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Available
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Series
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Collection
Publication
Harper Voyager (2010), 528 pages
Description
The terrible Emerald Queen is vanquished�but the war in Midkemia is not yet won, as the remarkable Raymond E. Feist concludes his magnificent Serpentwar Saga with Shards of a Broken Crown-a spellbinding tale of magic, conflict, and treachery that sees the rise of a new threat from the ashes of defeat, an evil poised to strike mercilessly at realm triumphant but weakened by war. This is epic fantasy adventure at its finest-a classic that stands tall alongside the best works of Terry Goodkind, George R. R. Martin, Terry Brooks and other acclaimed fantasists. Feist once again works his breathtaking magic in Shards of a Broken Crown.
User reviews
LibraryThing member BooksForDinner
This is where I finally caught up to Feist... from here on out I have bought every hardcover the day it came out. What a geek.
LibraryThing member ashooles
I liked reading about the brothers in this. It was good to see something from their point of view. In saying that, I felt there were still many questions left unanswered in this which I would have liked to have known. Still, over all, an enjoyable book and an enjoyable series!
LibraryThing member brakketh
Further developments in the grand battle between good and evil in Feist's world.
LibraryThing member JohnFair
The invasion is over and the demon lord has been banished but not all is roses for the Kingdom, especially for the Western Kingdom. Although the Commander in Chief may be gone in a puff of sulphurous smoke the invading General is still alive and is now working for himself. And, of course, Krondor
This isn't quite as bloody as the earlier books in the series, focussing on the political manoeuvrings of the various sides as much as outright combats but that makes it better in its way especially as Patrick tries to be an autocrat without the experience or the power to pull it off.
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itself is wrecked and under enemy occupation. Jimmy and Dash, grandsons of the now late James Duke of Krondor find that they have to live up to their great grandfather's reputation. Another person feeling the weight of history is Prince Patrick, a young man in his own right, with limited forces to hold off all the potential opponents.This isn't quite as bloody as the earlier books in the series, focussing on the political manoeuvrings of the various sides as much as outright combats but that makes it better in its way especially as Patrick tries to be an autocrat without the experience or the power to pull it off.
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LibraryThing member dhmontgomery
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
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
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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.
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LibraryThing member BooksForDinner
A great end to this four book cycle. So much going on! Can’t wait to start on the second half of these books.
Subjects
Original language
English
Original publication date
1998-04
Physical description
498 p.; 4.19 inches
ISBN
0380789833 / 9780380789832