Legends of the Riftwar (1) – Honoured Enemy: Bk.1 - Tapa dura

Feist remains one of the most reliable practitioners of epic fantasy and it's well known that his legion of admirers have besieged him with requests for further entries in his best-loved saga, the Riftwar sequence. Clearly, the pressure was too much to resist, as Honoured Enemy inaugurates a new Legends of the Riftwar sequence, co-written with Forstchen (a less illustrious name). Hartraft's Marauders, an lite group of kingdom raiders, are happiest practising their speciality: infiltrating and wreaking havoc behind enemy lines. As the new book starts, they are en route for a frontier garrison. But so is a Tsurani patrol, with a mission to attack the same garrison. When the two groups discover that their objective has been overrun by a vicious horde of dark elves, they become reluctant allies in order to survive. As in earlier books, Feist's subject is the tension of shifting loyalties, with unwilling allies forced to choose between the lesser of two evils: the enemy fighting by their side. His prose is always blunt rather than poetic, but Feist and his co-writer know precisely what the genre requires in terms of colourful and ambitious world-building.

The first of a major new Feist acquisition, returning to his best-loved series.

FREEDOM AT ANY PRICE?

Hartraft’s Marauders, a crack band of Kingdom raiders, are a special unit designed to infiltrate and fight behind enemy lines. They are currently heading for a frontier garrison, after a disastrous encounter with the Tsurani.

Meanwhile, a Tsurani patrol is sent to support an assault on the same garrison. Both sides arrive at the same time and discover the garrison has been overrun by a migrating horde of moredhel (dark elves) and they are forced by circumstances to band together and fight as one to survive.

The only problem is, who do they hate the most – their mutual enemy, or each other? As they make their way across the unknown Northlands to freedom, they have to struggle not only with the elements and their enemies, but also their conscience. For what is more important – one’s life or one’s honour?