My own self

This is the third and likely final book in the Legends of the Riftwar-series, and like the other two of its kind, it's written by Raymond E. Feist and one other well-known author from the fantasy-genre or similar ones (in this particular case, I believe it's alternative history Mr. Stirling is known for). Also like the previous two books in the series, Jimmy the Hand is a standalone-novel taking place sometime during the war of the first book of the original Riftwar-trilogy. Unlike the other two, however, its focus is on a character rather central to the original series, following him on his first big solo adventure out of the town he's lived in all his life.


Another running theme in this series of books is apparently that the author guesting Feist's universe brings with him one or two of his favourite characters from his own books, revamped to fit into Feist's world. I'm not sure if that's been done in this book, not having ever read anything by Stirling, but I'd say that one of the characters in it certainly would seem likely to be such a person, having a lot of personality and presence in the story.


Other than that, this is a rather straightforward addition to Feist's world Midkemia, but a particularily welcome one for adding background to one of his more charismatic characters - as it should, considering his name is the title of the book.

Jimmy the Hand is a street-rat, a boy-thief, a liar, a spy, a cut-purse and a street-runner, and he's one of the most gifted young thieves in Krondor, the second-biggest city of the Kingdom of the Isles (usually just called "The Kingdom" as it has been centuries and centuries since the islands they originated in were anything resembling the main part of the realm) and the capitol of its western half. A very quick-witted, very self-confident and very careful lad, little Jimmy is the very image of the young and promising thief, something he's well aware of. Maybe a tad too much aware of, even. He's still just a kid, though, and the adult thieves of the Thieves Guild of Krondor (a very large, powerful and well-organized group lead by an anonymous secret leader known only as The Upright Man) are still for the most part ruthless criminals, so his life isn't exactly paradise, no matter the talent he might exhibit.

Before the book starts, Jimmy has an encounter that will change his life completely. In the original Riftwar-trilogy he runs into and ends up helping some very important people wishing to stay incognito, and this event has marked young Jimmy's mind. This makes him do something very daring - something which in turn gets him kicked out of the city by the Upright Man, who's being very lenient by not just having him killed for it. Out of his mileu, Jimmy finds himself in completely foreign situations in the less-than-urban outskirts, and with him is a friend of his, a prostitute from the streets back home in Krondor. Parallell to this, a farm-girl close to the village Jimmy and his friend finds shelter in experiences tragedy as her family is killed and her little brother kidnapped and she sets out to find him. Their paths converge, and Jimmy, unwillingly, finds himself having to play the hero and thwart the schemes of an insane nobleman and a cunning wizard.


The story is not particularily original, but it's also not that recipe-like. In fact, it had a rather strange composition, with some odd and interesting elements thrown in, which I liked. Feist's prose is like it tends to be - good, entertaining, sometimes even captivating, and gets the job done - but rarely, if ever, very memorable. As I've said before, to me Feist seems a craftsman of literature more than an artist. He knows how to write books, rather good books, and he can churn them out one after the other without ever repeating himself too much. But in return, he also very rarely goes from the "good"-category and into the "great". This book is no different, and due to its being a standalone novel about less-than-epic events, it never really tries to be different either.

Jimmy the Hand is one of my absolute favourite characters of Feist's, though I must admit I find him more interesting in his post-adolescence than I do here. Still, I do have a huge weaknes for the Dodger-type of character, and Jimmy is an epitome of such characters if there ever was one. Jimmy is the kind of character that, when reading The Lies of Locke Lamora, you feel like two third of the characters are based off of, or when reading The Belgariad, you think that this Silk-guy is a lot like Jimmy would be in a less realistic setting. This, of course, while being what makes him interesting, also risks making him feel generic. But while sometimes he maybe does, I think that for the most part Feist (and Stirling) manages not to walk into that particular trap.

The other characters surprised me - I was half-expecting them to be a bit more flat than they turned out to be; a sign, I think, that it's been too long since I read anything by Feist and that my memories of his weaknesses have grown stronger over the years than my memories of his virtues.


All in all, I'd say this book was well worth the read, to be sure - but hardly anything special. It's a welcome addition to what I find to be one of the more fleshed-out fantasy-worlds I've read about (simply by virtue of being the one with the most books set in it), though, and especially so for giving me yet another story of Jimmy the Hand, boy-thief of Krondor.