Honored Enemy audiobook

Raymond Feist - I am not worthy of your Fantasy writing prowess! I cannot believe I am 18 books into this series and they are still so entertaining to read. I have seen a few others who felt like the Riftwar Cycle was not the same after ten or twelve books, but for me it is still going quite strong.This book is the first time the story has jumped all the way back to the same time as the Riftwar. It was very interesting - and surprisingly not difficult - to get my mind back into the mindset of that time period. I will say that while many lists have this as book 18 in the series, you could probably also read it right after The Empire Trilogy without issue (note: I think you definitely should finish the Riftwar Series - the first four books - and the Empire trilogy - the next three books - first. There are many references from these first seven books that will make this one easier to understand).This was also the first time since the Empire Trilogy that Feist has brought along a co-author. William R. Forstchen is the author of the After series of post-apocalyptic novels. I enjoyed that series quite a bit as well so I was interested to see what these two could do together. While I couldn't specifically sense Forstchen's influence, they did a great job together.The story and the character relationships had me enthralled from the first page. This is not a super long book, but so much great character development happens. The story is well crafted and I was amazed to make such a strong connection when I am used to many other parts of this fantasy world. I figured it would be weird to read a story in this world with characters and situations that were brand new, but it was perfectly fine and perfectly awesome!If you are not reading Feist yet and you read this review and say,"But, Matthew! Book 18 in the series!? How can I possibly make that commitment to get to this 5-star book you are speaking so highly about!?!?" To that I say that it is totally worth it! All 18 books so far for me have been great - not a dud in the bunch!

What a pleasant surprise!I kinda expected some old side stories placed at the end of the original Riftwar taking place on the outskirts in the cold north, but not a REALLY GOOD novel about enemies banding together to survive against an implacable foe alien to both.The tale itself is pretty simple in outline but really told well in detail. The nitty gritty is what this is all about, keeping their men alive at all costs, the dangers and distrust, the cultural exchanges, the growing trust, and of course, the knowledge that they would eventually have to square off and kill each other... eventually. :)As a novel that really affected me, this kinda did the job better than most of Feist's other novels. :) Odd, right? The big action and the epic awesomeness is missing here, instead focusing on a deep tale of friendship in adversity. :) Totally recommend.

Originally reviewed at Bookwraiths.Raymond E. Feist is an author I grew up reading, yet haven’t picked up in a long time. But when I saw this standalone novel set during the Riftwar, I decided to take a chance on one of my old favorites. Now, I’m glad I did, because Feist and William R. Forstchen deliver a great military fantasy story with Honored Enemy.It is nine years into the Riftwar on Midkemia. The battle lines are fairly stable. Frontier forts and garrisons lining the cold, rugged and war torn Northlands. Midkemia and Tsurani units fighting more small actions against one another than huge battles. Little headway made by either side. Both sides growing weary of the near stalemate. But the war continuing with no end in sight.Dennis Hartraft’s Marauders are one of the most successful raiders in the Kingdom army. Their commander’s hatred of the Tsurani driving his men to accomplish daring missions behind enemy lines; their name infamous even among their enemies. And now they are returning from another raid, heading for a frontier fort called Brendan’s Stockade to settle down before winter arrives.Meanwhile, Asayagsa, a Force Leader of the Kodeko Clan of the Tsurani forces, has orders to attack Brendan’s Stockade. While Asayagsa believes his orders are madness inspired by Tsurani politics, he cannot disobey for fear of bringing shame to his house.Fate brings our two forces together at the frontier fort at the same time. A surprise awaiting both of them. The danger of being decimated by a third enemy causing the Kingdom and Tsurani to band together to survive. The rest of the tale focused on our “honored enemies” attempting to find a way across the frozen Northlands while battling a determined enemy and trying not to slaughter one another!Definitely, this is a military fantasy, where the troops and their situation is tense, exciting, and filled with action, but it was my growing fondness for the characters themselves which kept my reading into the night. Dennis Hartraft’s past very compelling; Asayagsa’s constant dilemma with honor and survival expertly told; and the developing tale of the elf Tinuva wonderfully developed. Hell, I even loved the times when the enemy leader was focused on, finding this individual far more than a cookie cutter bad guy but someone I could understand, even empathize with in a strange way.What I didn’t enjoy about the story were a few twists which eased the tension between our honored enemies. These events were just too convenient, too fortuitous for me to really believe they would happen in real life. And it kept the narrative from having to handle the ultimate question of whether our two bands would turn on one another as soon as the enemy presence behind them disappeared.All in all, I really enjoyed Honored Enemy. This book – plus the short story The Messenger in Legends II – has reignited my desire to return to Raymond E. Feist’s Riftwar series, because now I realize my childhood fondness for his stories might still hold true today. And I’d encourage other Riftwar lovers or fans of action-packed fantasy with a military twist to pick this one up. I really believe you will enjoy it!

Zapoceo sam ovu knjigu bez ikakvih ocekivanja. Ispostavilo se da sam vise nego uzivao u njoj i jos jednom potvrdio sebi zasto toliko volim da citam Fajsta. Imam neki osecaj da je knjiga napisana sa velikom lakocom, da je Fajst prosto seo i radio ono u cemu je najbolji. Uspeo je da jednom odlicnom pricom barem malo popuni duge godine Rata za Kapiju Svetova.

Actual rating: 3.5 stars I wasn’t invested in the beginning but this story firmly wormed itself into me throughout the novel. I loved the ending!!

4,5 sterren- Nederlandse hardcover Deze saga gaat over de werelden Kelewan en Midkemia. De eervolle vijand is het eerste boek van de trilogie;de legenden van de oorlog van de grote scheuring.In dit boek worden een groep Midkemiers en Tsurani gedwongen om samen te werken tegen een derde partij: de Moredhel.Doorheen het boek zijn Midkemier Dennis en Tsurani Asayage verplicht om hun mannen samen te laten werken, Dit gaat niet altijd even gemakkelijk door de andere mentaliteit en manier van omgaan met bepaalde zaken. Toch slaat stilletjes aan het wantrouwen op in vertrouwen,Het boek speelt zich volledig af in een periode van het jaar waarin het sneeuwt en winderig is.De personages zijn heel uiteenlopend,Dennis :leider van de marodeurs is een harde man die toch in gedachten blijft hangen in het verleden.Asayage:leider van de Tsurani is een slim persoon die vlug doorheeft indien hij wil overleven niet alles kan werken volgens het grote spel op zijn thuiswereld Kelewan,Tinuva: een moredhel die teruggekeerd is naar de elfen. Hij is eigenlijk ook de broer van de moredhel hoofdman Bovai,Gregory, De man die alles bekijk vanuit een rustig oogpunt.Het plot van het boek maakt dat er altijd wel iets te gebeuren staat, en de spannings- boog gelijk blijft over heel het boek.Hoe de samenwerking van beide groepen beeindigd word komt niet onverrast.Blijft een van mijn lievelings auteurs in het fantasy genre.  

Unlike most of Raymond E. Feist (the author) books, this book lacked the fantasy element. Granted, this is a standalone sidebar to the Riftwar Saga (another series by the same author) and there were elves, dark elves and some reference to rifts but this book is just pure fiction and action.Fans of the Riftwar Saga will not see their heroes in action and find themselves embroiled in a action packed, fast paced war fiction similar to the novels of Bernard Cornwell's (a historic fiction author) Sharpe series. The author had explicitly mentioned he tried to mimic Bernard Cornwell and having read the Sharpe series, I would say he did a passable impression of Cornwell's Sharpe series. Due to the story plot, magic or spellcasting is non-existent as majority of the Midkemian forces battled without the aid of magic during the Riftwar.Dennis Hartraft (main protagonist) and his mercenaries were in the middle of a war against the Tsurani (human race from another world) invaders when they found themselves facing a third party. Between the struggle of loyalties and war-hatred, Dennis had to make a decision to ensure the survival of his mercenaries.In this book, fans of E. Feist will learn more about the Returning. A fantastic read by its own, and the best book in the Legends of Riftwar (the name of the series). I will recommend this book for war fiction fans.

Enjoyed reading this book many years ago. From what I can remember of it, this was one of the many spin-off novels based around Feist's original Magician novel. I liked this one in-particular because it offered a different viewpoint on the Riftwar saga. Enemies sometimes must 'bury the hatchet', so to speak. If you liked Magician, Silverthorn and A Darkness at Sethanon, you'll more than likely enjoy this too.

** spoiler alert ** Negen jaar in de oorlog tussen het Koninkrijk en de Tsurani. Het front is redelijk stabiel, met zo nu en dan wat kleine acties tegen elkaar. Tijdens een slag tegen de Tsurani raken de troepen van Dennis Hartraft vast achter de vijandelijke linies. De Koninkrijk Troepen en de Tsurani worden gedwongen om samen te werken tegen de hun beider vijand, de MoredhelDit boek is meer een militaire fantasy dan het gebruikelijke soort. De vertrouwde personages uit de eerdere boeken komen hier niet in voor, behalve dan een verwijzing naar een aantal. De sub-plots waren indrukwekkend, en naar mijn idee beter dan het hele verhaal zelf. Wat mij bevreemde was dat de beide legers een soort vakantie hielden gedurende de tijd dat ze vast zaten in de vallei. In plaats van mogelijke uitwegen te zoeken, of zich voor te bereiden verdeden ze hun tijd met het baden, feest vieren en zich bezig houden met de religieuze vieringen van beide partijen. Ze hadden schijnbaar tijd genoeg om een badhuis te bouwen.

I'm not going to lie, I was more than a little bit worried to read this book. As I mentioned in the Magician: Apprentice review, some of Feists later books are, less than good. It was right around this period when I think some of the books went off course, but I'm happy to say that this wasn't the case for this one. Be it Forstchen's coauthorship or Feist returning to the beginning of the series, Honored Enemy was amazing. I'm currently going through all of the Feist book, some for the third or fourth time, others for the first time. This just so happens to be the first time I've read this particular novel. I'm doing an alternate reading order in the sense that I'm going semi-chronologically. I'll finish off the rest of the Riftwar Legends books because they happen during start of the whole series. I'll read the Empire books next, before finally going by publish date. As with the books Feist worked on with Wurts, I really think he benefited from having a second voice in writing Honored Enemy. The beauty of this duo was the fact that you really could not tell where each contributed, their styles meshed so well that it was extremely easy to get lost in the stories and characters. While the premise sounds simple and somewhat boring, which is the main reason it has taken me so long to read, the book is fantastic! Just the dynamic between Dennis and Asayaga is enough to warrant picking up this book. Add to it a deeper look into the Dark Brotherhood and a setting never really explored in the other books, any fan has to go out and read this. Since I've read the majority of the series already, I had no trouble picking up on some of the references and details that were put in, but I would highly recommend going through everything by publish date if it's your first time through. I'm impressed as to just how well the authors got the tone of Magician, having just read the two novels, it was like jumping back in despite the books being separated by two decades. It also makes me eager to jump into the next novel... off I go!

Writing and story was surprisingly good, so I think author really did a good work here. Enemies thrown together in desperate situation brings out best and worst of people giving reader thrilling adventure story.

Took me a little bit to understand all the different places and races in this book but when I did I enjoyed this story (although it was a bit repetitive) that was driven by excellent character development. There were a few excellent moments in here making this an entertaining book.

This is the first of three books (Legends of the Riftwar) which look back and focus on a specific event taking place during the riftwar.Honoured Enemy is co-authored with William R Forstchen and tells the tale of two disparate bands of soldiers, one Kingdom and one Tsurani, who find themselves forced to work together to defeat a band of Moredhel.Reading this after the lacklustre Riftwar Legacy series was a revelation. The characters are absolutely fantastic and the authors so a great job of getting the reader into the heads of the vastly different protagonists.The story moves away from traditional fantasy and instead focuses on the military and social psychology aspects of warfare and the effects it has on both leaders and troops. The book also helps to flesh out what happens to elves when they experience The Returning, and the effects this has on both the returning elf and his former family and friends.All in all this is an excellent book; it could be read as a standalone story and I am sure it would work reasonably well. However, reading it after the Riftwar saga adds another level of understanding.

** spoiler alert ** I've read through the books of Midkemia several times since my childhood, but I always skipped this one. When I was younger I couldn't find it on the shelves, and when I was older I didn't see the point.The essence of this story is two groups from opposing sides of a war, Kingdom and Tsurani, must work together to avoid being destroyed by a third enemy, the Moredhel.So you already know how this entire book is going to go right? They'll have a lot of friction at first, but over time they'll come to have a grudging respect for each other, and ultimately they'll part as friends. That's exactly how this kind of story goes, right?And yes, now that I've actually read it, that is exactly how the story goes...but it's how the story is told that matters. The characters are great, you root for their successes, you are hurt by their failures, and the plot twists are genuinely surprising.If you're a fan of Midkemia, don't pass this one by, because in addition to a good story told exceptionally well, it's also one of the only times we ever get any insight into things from the Moredhel point of view. That alone is worth the price of admission.

Honored Enemy by Raymond E. Feist and William R. ForstchenThis is part of a series, Legends of the Riftwar. The Tsurani are metal-poor and the interplanetary rift that allows them to travel to the land Midkemia puts them in conflict with the Midekemia residents. Hartraft’s Marauders are behind the lines shock troops whose goal is to demoralize the Tsurani raiders. A running battle with a troop of Tsurani is interrupted by a third force that is the antithesis to them both. Asayaga of the Tsurani and Dennis Hartraft are forced to discover their similarities despite their adversarial relationship. They are surrounded by comrades who drive home both their differences and those similarities. The moredhel or dark elves provide a counterpoint to the honor Asayaga and Dennis share. The story has good characterizations and shows both the strengths and foibles of men who are forced by circumstances to be enemies. The toll of hatred is clearly shown and how it can destroy the best of intentions. I enjoyed the book and recommend it.