1998 English
Press a button to download the book in the respective format.
The RiftWar is done. But a fearsome army of trolls and renegade humans, emboldened by the drug of destruction, has risen in strength from the ashes of defeat. There is one, however, who defies the call to battle...
New York Times bestselling fantasist Raymond E. Feist returns to a beleaguered realm of wonders and magic-where war is an enduring legacy; where blood swells the rivers and nourishes the land. Attend to this hitherto untold chapter in the violent history of Midkemia -- a towering saga of great conflicts, brave acts and insidious intrigues. It is the story of a traitor who rejects the brutality of his warlike kind and casts his lot with the human targets of their fierce aggression. It tells of mysterious deaths and sinister machinations -- and signs of a time when the fate of many civilizations rested in the able, unfaltering hands of RiftWar veterans Squire Locklear and cunning their-turned-squire Jimmy the Hand. It chronicles the powerful awakening of Owyn -- apprentice magician of untried strengths -- and celebrates the selfless achievements of Pug, the great sorcerer of two worlds. Welcome now to astonishing new corners of a world you have not yet fully explored-and prepare to experience true excitement, blood chilling terror...and the triumph born from the doom aimed at the beating heart of a kingdom.
The video game industry has always drawn upon works of fiction for inspiration--sooner or later, the process had to reverse itself. Krondor the Betrayal began its life as the bestselling role-playing video game of all time, written by Raymond E. Feist for Dynamix Inc. Feist, whose Serpentwar Saga has sold millions of copies and established him as one of the most popular fantasy authors of modern times, also wrote this novelization which places the action of the game in the context of his fully-realized fantasy setting, Midkemia.
Feist's fans are legion. Longtime readers will be delighted at the return of popular characters Pug the Wizard, Squire Locklear, and others, as they face the menace of a marauding elf war-chieftain and a mysterious cabal of wizards. But first-time Feist readers may find Krondor the Betrayal baffling and tiresome--without the momentum of the larger series, much of the story's effect is diminished. The video game influence in this book is unmistakable--as evidenced by an encumbrance of sword fights, multilevel conspiracy, and two-dimensional characters. Anyone who enjoys reading about Midkemia will be thrilled to play the demonstration version of the CD-ROM game (included with the book). --Brendan J. LaSalle
Based on the award-winning Betrayal at Krondor computer game, this launch of a new series set in Feist's popular Riftwar world (Magician, etc.) lacks originality but offers plenty of action and enough familiar and new characters to keep loyal fans of Feist and that computer game happy. Squire Locklear has been sent to the Northlands after some trouble with a married man's wife. There, he captures Groath, a renegade Dark Elf who warns him that the Dark Elves are again rising up in a plot against the humans. The dream name "Murmandamus" has been revived and all manner of folk are flocking to his banner, even though those few in the know are aware that Murmandamus was simply a ruse in the last war, an illusion in which the Dark Elves were forced to believe and for which they were made to give their lives. Together, the Squire and the Elf travel to give this dire news to the Prince of Krondor, meeting along the way young Owyn, a magician with more desire than skill. Also joining in the deeds of derring-do are Jimmy the Hand, a former thief now promoted to King's Man, and Patrus, a field magician who was Owyn's first mentor. As disasters pile up, these valiant hunks struggle to foil the various evil plots that surround them before the Riftworld is embroiled in yet another messy interdimensional battle. Women barely make an appearance in this book, and the writing can be sloppy, but because in SF familiarity so often breeds content, those who played the game and now want to read the story may not care.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.