The King's Buccaneer

The King’s Buccaneer is the second and final book in the 3rd published subseries of Raymond E. Feist’s Riftwar Cycle. The story stands alone from the first book and takes place 9 years later. It has different main characters and a separate story, although we see some returning secondary characters. In some ways, this is more of a sequel to the first series than anything, but I guess this is an ongoing plot thread that we'll see throughout the various subseries.

The previous book focused on the twin sons of Prince Arutha. This book focuses on his third and youngest son who is sent off on what is supposed to be a simple journey to visit family and gain some experience, but of course he gets caught up in unexpected and dangerous events. show more The familiar and beloved characters from previous books are mostly absent, but we do see a few: We see a tiny bit of Arutha in the beginning and even less at the end. Jimmy doesn’t show up at all, although I think he’s mentioned once or twice. Pug does get some page time here and there. Borric and Erland, the twins from the previous book, barely make an appearance although some events from their book are referenced. Amos does play a good-sized role, so it was good to see him again. Martin shows up a bit also. Ghuda and Nakor, secondary characters from the previous book, play similarly prominent roles in this book.

This book was published around the same time as the final book in the Empire trilogy that he co-wrote with Janny Wurts. I may be reading too much into that timing, but it seems to me like he learned some things from that collaboration experience. He did allude to that a bit in his notes at the end of the book, although without any specifics. This is the first of his solo books in this series in which I thought he wrote some good female characters. They aren’t as prominent as his male characters, and that’s fine, but some of them had more strength of character and were more interesting to read about instead of only existing to support or spur the actions of the men. On the other hand, Abigail was annoying as heck. I feel sorry for Marcus for ending up with her and I hope he comes to his senses soon. This book is also less insta-lovey. There was some insta-attraction, but I’m perfectly fine with that and consider that realistic. Happily, he didn’t spend a ton of time dwelling on the relationships as they developed, but at least there was some actual sense of development happening in the background as the story progressed.

I liked the story, but for some reason it didn’t always hold my interest well. My interest came and went, and I really don’t know why. I liked the main characters, but I didn’t feel as much investment in them as I did for the main characters in previous books. There were still plenty of exciting parts and funny parts and other great moments, though. show less

This one is a surprisingly complicated plot with one of my new favorite characters in Feist-land. :)

Nicholas is forced to do a lot of growing, of course, but what's surprising is just how comprehensive the tragedy is compared to his reactions.

Simple puppy love evolves into survival, ideology, and duty. But the scope and the scale quickly flies beyond the initial and we travel across the world, new lands to explore or be horrified by, and above all, far-ranging effects.

This is definitely not the simple fantasy tale that I was expecting. :) And moreover, it is entertaining. It's also somewhat hard to stomach in some circumstances... after all, being captured by slavers and forced to endure some really bad things isn't meant to be show more easy.

All said, I really loved this book. Feist seems to have his finger on my pulse. :) show less

Dit boek is ietsje zwaarder van toon dan het vorige boek, maar Nakur doet goed zijn best. Een aantal karakters kan me geen barst schelen, bijvoorbeeld Marcus, de zoon van Martin. Maar Valentijn is best leuk. Jammer alleen dat zijn manke poot genezen wordt. Ik had hem liever met manke poot en al held zien worden. Dit is een beetje vals spelen en zo zonde. Waarom zou iemand met een lichte handicap geen held kunnen zijn

Maar op dit kleine puntje na, heb ik best van het boek genoten. Ietsje minder dan van de andere boeken, maar toch zeker wel vier sterren waard. Het is me hier en daar net iets te gemakkelijk, ondanks alle ellende. Maar heerlijk leesvoer blijft het.

This is probably my favorite book in the Riffwar Saga that I've read. The story moved along, the characters and their relationships were interesting. There were a few little twists that I didn't see coming.

Better than the previous Prince of the blood, a coming of age tale, but darker storyline than a lot of his books, good evolution of Nicholas character.

Jammer dat er weer minstens 10 jaar zit tussen dit boek en het vorige.

Dit boek voelt als een (lange) proloog voor een volgende serie. De prins kwam mij sympathieker over dan zijn broers Borric en Erland. Heerlijk boek om te lezen. Echt een eentje waarvan je al gauw denkt 'nog maar een hoofdstuk lezen'.

Op naar het volgende deel Het verraad.

Nicholas, Prince Arutha's youngest son, must mature from a naive noble into a capable leader. After Castle Crydee is attacked and his friends abducted by dark forces, Nicholas and his squire Harry sail to a new continent, Novindus, to rescue them.

While staying at rustic Castle Crydee to gain experience, Prince Nicholas witnesses a brutal raid, resulting in the kidnapping of his friend Lady Abigail and Margaret, the daughter of Duke Martin.
He and Harry, his squire, accompanied by the experienced sailor Amos Trask, disguise themselves as pirates to track the kidnappers across the Endless Sea to the unknown continent of Novindus.

The kidnappers are found to be aligned with the Pantathians, a serpent-like race working with dark magic to show more introduce a devastating plague in the Kingdom of the Isles. show less