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Talon of the Silver Hawk: Conclave of Shadows: Book One
Talon of the Silver Hawk: Conclave of Shadows: Book One
Talon of the Silver Hawk: Conclave of Shadows: Book One
Ebook433 pages6 hours

Talon of the Silver Hawk: Conclave of Shadows: Book One

By Raymond E. Feist

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From a premier fantasist and author of the Riftwar Legacy comes the first installment in an much-anticipated new series. . . . “Feist has a natural talent for keeping the reader turning the pages.”—Chicago Sun-Times

From the New York Times bestselling author comes a thrilling new epic of adventure and deceit set in his signature world of Midkemia. In a distant land, high among the snow-capped mountains, a peaceful nation is mercilessly put to the sword . . . yet one will survive. Little more than a boy, Talon of the Silver Hawk must carry on until, someday, he can take vengeance.

Leaving the icy fastness of his ancient home, Talon descends into the dangerous land of his adversary. Treading a perilous path, he must survive battlefields, court intrigues, treacherous enemies, backstabbing friends, and beautiful yet deadly women to discover the evil responsible for the annihilation of his people.

LanguageEnglish
PublisherHarperCollins
Release dateMar 17, 2009
ISBN9780061760624
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Author

Raymond E. Feist

Raymond E. Feist was born and raised in Southern California. He was educated at the University of California, San Diego, where he graduated with honours in Communication Arts. He is the author of the bestselling and critically acclaimed Riftwar Cycle among other books.

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Reviews for Talon of the Silver Hawk

4/5

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  • 4/5
    This book was just what I was in the mood for, the training and preparation of Talon for revenge on the murderers of his people.
  • 5/5
    Great realistic living world, incredible detail and storytelling. Interesting feasible characters.
  • 5/5
    Great new character with a unique outlook on Feist's amazing world. Talon is a terrific new character who blends masterfully with Rift war heroes of the past.
  • 4/5
    This is the 1st book in the Conclave of Shadows trilogy by Raymond Feist. We meet a new boy from the opposite end of the Northern continent from which most of the previous stories have originated, near the Island kingdom of Roldem. This boy goes through a life changing experience on the day he is to complete his right of passage to manhood.Overall a decent read and Feist has backed off quit a bit from the blatant philosophical arguments that he got into in the end of the Serpent War Saga. He throws "sometimes one has to do evil to ultimately do good' a couple times but hasn't yet gone into it. This one also did not have the lightheartedness of most of the other Midkemia novels. That seems to have died with Jimmy.
  • 3/5
    Talon starts off in a totally different area of Midkemia than the earlier books set on that planet, though still on the same continent as the one where the Kingdom of the Isles is based. Talon, the eponymous hero of this tale, is a young boy just entering adulthood as the story opens as he goes on a vision quest in the mountains surrounding his village. Talon does actually see his vision animal, the fabled Silver Hawk but the weather's hot and the water's low as he makes his way back to his village so it takes a while to realise something's up - invaders have come to his remote mountain home and are busy putting it to the torch. Too woozy from the quest, Talon takes on the invaders with nearly the inevitable results but he doesn't die from his wounds being found by a band of traders 'just passing through'. Taken back to their base, a defended inn, it doesn't take long for even the naïve Talon to realise that there is something a bit unusual about these people as he is nursed back to health and inducted into the mysteries of this outpost of the Conclave of Shadows.As is traditional in this type of book, the story goes through various aspects of Talon's training, first as a server in the inn then gentleman of the world and finally master swordsman as he works on his revenge on those who'd killed his village, along the way finding that he quite genuinely liked the Duke in charge.This is a pretty standard fantasy quest story especially as Talon finds himself gaining various different character improvements but the story itself is reasonably engaging and easily readable
  • 4/5
    A great new character in Tal. I believe this book started my tradition of buying each new release on the day it dropped.
  • 4/5
    Een jongen wordt, tijdens zijn naamgevings rite, getroffen door het noodlot. Zijn hele stam is uitgemoord, en zelf overleeft hij het... ternauwernood. Zijn eer verlangt een bloedwraak. Voor het zover is, moet hij eerst nog veel ontwikkelingen en jaren van trainingen doorstaan. Hij ontmoet vele mensen, die hem helpen om een krachtige strijder te worden. Meerdere malen kruipt hij door de oog van de naald

    Dit was weer eens een Feist zoals ik die graag lees. Een verhaal dat zich rustig opbouwt om de lezer in de goede stemming te krijgen. De personages komen echt genoeg over. Weinig fantasy echter, daarom geen 5 sterren.
    De ontwikkeling van de personage 'Klauw ' is goed. De jongen leert lezen/schrijven, zwaardvechten etc., en wordt opgenomen in 'het conclaaf der schaduwen'. Jammer alleen dat 'Klauw' in alles zo heel erg goed is. Het zou wat realistischer zijn geweest als hij in sommige dingen wat minder goed was, maar dan hadden Puc, Robert, Magnus en Nakur hem waarschijnlijk niet op zijn missie gestuurd.

  • 4/5
    This is the story of Talon whose family was massacred when he was just a boy. He is found by Robert who is a part of the Conclave of Shadows and brought up. Talon learns many things from cooking to sword play and is finally unleashed upon his enemies.A quick entertaining read.
  • 2/5
    It's really strange how books I liked have managed to become children's books. I can't really say it was good or bad. It is actually a very simple story though, I think Feist has exhausted his world and imagination. I don't actually like children's books (making me the only person in the western hemisphere who hasn't read a Harry Potter book), so I'm actually engrossed at comparing Feist against my memory of Feist.My new theory is that there are some genres that are written exclusively towards children, teens and young adults, rather than adults. The level of the maturity of the reader is determined by the level of maturity of the subject. Science Fiction is my test case.
  • 4/5
    I found this enjoyable enough I could see looking up the two other books in this trilogy, although I'm not in a hurry, and in that in line with how I felt about the other Feist book I've read, Magician: Apprentice also set in this universe. I believe that other book was among the first Feist ever wrote, and I do find Talon a better, smoother read than I remember that book being. The setting is fairly routine in fantasy--reminiscent of medieval/renaissance Europe, although there are hints of a science-fiction gloss and even mentions of other worlds and alien beings. This particular book is built around the classic revenge plot--the book opens as Talon's people are destroyed--for which he vows revenge. I felt too much of Part One: Orphan was set-up about Talon's training to become a spy. Part Two: Mercenary was more involving to me as Talon finally was put into play as an agent. I did like Talon. Nevertheless, I was left feeling distanced from him. Maybe it's a girl thing. Women are pretty much only bed-warmers in this novel. Even in terms of just friendship, with Talon's family all gone from the beginning, he never really relates to anyone with deep emotion. Pretty much everyone around him, even the "good guys" (as they keep insisting they are) just uses Talon, ruthlessly honing him into a weapon. So there's no leavening romance or friendship or comradeship here--not really. I think that's why I'm in no hurry to pick up the next book even though this tale was a pleasant ride.
  • 2/5
    Feist can do this in his sleep - and in this one I think he did. Nonetheless, a rattling good yarn for the plane or the beach - when you don't want to tax yourself to much. Big boys rule!
  • 4/5
    I really liked this book. This is the start of a new trilogy, and it brought me back to the days of Feist's first books about Midkemia. By starting out with a new generation of heroes, and specifically a new hero, he starts off fresh. He also moves out of the Kingdom of the Isles into new countries, developing fresh parts of Midkemia. This book has his usual good personalities, good plotting, and excellent use of standard fantasy elements, but not to excess. Good stuff.
  • 4/5
    Rather than focusing on the broad sweep of the fight against the Mad God, Feist chooses instead to focus on one young man, the eponymous Talon of the Silver Hawk, who, it is hinted, has a larger role to play in the world-spanning fight of good vs evil. This is the story of Talon's growth from a barbarian boy to a James Bond-esque fantasy-world secret agent. It moves along pretty well even though at times it feels more like an orientation training for the reader than for Talon, such as when we get to read about him serving tables, learning to cook, learning to paint, etc. Much of that information could probably have been covered in a few paragraphs but instead it makes up the first two thirds of the book. The amazing thing is that it still flows smoothly and it does not take long at all to get to the meatier, action-oriented final third of the novel.Like many Feist protagonists, Talon is a bit too perfect, and when he does fail, someone is always there to save him. My suggestion (to myself): don't think so much, just enjoy the novel like the super-spy vengeance romp it is.
  • 3/5
    Although well written, this book failed to grab me. It felt more like a quest to develop the perfect D+D character. The background of the world never felt deep enough - the history felt more like an RPG abstract rather than having depth and flavour.I got to the end, but have no urge to read further books in the series.
  • 3/5
    I picked this up on a trip. I seemed pretty bland fantasy. I'm not tempted to buy the rest of the trilogy right now. Perhaps I just need to have read more of Feist's previous books in this world for it to come alive for me.
  • 4/5
    Start of the conclave of Shadows Trilogy (well either a duology or a quartet), set in Midkemia, the same world as the famous Riftwar series, and featuring some of the same characters as earlier books, but also quite readable as a standalone novel with no prior background. Talon is a child of the Orisini people who live a simple life hunting from their villages high in the mountain ranges. He cermony of manhood at sixteen is to wait alone on the mountain peak until the gods reveal his name. If they haven't spoken by the end of the third day he can pick one of his choice. Descending he finds his village under attack and valiently he tries to defend his poeple only to recieve a cricital wound. he awakes in the care of some passing traders to find not just his village but his whole people have been destroyed. He swears vengance but first must pay off his life-debt to the traders. They teach him to become a gentleman of the cities and slowly he realises the world is far more complicated than he had previously credited. His new master has a plan for him, and slowly talon realises his vengance may have to take second place to a more serious issue. The story is light and easilly read, knowing some background to Midkemia helps, but the descriptions and action are very clear. Enjoyable but nothing particularly special in it's genre it is good enough to ty the rest of the trilogy.