A Crown Imperiled: Book Two of the Chaoswar Saga

I have read every antecedent book in the feist series and I'll admit I found stone of the books -such as the serpent war saga- in the middle lacking, but feist is finishing his legacy strongly just as he began. This book stands next to those of the rift war saga

I've been following the adventures of Pug since I was about as old as he was in the beginning of Magician. So it should come as no shock to learn that I have been eagerly awaiting each book of this series. This entry was lackluster when compared to some of the greats of these books in terms of plot. That could be overlooked because of the return of so many of my favorite characters. However, I am not sure that anyone could overlook the glaring grammatical and continuity errors. I'm not sure if the mistake is the author's or the editor's, but I don't see how it could be allowed to be published in such a state. It makes me sad.

I've been following the adventures of Pug since I was about as old as he was in the beginning of Magician. So it should come as no shock to learn that I have been eagerly awaiting each book of this series. This entry was lackluster when compared to some of the greats of these books in terms of plot. That could be overlooked because of the return of so many of my favorite characters. However, I am not sure that anyone could overlook the glaring grammatical and continuity errors. I'm not sure if the mistake is the author's or the editor's, but I don't see how it could be allowed to be published in such a state. It makes me sad.

I have enjoyed pretty much everything that mr Feist has written so far, and believe me have no problem with the story or with his style of writing, in fact I liked this book more than the previous one, but I have never read anything with so many mistakes in it...ever!
Forget the big one, where a major character swaps places with another (Pug and Magnus), it's the little things that are everywhere, It spoils the read I am afraid!
Mr Feist, you need to get a new proof reader.

Five stars for the story, one star for the publisher.

Too bad, because the book has some interesting new twists, however, Pug and Magnus are clearly swapped. This was found in February in the UK version, so why they continued to sell the flawed US version is beyond me...

The publisher has noted that you can send the book in to get a corrected copy. Perhaps the store would be the better choice for the return, though.

With this, the second volume of The Chaoswar Saga and the second-to-last volume of the entire Riftwar Cycle, Raymond E. Feist doesn't necessarily advance the story, but instead elaborates on the significance of the events in A Kingdom Besieged, and builds some necessary (and much-appreciated) depth on the part of the characters. While it left me impatient to move on with the story, to advance things towards the ominously titled Magician's End, it was largely satisfying in terms of securing the overall story arc.

A Crown Imperiled does three things exceptionally well. Number one, it reestablishes the Conclave of Shadows as a force to be reckoned with, giving them not only power, but a purpose. The period of mourning their losses is over, Pug is invested in the fate of Midkemia once again, and Magnus seems finally positioned to fulfill the critical role his family legacy has so long demanded. More than that, the psudeo-resurrections of Miranda and Nakor that had me groaning at the end of the first book are not only explained, but handled exceptionally well. The scene in which Pug is confronted with a demon who carries all of his dead wife's feeling and memories is one of the strongest emotional moments Feist has ever written.

Number two, the book sheds some light on those subtle political coups taking place across the land. I felt they were really underplayed in the first book - introduced and hinted at, but left very vague in terms of exactly what was happening any why. Here, we see that aspect of the tale really expanded upon, elevating a lackluster minor plot thread to a level of significance worthy of Midkemia's final chapter. Hal, Martin, and Brendan are drawn back into the heart of the conflict, elevating their tangential adventures into something as relevant as they are exciting. The entire flight sequence with Princess Stephané is probably the most exciting, swashbuckling event the series has seen in quite some time.

Number three, the book has some big . . . and I do mean BIG . . . moments. I won't spoil them here, other than to say there is a scene with dragons taking flight that has me grinning with excitement, and a world-ending cliffhanger that had my jaw dropping to the floor. It's not as strong of a book in terms of plotting as the first, but it does pull things together nicely, setting up what will hopefully be a fitting conclusion to the Riftwar Cycle.

A Crown Imperiled (2012) is the second Fantasy novel in the Chaoswar subseries of the Midkemia sequence, following A Kingdom Besieged. The initial work in this sequence is Magician.

In the previous volume, Lair'ss and her child were fleeing the Darkness coming toward the city. She caught an Archivist and brought the body back to Child. The child grew as she ate and absorbed the knowledge of the Archivist. Later, Child captured another Archivist and made him her Teacher.

Martin and Brendan were out hunting with their father and Earl Robert. While searching for wild boar, they found a wyvern instead. The angry wyvern took a deep breath, but the boys jumped to the sides as a gout of flame passed between them. Then Bethany shot an arrow in the throat of the wyvern.

Hal was fighting for the championship against Ty, but conceded the match. The two competitors were invited by Tal to dinner at the River House. Jim told Hal that his father had received a call for the Western Muster. The Empire of Kesh was invading the Kingdom of the Isles.

In this novel, Pug is a Master Magician and head of the Conclave of Shadows. It has been over a year since the demon attack, but he still misses his wife Miranda and his son Caleb. He is now fiercely protective of Magnus.

Magnus is Pug's only remaining son. He is also a Master Magician and even stronger than Pug in certain skills. He is a member of the Conclave.

Child is a demon from Das'taas, the capital of Dahun's kingdom within the Fifth Circle of Hell. Somehow she was given the memories of Miranda, the dead wife of Pug.

Belog is also a demon from Das'taas. He now has the memories of Nakor, a dead friend of Pug.

James Dasher Jamison is a Baron of the Prince's Court of Krondor. Jim is also the head of the intelligence service of the Kingdom of the Isles. He is a member of the Conclave.

Amirantha is a demon summoner. His brothers Siri and Belasco are both dead after trying to kill him for decades. He is a member of the Conclave.

Sandreena is a Knight-Adamant in the Order of the Shield of the Weak, serving the Goddess Dala. She was a former lover of Amirantha, but despised him for many years. She is also a member of the Conclave.

Henry is the eldest son of the Duke of Crydee and distant kin to the Royal House of conDoin. Hal is attending the royal university in Roldem.

Martin is the second son of the Duke of Crydee. He is a swordsman like his older brother, but only a fair archer.

Brendan is the third son of the Duke of Crydee. He is an archer like his father and many others in his line.

Bethany is the daughter of Earl Robert of Carse She is an excellent archer.

Tyrone is the son of Tal Hawkins, former Champion of the Master's Court and Court Baron of the Kingdom. Ty is also in Roldem.

Stephane is the Princess of Roldem. She has two brothers who precede her in the line of succession. Her bodyguard is Gabriella, a six foot tall beauty.

Franciezka Sorboz is a Lady-in-Waiting for the Queen of Roldem. She is also the spymaster for the King of Roldem.

Tomas is the consort of Aglaranna, the Queen of the Light Elves in Elvandar. He has the memories of Ashen-Shugar, a Valheru Dragonlord.

Calis is the son of Tomas and Aglaranna. Like most elves, he is a very good archer.

Arkan is the Chieftain of the Ardanien Clan of the Moredhel, the Dark Elves. He was the son of Gorath and took control of the clan when his father disappeared.

Liallan is the widow of Delekhan. When he died, she took control of the Snow Leopard and Badger Clans and merged them together. She is an aunt of Arkan.

Narab is head of the moredhel council. He wants to be king of the Dark Elves.

In this story, Tomas dreams of Valheru rising to fight in the War of Chaos. Draken-Korin takes his position as leader. Only Ashen-Shugar is not present.

Tomas awakes and recalls his dream. He was Draken-Korin in the dream, but he carries the memories of Ashen-Shugar, so these memories are not his own. He wonders about the source of the dream and its meaning.

Narab calls an assembly of the Moredhel chieftains. He introduces the representatives from the Taredhel, the Clan of the Seven Stars. Then the taredhel tell the moredhel that they will be allowed to swear fealty to the Lord Regent of the Clan of Seven Stars.

Arkan and his bodyguard leave the assembly just as the fighting starts. Arkan sends his bodyguard to tell the rest of the Ardanien Clan to flee into the northern wastes. He rides to the Snow Leopard camp.

Arkan discusses these events with Liallan. She teaches him some things that he did not know about his father and Narab. Then she tells him of a vision that she had about him and a human dressed in black. She does not know the name of the human. So Arkan heads south.

With the death of his father and the loss of Crydee, Martin now leads the defenders of Ylith. A scout appears while he is eating breakfast and the bugles sounded an alarm. Martin dropped his spoon and ran out the door to the south-western gate.

A scout is admitted into the city walls and tells Martin that he has found the infantry. The captain of these troops has refused to lead them to Ylith. He says that his orders are to meet the Duke at Sarth.

Then Brendan runs up to Martin and states that a band of forty has come from LaMut. About twenty are archers. They have a small ballista that is old, but serviceable.

Since Ylith is the key to the western lands, Martin and Brendan know that the Keshians probably will attack the city. They discuss the Keshian options and decide the probable attack points. Martin asks Brendan to check out an old fortress across the bay and another above the town.

When the Keshian attack, Martin tries to keep Bethany and the town mayor's daughter out of the fighting. He has to settle for ordering them to use their bows on the invaders. The defenders drive off the first attack, but the Keshians start setting up ballistas on the ridge in front of the main gate.

Meanwhile, Miranda and Nakor come to Ylith and claim a table in the inn where outsiders are housed. Calis appears at their table. He asks them about their death, so Miranda promises to tell him the story as soon as possible.

Calis mentions another guest at the inn that makes him suspicious. They find Arkan in an adjoining room and Nakor invites him to answer their questions. Arkan gets up and goes to their table.

The foursome are suspicious of another group of four at a table near theirs. They act like that they are strangers to each other. Yet they have identical haircuts and boots.

On the Isle of Snakes, Pug, Sandreena, and Amirantha are looking for Pantathian Serpent priests. They find town after town that has been attacked by demons. The bodies appear to be Pantathian.

Finally they find the demon troop attacking a major town. The Conclave trio attack the demons from the rear. Pantathian soldiers attack from the town. The demons are all destroyed.

The town leaders approach the trio and invite them into the town. They seat them in an assembly hall and then identify their leader as Pug. They explain that they are Pantathians without magic and are willing to talk peacefully.

Elsewhere, Lady Franciezka is hiding Hal and Ty from royal troops. She takes them to another hiding place where they meet Princess Stephane. Lord Worthington has been appointed as Viceroy and is hunting for the princess.

Franciezka smuggles the foursome out of Roldem. They take a small boat through the Kingdoms Sea toward Rillanon. On the way, they are spotted by pirates and flee ashore through the forests to Ran.

This tale is filled with action and suspense. Yet the war makes no sense. The major players are wondering why Kesh invaded the Isles.

Pug suspects that another player is working behind the scenes. The next installment in this sequence -- Magician's End -- has not yet been announced on the store.

Highly recommended for Feist fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of epic fantasy, political intrigue, and a touch of romance. Read and enjoy!

-Arthur W. Jordin

As many Feist fans know his books are first released in the UK, then in the US after a short delay. Unfortunately the UK release has a huge print error and many, many, typos. They have pledged to fix these for the 2nd print and the paperback release, but lets hope they caught these before the US version went to print. If not you will wonder if you are crazy once you get to the latter part of the book and a main character visits a location for the first time, for the second time :)

Regardless of these errors the book is reminiscent of his earlier works and I eagerly await the finale.

5 starts, minus one for the big boo boo. I'll amend this if the US version is corrected before release.

Jim Dasher and his espionage unit conclude Midkemia appears on the verge of deadly chaos and there seems to be nothing they can do to prevent what looks inevitable as hostilities explode almost everywhere. Meanwhile the Moredhel dark elves fear the arrival of the powerful feral Taredhel elves of the stars. Desperate War Chieftain Arkan enters the realm of man to bring back to the land of elves Pug the Magician, prophesied to save his realm.

Pug, accompanied by Sandreena and Amirantham, asks the Conclave of Shadows for help; but fails to obtain any definitive support and the trio seeks what is behind all the mounting evil that appears the be destroying Midkemia. Demons breach the realm from the outside while various coups in neighboring states leave the Kingdom fractured as unrest grows from within.

The second Chaoswar fantasy (see A Kingdom Besieged) is an entertaining Riftwar thriller containing several subplots tied together by Dasher and his crew. Filled with twists and a strong look at political and military intrigue Midkemia and its neighboring lands, this is a fast-paced entry that readers will enjoy. Fans of the long running saga will wonder what darkness next will befall the people of Midkemia and especially ponder how present events tie back to the past.

Harriet Klausner

I was very glad when the latest instalment of the ongoing Midkemia epic came out. (A little shocked by some of the errors in editing) - but that did not spoil my overall enjoyment of the story itself. Still high on action while keeping you in suspense, I cannot wait to see how this particular phase will be brought to a conclusion. Die hard fans will be delighted. new fans will need to do alot of reading to get a grip on the vast history that has passed to reach this stage. A worthwhile read.

A fantastic read with familiar characters and places.

The sons of Crydee both defend the western realm (and a significant member of the Roldem royal family) and by the end of the book there is the hint of a larger destiny for one of the brothers.

Pug and Magnus probe a mysterious magic in the most unlikely of settings while coming to terms with the disturbing return of a lost love.

A great read from one of my favourite authors. Raymond Feist delivers his usual cracking read in the world of Midkemia.

Excellent!A Crown Imperilled (Midkemian Trilogy 2)

I have followed Feist since 1994 and read every book he published. I have enjoyed most of them. This book, however, is a disappointment. If I overlook the numerous proofing and editing errors (and there were plenty), what's left is the dregs of story that has dragged on for too long. Sometimes the style does not even seem like Feist. Bottom line is that if the publisher and the author do not care enough to do proper editing and provide effective feedback, then I don't care enough to follow the story.

I agree with the other reviewers about the proofreading errors. As a corporate lawyer, it was more than mildly annoying. The other "defect" (at least in the Kindle version) is that there is no map of Midkemia. Book 1 of the Chaoswar Saga, which I also previously read in Kindle version, does include the map, so this omission seems inadvertent to me.

Story is great as usual. Proof reading needs improvement. Many spelling and grammar errors. Some errors are hard to figure out but can be done. I have read everything from magician master and this book had the most errors.