Feist is one of my favorite authors. My copy of Magician is dog-earred with all the times I have re-read it. This book, on the other hand, is pure drivel.I fully agree with others who have panned this book. It smacks of basic D&D; computer game plots and is just not worth reading. Please, read the first 4 Riftwar books, the Daughter of the Empire series (wonderful & underappreciated), but skip this whole sub-series. Feist needs to take stock of what kind of writer he wants to be. Obviously he has the talent, what he does with it is up to him.