At the Gates of Darkness *Spoilers*

[nixie]

I picked this up yesterday. Now I've a few thoughts.

First of all I think we will shortly encounter another previously unknown powerful magician, older even than Macros. I think he'll be human but not from Midkemia.

There is another group of elves out there. That neither our elves or the star elves are aware of.

What ever or who ever is trying to take over the demon realm has to be the dread lords.

What's with Feist's obsession with abandoned fortress's. We had the one in Tears of the God, that Jimmy, William and that lieutenant(can't remember his name) discovered. Prince Authra had to dispatch a demon.

Then there was the one from Serpentwars, can't remember which book but Jimmy's son Authra (Dash and James father) was killed

Now we have Jimmy's great great grandson witnessing people walking merrily to their own deaths in an abandoned fortress. Thus leading Sandreena discovering that demons are building their own fortress.

 

[Justin_B]

There also appears to be a number of other Dwarves out there.

As this is shaping up to be a contest across realms and planes of existence I wouldn't mind seeing the Dasati involved - kind of think that their God of Battle owes the conclave a favor or two.

 

[Fake Vencar]

I get this sense of feeling with the later books that Feist is repeatedly trying to expand out of the known Midkemian 'system' and into the Universe as a whole. With The Riftwar, we got a glimpse of the Universe, with the beginning of time and the Aal and so on. That interworld variation slowed down until the brief introduction to the Hall of Worlds. After that, Feist has diverted his attention to dangers that pose worlds, not nations. It looks like he's shaping up to battle with combatants from around the Universe and through other planes, as Justin said.

 

[dekket]

What ever or who ever is trying to take over the demon realm has to be the dread lords.

After reading this book, I was left with the feeling that the single DreadLord that destroyed the 4th Circle, left the 3rd Circle all but lifeless, and became the Dark God of the Dasati in the 2nd Circle, was one of the early scouts in the push by the DreadLords (from the void) into the other realms of existance.
Also, it will explain the need for the dreadlings attacks on the elves of the Peaks of Quor

 

[am632]

Hello, I am new here

I rather enjoy abandoned fortresses, they are great settings for mysterious goings on and conjure up fantastic images for me.

I agree with the theory of the dread invading the 5th circle. Why else would the discussion of the map of the demon realm tantalisingly end with mention of the void and no one ask any questions about it!? The only known things that demons could possibly have the need to run from are the dread. I got the feeling Pug knows this but doesn't want to reveal it yet. This is likely to be the theme of the next series.

I also agree that the scale of nightmares and battles has exponentially increased almost to the point of being ridiculous. It is important to note however, that even the more trivial-seeming problems can have devastating consequences, as seen with the death of Miranda. As such I believe the taredhel have an important part to play as a potential danger to Midkemia. This could be either as a separate entity to the major threat; or as desperate unwitting assistants, attempting to use powers out of their control to gain the upper hand and rule over the "lesser" elves, men and dwarves.