Talon of the Silver Hawk

The first book of the Conclave of Shadows trilogy is a quick and simple read. There's not much to recommend except to fans of Feist or those who've already read the rest of Midkemia-Kelewan series of books. There's been a steady decline in the quality of these follow-up books such that I didn't really expect much out of this one.

This book sort of picks up on the pieces left at the end of the Serpentwar, when Pug established the Conclave of Shadows. Pug, Miranda, and Nakor make cameo appearances here, but the main story is focused on Talon. Talon as a protagonist is pretty likeable, if a bit shallow, even though he has a great of back story.

The plot is nothing to shout about but it does cover a lot of character development and social interaction, but only for the protagonist unfortunately. The supporting cast, despite dropping in many different characters, new and old, are bland and uninteresting, with little to really differentiate them when it comes to dialogue. And one thing that's a little annoying quite overused - Talon keeps getting very close to dying, but always conveniently and fortunately rescued and nursed back to health. Once or twice is fine, but any more than that ruins whatever dramatic effect it may have.

Overall, the pace is pretty good, and reading it is smooth. The story is relatively short but still entertaining enough at times. It's a bit better read than the Krondor series, so it's not too bad.