Murder In Lamut: Legends of the Riftwar, Book II [Paperback]

This book was definately of a very different flavour than the rest of Feist's novels, however I believe it definately worked. If you are looking for an epic volume in the grand scheme of the Riftwars then this book is not for you. However, if you have fallen in love with Midkemia and Kelewan and you want to explore nooks and crannies of these worlds then Murder in LaMut is excellent.

Rosenberg successfully exports Kethol, Piroji, and Durine from his Guardians of the Flame series and they are unlike any of Feist's normal characters. Most of the original Riftwar cast consists of nobles, Elves, and honourable folk. These three however, are only in it for the money. It is refreshing to realize that there are more than just despicable villians and honourable hereoes in Midkemia--we get a close view into the life of three commoners (albeit well traveled mercenary commoners ;-)).

Now that I think about it I believe I would have been disappointed if this novel had followed the usual Feist fantasy "formula" (not that his writing is truly formulaic) and been some sort of a grand quest. This novel was meant to be a divergent view into Midkemia and it succeeds admirably in my view. It isn't just the books that I enjoy, it is the worlds Feist has shown us and Murder in LaMut exposes an entirely new dimension of Midkemia.

One last point, the murder mystery proper doesn't show up until the end of the book--however I believe this is a mistake on the publisher's part when they wrote the description for the back of the book. Really this book is about Kethol, Pirojil, and Durine more than just the murder. Furthermore, the mystery may not be polished--but this isn't a world of precise police procedure, or modern investigative methods, and the three mercenaries aren't professional detectives. :-)

I would also reccomend The Empire Trilogy written with Janny Wurts for a similarly expansive and different view of Feist's world.

I can't understand how this book can get 5 stars, it's incredibly trite. This for me was the first bad book Feist wrote and set the standard for his current, once or twice a year, books. It's one of the the few books that I immediately gave away after reading and I had bought the original hardback. This book was written quite soon after Honoured Enemy, in my opinion, Feist's best stand alone book so I was expecting more of the same. No such luck, this book had the feel that the plot had been decided in a weekend, much like the past six or seven books he has written. There is one twist in the book and only two interesting pages, the murder! It's shockingly cliched and possesses no originality at all, drawing on the same themes that Feist's previous work had done with little insight as to what made them interesting in the first place.

I wrote this review only as I wanted to warn others off after feeling that I had wasted money on the book. There are much better books in the Feist pantheon to buy, not least this book's companion, Honoured Enemy.

As others have pointed out, if you're looking for an epic saga, this book isn't for you; but for those of us who have fallen in love over the years with Midkemia and Feist's characters (as well as Rosenberg's) this was highly enjoyable reading.

I like any books with Kethol, Pirojil and Durine as characters. To me they are at times reminiscent of the Three Musketeers and at other times the Three Stooges. I find myself laughing at a lot of their antics, and setting them down in the middle of the Riftwar was a great idea for these two authors.

This book has been panned a lot, but I think the problem may be with younger readers who don't appreciate the subtlety of some of the humor involved. It takes a lot of nerve (and fortunately the authors had it) to begin a story with, "It was a dark and stormy night." Then you have the soldiers marching to the old tune of, "We are marching to Bosonia.."

Tho the murder is almost peripheral to the story, I think it also had a truly humorous twist. I don't want to spoil the tale for anyone, but when I learned who the real perp was, I realized that the authors had fallen back on the oldest and most hackneyed of solutions - and I think they did it on purpose. This will again provide a laugh for those who think about the household position of the villian. Just substitute in your mind another name for his job description.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend it to Feist fans.