A Kingdom Besieged audiobook

The first of the last trilogy. Wow. And SO many years after the first Magician book came out.It feels like we're coming to a full close but doing it in GRAND style. We spend a lot of time in the fifth circle of the demon realm, following some wickedness around and just waiting to see her transformation into the Big Bad we'll have to face in a totally unprepared Midkemia. Well, not TOTALLY unprepared, but Pug is only one man and his Isle of Wizards is only SO powerful. These demons are going to TEAR through the world. We're already seeing signs of it. Hints. And then, Kesh is going ahead after so many years of relative peace and hammering the kingdom. Hard. Good new characters even if they're old echoes of their grandsires or great-grandsires. Echoes of Jimmy and Martin. Sigh. The great parts of this book are the same great parts that we've loved in the prior books. Sieges, the warfare of all kinds, the scraping-by with bare survival, retreats. The sense of doom is pervasive and this is just the usual kind of warfare doom. But what's driving the Kesh north? :)And also... the twist at the end? The new, perhaps last BIG reveal?MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA okay. I love it.

This is the first book in the very last subseries of Raymond E. Feist’s Riftwar Cycle. I went into this with low expectations because the last two subseries starters were full of recaps that kept putting me to sleep. Happily, I didn’t have that problem with this book at all. There was some recap info, and some of it was provided more than once, but it came in both briefer and less frequent doses and so it never got tedious.I enjoyed this. It’s full of a lot of the things Feist does best – camaraderie, adversaries banding together to fight a common enemy, a young man unexpectedly thrown into a leadership position and taking charge against overwhelming odds, etc. There admittedly isn’t anything particularly new here, but it was kind of a comfort read with so many of the things I enjoyed most about the early books appearing in slightly different forms here as the series approaches the end. I expected this last subseries to be depressing given some of the often-repeated predictions and the title of the last book, and it will probably get there eventually, but this book was fun.Feist does like to recycle his character types by introducing descendants of old favorite characters from the early books who have some remarkably similar personality traits and skills. I do usually like them, although they never quite recapture the magic of the originals for me because they aren’t the originals. And then there are the characters who keep showing back up in new and strange ways… (view spoiler)[I hope Feist can make it make sense that Nakor and Miranda’s “memories” appear to be living in demons. I guess it will turn out to be something the gods did again. I wasn’t particularly thrilled to see Miranda again, but I did love seeing Nakor show back up. (hide spoiler)]I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I’m rating it at 4.5 stars which is probably a little generous since I don’t think this story is going to stick with me for the long haul, but mostly it’s just based on the enjoyment I got from reading it. I’m rounding down to 4 on Goodreads.

A Kingdom Besieged is the latest book in the long-running Riftwar Cycle by Raymond Feist and the first in what appears may be the final trilogy of the story. Depending a bit on how one chooses to count, this is the 19th book in the primary series (which is subdivided into a variety of sagas), with an additional 9 related books (6 co-authored) retroactively filling in story gaps with alternate tales and points of view. Broadly speaking the primary series has generally declined in quality through time, with the first books being the best and the later books the worst. Happily, A Kingdom Besieged goes a long way to reversing this trend, as it is easily better than all eight books making up the last three sagas, and at times almost recapturing the magic of the first few tales.A Kingdom Besieged begins about five years after the end of the previous book, At the Gates of Darkness. It's a broad tale of war and intrigue, although not a dense or difficult read. The story moves at a rapid pace, with a few twists and turns but nothing particularly shocking or surprising (I very early on guessed what was probably meant to be the biggest shock/twist in the story...I don't know whether it was telegraphed or I just got lucky). As with many other books from the series, it contains a mix of new and established characters as the primary drama starts to shift to a new generation. Manyh of these characters harken back a bit to the characters from the earlier stories (sometimes blatantly and deliberately), which is perhaps why they resonate so well. The ending is solid, without a blatant cliffhanger, but still setting up numerous plot threads to be tackled in the next two books.One of the biggest problems with the last few books in the series (and particularly the previous book) was the lack of what I would call craftsmanship. It was not so much that the story and plot and characters were particularly bad, but rather that the writing and editing fundamentals were sorely lacking. In particular, there were numerous redundancies and gross inconsistencies (such as having the same character in two different places simultaneously) that simply showed sloppy writing, editing, and an insufficient attention to detail that detracted from the story. Thankfully, such inconsistencies appear to be largely absent from this book, allowing the reader to stay more absorbed. One craftsmanship flaw still remains, however, which is a tendancy to redundancy. For example, in chapter 1, Feist writes It was called the Magician's Tower, for once the Duke's ancestor, Lord Borric, had given it over to a magician and his apprentice.In chapter 19 he writes......to the roof of the tower known as the "Magician's Tower" because it was where Pug and his mentor, the magician Kulgan, had resided deacdes before.The text in chapter 19 is completely extraneous; he already explained where the name of the tower comes from. It's almost as if these chapters were written completely independently with no thought or bearing to how they fit together into a single book (this was not the only case of such repetition).Overall, I found this book to capture much of the excitement I remember when first reading the earliest stories 25 years ago and for the first time in quite awhile I am actively looking forward to the next book to learn what will happen next.

Actual rating: 3.5 stars This ended with an absolute BANG

I haven't read a new Feist book since the Serpent War saga, and this was on sale at Amazon AUS recently and I snapped it up. I enjoyed the drips of Midkemia history through those original stories of Arutha/Martin/Lyam and Jimmy The Hand.I enjoyed this story, with the only parts that lost me being Samareena's story/encounter with the NightCaps who turned out to be Nighthawks. Other than that, the pacing was fine. I'd seek out the other stories in the series but probably only if they come on sale.

Superb read with the NLS audiobook to follow along with while you read. Exciting plot that piques and keeps the readers interest.

Ongeveer dertig jaar nadat Raymond E. Feist zijn reeks boeken over Midkemia begon met Magiër, komt het einde nu in zicht met de Saga van de Chaosoorlog-trilogie. Het eerste deel hiervan, Het Bedreigde Koninkrijk, speelt zich vijf jaar na Voor de Poorten van het Duister af. Hierin verloor Puc zijn vrouw en zoon en het verdriet is nog steeds niet verwerkt. Toch kan hij zich niet al te lang afzijdig houden van wat er zich nu afspeelt op Midkemia. Het Keizerrijk Kesh blijkt namelijk een grootschalige invasie voor te bereiden en een nieuwe oorlog kan het Koninkrijk der Eilanden zich niet veroorloven. Alle informanten in Kesh zwijgen echter in alle toonaarden, dus Jim Dasher en Sandrina gaan zelf op onderzoek uit om te achterhalen wat Kesh van plan is.Maar ook in het demonenrijk is er nog steeds geen rust. Na het verslaan van de demonenkoning Dahun is het gevaar vanuit deze wereld nog niet geweken. En naarmate we steeds meer te weten komen over de demonen lijken zij nog niet eens het grootste gevaar te zijn dat Midkemia te vrezen heeft…HerkenbaarheidDe stijl die Feist in het boek hanteert is, voor mensen die al eerder zijn boeken hebben gelezen, herkenbaar. Actie, politieke intriges en verrassende onthullingen, ze zijn allemaal aanwezig. De vaart ligt redelijk hoog, maar wordt soms onderbroken door personages die achtergrondinformatie spuien. Het verhaal leest desondanks prettig weg en is zeker vermakelijk genoeg om de lezer tevreden te houden.Herkenbaar zijn ook de personages die Feist in dit boek introduceert. Wederom is er een ConDoin afstammeling die op de muren van Schreiborg staat om een belegering te doorstaan. Ik denk dat hier ook de crux ligt waarom Feist met zijn laatste verhalen maar niet lijkt te kunnen tippen aan eerdere boeken, zoals die van De Slangenoorlog. Zijn meest gewaardeerde boeken hadden allen personages die zoveel meer te bieden hadden dan de personages die we nu leren kennen. In plaats daarvan werden archetypes van stal gehaald, die allen ontwikkeling missen. Jim Dasher is een nieuwe Robbie de Hand, in Martin en Hal zien we Martin Langboog en Arutha terug. De personages die in de laatste paar boeken zijn geïntroduceerd, zoals Sandrina of Haviks, missen de aantrekkingskracht om echt ondersteunend te zijn.Wil je de volledige recensie lezen? Klik hier:http://www.fantasywereld.nl/recensies...

Another page turner, obviously, when is Feist ever not? Spoiler alert (so don't read on if you haven't read the book yet) : I have to comment on the demon thing... at first I was like "what is going on with Child?", and then later I was still like "what is going on?" I mean I knew it was going to be an important part of the story but come on! This is Feist and I want content with Pug and The Conclave and Thomas! Meanwhile, I did enjoy meeting the new characters from Crydee, gotta love going back to the roots. By about the middle of the book I was over it and became interested in Child. I had been short on patience but I should have known! This is what I love about Feist! I know the book is not solely about Child, the demon. There is a lot going on and I am only focusing on the demons because it illustrates that Feist is one of those authors who know what his readers want. When Child and her archivist/buddy/companion become Miranda and Nakar..... what can I say! I wasn't in tears (although I expect the scene in the next book when they reunite with Pug will) but I did feel a smugness (Thank you Feist!) and a warming of the heart. (because Nakar is back and it wasn't the same without him)So why a 4 star and not a 5 star review? Simple. I want more. Feist has been and will probably always be one of my most favorite authors but I read this book in about 6 hours. I hate to complain but a 30 dollar book? 6 hours? You might say "Slow down then" I would say right back that Feist's books have been less pages in each one and bigger print in each one. Now I might be exaggerating out of frustration but it sure does seem like less and less. I am not a slow reader, and no I don't skim at all, and yes I read a lot of books, and no Feist will not get 5 starts from me until he steps up and presents me with a book (and I hate to say it because I love his work so much) that is something other than an airport read.That being said I will surely buy the next 30 dollar book, and the next, and the next. I grew up on Feist and will always be a huge fan. Keep then coming, I love you Feist!

Feist still writes as if he's rehashing the same old story just to make money; which is sad considering how great the Talon books were. Feist knows how to write, and several of his books have shown that he writes well. Unfortunately, this one gets close, but doesn't quite make it until you're nearly done with the book. That's when a couple of events happen that will make you stop and think, "What the frick?"My thoughts:1. Quite honestly I'm tired of reading about Pug. Pug was fun to read when he was fresh and new in Magician's Apprentice, but now that he's omnipotent and knows it, he's just boring. Nakor, on the other hand, was a fun read because of his unpredictability. (wink, wink)2. In order to read this book and get the "WTF?" mentioned above, you need to have read several of Feist's earlier books in order to understand the reasons behind the "WTF?" I can't say more without spoilers, but lets just say you need to read at least all the books containing Nakor and Miranda. (This new reader knows what I mean: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...)3. Sandreena is an awesome character. I love reading her and I really want to read more about the early years between her and Amirantha.4. My other favorite new character (sorry have forgotten his name and not near my book) is the Aussie-like archer introduced here...and again sorry, I can't say any more...spoilers. Other than, good lord, Feist, I like that guy and wanted to read more!Other than that, I did like how the last chapter ended, and I see where it is going, but seriously, if you haven't read all Feist's books up till now, you won't get it.

Another excellent epic fantasy by Raymond E. Feist. As he begins the final trilogy in the long-running Riftwar series we see again old friends and villains and meet new heroes. After centuries of peace, the Empire of the Great Kesh attacks the great Kingdom and Crydee, the city from which the great Magician Pug and the mighty Dragon Lord Tomas are from is again under siege. And a young conDoin, a distant ancestor of the legendary Prince Arutha, must protect his people. In the same time, spy nets are falling apart as mysterious new player is destroying them, while in the realms of Demons a new terrible enemy appears...This is an ambitious fantasy tale, with many characters and sub-plots, but it truly seems the beginning of the end in the grand Riftwar Cycle. While ancient forces of Good and Evil return in Midkemia, a final battle with the most horrible power in the history of the Universe is coming coon...I can't wait for the next installments in the trilogy, but I know that whatever happens, I will be sad to see the final ending of one of the beloved series of my childhood. In fact, the ending of this book made it so marvellous to me, as it made me remember days long gone, when I was a student and was running from school to read what was and still is one of my favorite fantasy tales.

So happy to read Feist again and sad at the same time cause after 30 years this story isgonna end.Reading this book felt like coming home...

It has been an astounding 30+ years since Raymond E. Feist first introduced us to Pug, Tomas, and the other heroes of Midkemia in Magician (broken into Magician: Apprentice & Magician: Master in North America), the first book of the The Riftwar Saga. I can vividly remember devouring all three books of original trilogy back in high school, and I still count it as one of my favourite series.I, of course, went on to read the Krondor's Sons duology, along with The Empire Trilogy - which had the added bonus of introducing me to Janny Wurts. I drifted away from Midkemia after that, however, having found that the opening chapters of The Serpentwar Saga were too sparse, too militaristic, too far removed from the core characters, and somehow lacking in the sense of magical epic-ness that made the first saga so compelling.When I heard Feist was working on the story of the 'final' Riftwar, I knew it was time to catch up, to re-familiarize myself with the world, and see things through to the ominously titled Magician's End.That brings us to A Kingdom Besieged, the first book of The Chaoswar Saga. Much to my delight (and relief), reading this opening volume was very much like revisiting old friends. The same 'epic' sense of storytelling that I remembered was back, along with myn old friend Pug at the forefront, once again a major force to be reckoned with. Feist does a superb job of casually recapping the prior sagas, bringing up details in conversation, or reflecting on past events in the character's thoughts. He never info-dumps or delays the story, just slowly and naturally brings the world and the reader back together.There's a lot to like here, not the least of which is the story of Child, the rather unusual demon who grows in both stature and power, all the while approaching a level of sophistication that's almost human. It's not clear what role she will have to play in things, whether she'll offer salvation from the darkness devouring the land, or prove to be a harbinger of the end-times, but she's a compelling character. In fact, she just may be the most chilling character I've encountered in an epic fantasy, a character with the potential to destroy the world . . . along with the intelligence and cunning to know precisely what she's doing and why.Similarly, the reintroduction of Pug into world affairs is a welcome addition to the story, acknowledging the tragedies that have come before and gently, politely, respectfully resolving them. His relationship with his sole surviving son is an interesting one, especially given the dark pact he made with the future in the original saga, but you can't help but hope Feist will find away around demanding the ultimate sacrifice. More importantly, Pug seems ready to take a role in world affairs once again, which promises to set up some interesting confrontations, but also ensures the possibility of survival for Midkemia.What I appreciated most about the story, however, is the novelty of Kesh's plans for conquest. Feist has done conquering armies before, both human and inhuman, and done a solid job of directing battles and armies in ways that make logical sense, but which still manage to surprise. Here he takes things in an entirely new direction, introducing us to armies that are designed solely to make landfall and send the residents scurrying for cover. Rather the press the advantage and invest themselves in siege, however, the armies simply hold their ground while the refugees they've collected are set loose to colonize the land. This is not a conquest by swords, pole-arms, pikes, and magic spells, but one by spades, hoes, shovels, and farming. This is not a war of attrition, but a simple matter of displacement.It's not year clear how all these events will converge, what role the elves will deign to play, or just how much the Pantathians (surprise!) are responsible for, but it's clear that change is in the air. It's a next-generation Riftwar, with grandsons and great-nephews stepping up to take the place of their heroic forefathers, guided by the continuity of Pug. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and am glad I decided to revisit Feist's world. On to At the Gates of Darkness next.Originally reviewed at Beauty in Ruins

This review covers The Chaoswar Saga, and perhaps some comments on the entirety of the Riftwar Cycle.In this Chaoswar Saga, Feist closes the Riftwar setting which he began in 1982. The entirety of the Riftwar Cycle centers on the magician Pug, introduced in that first 1982 publication. Some thirty books later, Pug's story comes to an end. This Chaoswar trilogy sets that ending.Feist's writing ranges from uninspired to amusing. There are two or three books in the Riftwar setting that are simply not very good, reading like the transcription of a DnD session, and not really connected to the rest of the series. Most of the books are amusing, with a good story at the core of stock characters and hackneyed conflicts. One or two of the books shine above the others, showing inspiration and focus that is lacking from the rest of the books.The Chaoswar Saga shows more of that inspiration than most of the Riftwar books. I suspect actually getting to a finale was helpful in that regard. If this is actually the end, there's no need to leave open a plot for the next story. Feist also gave himself an advantage in writing characters that he actually likes to write. A sprawling universe like the Riftwar setting is bound to have some people in it that even the creator isn't fond of, readily apparent in some of these books. Feist brought back a couple of characters for their perspective (but possibly because he couldn't create other characters to take the place of these), and his connection to these characters allows a flow of better writing.Overall, I think the Chaoswar Saga is a good story, and a fine resolution to the setting of the Riftwar Cycle. Within the cycle, the best series are the original Riftwar Saga, the Empire Trilogy (written with Janny Wurts), the Serpentwar Saga, and this Chaoswar Saga. These series share a scope and perspective that is lacking in the other books. The story is more engaging in these. I'm glad I experienced all of Feist's books in this setting, and I'm glad to see it brought to a final resolution.

I've been reading the books written by Feist since I found the first one, a good 30-odd years ago now, and I started this one both eagerly, and with some regret.Although I've owned this book since it was published in 2011, I hadn't got around to actually reading it until yesterday and, like so many of Feist's books, it was hard to put down once I started it!This first in the Chaos War trilogy was, at times, difficult to read, as there was just so much going on, with so many different characters, that I kept losing track - not a first for me nowadays - but it also drew me deeper into the unfolding story, as more and more details were given - until the moment when all was revealed.As the final trilogy in books that have kept me company through many a long night, for far too many years, this is a great start to the ending of an enduring story in my life, and I just hope that the next two books are as fulfilling as the first.I hope they will be so that, despite errors, or questions left unanswered (which is the only reason for the 4 stars, rather than 5), I can honestly say that this whole series is right up there with the very best of them!

It has been over 2 years since I last read a book by Feist but the world of Midkemia is so instilled in my memory that it was like coming home. This story set once again in the duchy of Crydee is a great place to start the final trilogy of the riftwar series. Set over a hundred years after the initial story it harkens back to those stories of Arutha and Martin when the rifts first opened and Pug was merely an apprentice. So much may have changed since but so much will be revealed by the end that shows that so much has stayed the same. I just might re-read the first trilogy before book two so I can refresh my memory of all that's transpired.