3 1/2 stars.

This is a good end to the sub series. The story manages to tie up loose ends and provide a satisfying conclusion for the characters. The plot is engaging and keeps the reader hooked from start to finish. The writing is solid, with vivid descriptions and well-developed characters.

However, there are a few areas where the book could have been improved. The pacing could have been a bit tighter in some places, and there were a few minor plot holes that could have been addressed. Additionally, some of the secondary characters could have been given more depth.

Overall, though, this is a great addition to the sub series and a must-read for fans. It offers a great mix of action, adventure, and romance, and leaves the reader wanting more. If you're looking for a fun and exciting read, then this book is definitely worth checking out.

This gets a 5 that I'm not utterly sure about simply because I love the premise of the book and haven't seen enough of it.

I think if there were more books like this it'd get a 4, but there we go.

Anyhoo - Kasper the friendly Duke is an utter villain who has been ripped away from his power-base and corrupting mage advisor and left to find redemption or death on the other side of the world.

Watching him stumble towards being a nicer person - without actually being nice - is cool.

The travel and the big "save the world" plot kinda distract from that, but there we go.

The story of Kasper is an interesting one. He was once a powerful duke, but now he has been stripped of his power and sent on a journey to find redemption.

As he travels across the world, he meets many different people and has many different experiences.

These experiences force him to confront his past and make him question who he really is.

Although he is not yet a nice person, he is slowly changing and becoming more self-aware.

The "save the world" plot adds an element of excitement to the story, but it also takes away from Kasper's personal journey of redemption.

Overall, the book has a great premise and I'm looking forward to seeing how Kasper's story develops.

[Old lady from Titanic voice] It's been 84 years...

Well. Maybe it's been 84 days since I left "Exile's Return" at 40% done. I had already read 4 books over the Easter long weekend. The change in perspective to the antagonist rather bugged me.

But here we are. The novel did indeed get better. It is a rather fitting end to the series "Conclave of Shadows". We are clearly building up to something big, no doubt to be resolved in "Magician's End" some 8 books away.

Once I got over my annoyance at having to read the antagonist's POV (and more importantly, old characters whom I love and adore showed up), I found that I enjoyed the last 60% of the novel.

It does sort of feel like a standalone more than a continuance of "Talon of the Silver Hawk" and "King of Foxes", but I don't mind. It had a solid ending, and I look forward to the next series in this expansive epic. The story has taken many twists and turns, and I'm eager to see where it will lead. The characters have become like old friends, and I can't wait to see what adventures await them in the future.

**Expanded Article**

Exile's Return is yet another installment in the somewhat linear "Chronicles of Midkemia" novels. This is what I refer to as the multiple series penned by Feist, which delves into various events within the fantasy world of Midkemia. Up until this book, it encompasses the Riftwar Saga (comprising four books), a couple of standalone books, the Serpentwar Saga (another four books), three books inspired by the highly beloved computer role-playing game, Betrayal at Krondor, the two books that precede Exile's Return, and, depending on your inclination, three standalone collaborations with other authors. So, that amounts to either fifteen or eighteen novels. Some even include the "Empire" books about the world of Kelewan (three more books) in this list and call it the "Riftwar Cycle," but I prefer to view the worlds as distinct and consider "Riftwar" a misnomer for all the books.

It had been several years since I last read King of Foxes, the previous book by Raymond Feist. However, this delay turned out to be a positive one. I am increasingly convinced that book series should not be read back-to-back. Just like TV show episodes or film serials, the installments tend to work better when there is some time (and other stories) in between each one. This is certainly the case with most book series, especially as the authors diligently provide plot summaries of what has come before, similar to a "Previously, on Lost" recap. Feist does this here, and there is little you really need to know about the previous books. Kaspar, Duke of Olasko, was inciting war as he was sorcerously manipulated by one of his advisers, Leso Varen, who was actually a dreaded necromancer. Another member of the Duke's household, Tal Hawkins, was in fact Talon of the Silver Hawk, the last surviving member of an aboriginal tribe that Kaspar had wiped out years earlier. Talon infiltrated Kaspar's household as a representative of the Conclave of Shadows, a secret organization dedicated to safeguarding the civilized world from threats to Order and Life. Talon overthrew Kaspar but, in a moment of pity, spared his life. The Conclave of Shadows, through a magician, removed Kaspar and unceremoniously dumped him in the high desert of Novindus, a continent so far on the other side of the world that most people had never even heard rumors of his homeland.

This book commences with Kaspar stranded in the high desert, struggling not only physically against the harsh conditions of the high desert but also emotionally as he attempts to recover from the madness that Leso Varen had imposed upon him.

Feist's Midkemia setting was actually a role-playing campaign created by his gamer friends, and he liked it so much that he used it as the backdrop for the majority of his work. The different books often vary significantly in scope and tone. For instance, Exile's Return contains a great deal of heavy-handed philosophical treatise regarding the nature of Good and Evil. However, there is always at least some element that appears to be directly lifted from role-playing games in each one. In Exile's Return, this takes the form of a suit of fell armor that entraps Kaspar and a group of grave-robbers in a geas to transport the armor across the continent. This is a tried-and-true classic game plot, complete with the fact that the armor comes to life and kills anyone who attempts to deviate from their journey. As a gamer and fantasy enthusiast myself, I adore these aspects of Feist's books. It is the other elements that wear thin for me. In particular, the philosophy seems entirely superfluous to the plot. Feist attempts to justify it by having Kaspar engage in a great deal of soul-searching during his recovery from Leso Varen's manipulations. But it still feels clumsy every time he encounters high priests of various religions and, ultimately, the avatar of a god to discuss philosophy with them. I don't mind these kinds of Bhagavad-Gita ruminations in principle, but the problem I had was that the philosophy expounded here is absurdly post-modern for a medieval fantasy society, especially when you consider that a significant portion of it is communicated by a god. According to the philosophy, Evil is not in any way an archetype in opposition to Good but rather literal madness. Even more aggravating, these philosophical discussions are presented in the idiotic Socratic method, with one character (high priest, god, etc.) doing all the talking, and the other character(s) acting as "yes men" with no real opinions, asking no questions, disputing no assertions, and usually only offering something like "obviously, Socrates" in response. This sort of dialogue is appropriately parodied in Monty Python and the Holy Grail in the scene where Sir Bedevere leads the crowd in a series of ridiculous logical leaps to conclude that the girl is a witch. This is the only way to看待 such dialogue: with a healthy dose of ridicule. As a result, the pacing of the book suffers. The plot progresses very rapidly for much of the first half of the book but then becomes bogged down by these discussions for such a long time that the ending can (and has, judging from many other reviews) seem extremely rushed in comparison. After the discussions, they board a ship and travel across the world back to Olasko, where they surprise Talon with a request to contact the Conclave. Kaspar is whisked to Sorcerer's Isle, meets Pug, who takes him to Elvandar, and Elvandar is attacked by none other than Leso Varen! After narrowly defeating this threat, they determine that the Talnoy (which sounds like a Philippine appetizer but here is actually the abominable suit of otherworldly armor) was sent from another dimension and was so terrifying that Macros himself had hidden it and created the geas in ages long past because he couldn't destroy it! So now the Conclave - with Kaspar - must resolve the problem that the Talnoy represents. Of course, the travel sequences are glossed over, as is common in almost all fantasy. But for the rest... It all occurs no faster than the events in the first half of the book, but due to all the dithering with philosophy in between, it is given slightly less page space than it might otherwise have had.

Feist's style has evolved in an interesting manner over the years. His "Riftwar Saga" (the first four books) is one of the most beloved examples of high fantasy ever written, and rightfully so. But with each successive book or series of books, he has been gradually moving towards a grittier, harsher low fantasy style, although on a grand scale, the plots have generally remained high fantasy. In part, this has been a result of his transition from telling stories with multiple characters to more personal stories about a single character, such as Talon's story, which is filled with a thirst for revenge. In the background of Talon's story is the unfolding drama of the Conclave of Shadows, which is the high fantasy element and, to me, far more interesting. So it is with Exile's Return: the elements involving the Talnoy armor are what truly engage me; while I find it mildly entertaining, I am not overly interested in the more personal story of Kaspar's rehabilitation (and philosophical development).