Shadow of a Dark Queen by Raymond E. Feist

The Serpentwar Saga is set in Feist's world of Midkemia. The first trilogy (done in four paperbacks), The Riftwar Saga, introduced us to some memorable characters (Pug, Thomas, Jimmy the Hand, Arutha) and to the world of Midkemia. After the Riftwar Saga, Feist wrote two loosely-connected novels (Princes of the Blood and The King's Buccaneer) that dealt with the children of the heroes of the first books. The Serpentwar Saga picks up after that and carries on a similar plot but introduces several new characters, not least of whom are Roo Avery and Erik Von Darkmoor.

While Magician (first book in the Riftwar Saga) was a pretty predicable novel with fairly standard characters (two young boys grow up to be the greatest warrior and the greatest magician in the world), Feist's writing has improved dramatically over the years.

Shadow of a Dark Queen introduces a much more complex theme with several major plot elements. All of them run independently yet are constantly tying themselves together in a way that keeps the reader enthralled. Roo and Erik are two young boys thrust into adventure with the unfortunate murder of a noble (Erik's half-brother, the Baron of Darkmoor). This lands the two into a sort of army press gang and starts the story. Meanwhile, a plot of world destruction involving our old friends, the Pantathians, has created a massive army on a far-away continent. Roo and Erik end up as part of an elite military unit whose job it is to infiltrate this army. There, they intend to discover what the enemy is doing and to try and prevent an attack on the Kingdom.

Of course, the plot is much more complex and involves a bunch of hungry demons, two lost magicians, a really weird place called The Hall and other marvelous twists.

Wow, this is the second time I have read this book, and I say... wow, again. The strong point of the book is the characters themselves, they are deep, and i enjoyed how REF presented how they coped with trauma. I enjoy the threat they are up against, a war coming that involves magic and a behemoth of an enemy. I found myself laughing at this book, as Bobby deLoungeville reminds me of the drill instructor from the film 'Full Metal Jacket'! A definately good read and not at all a waste of time!!!! Well done REF!

The Serpentwar Saga continues in the vain of the fourth and fifth bridging books of the Riftwar Saga. Feist brings to bear his full armoury of genre evolving scope and the battles that are fought here shift the boundaries of the Tolkienesque "last ditch fight for the people". Larger in scale than the first series and fulfilled an important flaw left wide open after Sethanon.

Nakor is possibly the most original character in the genre!