Back when I was 10/11 years old this was the first adult fantasy book I ever read (I actually read the original version first time out). It's also quite possibly the book I have re-read the most as I often turned to it during exam times when I wanted something enjoyable to read that wasn't going to overly tax the head considering all the academic stuff I was reading. It's a bit odd going from a situation were I was younger than the main characters (Pug&Thomas) when we first meet them to now being older than those characters when the novel finishes. It's also odd how certain scenes seem bigger in my memory. Probably my favourite scene in the book is were Pug, Thomas and Roland are drinking in the Ale shed. It's quite a simple scene but one that always gives me a delightful warm feeling of friends just sitting around and enjoying each others company. I was surprised on reading the book for the first time in quite a while to realise just how short that scene was, just a page or two long.

One thing I do love about this book is the death of Roland, it's silly and stupid and happens off page. I am always annoyed by books which feature a war or conflict were no main or even high secondary character ever dies. Or if a character must die it should be in a grand and significant fashion, the idea that nobody important ever seems to die in an insignificant act despite there being a war on has to me always been highly illogical. Obviously fantasy isn't much about being realistic, but I do want all the books I read to follow their own internal logic.

Seeing that this was the first adult fantasy I read I've always had a soft spot for Feist and continue to read his books to this day and although his recent stuff has not been up to the standard of the Riftwar there has been a general improvement over the last couple of books (I hope to put together a quick review of the Demonwar Saga shortly).