A Darkness at Sethanon

A glum, twiddling wrap-up to the overextended trilogy of Magician (1982) and Silverthorn (1985). Once again the evil sorcerer Murmandamus is gathering vast forces to assault the various good guys of planet Midkemia: upright Prince Arutha, feigning death in order to proceed in secret to what he believes will be a fateful showdown with Murmandamus; Tomas, reincarnation of an ancient, superpowerful Valheru (former godlike rulers of the planet), and his ally Ryath the shape-shifting dragon; wizard Pug, returning from an edifying sojourn with some hidden elves; and mysterious supersorcerer Macros, who needs Tomas' and Pug's help to escape a magical time-trap. Why is Murmandamus and his vast army heading for Sethanon? Well, it emerges that the Lifestone is hidden there, a magical rock that, in Murmandamus' hands, will open interdimensional doors and allow the original Valheru to return. The problem is that the Valheru are all insane, bent only on absolute destruction. Some unexciting battles occur along the way, but the promised showdown doesn't amount to much. The bad guys lack the conviction of their evil and the good guys are cardboard pop-ups. The wildly uneven plotting doesn't help. So, what with the pompous dialogue and the grind-it-out prose: a fairly dismal production, likely to disappoint even Feist veterans. (Kirkus Reviews)