Jimmy the Hand
by Raymond E. Feist, Steve Stirling
Legends of the Riftwar (3), The Riftwar Cycle: Chronological (04 (Legends of the Riftwar 03)), The Riftwar Cycle: Publication (Series Blocks) (20), The Riftwar Cycle: Publication (Series Name) (Legends of the Riftwar, 3), The Riftwar Cycle, Alternative Reading Order (19 (Legends of the Riftwar 03))
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Jimmy the Hand, boy thief of Krondor, was a pickpocket with potential-- until the day he met Prince Arutha, and ran afoul of Black Guy's secret police. His youthful bravado and courage will plunge him deep into the maw of chaos and perhaps even death.Tags
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Member Reviews
Jimmy the Hand is the third and final book in the Legends of the Riftwar subseries that takes place during Feist’s original Magician novel. This one is co-written with S. M. Stirling. The story is set shortly after Jimmy and Arutha’s first encounter during Magician, starting right around the part where Arutha and Anita are escaping Krondor by boat and Arutha tosses Jimmy his rapier.
I liked this one much better than the last two books! Jimmy is one of my favorite characters, so it’s hardly surprising that I enjoyed a story featuring him, but I also really liked some of the other characters created for the story and I enjoyed the story itself. It was far more interesting to me than either of the previous two books and it held my show more attention from beginning to end.
There are some pieces that seemed a bit too coincidental and/or too much of a stretch. These things might have been plausible within the context of the story, but they nevertheless stretched my belief a hair past the breaking point.Elaine’s body is in a room that’s trapped in a pocket of slowed-down time so that she won’t die while her husband and the magician try to find a way to heal her. Yet somehow her mind manages to escape her body and observe things going on in the castle in real-time and she can communicate with the children in real-time. Ok, maaaaybe if she’s somehow projecting her consciousness outside her body and far enough away to escape the time trap it might make sense that she can do these things, but it seems like it would take time for her to accomplish that and the time spent while her consciousness is still within the time trap would translate to a lot of time passing outside of it meanwhile. Yet she seems to pop in and out frequently, sometimes just a few minutes later, to observe and try to assist the children. We were also told that she was losing consciousness for days or even weeks at a time, and yet she conveniently manages to regain it frequently for the sake of the story. Also, everybody in the surrounding area believes Elaine is dead, and yet her husband brought in healers over a period of time to try to help her before he gave up and turned to dark magic, so surely word would have gotten out that she was still alive.
My complaints were pretty minor things though, and I enjoyed the story overall. I don’t really think this subseries added anything critical to the main series, so one could skip it without missing out on anything important if it doesn’t sound appealing. Each book stands completely separate from the others in the subseries, so one could also just pick and choose the ones that sound interesting. I liked the first book reasonably well after its slow start, and I liked this one quite a lot, but I wouldn’t have minded missing the second one. show less
I liked this one much better than the last two books! Jimmy is one of my favorite characters, so it’s hardly surprising that I enjoyed a story featuring him, but I also really liked some of the other characters created for the story and I enjoyed the story itself. It was far more interesting to me than either of the previous two books and it held my show more attention from beginning to end.
There are some pieces that seemed a bit too coincidental and/or too much of a stretch. These things might have been plausible within the context of the story, but they nevertheless stretched my belief a hair past the breaking point.
My complaints were pretty minor things though, and I enjoyed the story overall. I don’t really think this subseries added anything critical to the main series, so one could skip it without missing out on anything important if it doesn’t sound appealing. Each book stands completely separate from the others in the subseries, so one could also just pick and choose the ones that sound interesting. I liked the first book reasonably well after its slow start, and I liked this one quite a lot, but I wouldn’t have minded missing the second one. show less
Initially a small character in the original Rift War books, Jimmy has taken on a major role in later books as his mentor Arutha ConDoin also rises.
But what of Jimmy before he became Squire James of the Prince's Court? In this book set in the immediate aftermath of Arutha and Anita's escape from Krondor, James is still the somewhat undersized street thief in somewhat disreputable allegiance with the Guild of Thieves, the Mockers. With the Princess's escape, the city is thrown into disarray as the new governor's forces lock it down tight, arresting everyone who even looks like they might be a street person and when one of Jimmy's best friends, a street whore , Flora, is taken up in the general sweep he decides to rescue her before she's show more executed. Although successful, He and Flora find themselves exiled from Krondor by the Mockers - a most potent threat. Jimmy's never been past the city gates, nor has Flora, but she's got family far down the coast, her maternal grandfather who'd cut his daughter off when she eloped with an unsuitable suitor.
Meanwhile, up in the back woods surrounding Land's End, dark deeds are underway and in the back alleys of the town, Jimmy collides head on with a girl looking for her lost brother but finding slavers. Together with Flora, Jimmy and Lorrie uncover foul deeds of necromancy in a local baron's court before forgiveness can be earned.
Steve Stirling, who I suspect was the main author of this particular tale, can be a bit intense for my liking, but Jimmy's a great character and this book does him full justice. show less
But what of Jimmy before he became Squire James of the Prince's Court? In this book set in the immediate aftermath of Arutha and Anita's escape from Krondor, James is still the somewhat undersized street thief in somewhat disreputable allegiance with the Guild of Thieves, the Mockers. With the Princess's escape, the city is thrown into disarray as the new governor's forces lock it down tight, arresting everyone who even looks like they might be a street person and when one of Jimmy's best friends, a street whore , Flora, is taken up in the general sweep he decides to rescue her before she's show more executed. Although successful, He and Flora find themselves exiled from Krondor by the Mockers - a most potent threat. Jimmy's never been past the city gates, nor has Flora, but she's got family far down the coast, her maternal grandfather who'd cut his daughter off when she eloped with an unsuitable suitor.
Meanwhile, up in the back woods surrounding Land's End, dark deeds are underway and in the back alleys of the town, Jimmy collides head on with a girl looking for her lost brother but finding slavers. Together with Flora, Jimmy and Lorrie uncover foul deeds of necromancy in a local baron's court before forgiveness can be earned.
Steve Stirling, who I suspect was the main author of this particular tale, can be a bit intense for my liking, but Jimmy's a great character and this book does him full justice. show less
Solid enough.
I mean, this is the young Jimmy right after he helps out Arutha back in the first books. By all rights, it ought to be a simple cashing in on one of the best characters in Feistland, and for the most part, it is.
The novel reads episodic and pits Jimmy against his worst enemy -- himself -- as he uses his bump of trouble to uncover all kinds of bad situations where he must insert his catlike body. Sound good? It is, assuming you like teenaged thieves getting into trouble with women... or rather, because of women.
But all told? It's just solid enough. Jimmy's other exploits are generally much, much more epic.
I mean, this is the young Jimmy right after he helps out Arutha back in the first books. By all rights, it ought to be a simple cashing in on one of the best characters in Feistland, and for the most part, it is.
The novel reads episodic and pits Jimmy against his worst enemy -- himself -- as he uses his bump of trouble to uncover all kinds of bad situations where he must insert his catlike body. Sound good? It is, assuming you like teenaged thieves getting into trouble with women... or rather, because of women.
But all told? It's just solid enough. Jimmy's other exploits are generally much, much more epic.
I love the character of Jimmy in the Crydee series and so a book focused almost entirely on him was always going to be an enjoyable read for me. The novel itself did feel like it was a bit of a space filler for the series but was an enjoyable read.
Je zou verwachtten dat met een titel als dit boek, Robbie een grote rol zou spelen, maar op ongeveer de helft van het boek merkt je dat de focus meer komt te liggen op de nieuwe personages.
De plot was niet erg boeiend tot de tweede helft. Hoewel dit het eerste avontuur van Robbie zou zijn, verwachtte ik op een of andere manier iets meer betrokkenheid van de jonge dief. Het verhaal voegde weinig toe aan de achtergronden van Robbie.
De plot was niet erg boeiend tot de tweede helft. Hoewel dit het eerste avontuur van Robbie zou zijn, verwachtte ik op een of andere manier iets meer betrokkenheid van de jonge dief. Het verhaal voegde weinig toe aan de achtergronden van Robbie.
My least favorite of the three co-authored books, strange considering it has the only recognisable character in all of them. His writing just didn't grab me, and I found myself rushing through it to finish.
I am doing the re-read *approximately* in the order of the events in the books. I finished the first four books up to Sethanon before reading this add-on series, even though this takes place during Magician.
This one was fun, not quite up to the others, but I am determined to give all of them 5 stars on the re-read, damn the analytics.
This one was fun, not quite up to the others, but I am determined to give all of them 5 stars on the re-read, damn the analytics.
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Author Information
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Fantasy writer Raymond E. Feist was born in Southern California. He received a B.A. in Communication Arts with honors from the University of California at San Diego in 1977. His first novel, Magician, published in 1982 is the first book of The Riftwar Saga. His other series include The Serpentwar Saga, The Empire Trilogy, The Riftwar Legacy, show more Krondor's Sons, Legends of the Riftwar, Conclave of Shadows, Darkwar Saga, Chaoswar Saga, Demonwar Saga, and The Firemane Saga. Feist's work appears regularly on the bestseller lists of The New York Times and The Times of London. He has also worked with Sierra Studios and PyroTechnix to produce a role-playing game. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Some Editions
Series
The Riftwar Cycle: Chronological (04 (Legends of the Riftwar 03))
The Riftwar Cycle: Publication (Series Name) (Legends of the Riftwar, 3)
The Riftwar Cycle, Alternative Reading Order (19 (Legends of the Riftwar 03))
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Jimmy the Hand
- Original title
- Jimmy the Hand
- Original publication date
- 2003
- People/Characters
- Robbie de Hand; Jimmy the Hand
- Important places*
- Krondor, Midkemia
- Dedication*
- Zoals altijd gaat mijn dank in eerste instantie uit naar de vaders en moeders van Midkemia, van wie ik de wijsheid heb geleerd om te luisteren naar een andere stem. Alle goede schrijvers die me hebben geleerd hoe het moet: ik... (show all) doe nog steeds mijn best.
- Jonathan Matson, alweer en als altijd. - Jane en Jennifer, twee goede editors en nog betere vrienden. En de gebruikelijk verdachten, voor alle liefde, steun, humor en de rijkdom van vriendschap. En bovenal mijn dochter Jessica en mijn zoon James, die het levendig houden.
Aan mijn lezers: Zonder jullie enthousiasme verkocht ik nu auto's voor mijn brood. Ik dank jullie uit de grond van mijn hart - Raymond E. Feist
Aan Jan... en aan Ray, Will en Joel: de enige jongens die dit voor elkaar konden krijgen. S. M. Stirling - First words
- Men cursed as they grappled.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)As he vanished into the murk, he started to whistle.
- Original language*
- Englisch
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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