Silverthorn by Raymond E Feist (Riftwar Saga: Book 2)

Rate and review Silverthorn! | What does everyone else think?

Silverthorn book cover
Rating 8.0/10
Characters are many, varied and full of life.
Buy Now!

This is the second volume in Raymond E. Feist’s trilogy The Riftwar Saga. Silverthorn begins a year after the events of Magician and Prince Arutha’s reign has been peaceful. Jimmy the Hand, a young thief, uncovers a plot to assassinate him and the young King now faces new challenges.

The first attempt on the King’s life is unsuccessful but another attempts ends with his bride, Anita, being struck by a poisoned arrow on their wedding day. The cure lies with the plant Silverthorn and this can only be found within Dark Elf capital of Sar Sargoth.

Arutha, with the aid of Jimmy the Hand must find the antidote and discover the truth behind the power that can raise the dead.

Silverthorn, being the sequel to Raymond E. Feist’s majestic Magician, had an extremely tough act to follow. It doesn’t manage it but the magnitude of the task is similar in stature to asking Professor Tolkien to write a sequel to the Lord of the Rings that was more impressive. This is not easily achieved.

The book takes quite a long time to get started but is worth the wait. Silverthorn centres on Arutha, the young King of Rillanon and Jimmy the Hand from the Guild of Mockers. There are excellent twists and turns throughout the story and the action is more intense than in Magician. This leads to a completely different “feel” than to that of its predecessor and perhaps this may be why few would regard this as an “epic”.

Silverthorn, as already mentioned, is a sequel but can be classed a stand-alone novel in it’s own right. There are familiar characters in the form of Pug, Tomas, Laurie, Carline and Marcos the Black but you need not have read Magician to follow the storyline here. The book begins with a discussion between Laurie and Carline as to the best time to get married!

This addition to the Riftwar Saga is an enjoyable read without, understandably, reaching the heights of its predecessor. The characters are many, varied and full of life and you will happily join them on the road to the Dark Elf capital but you will not be left breathless as you were with the original. All in all, a worthwhile read without pushing out any boundaries.

Silverthorn book cover image

Silverthorn (Riftwar Saga 2) (Amazon.co.uk)

Author: Raymond E. Feist
Binding: Paperback
Number of pages: 432
Publication date: 2008-09-01
Publisher: Harper Voyager

RRP: £8.99
Lowest new price: £2.22
Lowest used price: £2.22

Buy now!

The second volume in Feist's first classic fantasy trilogy, the highly acclaimed Riftwar Saga, reissued with a fresh new look.
Product Description

Silverthorn book cover image

Silverthorn (Riftwar Saga 2) (Amazon.co.uk)

Author: Raymond E. Feist
Binding: Paperback
Number of pages: 432
Publication date: 2006-09-04
Publisher: HarperVoyager

RRP:
Lowest new price:
Lowest used price: $5.65

Buy now!


You Say

Cameron from North Carolina

8-stars

Simply put, it's a great book, and worth the price.

Submit your own mini-review

Let people know what you think about Silverthorn. You can write your own mini-review and give the book the rating that you think it deserves. Your reviews will go towards giving Silverthorn its overall rating that will decide where Silverthorn finishes in the top 100 fantasy books of all time.

Your first name
Your mini review
Where you live
Book
Your rating (out of 10)

Fantasy books you may also enjoy...

http://www.fantasybookreview.co.uk/images/ship-of-magic-th.gif book cover thumbnail imageThe Liveship Traders (Series)
Robin Hobb

/images/tigana-th.jpg book cover thumbnail imageTigana
Guy Gavriel Kay

http://www.fantasybookreview.co.uk/images/Duncton-Wood-th.gif book cover thumbnail imageThe Duncton Chronicles (Series)
William Horwood

http://www.fantasybookreview.co.uk/images/Fools-Errand-th.jpg book cover thumbnail imageThe Tawny Man (Series)
Robin Hobb

/images/tender-morsels-th.jpg book cover thumbnail imageTender Morsels
Margo Lanagan

/images/hyddenworld-th.jpg book cover thumbnail imageHyddenworld: Spring
William Horwood

/images/skallagrigg-th.jpg book cover thumbnail imageSkallagrigg
William Horwood

/images/the-innocent-mage-th.jpg book cover thumbnail imageKingmaker, Kingbreaker (Series)
Karen Miller

/images/x-isle-th.jpg book cover thumbnail imageX-isle
Steve Augarde

/images/wyrmeweald-returners-wealth-th.jpg book cover thumbnail imageWyrmeweald (Series)
Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell

http://www.fantasybookreview.co.uk/images/assassins-apprentice-th.gif book cover thumbnail imageThe Farseer Trilogy (Series)
Robin Hobb

http://www.fantasybookreview.co.uk/images/Northern-Lights-th.jpg book cover thumbnail imageHis Dark Materials (Series)
Philip Pullman

/images/obernewtyn-th.jpg book cover thumbnail imageObernewtyn Chronicles (Series)
Isobelle Carmody

/images/the-radleys-th.jpg book cover thumbnail imageThe Radleys
Matt Haig

/images/kushiels-dart-th.jpg book cover thumbnail imageKushiel’s Legacy (Series)
Jacqueline Carey

/images/kushiels-scion-th.jpg book cover thumbnail imageTreason’s Heir (Series)
Jacqueline Carey

Image: The Innocent Mage book cover   Image: Alex Bell, author   Image: Hyddenworld: Spring book cover   Image: X-Isle book cover
Book of the Month   Interviews   Must-reads books   Competition
The Innocent Mage
Karen Miller
The first instalment of this bestselling and fast-paced fantasy duology, brimming with action and adventure.

 

Alex Bell
Alison Goodman
Lauren Kate
Trudi Canavan
Isobelle Carmody
Marcus Alexander
Sean Beech
  The Farseer Trilogy
The Liveship Traders
Tigana
Nation
Tender Morsels
Hyddenworld
Skallagrigg
Wyrmeweald
His Dark Materials
The Two Pearls of Wisdom

  September 2, 2010 will see the publication of Steve Augarde's wonderful X-Isle in paperback. To mark the occasion Random House have very kindly given us three copies to give away as prizes in our latest competition.
Previous winners   Interview archive     Click here to enter!

News

Notable future releases in the fantasy genre

It’s always nice to have something to look forward to. The fantasy genre is fortunate in that it always has great novels appearing at regular intervals, sometimes stand-alone but often continuations o...

Fantasy Book Review: Glammenport by Kevin Lane

Timion the Black has exhausted his options. Reckless, despicable, Timion’s own band of mercenary men turn against him, leaving him for dead in a back alleyway. Fate deposits the usurped buccaneer int...

Fantasy Book Review: Beckwood Brae by David H Webb

Australian fantasy author David H Webb has written an epic fantasy called Beckwood Brae that forms part of The Chronicles of the Corriian Wars. FantasyBookReview.co.uk thoroughly enjoyed the book and...

The US release of Wrath of a Mad God is on schedule

Raymond E Feist's new novel Wrath of a Mad God is scheduled for release on the 1st April 2008 and the publisher Harper Collins US are confident that this deadline will be met. The good news for UK ...

10 books / series that must be read before you are 18

Some books are best read when you are still young and your imagination is still at its strongest. The following 10 books are either a stand alone novel or series that is a must read for every fantasy ...

Raymond E Feist talks about addiction

In a fascinating article, Raymond E Feist talks at length about habitual and obsessive behaviour, smoking ... and how all this has a large bearing on writing. This is an excerpt from the post: "...

The BBC's Big Read - revisited

I have already mentioned in an earlier post the great fantasy books that were in the top 10 ten books of the BBC's Big Read poll. I thought I would revisit the list and see what other fantasy classics...

Wrath of a Mad God update

Raymond E Feist has completed the copy edit stage of Wrath of a God....

French limited edition of Magician available

Raymond E Feist's brilliant Magician is now available in a limited edition French format. Entitled Magicien, 1,500 more copies were made to meet with the demand....

JK Rowling donates £10m to medical research centre

Fantasy author JK Rowling, creator of the Harry Potter phenomenon, has made a very generous contribution to help setup a centre to research the disease multiple sclerosis, which claimed the life of h...