At the Gates of Darkness: Book Two of the Demonwar Saga

I have read every Feist book published. I would say I love probably the first 15. The last couple of series have been a bit of a decline. I don't think his writing is bad, I enjoy his style still. I also enjoy visiting characters that I have been reading about for 20 years. The problem with the last few series is that he is covering the same theme over and over. First you had the Tsurani invasion, then the Dark Elves, then the Emerald Queens army, then the Dasati, and this book about demons invading. All the books then have Pug leading the way to stop the invasions. I really felt like Rides a Dread Legion and this one could have been combined into one book. I also thought the last series could have been shaved to two. Feist is wrapping up his Rift stories with the final trilogy The Chaoswar. I am sure it will involve another invasion...maybe more with the demons, or the Star Elves or both. Either way it will wrap up the whole thing and for that I will be glad he will end it on his own terms and not continue to write declining stories in a universe I love. This isn't a bad novel, it is just very familiar ground.

Gates of Darkness reads as if Feist has completely lost any passion for the world of Midkemia. The story is bland and has no compelling reason to even finish reading this book; I only finished it because I enjoyed the previous stories so much.The writing is sophomoric. There is absolutely no depth to the characters. The decisions they make seem to come out of nowhere, with little to no rationale. The dialog reminds me of those awkward small-talk conversation you have when you are caught in an elevator with someone you haven't seen in years. The writing is so horrible I kept wondering if Feist hired some college freshman to write it for him.There is little to no reason to read this book. The world of Midkemia has gone downhill since Talon of the Silver Hawk and has careened off the cliff with Gate of Darkness. Even after a long history of enjoying Midkemia, and loading up a book shelf with my precious "..Saga" books, I am forced to wonder if I will even bother with the next attempt in this series.

While this book finished a battle and challenges, it really seems just the prelude for the final trilogy. Don’t get be wrong - I love it - but it leaves you knowing the real war awaits. I think it is a worthy launchpad to the final trilogy of the Cycle.

Not saying anything all these other reviewers haven't already said; the story continues from book one, it is rather short (read it in one longish day), it's lackluster and not as well polished as Feist normally is, and it generally feels like he was pushed for time to get it out the door... almost unfinished.Don't get me wrong, Feist is one of my favorite authors, so his worst is still better than most IMHO. I am hopeful that he takes some time and gets it done right for book 3.Has anyone else noticed that when the authors get involved in more than 2 projects, all of theme seem to suffer? The same thing happened with George R.R. Martin, after book 3 on his 'Song of Ice and Fire' Series, it all went to crap.Please, please, Mr. Feist, for the upcoming book(s)take the time you need to give us more content, better story, and more polish... focus... focus... we know you have it in you =)

Raymond E. Feist writes amazing books, but as the Midkemia stories go on (with increasingly boring "_______war Saga" titles), they've started to lose their magic. The first few he wrote (Magician: Apprentice and Master, Silverthorn, etc.), were so incredible because not only were they new and fresh, the characters were amazing. No matter how many books I read, Jimmy the Hand will always be one of my favorites, and Pug? Total badass.But now, with the exception of Pug, all the other cool characters are dead, and their replacements are....less than interesting. And despite all of the magic that he has mastered, there is always something waiting on the horizon that can ruin his day. Seriously? Why can't he just once encounter something that he can kick around for a little while?Anyway, back to the review. It's a decent book, Mr. Feist is, I think, incapable of writing anything less than decent, but it isn't amazing. The story is the same as the previous 'Sagas,' (imminent invasion and worldwide destruction, Pug has the answers, he and Nakor debate pointless philosophy at weird times that doesn't advance the plot, and there's a twist in there, just to keep it real), just with different names. The saga is worth reading, but I'd get it from the local library, unless you're a die-hard Raymond Feist collector.

Definitely better than the first book in the duo ("Rides A Dread Legion"). This might be because the first book ended before the climax and felt like "too much" setup, but I think it's also because the author discovered the character's voices a little more and hence they feel a little less contrived.It hooked me in a way the first book struggled to, and I'm tempted to continue reading other parts of the "saga" despite not being a huge fantasy reader (the tropes get to me!).

I dearly love Feist and his Riftwar Cycle. After Lord of the Rings, Magician was one of the first fantasy novels that friends encouraged me to read. There are some terrific yarns in the series, and a few memorable characters. That said, even at his best, Feist is a good storyteller by a somewhat unremarkable author. He glimpsed true greatness when he wrote the Serpentwar Saga. Since then, the books have become progressively more cookie-cutter.It's a shame that he didn't end the series on a high note before it became so completely overblown. This universe is just played out....he needs to call it quits or start something fresh.That said, if like myself you have grown to love some of these characters from your childhood, it may be worth the 4 hours to blow through this book. It vaguely disgusts me, but I will probably end up reading everything he writes in this series. Robert Jordan got away with this endless strethcing, but frankly Feist is no Robert Jordan. (For that matter, Jordan is no G.R.R. Martin, but that is another review...)

I have read every word Feist has written and been sucked into Midkenia and all his other worlds within a few pages.The Mistress series actually made me cry in places. Farewell Papeweo.This book promised to be a block busting finale to "Rides a DreadLord" which, frankly was good but it also lacked the descriptive and dramatic magic of all Feists previous books including the co-authored ones.This second book had me wondering if Feist actually wrote any of it.The chapters were dull, boring even. Lots of stuff going on but nothing 'happening'.I was confused by the writing which demonstrated little of the historic power Feist has to tell a story.There was no tension so nothing to build as the pages turn. Pug is almost a 'walk on' part. Yes he is upset at the loss of his wife (who wouldn't be) but as a character he fails to shine.ANY of the principal characters could have been slain by a demon and I would have felt nothing.The death of Papeweo (Mistress) turned me into a complete whimpering wreck. Where has that power to touch the reader gone?ALL of the 'stuff' to draw you in is missing. At times, I would say to myself, "That is not the way Feist would have said that". His descriptive language is so addictive that I would normally read one of his books in a few sittings as I could not abandon the characters I could not fail to identify with, such was the power of his writing in ALL but the Demonwar books.When I see errors like "Ridged" (page 282) instead of "Rigid" and Elves referring to their dead by name (when no elf will mention the name of the dead, and will say 'son of one who was brother to one who ruled' for instance) I wonder what has happened to the keepers of the Lore.I am about 10 pages from the end and I am STILL not yet drawn in.The beginning of the book says nothing of the book before so we have no idea what we are doing when we open the book for the first time.Based on the number of books I have read that were not Feist (and these were frankly rubbish in comparison), I can only assume that Feist didn't write a word of this or he has abdicated all editorial control.I have read all of Mr Feists works, some as many as 4 times over the years since 'magician'.Papeweo still destroys me even though I know what's coming.The Demonwar Daga has been a major disappointment.Where is Raymond E. Feist and what have you done with him?

This book is actually quite good for the most part and while not exactly gripping, it most certainly does hold your attention. I downloaded this book for Kindle on the iPhone and found myself reading it when I had spare moments - on the train, walking home, in bed - and it certainly held my attention. I would say it's a good story with a somewhat flat ending, the book kind of ends in the same way that an episode of a long running television series would - like it's a 1 hour episode and they have to have an end of sorts so the next episode can be a new story. I can only liken the end of the book to the end of a television programme - you get a good story all the way through and then the end is not as good as what you've watched up until that point. I have to say that for the most part I really don't recognise the deficiencies that people list in the reviews and I really think they're being harsh on the book, Murder In Lamut is a lot worse book than this - trust me. Frankly I really wish I had bought the actual book rather than listening to the negative reviews here. [shrugs]

The first part of this duology, Rides a Dread Legion, set the scene to build up for what I thought would be an explosive finale. How wrong I was. The first 95% of this book was little more than constant conversations about the obvious; we're facing invasion and now find a dodgy fortress in the hills. Lets go home and spend the next 2 chapters debating what it could be. Or put another way: How can I, as an author, drag one decent book into 2 books and cash in? This went straight to the charity shop.

I was disappointed from the moment it was unwrapped, it's so short! Compared to the masterpiece that is "Magician" this is simply filler. The characters haven't progressed and frankly not much happened in the novel. You will need to read this for the next, and final, series but I would recommend you either get this on the cheap, or rent it from your local library as this isn't a read up to Feist's normal standardShame

After reading some people's comments about how poorly written this series was I found it a good read the death of a main character was shocking and was dealt with accordingly I would recommend this series as it would b a shame to miss out after reading all the other adventures on Midkemia