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Publication Order of Riftwar Saga Books
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Raymond E. Feist, author of the “Riftwar Saga”, which starts off the Riftwar Cycle of books that is made up of a total of ten series of books (with a total book count of thirty books). The books are set on two planets, Midkemia and Kelewan. The first book focuses on the apprentice named Pug, whereas the second book shows Pug sharing center stage with Prince Arutha. This series features Kelewan as a far away planet and is only visited for brief periods of time. It has its own series about a queen in her reign that is set in the same time period as this series is, with some of the characters from this series, appearing in that one as well (like Pug and Jimmy the Hand gets his own book in the “Legends of the Riftwar series).
“Magician” is the first novel in the “Riftwar Saga”. In some editions, this book will be split into two parts, one part called “Magician: Apprentice” and “Magician: Master”. An orphan, Pug, is a sorcerer’s apprentice, name of Kulgan and eccentric, who works in the enchanted land of Midkemia. He has one friend, a warrior named Tomas. By joining the apprentice, they have unknowingly started something, something large. He was later taken by force by the Tsurani, who come from another world and wage war, invading other territories. He finds that he has massive amounts of powers, earning a new name Milamber.
Fans of the book have said that the book say that the book was written well, and is enjoyable to read. There was elements of magical theory, political intrigue, and war tactics that were blended well. They say that the book is much faster than some books by other fantasy writers. The book, according to some, has more action per page than a lot of other fantasy books. Readers found the book to be constantly surprising, never doing what the reader expected them to do. Also praised was Feist’s ability to build a realistic type world, even though this is high fantasy, developing characters, and his ability to capture your sympathy for Pug. Some readers, however, found this book to not be so good, they thought the writing was bad, populated with a lot of the stereotypes that are found in fantasy novels nowadays, the characters flat, and after a few weeks, they were unable to remember the characters at all. They found the book easy to read and easy to forget, just another in a long line of fantasy novels, that do nothing to separate themselves.
“Silverthorn” is the second novel in the “Riftwar Saga”. When his wife to be is almost killed and poisoned on their wedding day, Prince Arutha sets out for an herb to get her health back. The person they were trying to kill was him, and they got her instead. He travels with a group featuring a mercenary, a thief (Jimmy the Hand, who is a member of Krondor’s thieves guild), and a minstrel (The Mockers). These characters will pop back up in later entries in the series. They will battle everything in their way, including an ancient evil and dark powers, to make sure his beloved gets the healing herb she needs to make her well. They must travel to the elves of the Dark Path a group who hates everyone that is not a member of their group with a passion. Pug heads for the planet of Kelewan to find answers about a great creature with large force that will raise the dead to make them fight with the living. This comes as a bold move, the last time he was there, Pug caused a lot of trouble, and he had to flee back to his home planet. The novel goes on with these two different story lines to the end of the book.
Some readers found themselves liking the way that Feist was able to follow up the first installment in the series with this. They did mention that since the book is shorter, that there is more frenzy to the pacing. Fans of the book liked that Feist was able to keep up with the returning characters, as well as create some new ones that were just as interesting. Fans found that all the scenes that Jimmy the Hand is in, he steals. The characters do not just rush into a room or dungeon and start slashing with their sword at things; they try to strategize and plan to produce the best outcome. Some readers found the book to be horrible, and only in existence for the author to bring the beloved characters back from the first time, with no thought of what to write. They also found the editing to be a problem and that the book was loaded with typos, that made it distracting to read. Some said that the book is full of more of the same cliches that populated the first book, as well as bad fantasy novels. People who did not like the book said there was no hook, no reason for them to read the book.
Feist has said that he owes a debt to “Empire of the Petal Throne” for his creation of Kelewan. He got the idea to write the books while playing Midkemia, a game that they created to counter Dungeons and Dragons while in college with his friends on Thursday nights. They still publish sets to this day, with their company Midkemia Press.
Fans of the series looking for an adaptation should not have high hopes. The author has been taking calls for the series, and no one really seems to get very far, due to his very high hopes for the series. Not to mention that some of the actors that he wanted to be playing the parts are too old now to play them. If he has not found them, three decades after publishing the first book in the saga, then he probably won’t ever find the right offer that is acceptable for him. Fans of the series will have to settle for the comic book adaptations that have been released in 2006 and 2009, and the books themselves of course.
Book Series In Order » Characters » Riftwar Saga
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