SHADOW OF A DARK QUEEN A Fantasy novel by Raymond E. Feist, out in hardback Reviewed by James Jillians Raymond E. Feist is the author of many great fantasy novels. The jewels in this author's crown include the Riftwar Saga (Magician, Silverthorn, A Darkness at Sethanon) and sequels (Prince of the Blood and The King's Buccaneer), as well as a series of novels co-written with Janny Wurts. The list also includes a rather silly horror story entitled "Faerie Tale". Shadow of a Dark Queen is the first novel in a brand new series, the Serpentwar Saga, set in the same world as the Riftwar novels, and with a few familiar characters. The story deals with the exploits of a young villager called Erik, who is the illegitimate son of the baron of a local city. When the Baron dies his second (and legitimate) son, Stefan, inherits his father's title. Although Erik only wants to earn his living as a village blacksmith, Stefan seeks him out to eliminate any threat to his inheritance. Using trickery, Stefan provokes a fight and Erik, in a fit of rage, kills him. Erik is forced to leave his home, friends and family to escape the death-penalty for murder, but is eventually captured by king's soldiers in the city of Krondor. Instead of being hanged as is expected, Erik and a few other convicted criminals are offered the chance to join a small army of law-breakers led by the half-elf Calis. We soon learn that the king of Midkemia is desperate to find "volunteers" to fight a growing threat on the adjacent continent of Novindus. The Pantathian Serpent-Priests, who were the authors of much of the mayhem of the later Riftwar novels, have raised an army of followers, kept in check by enslaved lizard men from another world. The Serpent-Priests are destroying everything that they can lay their scaly hands on. They have only one objective: to release their deity, a member of an ancient race of dragonlords, imprisoned by a "lifestone" in a vault beneath the Midkemian city of Sethanon. Although the world is doomed if this is achieved, the Pantathians mistakenly believe that they will be elevated to god-like status by their grateful "goddess". Calis's Company of desperadoes, saved from the gallows and with nothing left to lose, is the perfect group to be sent gathering information on the oncoming horde. Shadow Of A Dark Queen tells the story of the journey to Novindus and describes our heroes' attempts to put paid to the evil Pantathians. As a Feist fan, I eagerly bought SOADQ as soon as I heard about it - I had enjoyed his other books so much I was even moved to buy an expensive hardback version, a luxury which I don't often indulge in. I was, perhaps, a little disappointed with my purchase. Feist's novels generally have a strange compelling quality which keeps the attention of the reader even though there's nothing particularly special about the uninspiring plots, often predictable storylines and tried-and-tested fantasy characters. However, SOADQ did not seem to have this "Grips-you from-cover-to- cover" characteristic, and I felt it was probably my least favourite of the author's works. But why? To me, the story does not have enough pace. Reading becomes tedious in the middle of the story, when, during the journey, you read about the heroes pitching camp, then marching on for another day, then pitching camp in slightly different area, then journeying on, then pitching camp again... As compelling as a boy scout's diary! In fact, the only really gripping stuff can be found in the last few chapters. I have developed a pet hate for books that deal only with long journeys, Lord Of The Rings particularly annoys me. The story does not effectively reach a conclusion, it is only the first in a series, after all. You're left wanting to know more - but the sequels aren't published yet! There's nothing especially original about the plot - there are no real surprises in the denouement, no astonishing revelations at the climax. The author has done nothing new with this novel, it's just more of the same. The characterisations, as with any other Feist novel, are cleverly done. You sympathize with the characters, you enjoy learning more about them, and you feel a real sense of anguish when something unpleasant happens to them. The author has a knack of introducing dozens of "minor" characters and somehow makes it easy for the reader to remember who they all are. There is a handy list of characters at the beginning (although this is not quite complete!) but, (and this really gets on my nerves sometimes), there is no "The Story So Far..." to tell you what happened in previous Feist books. Fortunately, because this is technically the "first" in a series, information is included in the text for people who, like me, cannot remember exact details of every book they have ever read! People who liked the characters of the Riftwar Saga will be pleased that Feist has retained a few of the old favourites, such as Pug, Nakor and Calis, although they are, of course, significantly older as the book is set one generation further on. ROUND-UP I'm not going to recommend that any one goes out and buys the hardback version straight away - the book does not reward the extra investment. People who enjoyed the author's other books will enjoy the paperback version when it's out. I advise those who haven't yet dabbled in Feist to start right away on the Riftwar Saga (not Shadow of A Dark Queen) because those five novels are certainly worth the time and money. JILLI-READ RATING: 7/10 - o -