Raymond E. Feist – Magician
This book is on the New York Times’ best sellers list and is the first book of The Riftwar Cycle, a series currently 29 volumes long (and growing!).
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The name ‘Magician’ elicits some of the best literary memories I have. It is the start of a series by Raymond E. Feist so good I even read them in the shower (holding them above the shower head to keep them dry). Reading a book this good can’t be rushed any more than you can rush a fine wine. You’ve got to let it breathe for awhile before savouring its nuances and subtleties; and this book is full of both.
One of the best features of Magician is Feist’s writing style. The descriptions are vivid, the characters are extremely believable and not everything has a happy ending. The characters are often faced with difficult choices, sometimes none of which have the possibility of a good outcome. Above all the plots are well thought out, intricate and contribute to the overall feeling of Magician being – in my opinion – one of the most realistic fantasy books ever written.
The story begins in the Kingdom of the Isles on a world called Midkemia and follows the lives of two best friends, Pug, an apprentice of the court magician, and Tomas, a member of the Duke’s guard. It begins by the discovery of a storm-ravaged ship of a design unlike any seen before in The Kingdom. The sole survivor is brought back to the keep of Castle Crydee, a frontier outpost of The Kingdom ruled by Duke Borric con Doin, his two sons, Arutha and Lyam and his daughter, the Princess Carline. The sailor speaks in an incomprehensible language and it is only with Father Tully’s divine intervention that the Duke’s court discovers the foreigner’s people pose a deadly threat against the Kingdom. With no time to lose, the Duke and his entourage set out for Rillanon, the Kingdom’s capital city, with Pug and Tomas in tow.
Whilst en route, the Duke’s party is attacked by enemy scouts, Pug is captured and Tomas nearly becomes the victim of a fearsome wraith when the Duke and the other survivors are forced to take shelter in a dwarven mine. From here, the reader is swept away on a roller coaster adventure of politics, intrigue, betrayal and gallantry that spans two worlds, as the brave heroes embark on journeys to stave off planet-wide disaster against an invading force of alien soldiers.
In short, this book is sure to be the beginning of a literary addiction of profound scope and proportion for anybody that has the good taste to start it. Hm! Maybe it’s time I started reading the series all over again!
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Review by: Christopher Ian Collins
Edited by: Sara Slack & Amelia Rockliff
