King of Foxes (Conclave of Shadows, Book 2) (Conclave of Shadows, 2)

"King of Foxes" continues the tale of Talon of the Silver Hawk in this sequel to the first volume, also called "Talon of the Silver Hawk." This second volume builds up the character of Tal and takes the reader through a lot of intrigue, swordplay, and a danger. Slower buildup pays off with a setup for a grand finale. "Foxes" deepens the story by taking the revenge-hungry Tal and forcing him to examine the cost of his vengeance. Tal makes new alliances, new friendships, and new enemies, and we also get to acquaint ourselves with some familiar faces from the first novel. Like the first book, there are some similarities to "The Count of Monte Cristo", and here the struggles of one focused man are well done just as they were in Dumas' classic. The novel ends with a few nice twists, mostly derived from Tal's own decisions that finally he must make, though something Tal says near the end to one enemy I disagreed with (page 358 in the paperback)! And, like a good sequel in a book sequence, makes me want to attack the next volume, "Exile's Return", right away.

Brilliant.... That's King of Foxes in a Nutshell for you. Seriously, this book was MUCH better than the first one. You knew who the characters were going in. You had feelings for the characters and their lives. In usual Feist fashion, the new characters of the series are the most prominent, with characters from past works making what amounts to cameo appearances throughout. And as Conclave of Shadows book 3 comes into focus, I'm sure old timers like Erik Von Darkmoor, Jimmy and Dashel Jamison, Pug, Nakor, Miranda, and Robert de Lyis will feature more prominently. Remember, the end of this novel sets up the next one. A rift has been opened but they do not know where. I'm quite sure that very bad things are set to come out of this rift, maybe even a second riftwar??? This book is divided into two parts. When I got to the second part of the book, it felt like pure Feist all over again from his older novels. An escape scene, and then a buildup to this wonderful battle where Talon topples the Duke of Olasko. These two novels stand well on their own but I suspect the Conclave of Shadows series is not finished yet. Expect book 3 to deal with even more intigues and dangers as the plot behind Leso Varen thickens...... EDIT: A 3rd book in the Conclave of Shadows series has been confirmed. :D The name of the book is Exile's Return. Guess that means Duke Kaspar is coming back folks!!!!!!!

With the influence of G.R.R. Martin in the fantasy world, fantasy has taken a dramatic turn towards reality. This is not the Feist work that started in The Magician. The magic is light, the fantasy elements are a background source of material if anything. In the end it's a more realistic look at the world of Midkemia. The story continues from Talon of the Silver Hawk, with young Tal Hawkins continuing to avenge his destroyed people. Through the course of the story, you know certain things are going to happen. You know Tal will win, you know someone will betray him, that he will lose it all and regain it all back. The book is extremely predictable, yet like Feist earlier work it's predictable in a way that makes you smile. Unlike the overly realistic fantasy of Martin and Co. Feist takes great pleasure in creating his heroes and making them win. I found myself flipping through the pages, not out of suspense, but out of wanting to see how Tal would get out of one situation or another. Becauase you know he will. He will win, or he will die heroically and in a manner befitting a protagonist.

I purchased this book April 1st. I waited and read the reviews of some of my favorite reviewers and then read the reviews of the "normal" people. I expected this book to be somewhere between okay and bad. I enjoy Raymond E. Feists' work. He creates a world that you can smell, feel and touch. His characters are works of art. I still say he is one of the best fantasy writers we readers have. Talon is one of my favorite characters, but this new addition brought back Pug and Magnus as well. I think that if you enjoy Feist you will enjoy this book. He does repeat a couple of things and I wondered, "why on earth does he do that?" But other than that I think this is a wonderful book and it is a rich addition to his Riftwar and Krondor volumes.

King of Foxes is the second novel in the Conclave of Shadows series, following Talon of the Silver Hawk. In the previous volume, Talon has gained his manhood name, but at the same time has lost everyone he loved to a band of raiding mercenaries. He later discovered that the raid was led by a man called Raven, who had been hired by Duke Kaspar of Olasko. Talon was rescued by agents of the Conclave of Shadows and he himself became an agent in order to gain vengeance for his lost tribe. The Conclave provided weapons training and he become an accomplished swordsman. They also provided him with a false identity as Squire Talwin Hawkins, a minor Kingdom noble, and covertly sponsored him in the Tournament of Masters at Roldem. Winning the tourney, Tal gained the title of the world's greatest swordsman.After the tournament, he turned down an offer to join the court of Duke Kaspar, for he has the Duke's minions to destroy first. Instead, he started looking for Raven and found that the mercenary was planning another raid on the mountain tribes. Hiring another mercenary troop, Tall prepared a trap for Raven in one of the tribal villages. Although Raven escaped the ambush with several men, Tall followed behind and killed them all.In this novel, Tal is now ready to attack the two remaining targets in his planned vengeance, Duke Kaspar and Quentin Havrevulen, commander of the Duke's army. Tal returns to Roldem after an absence of two years and resumes his social rounds. Not entirely by coincidence, the Duke is visiting his cousin, King Carol. Tal hopes to join the retinue of the Duke without appearing too obvious, so he again turns down the Duke's offer of a position. However, after spectacularly embarrassing Prince Matthew, a vainglorious bore, at sword practice, Tal allows Kaspar to save him from the fury of the prince and thus becomes a Captain in service to Kaspar.The Duke has a beautiful sister, Lady Natalia, who takes an interest in Tal. Although not a participant in her brother's political affairs, Natalia is a political plum that the Duke is holding back for the best possible suitor. In the meanwhile, Natalia gets her pleasures wherever she can and Tal is one of her favorite pleasures.The Duke also has a very powerfully necromancer, Leso Varen, as an advisor and, possibly, as a puppetmaster. According to those near him, the Duke has changed for the worse since Varen joined his court. Pug has had fought Varen before and knows that the magician will be very hard to overcome within the Duke's castle.In this story, Tal has to survive his service to the Duke without breaking his oath until such time as the Duke betrays him. Moreover, he has to find a way past the strong defenses of the Duke's citadel. Furthermore, he has to find a way of breaking Varen's magical defenses.Tal also has to watch out for his servant. The Conclave has reassigned the ever efficient Pasko and Tal has promoted Amafi, his bodyguard, to valet. Since Amafi has alr