The Darkwar Saga
The Darkwar Saga
The Darkwar Saga

The Darkwar Saga

Flight Of The Nighthawks

  • A fantasy written by Raymond Elias Feist in 2006
  • Reviewed edition by EOS from 2007
  • A paperback has 370 pages
  • ISBN 978-0-06-079279-4
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Into A Dark Realm

  • A fantasy written by Raymond Elias Feist in 2007
  • Reviewed edition by EOS from 2008
  • A paperback has 340 pages
  • ISBN 978-0-06-079282-4
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Wrath Of A Mad God

  • A fantasy written by Raymond Elias Feist in 2008
  • Reviewed edition by EOS from 2009
  • A paperback has 450 pages
  • ISBN 978-0-06-079300-5
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The world of Midkemia is slowly forgetting the terrors of the past wars (you know, the Riftwar, the Serpentwar, and the assorted smaller conflicts that Raymond Feist decided to bestow upon the poor people there :-). With no common enemy in sight, the leaders of the nations are busy pursuing their particular interests, and only the Conclave of Shadows, a loose group headed by the famous magician Pug, keeps working towards the greater good - which in this particular case means looking for clues to things that can threaten Midkemia.

One of those things is the continuous presence of Leso Varen, a mad necromancer with the usual craving for world domination. Leso Varen used to be in league with Nighthawks, a secretive guild of assassins whose renewed activity is one of the clues that the Conclave of Shadow is investigating. But that is not all. Another threat to Midkemia is the presence of a host of sleeping magical warriors, the Talnoy, originally from a world populated by the Dasati. No warrior of Midkemia can match either the Talnoy or the Dasati, the trick therefore is to get rid of the Talnoy without alerting the Dasati ...

Spoiler

The first of the three books takes place mostly in Midkemia. After learning about a series of high level assassinations, three teams of the Conclave of Shadows infiltrate the Empire of Great Kesh to investigate. One team is lead by Caleb, a son of the magician Pug, who is accompanied by his adoptive sons, Tad and Zane. Their goal is to observe on the streets. The other two teams, lead by two noble-born members of the Conclave of Shadows, are to mingle with the court.

In spite of many precautions, the three teams are soon discovered both by the agents of Kesh and by the Nighthawks. While the agents of Kesh agree to tolerate the teams (after all, they are working for the common good), the Nighthawks set up an ambush that our heroes barely survive. Even after that, they are no closer to discovering what is happening, until they note that somebody is spreading false rumors of a discord between two people most likely to succeed the emperor Diigai, princes Sezioti and Dangai. Suspecting a plot aimed at the ruling family, the Conclave of Shadows strengthens their presence during the oncoming celebration, where their fears are confirmed and the mad necromancer Leso Varen is finally revealed in the person of emperor Diigai himself. Despite their presence, Pug and his friends fail to prevent Leso Varen from escaping, but they do manage to curb the bloodshed and preserve peace in the empire.

As the second book opens, Pug is still haunted by the fear of the Dasati invasion. Prompted by a mysterious letter apparently written to himself and by himself, he decides to travel to the world of the Dasati. Together with his son Magnus, his friend Nakor and a stranger named Bek, Pug comes to know the Dasati as a savage race bent on destruction. Driven by their demonic god, the Dasati have claimed twelve worlds so far, and are preparing to invade another. Luckily, even among the Dasati there is opposition, in the form of the Bloodwitches and their protege lord Valko.

In the third book, the plot culminates in a bloodbath. Leso Varen reveals himself again, this time on the world of Kelewan. In his madness, he has opened a way for the Dasati invasion, which turns out to be unstoppable. The Conclave of Shadows organizes a hasty evacuation of the world of Kelewan, leaving millions behind. In the end, Pug learns that much of what has happened has been orchestrated by the capricious God of Thieves, Kalkin.

Review

I guess there are many pitfalls awaiting fantasy authors that cultivate their worlds. One would be the choice of focus between the old and the new readers - should the author reiterate the basics in every series, or should the readers be required to start from the first book of the first series to cope ? In Darkwar, Raymond Feist obviously opted for the first choice. A full third of the first book sounds like former classmates discussing the first school trip from half a century ago - people keep recounting details from recent history together with assorted trivia to establish the context most of them already forgot.

Then there is the choice of heroes. I understand that sometimes one has to make do with what is available, but the usual cliche of young boys getting a quick-but-intensive training and then surviving where seasoned veterans die gets a bit tiring.

And finally, the gods. I perfectly understand that an omnipotent being is, well, omnipotent by definition. But using the cover of an omnipotent god to bring about the conclusion is really too cheap. Anything in the plot that did not quite fit ? Why, it was the god that meant it that way all along ...

But I should not only complain. The series makes a decent action story, especially the events in the world of the Dasati are really atmospheric. And even if the conclusion is not all that sophisticated, the story does create enough tension to keep you interested until the very end ...

Rated as average by Ceres on 2010-02-07

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