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A Crown Imperiled
Chaoswar Saga, Book Two
Raymond E. Feist

Harper Voyager
March 13, 2012 / 978-0061468414
Fantasy
Amazon

Reviewed by Jan Fields

A dark force is at work behind the faces of reality in Midkemia. Three men who look like brothers, but are both more and less than human, have been manipulating political forces to bring about a single goal. What that goal is -- no human knows, but many must struggle to find out before it is too late. Like many high fantasy novels, A Crown Imperiled has a sweeping cast that jumps us from place to place in each chapter. It can be challenging to keep up, especially to a newcomer to the Riftwar Cycle, and an editing error (where two characters suddenly change places for no understandable reason) doesn't help keep it all straight. Yet even when I struggled to work out the machinations of the politics and plot twists on the page, I was caught up in the compelling characters and the lively action of each scene. Raymond E. Feist is truly the master of the scene, bringing readers deeply into the moments of the novel -- something I've often found lacking in High Fantasy.

Plus, I'm a sucker for a good romance, especially when it's mixed with action and duty. This book had several compelling romantic elements. I loved the young princess and her valiant protector Hal, but even more, I loved the two spymasters Jim and Franciezka Sorboz, and their rocky love that has taken them both by surprise.

Now, I do have to admit -- although I found the writing enjoyable, the editing of the book had a surprising number of errors for a book from a major publisher and I met at least one sentence where I couldn't even venture a guess of what the author meant to type. This was an annoying distraction in an otherwise fascinating book. Apparently the myriad of editing problems are going to be correct in the coming paperback version of the book. Considering the confusion some of the errors caused, it might be worthwhile to wait for the paperback. It's a book that's well worth the wait.

Reviews of other titles in this series

Kingdom Beseiged, No 1 [review]
A Crown Imperiled, No 2 [review]

Reviewer Jan Fields is the editor of Kid Magazine Writers emagazine and has written dozens of stories and articles for the children's magazine market.
Reviewed 2012
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