to keep all the beloved ones, its just a pity that Arutha and Jimmy was not immortal, but Dash is proving to be a Jimmy the hand in a what - if Scenario, since Dash is the next upright man and all!!
I so love Raymonds fantasy, its just amazing!!! for me the best fantasy writer ever.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 24, 2025
Ietwat teleurstellend einde aan de slangenoorlog. Komt over als een epilog van 480 pagina's. Verhaal pakte me niet echt helaas
August 23, 2025
It starts off feeling like just a finishing off book (and slightly unnecessary), so much so that I got a bit bored in the first half
But it kicked in nicely in the second half and found myself gripped as the 4 story lines came together. So much so that I’m going to persist with the Conclave Trilogy next (despite most people telling me the standard drops off from now)
But it kicked in nicely in the second half and found myself gripped as the 4 story lines came together. So much so that I’m going to persist with the Conclave Trilogy next (despite most people telling me the standard drops off from now)
July 29, 2017
Essentially a book-length epilogue to the epic confrontation in "Rage of a Demon King", this book bothered me more the more I thought about it. While not overtly unpleasant to read, everything about it is disappointing.
It had the potential to be really interesting: a story of trying to rebuild a devastated land in the midst of a three-way war. Feist could have combined the military story of Erik von Darkmoor, the economic story of Roo Avery and the political story of Krondor's ruling nobility into a story of the compromises and struggles needed to restore peace and prosperity.
Instead, it was a largely pointless exercise in box-checking, in which the main characters are largely passive. The economic and political recovery of the Western Realm just sort of happens on its own, with protagonists only supporting characters. Most of the book is taken up with desperate struggles, but all of them are rendered moot in the end when a group of demigods finally decide to get off their asses and resolve everything in a massive deus ex machina.
Feist kills off characters repeatedly, but their deaths seldom have meaning. Instead, they only serve to remove from the table characters who were just beginning to become interesting, and who matter mostly in their absence. Instead, the surviving characters are largely reactive. The most dynamic character in the series, Roo, is left on the sidelines except for one brief episode mid-book.
The villains remain as off-screen and flat as they were in "Rage of a Demon King," but this fault is more egregious since the demonic-control justification for that struggle had already been removed in the prior book. But instead of letting the former invaders struggle with the enormity of the crimes they were forced to commit as they try to establish a home for themselves in the new land they've partially conquered, Feist just reestablishes new mystical command, sort of a junior varsity army of darkness. The evil plot comes largely out of nowhere in the final act of the book, and is resolved almost as quickly as it's introduced with little help from the characters we've spent most of the book following.
As for the political plotline of the invasion from Kesh, we're treated to some second-rate skullduggery and lots of hamhanded blustering from the mouth of Patrick, the new Prince of Krondor, who is uniformly dismissed as incompetent and over his head (if generally decent). General Duko had the potential to be fascinating, an invader who cuts a deal with his enemies and has to balance his own interests against his new masters, his old masters and Kesh in a delicate power play. Instead he's instantly identified as trustworthy, and never gives anyone any reason to doubt this assessment.
Largely this book exists to wrap up loose ends from the first three books in the Serpentwar series, and to lay the groundwork for the series to follow, about which Feist seems indefinitely more interested than he does in the bland plot points he has to tick off in this book to get there.
If you've read the first three books in the series, you might as well read this one, but it's a letdown through and through.
It had the potential to be really interesting: a story of trying to rebuild a devastated land in the midst of a three-way war. Feist could have combined the military story of Erik von Darkmoor, the economic story of Roo Avery and the political story of Krondor's ruling nobility into a story of the compromises and struggles needed to restore peace and prosperity.
Instead, it was a largely pointless exercise in box-checking, in which the main characters are largely passive. The economic and political recovery of the Western Realm just sort of happens on its own, with protagonists only supporting characters. Most of the book is taken up with desperate struggles, but all of them are rendered moot in the end when a group of demigods finally decide to get off their asses and resolve everything in a massive deus ex machina.
Feist kills off characters repeatedly, but their deaths seldom have meaning. Instead, they only serve to remove from the table characters who were just beginning to become interesting, and who matter mostly in their absence. Instead, the surviving characters are largely reactive. The most dynamic character in the series, Roo, is left on the sidelines except for one brief episode mid-book.
The villains remain as off-screen and flat as they were in "Rage of a Demon King," but this fault is more egregious since the demonic-control justification for that struggle had already been removed in the prior book. But instead of letting the former invaders struggle with the enormity of the crimes they were forced to commit as they try to establish a home for themselves in the new land they've partially conquered, Feist just reestablishes new mystical command, sort of a junior varsity army of darkness. The evil plot comes largely out of nowhere in the final act of the book, and is resolved almost as quickly as it's introduced with little help from the characters we've spent most of the book following.
As for the political plotline of the invasion from Kesh, we're treated to some second-rate skullduggery and lots of hamhanded blustering from the mouth of Patrick, the new Prince of Krondor, who is uniformly dismissed as incompetent and over his head (if generally decent). General Duko had the potential to be fascinating, an invader who cuts a deal with his enemies and has to balance his own interests against his new masters, his old masters and Kesh in a delicate power play. Instead he's instantly identified as trustworthy, and never gives anyone any reason to doubt this assessment.
Largely this book exists to wrap up loose ends from the first three books in the Serpentwar series, and to lay the groundwork for the series to follow, about which Feist seems indefinitely more interested than he does in the bland plot points he has to tick off in this book to get there.
If you've read the first three books in the series, you might as well read this one, but it's a letdown through and through.
January 9, 2020
Least favorite Riftwar subseries, to date... have high hopes for the next 2 series, tho...
August 26, 2016
The end of the Serpentwar. It was a pretty solid ending overall. I liked that this book focused primarily on Dash and Jimmy this time around. I find/found Dash's character to be incredibly charming and interesting, and his inevitable decision at the end of the book seemed right to me. Mostly this was one big wrap up for all the dangling plot threads from the last big traumatic book in which a whole bunch of characters died... some fallout, mostly picking up the pieces. And finally setting the stage for the overall series to move forward from here. Looking forward to seeing where else this goes, but i'm not sure how excited i am for 6 or 7 flashback books (one series being based on a 90s adventure PC game) before we get back to Pug and friends dealing with their new shadow-war. But after 13 books in Riftwar so far, i guess i'm fairly committed now.
September 1, 2010
I find that this was not as good as the prior book in the series. While interesting it wandered much more in scope, and in character views, and I think this affected my view of the story.
I read this as an ebook and found that there was no break between viewing the story from character to another and this caused confusion several times. I would read about Eric fighting and giving orders on the field, and the next line would be Patrick being hailed at the palace. This was not a chapter based separation but between character interactions. Perhaps the printed version is more clear, but the nook version was not.
As such fair warning to those reading on ebook format. Even with a bigger margin, the skipping around is rather hard to follow.
I read this as an ebook and found that there was no break between viewing the story from character to another and this caused confusion several times. I would read about Eric fighting and giving orders on the field, and the next line would be Patrick being hailed at the palace. This was not a chapter based separation but between character interactions. Perhaps the printed version is more clear, but the nook version was not.
As such fair warning to those reading on ebook format. Even with a bigger margin, the skipping around is rather hard to follow.
June 2, 2011
When I first read this book, years ago, this was my least favorite of this particular quartet. I like the brothers, Jimmy and Dash, but I couldn't really get into "the brothers' tale."
Rereading it now, though, I was quite pleased with the story, for the same reason I enjoy Feist's other stories. I liked watching the rebirth of Krondor, like a phoenix from the ashes. I liked watching Jimmy and Dash come into their own, and watching the men from Novindus embrace the concept of a nation.
I did find myself wishing that this particular saga was a quintet. I really wanted to know what happens next in Dash's life. The rest of the characters, the rest of their stories will be plain enough, but Dash... his looked interesting.
Not that Feist ever has uninteresting stories.
Rereading it now, though, I was quite pleased with the story, for the same reason I enjoy Feist's other stories. I liked watching the rebirth of Krondor, like a phoenix from the ashes. I liked watching Jimmy and Dash come into their own, and watching the men from Novindus embrace the concept of a nation.
I did find myself wishing that this particular saga was a quintet. I really wanted to know what happens next in Dash's life. The rest of the characters, the rest of their stories will be plain enough, but Dash... his looked interesting.
Not that Feist ever has uninteresting stories.
January 27, 2024
The conclusion to the Serpentwar Saga feels a bit jumbled. There's a lot of things I really enjoyed in this book. Dash and James top that list and honestly Pug's confrontation with Patrick was brilliant as well. Otoh, a lot of the fighting felt like it was for "fighting's sake" and because of how spread out the fighting was between different pov's, I did not feel as invested in the fights as I was in previous books that focused more on a single (or a few) primary pov's. Still, this book really sets up the series to shift to away from the seemingly perpetual wars into a somewhat more clandestine use of force which I appreciate. I'd still give the book a solid 7 out of 10.
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