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Before reading this review, check out my other reviews for previous books in The Riftwar Saga!

Magician: Apprentice: 4.5/5
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Magician: Master: 5/5
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What can I say? Raymond E. Feist is becoming a better and better writer each book. Silverthorn is the next step into the world of Midkemia and Kelewan and I am so glad I got to take another journey into these worlds again. Feist is becoming a great storyteller and boy do I have LOTS to say about this great adventure we go on!

Basically, the main focus is on Prince Arutha, one of the more prominent characters from Magician. One year after the events of the Riftwar, Arutha is about to marry the lovely Princess Anita but there are problems. The main one being that his life is in danger and someone is trying to assassinate him and is noted by an old acquaintance, the thief boy Jimmy The Hand, who later becomes his Squire. During the wedding where everyone and I mean EVERYONE is invited, including Pug and his family, Kulgan, Kasumi and the Lamut Garrison, King Lyam, Carline, Laurie, Martin, basically everyone important from the first two books, someone tries to take Arutha's life and Jimmy successfully stops it. Kind of.

Mainly, Anita has been shot with a poison bolt and the only way to cure her is by finding Silverthorn, a extremely rare plant that grows in the Northlands. So now it's up to Arutha, Jimmy, Gardan, Martin, Laurie and a few others along the way to find Silverthorn and avoid getting killed at all costs.

Of course, we still have a plot with Pug where he finds out about the Enemy coming back to destroy Midkemia and Kelewan which leads to a rift spanning journey back to the place where he was once Milamber. But first things first, thoughts.

Feist has created another great adventure in the world of Midkemia. The characters are great especially Pug who I absolutely love to death. Tomas is also back in a few scenes and gets to kick some Moredhel (Dark Elf) ass! But the character I fell in love with the most was Martin. This guy is such a god damn BADASS! This guy shoots arrows with such accuracy and awesomeness like there is no tomorrow! The final battle in the book had me cheering for him more than Arutha or Jimmy! I absolutely love him in this book and he became more awesome every chapter.

Of course, Arutha is developed even more and is wonderful to see him grow as a character. When Anita is on her deathbed, he is bawling! Like, this was one of my favorite scenes in the entire book because it showed Arutha sharing his emotions with people. Jimmy or Squire James was fine but to be honest I'm not that interested in him except in a few cases. I am impressed however by his change throughout the book from thief to squire.

The only thing I can really nag at is that Carline is basically back to her old self like she was in Apprentice. Always nagging on Laurie to marry her. It's one of the weaker things because she grew through most of the changes even in Master, but now it feels like she is back to her old self which can be a bit frustrating. Don't get me wrong, it's not Robert Jordan "PFFT! MEN!" bad, but Feist can do a bit more to improve the female characters. I had no problems with Katala or Aglaranna at all but maybe it's because they're not doing anything special throughout the book. Maybe Katala supporting her husband which was nice.

Violence and Action are much more gorier and bloodier this time around. The action scenes really impressed me. There are two good examples of this. One is when Arutha and Jimmy go destroy the Nighthawk building and cut off the limbs of all the evil guys there who keep regenerating. It's a bloodbath! Another impressive use of violence and action is on Kelewan where Pug and his friends are getting tortured but the enemies are having problems getting them to hurt bad, leading to some serious cuts on the shoulder and stuff like that. I won't spoil all of it, but Pug does some more awesome shit and is getting crazy powerful every time I read about him.

And that's the thing, the characters are growing with each book. Pug is getting stronger, Jimmy is getting more tougher, Arutha is showing more emotions instead of dark brooding like he usually does, all the characters in the book grow in some way or another. It's great to see all the characters again. Tomas, Kulgan, Kasumi, Lyam, Hochopepa, they are just great classic fantasy characters.

I guess you can say I'm being a fanboy by praising how good The Riftwar Saga is but seriously, it is just a great series of Classic Fantasies that have heart and soul. They are definitely feel good novels with some great action, characters, lands and moments. Elvander is probably my favorite place on Midkemia right now and I'm loving every moment I'm there. When Feist writes about Krondor or Elvander or Rillanon, I feel like I'm there, which is a huge plus for immersion.

If I hadn't made it clear enough, you should read Silverthorn. It has fantastic characters, great action, huge developments and big political schemes of assassination and power that will keep you reading until the last page. I'm so happy that this series is still going strong at Book 3 and I cannot wait for the conclusion of A Darkness at Sethanon to tie everything up.

The books are must reads. That's all I'm saying. Enough chit chat! Enjoy this wonderful ride!

4.5/5