Review: Magician by Raymond E. Feist

Blurb:

Magician, available in ebook for the first time, is a masterwork of magic and adventure.

The whole of the magnificent Riftwar Cycle, by bestselling author Raymond E. Feist, is now available in ebook

The world had changed even before I discovered the foreign ship wrecked on the shore below Crydee Castle, but it was the harbinger of the chaos and death that was coming to our door.

War had come to the Kingdom of the Isles, and in the years that followed it would scatter my friends across the world. I longed to train as a warrior and fight alongside our duke like my foster-brother, but when the time came, I was not offered that choice. My fate would be shaped by other forces.

My name is Pug. I was once an orphaned kitchen boy, with no family and no prospects, but I am destined to become a master magician…

Magician is the first book in Raymond E. Feist’s acclaimed Riftwar Saga. The trilogy continues with book two, Silverthorn.

Raymond E. Feist's book 'A Darkness Returns' was a Sunday Times bestseller w/c 2024-07-29.

Review:

Before I begin this review, I should mention that this is a portrayal of my thoughts after re-reading the story 10 years after I first read it. I should also mention that this is the first book I have ever taken the time to read a second time, and boy was it worth it! Feist was my very first entry into fantasy (besides maybe Eragon) and is THE reason that I decided I wanted to write my first fantasy novel. 

The sense of nostalgia was high in this one, and I found it really interesting delving back into the heads of familiar characters and such a beloved setting. 10 years is a long time, and of course I remembered bits and pieces here and a character moment there… but ultimately I had forgotten all of the gritty details and still found myself awe-stuck during the chaotic scenes!

The Riftwar Cycle has such a classic fantasy feel to it, and while being tropey (it was written in the 80s I believe) it does them all so well! There’s your classic Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Dark Elves and Goblin races, but then the big twist of this story is the added sci-fi element in where an open ‘rift’ allows travel to and from another world. I suppose you could label this story as a sci-fi, however, there is none of the advanced technology and space travel (unless you consider dragons as transport) usually found in your standard sci-fi novel, so I’d classify this story as epic fantasy, but with aliens!

The big selling point in Magician’s story is the two unique worlds. First you have Midkemia, which is your usual medieval era fantasy setting with kings and nobles etc, with the addition of the races outlined above. Then there comes Kellewan, which consist of a number of races, the most dominant being the Tsurani, who are extremely war oriented people, similar to humans in a way, but also so different. The portrayal of culture in this novel is what sets Feist apart from lots of other fantasy writers. Not only does he have a mixture of different cultures on Midkemia, but he also adds in Tsurani culture, which, to everyone on Midkemia, is alien. They eat differently; have different animals, their government is extremely political, and they have a large focus on a kind of ‘honour’ system where most of their race would rather take their own lives rather than break from their code of honour. All of this increased the immersion of my reading and made me feel as though I were experiencing life on these two planets myself. 

Now I have to speak about the characters! The story centres around my man Pug and his best friend Tomas. In a very ‘coming of age’ type way, they both start as children of not much importance working under the Duke of Crydee. There is nothing particularly special about either of them other than they both have a kind nature and a strong desire to learn/improve themselves and get stronger. Pug stumbles into the path of apprentice magician, and Tomas follows his dream of working under Swordmaster Fanon to learn how to wield a blade. Now some parts of their development are greatly accelerated, and I can see how some people may be put off by how fast these two turn from amateur to master (and basically overpowered), however, I for one loved both of their characters so much that it didn’t bother me. All of the side characters have their own unique personality and there is someone here for everyone to connect with! Arutha is another personal favourite (though he truly begins to shine in Silverthorn). 

If you love classic fantasy with likeable characters, rich culture with an added twist of alien invasion, then the Riftwar Cycle is one series you can’t sleep on.