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:
It feels like ages since I was first introduced to Pug, Tomas, and the land of Midkemia by Raymond E. Feist. I had been itching for a re-read of the Riftwar Saga for quite some time, and upon being lucky enough to snag a gorgeous set of the Broken Binding edition of the series, it was finally time to dive in once more. As an aside, I found myself gripped by nostalgia during this read-through, and so my reading experience was far different from what it typically is.
I had originally read this first instalment as two books: Magician: Apprentice and Magician: Master. It wasn’t until later that I discovered that the two were initially combined into one book, simply titled Magician. The edition I recently read is not only the single-volume edition of the book but also the revised edition (or author’s preferred edition), during the 10th anniversary of its publication. This edition includes bonus material that was cut before publication and very minor changes that serve to provide more flavour to the story but do not change it in any significant way. This was introduced in 1992, meaning, Magician was first published in 1982, and surprisingly, it holds up well.
Feist is a master of his craft, delivering sophisticated prose with an old-fashioned air that feels modern enough to read swiftly. The inspiration from Tolkien is clear, but Magician is uniquely epic, with plenty of distinctive world-building, political intrigue, and twists to stand firmly on its own. Throughout the book, themes of war, love, and grief are displayed with humbling depth and realism. When so deeply invested in such loveable characters, some of whom we follow from childhood into adulthood, it’s difficult to not feel the tension in every instance of threat and betrayal. Even the travel scenes are wrought with tense action and mystery. At the end of the story, it felt as though I had flipped through an entire series of books with how intricate and time-spanning the journey had been.
In all, this epic tome holds up extremely well, providing great depth and intrigue to all aspects of world-building and plot threads. Through seamless pacing, the pages flew by, and I was left deeply satisfied while also itching with anticipation to continue with more of Feist’s work. It was also clear to me just how much inspiration Feist must have provided for many later stories that have come to dominate in popularity throughout the years. For those willing to dive into a more traditionally written fantasy tale, Magician is a book I would wholeheartedly recommend, especially in place of certain lengthy and daunting series. Similar in scope to The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett, or even Kiana by Zammar Ahmer. Though Magician’s epic scale is one for the record books.
