Wrath of a Mad God concludes the Darkwar sequence, setting a cracking pace which rarely lets up. When it does, the breather scenes come across as contrived and forced, only there because the author believes his readers need a rest. Whenever action is on the menu, it proceeds in a highly cinematic, often bloodthirsty fashion, ranging from micromanaged individual peril all the way up to an entire world at risk. In some ways, this is the best that Feist has been for a very long time, playing to his strengths and giving his audience what they want to read about. The story is split between adventures on the Dasati home world, a lost contingent of ancient Elves on Midkemia, and the alien invasion of Kelewan. Tomas once again rides his dragon, Pug, wife and son all do serious magic, Nakor plays his usual pivotal roll, and Erik Von Darkmoor is back for a last run. The scope is epic, from page one right up to the last lines, and the various conclusions are mostly satisfying. The one serious exception being the body-stealing necromancer Leso Varen. His participation in this story is painfully lacking, and his final fate was not very satisfying. I'd expected something much smarter and devious. Varen, is not the only casualty, as Feist retires other major players, mostly in suitable ways. Is your favourite still alive? That would be telling. Suffice it to say that scope is left for further adventures. Although, with so many long-running threads tied up here, there is a strong sense of completion.

If Wrath of a Mad God is to be Feist's last hurrah in his world as we know it, he wisely chooses to involve many long established, fan favourite characters, mixed with newcomers who are more than capable of holding their own. The plot is immaculately paced. But, the novel still ends up being less than it could've been. The reason for this is that Feist has a tendency to take liberties and sometimes clumsy shortcuts with his prose. In the past, even the most powerful among his characters had their limitations. Not so in this book, where if a character's progress is being hampered, overwhelming magic is almost always the solution. Having a range of characters that are shown to be unstoppable, on several occasions, does detract somewhat from the dramatic tension. Similarly, the better non-magical characters are often shuffled in and out of scenes, with little or nothing to do other than show their faces. When those characters are as good as Erik Von Darkmoor, and Kaspar of Olasko, this is wasteful. I got the distinct impression that the series was intended to be two or three books longer, but has ended up being trimmed down by editorial diktat. These criticisms aside, Wrath of a Mad God delivers in spades, and I can recommend it as a rollicking, enormously entertaining read.