Raymond Feist -- King of Foxes -- Review

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King of Foxes by Raymond Feist *** 1/2

Second Volume of The Conclave of Shadows

Rating: Very Good - 3 1/2 out of five stars.

The second volume of Raymond’s Feist’s Conclave of Shadows, based on the character of Talon of the Silverhawk, or Tal, picks up where the first volume leaves off almost seamlessly. There is a short - with the emphasis on short - amount of exposition regarding events in the first book. So, it is recommended that anyone interested in this book should be advised to read the first volume before attempting King of Foxes.

As Tal rises in stature, in both the Kingdoms and the Conclave, he is drawn deeper into the plots of Kaspar, the Duke of Olasko. Kaspar is Tal’s mortal enemy, the man who ordered the destruction of his people in the first book. Now, Tal is forced into possibly becoming one of the Duke’s “creatures.” What this means is that Tal must “sell his soul to the devil,” so to speak, for a chance at avenging his people, which is really his only motivation at this point in the story. This is where the real tension in the story emerges: How far will Tal go to get his final revenge on the Duke? For the deeper Tal gets into his schemes, the more he becomes like the thing he most hates.

Again, following in the same vein as the first volume, there is the threat of a strong love interest always lurking in the background. And this plays a larger role as the story nears its final resolution. Which brings up an interesting point: What’s up with all the female characters in this series of books? Almost every important female character is a “Ho,” and I mean a Ho with a capital “H.” Most of the women who become involved with Tal have only one thing on their minds. You can guess here.

The main problem is that it makes all the important female characters seem two dimensional. The female characters lack substance and any real complexity of emotion or purpose. This really diminishes the story quite a bit, in my opinion, as a few of them figure very prominently in the overall plot of story. But the character of Tal is fleshed out quite a bit better here than he was in the first novel, and the character of the Duke of Olasko is nicely done also. This guy is a first class villain, and by far one of the better rendered characters in the story.

Like the first novel, this one is a real page-turner, and it is fast paced, with a tight narrative that remains Feist’s strong suit.There really is a strong desire to see the “final” resolution of the events and characters in the King of Foxes. And the events, with plenty of intrigue and swordplay, draw nicely to a climax, which while not fantastic, is still pretty good nonetheless. The Conclave of Shadows is still missing the dense plot line and a host of complex characters that one would typically find in high quality, epic fantasy. Yet, while the King of Foxes may lack some depth, it is still a highly entertaining read.

By the way, there is a third book: Exile's Return. The series is good enough to warrant reading a third installment, which I will probably get to at some point. But next week is supposed to be the official American release date of Steven Erikson's Memories of Ice. Then there is the paperback release of Greg Keyes’ The Charnel Prince, which is the continuation of the Briar King saga. November should be a pretty good month for fantasy adventure on an epic scale.

[ October 20, 2005, 03:38: Message edited by: Chandos the Red ]

 

I second that review. I also plan on reading the third book.

 

I totally agree. In fact, I think some of Feist's earlier series (particularly the Riftwar, Serpentwar and Empire series) did have a more involving plot and better fleshed out characters (not to mention female characters were MUCH more interesting). In this regard the present series was a bit of a disappointment. It's a typical "page-turner with not much substance".

By the way the 3rd book is very different from the other two, and better in some respects.