EXILE’S RETURN

Another entry in Feist’s long-running Midkemia fantasy (Krondor, 2001, etc.).

Kaspar, deposed Duke of Olasko, is magically exiled to the far side of his world and left in chains to be captured by nomads. He escapes and after several adventures joins up with a group of traders who want his help transporting a magical artifact: a suit of armor inhabited by some dormant but malignant entity that has caused the deaths of some 20 of their company. Intent on returning home to exact revenge on his deposers, Kaspar declines to join them, but the armor holds a geas over the traders, and having touched it, he is also under its power. In the western mountains, a powerful god tells Kaspar that the armor is a war machine from a hostile plane; the god teaches him to control it, but convinces him that its continued presence in this world bodes utter destruction. Kaspar must return with it to Olasko and consult the Conclave of Shadows, a powerful group of sorcerers who may be able to counteract its evil. Home at last, Kaspar learns that his dukedom is in good hands and realizes that he has no more desire to take revenge for his exile. His ordeals have cured him of the arrogant ambition that forced his enemies to depose him. Now he must win their trust to find the Conclave and neutralize the threat posed by the armor. After Kaspar joins forces with the Conclave, the story ends with one threat defused and an even greater one looming.

Well-paced storytelling by a veteran entertainer.