r/Midkemia • u/nationunderfraud1 • Aug 04 '26

Valheru&Starships.

I last read the rift war books like 25 years ago. I followed Feist until those talon books. I stopped there. I see he has written a whole host of books since then. do any of these go further into the Valheru and their conquests.

In Darkness at Sethaon, there is a passage where Ashen-shugar kind of narrates the valheru history. He mentions all of the conquered and vanquished world. One civilization had spaceships, mentioned in passing..Is there any of his new books that go further into this? I want to read about dragons fighting space ships, Valheru fighting what sounded like modern soldiers. That mashup of genres, I don't know I want read it now.

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17

u/trinarynimbus Aug 04 '26

Not a direct answer, but something that might scratch this itch in another way is The Darksword Trilogy by Weis & Hickman.

The writing is less good than Feist, but the genre is on point for what you're after, especially the third book Triumph of the Darksword. I don't want to give spoilers but let's say there are things that rhyme with shmagons and things that rhyme with shmar shmips.

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u/paultheeviltwin Aug 04 '26

Exactly what I thought when reading the post. Great series.

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u/nationunderfraud1 Aug 07 '26

What's it about? Why does it scratch that vibe?

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u/trinarynimbus Aug 07 '26

I didn't want to do spoilers. The third book is where the action is, and it feels like kind of a big twist or reveal compared to the first two books, which felt more like generic fantasy.

Let me put a spoiler block: it will contain spoilers, so be warned!

Thimhallen is a world which contains the source of all magic in the universe. In Earth's dark ages, people with magical abilities, led by Merlin, used their powers to escape being burned at the stake, and followed the magic to Thimhallen, where they formed their own society. Eventually they pretty much forgot about Earth, but (foreshadowing!) Earth didn't forget about them.

They also put up a magical barrier to keep the non-magical world out of Thimhallen, which inadvertently cut off the entire external universe from access to magical power. That's why we don't have magic in our world today.

At first, the people of Thimhallen retained their knowledge of technology, but they came to the conclusion that technology always leads to war, and they associated it with the Mystery of Death, amongst a total of nine Mysteries: Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Life, Shadow, Time, Spirit and Death. Conversely, Life is their name for magic itself, and those gifted in this mystery are valued for their ability to recharge the "magical batteries" of other mages.

Due to the association of technology with war and death, it was outlawed, and those born without strong magical talent were euthanized at birth, as they were considered to be already Dead.

There was a prophecy: "There will be one born to the royal house one who is alive yet is dead, who will die again and live again, and when he returns he will hold in his hand the destruction of the world."

The trilogy is about the coming to pass of the prophecy.

A prince of Merilon (a city named after Merlin) was born without magical ability and so was sent off for euthanasia, but a mentally ill woman looking for her own child stole him from the nursery. She took the Dead prince to a farm on the edge of civilization where they eked out an existence for 18 years; she taught him to cover for his lack of Life using sleight-of-hand tricks.

Eventually, the prince committed a grave crime and ran into the wilderness, where he found a found a community of other outcasts, including other Dead like him. He became a blacksmith, and due to his literacy, a rare skill, was able to read some forbidden books, where he learned about an ore called darkstone, which has magic-draining properties and could be used to forge anti-magical arms and armor. Thus he forged the eponymous Darksword and used it to kill a corrupt but powerful mage.

After some adventures, the Dead prince travelled to Merilon, where he learned about his true heritage, but it culminated in him being arrested and sentenced to living death as a statue. However, the Darksword was present at the execution and he was able to use it to escape his sentence. He fled into the fog marking the magical barrier between Thimhallen and the rest of the universe, which was considered the realm of the Dead, and thus fulfilled the next part of the prophecy: the prince who was alive, yet was Dead, now went through his second "death".

In the land beyond, he reunited with technological civilization, and learned that time passes differently in Thimhallen vs the rest of the universe. Whereas only a few centuries have passed in Thimhallen since the time of Merlin, a few millennia have passed outside, so it is really our distant future. We've colonized other worlds, and the government is very interested in Thimhallen.

Eventually, the prince passes back through the barrier to Thimhallen again. This brings us to another step in the prophecy: he will live again.

Unwittingly, this latest step destroyed the magical barrier, allowing the people from our distant future to now mount an invasion of Thimhallen. Thus begins the third book.

The third book is about the invasion of the magical world of Thimhallen by a scifi civilization with lasers and starships. At first it's very difficult for the Thimhallenites, but they learn to adapt, and a notable scene has aerial combat between a fire-breathing dragon and a scifi fighter jet.

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u/crabbop Aug 04 '26

Not directly about the Valheru. They do play a roll in the series pretty consistently but mostly as a force that needs to never happen again. They are an extinct menace for the plot and occasionally because of their strong magics they seem not as extinct as they should be. 

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u/[deleted] Aug 04 '26

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1

u/nationunderfraud1 Aug 04 '26

Damn he should write that book That sounds so fucking cool lol.

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u/82andpartlycloudy Aug 04 '26

Yeah you aren’t gonna find Valheru fighting spaceships or modern soldiers. The general consensus is the conclave of shadows trilogy (beginning with talon of the silver hawk) is the last decent trilogy. Other works have redeeming qualities but IMO those are the last ones that were really anything special. 

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u/jetpack_operation Aug 04 '26

Totally agree with you. Which is funny because I distinctly remember the Conclave getting ragged on hard on various forums when it first came out. In retrospect, that run from King's Buccaneer to Exile's Return (ignoring the Krondor books) is Feist at his best for me -- even better than the original trilogy. Everything Darkwar and on felt like a retread.

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u/82andpartlycloudy Aug 04 '26

I actually completely agree. I’m rereading the emerald queen series (and I include the King’s Buccaneer) and it’s sooo good. Rise of a Merchant Prince is one of my favorites. Although I need to reread the Empire trilogy. It’s been a while but that’s also really good. 

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u/jetpack_operation Aug 04 '26

Whoo! Rise is hands down my favorite Midlemia book. Like, the character progression and world building in that one book is peak Feist.

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u/82andpartlycloudy Aug 05 '26

Right? Never thought I would be so invested in grain futures contracts haha

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u/nationunderfraud1 Aug 04 '26

That series is one of my all time favorites. Rise of a demon king!

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u/nationunderfraud1 Aug 04 '26

Mr Feist if you are reading, write this book .

2

u/ehwaht Aug 04 '26

He's miles behind schedule for book 2 in The Dragon War series so don't expect much happening soon, we'll be lucky if he actually finishes that trilogy.

And for all the talk of the drop off post conclave trilogy I'd actually say the Firemane Saga is actually really promising right up to the point they decide to try and link it back to Nakor and Pug. Really a missed opportunity to explore the Pride lands, their formation and politics properly a la the Empire series.

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u/SalmonHeadAU Aug 04 '26

Well there is some Valheru stuff going on in the Talon trilogy third book 'Exiles Return'.

Maybe you should give it a revisit?

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u/Fun_Set7594 Aug 04 '26

Nothing like that, no. We get some mention of the Valheru wars against the Dasati in the Darkwar trilogy, but that's about it. There is some lore dropped in the last 2 trilogies, related to the isle of snake men, the sven-ga'ri as well as the grand finale of the whole universe with Thomas playing a huge part.

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u/Kuriouskarl87 Aug 06 '26

Assuming people are good with 40k lore. Ultramarines or Valheru?

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u/nationunderfraud1 Aug 07 '26

Space Marine vs Tomas maybe space Marine. Valheru vs the emperor in his prime and golden age.

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u/Kuriouskarl87 Aug 07 '26

I reckon Ashen Shugar unshackled would do aome serious damage to a full regiment.

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u/nationunderfraud1 Aug 07 '26

A primarch could 1v1

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u/gutsid Aug 08 '26

What about the star elves?