The King's Buccaneer by Raymond E. Feist

Long recovered from the ravages of the Riftwar, the land and people of the kingdom of the Isles thrive. Nicholas, the youngest son of Prince Arutha, is intelligent and gifted but vastly inexperienced. In hopes of hardening him, his father sends him and his irreverent squire, Harry, to live at Rustic Castle Crydee to learn of life beyond the halls of privilege. But within weeks of Nicholas and Harry's arrival, Crydee is viciously attacked by unknown assailants, resulting in murder, massive destruction, and the abduction of two young noblewomen. The raiders have come from a pirate haven and are no ordinary foe ... but an enemy connected to dark magical forces that threaten the lands Nicholas will someday rule -- if he survives.

Hmm... I have mixed feelings about this book. Taken alone, the plot is ok - although it sometimes feel like a teenage boy's kind of story, where the guys get to save the girls, and while the girls are the intelligent and strong kind, they still need boys to rescue them. It starts off well, and in Feist's great style of character development. Unfortunately, a third into the book, and things start to get very cliched - including the almost classical bad-but-not-evil pirate archetype. Still, there are still parts that are golden, the action is good, and the pacing of the story is still excellent. Taken in the context of the Riftwar Saga, with incredibly powerful characters like Pug and Tomas, their absence felt very shabbily explained away, and the whole plot, from start to finish felt a little like a rehash of A Darkness at Sethanon - the overall events took the same path. All in all, it's an ok read if you want to fill in the gaps of Midkemia's history, but if you're expecting Feist to be in form, then you'll be disappointed.

This was a good fantasy in the Riftwar series. I liked how the characters Nicholas, Harry, Brisa and Anthony became more confident and sure of themselves. I also liked how they and their friends faced the many challenges in their path.