Review by Mariko (2003-06-27)
Competently executed fantasy, but nothing special.

I spent most of the book looking for some spark that wasn't there -- originality, emotion, mystery; but whatever it was wasn't there. Neither of the cultures we're exposed to is much more than a cliche (the Orosini seem to me like stereotyped American Indians), the main character didn't have much of a personality (he's sworn vengeance for the destruction of his people and willingly becomes a womanizer and a master swordsman -- sometimes he's raving about honor and revenge and sometimes you wonder if he even remembers that his tribe was killed), and I found myself rolling my eyes and skipping ahead at every infodump. Also, the practice of starting every chapter with "Talon [did something]" in fancy script got a little old and seemed too artificial.

Still, I read all the way through, so I did like some of it. Though Talon is rather flat, you can still sympathize, and the pacing was good. The ideas behind the story were, I thought, a little weak, but they were carried out with style and skill.

I've never read anything by Feist before, so I can't tell you if fans will like it; my tastes don't correspond to everyone's. I think there's a lot of better stuff out there, though, even in the epic fantasy subgenre.