Product Description

The third novel of Feist's successful collaborative series. From the endlessly inventive mind of one of fantasy's all time greats, comes a spellbinding new adventure of high magic, treachery and bloody war. This time in conjunction with master of alternative US history, Steve Stirling, Feist returns to tell the full tale of one of his fans' favourite most colourful Riftwar characters, pickpocket, montebank and confidence trickster Jimmy the Hand. Jimmy the Hand, boy thief of Krondor, lived in the shadows of the city. The sewers were his byways and a flea-ridden, rat infested cellar his home. Gifted beyond his peers, he was still but a nimble street urchin, a pickpocket with potential. Until the day he met Prince Arutha. Aiding the Prince in his rescue of Princess Anita from imprisonment by Duke Guy du Bas-Tyra, Jimmy ran afoul of Black Guy's secret police. Fearing reprisal and seeking an opportunity to advance his place in life, Jimmy fled the city and ventured north to the relatively safe haven of Sarth. Suspecting the rural villagers had never encountered a lad with his talent and nose for finding wealth -- other people's wealth, Jimmy was unprepared for what greeted him. For Sarth was home to others who trod the dodgy path, and more, to a darker secret, a dangerous presence unknown to even the local thieves and smugglers. Jimmy's youthful bravado and courage plunge him deep into the maw of chaos and death.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #226060 in Books
• Published on: 2003-07-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 384 pages

Customer Reviews

Very easy to put down!!
Not what I was waiting for!For those of you eagerly awaiting the next instalment of Jimmy v The Crawler,you will be very disappointed.This book takes place between Magician & Silverthorn,initially set in Krondor,the book starts off well but after Jimmy has to flee for his own safety,the book rapidly spirals downhill!We are introduced to a host of new characters,of which maybe only 2 will we hear from again.There just didn't seem to be much depth to the characters & therefore didn't seem to bond with any in particular.
There also was a fair amount of padding,I could really have done without the Baron having the same dream, in detail,4 times.Also I think Feist is a bit better than the old heir fed to wolves at birth but no he was really brought up by farmers....In his afterword Feist explains about his 3 collabarations & perhaps where this book failed was that the 2 before were about different characters & not a stalwart of the Krondor series.Hopefully Feist has not fallen into the $ trap as some other authors in this genre,whereby the readership have to put up with inane drivel just to drag a story out!
Finally save your money,get this in paperback!

Jimmy The Hand returns in fine fashion
I wasn't sure what to expect after the last 'Legends' debacle, but this book was pretty good. It picks up right at the docks after Jimmy has helped Arutha & Anita excape from Krondor with Amos Trask, and the story continues right on for Jimmy as it did for Arutha in the Magician series. Some great new characters with story lines being explained from many books past. I really enjoy reading about how something happened that was mentioned off-hand in previous books. I didn't recall how Anita's father the Duke had died other than the fact that he died in the dungeon. This book tells the story, and many others referanced in previous books. Jimmy is still very young, and this book shows him growing up a bit, learning new things and getting his first taste of the dark arts and of the good life. Raymond Feist (with help from Steve Stirling) has not lost his touch for creating a good story and filling it with colorful characters. I like the fact that other characters from previous books are mentioned but not necessarilly brought into the story. Good fights, magic, and heroism. Overall a good read. The only reason it got a 4 star from me instead of 5 is it was too short (I never want these books to end), and not much summation at the ending as is Raymond's signature. I did really appreciate the forethought from Raymond at the end of the book. Nice to hear from the author on a personal level. Can't wait for more Conclave of The Shadows and the last Legends books. Keep 'em coming RayRay.

An entertaining piece of work
Lets be clear: This is not Feist's best work by a long chalk. Neither is it his worst though. And it is worth remembering that Feist's worst is still better than some best!

This work sees Jimmy the Hand, boy-thief extraordinaire (though he says so himself), thrown out of the Guild of Thieves for breaking with the Upright Man's orders. What follows is the tale of Jimmy's adventures as he tries to stay out of trouble long enough to clear his name.

Jimmy the Hand was always one of my favouite characters, although I admit that I approached this book with some trepidation given the "Krondor" series, which I thought was pretty rough-cut.

I am pleased to be able to report that, while Jimmy does not have the depth and flow of some of Feist's great works (such as The King's Buccaneer, or Talon of the Silver Hawk), this is an entertaining read and a good backwards glance at a loveable character. A good element of humour has been added to this book that I can only attribute to Steve Stirling, the co-writer.

I'd certainly read a follow-up to this one. It is in my opinion the best of the co-written Legends series. You never know, I might even buy something by Steve Stirling!