• Welcome to BookAndReader!

    We LOVE books and hope you'll join us in sharing your favorites and experiences along with your love of reading with our community. Registering for our site is free and easy, just CLICK HERE!

    Already a member and forgot your password? Click here.

Raymond E. Feist: Magician

Fistandantilus

Fistandantilus

New Member
cvrREFmagicianUKpbk.jpg


I read this book about three months ago I thought it was one of the best works of fantasy I have ever read. Does anyone agree? Talk about the book and its characters here.

"When he reached the last word, the pain stopped, and a loud roar sounded behind him. He opened his eyes and saw the two trolls writhing in the water"
Click to expand...
- Magician by Raymond E. Feist.
 
The book is about two boys; pug and tomas. pug is a magician and tomas is a warrior. for most of the book pug cannot cast spells. pug and tomas are both caught up in a war; the riftwar and they are both destined to inherit great power. its a great book
 
Hi fistandantilus...

I've read Feist's Magician and I didn't really like it. It did start out with a lot of promise, but things started to go downhill when things in Kelewan started happening. I felt that Tomas as a character was not given time and space to develop fully, and thus how I can't really see how he eventually, from a boy embued a grown man's physique can court the Queen of Faerie. That bit was probably the most unbelievable for me.

I did like the ruler succession sequence at the end of the book, when the eldest illegitimate child was recognized in the line of succession.

ds
 
I dont know if this is spoilerish somewhat, but I would say that Tomas was able to court the elven queen because of his connection to the Dragonlords, or whatever they were called (its been a while since I read it) - this power imbued in him his destiny to become a great lord, even after he fought off their legacy.

I loved the Magician books, even if the sequels disapoint slightly it is easily one of the greatest fantasy series written.

Phil
 
Yup, I remember that.
But it was just that, the connection, and nothing at all to do with his ability in combat (that I can remember), that he can sing and dance and woo, or with his personality. There was nothing (that I can remember) that suggests that his mind was being developed at the same rate as his body. How could an almost immortal Elf Queen, who have probably seen more in her life than this young upstart, fall for him?

If she did fall in love only for the connection with the Dragonlords as you said, then I don't like the book even more. :D :D

ds
 
Hey, ds - add some spoiler tags!!!

I loved this book - it was the very first adult fantasy I ever read, back when I was 13 or so. I must have re-read it 3 or 4 times since. I think the next two books were also very good, as I was a big fan of Arutha.
When he 'died' I was so upset! I had to skip forward in the book and scan through for his name because I couldn't believe he'd really been killed off!!

The series became rather long and drawn out after that - I didn't want to imagine any of these characters growing up, let alone becoming old and grey! Did anyone read the other Feist series he wrote with Wurts about Kelewan? Not as good as Magician, but I still enjoyed it.
 
Kookamoor said:
Did anyone read the other Feist series he wrote with Wurts about Kelewan? Not as good as Magician, but I still enjoyed it.
Click to expand...

Heh i felt exactly the other way around. Magician was ok, but pretty standardised fantasy, while the books he wrote with Wurts seemed a bit more intelligent. Its been many years since i read them so i cant remember the details, but Feists characters seemed pretty one-dimensional. Pug was the best magician, thomas was the best warrior, Jimmy (?) was the best thief etc and sometimes i felt Feist spent more time describing what type of sword the characters used than on the character himself.
 
Oops! Sorry Kook, will add spoilers now...

Anyway, I have heard lots of good things about the Daughter of the Empire series of books by Feist. Apparently much more well-rounded and well-written than the Magician books. I didn't stick around to find out, but maybe others who may have read them could give their views.

ds
 
Thanks for the spoiler tags, ds - not for me, but for others reading it.
One of my favourite things about this book was how Pug and Tomas are playing with swords on the hay pile in Crydee and accurately predict that they will grow up to be who they become. I'd hate for someone to have that spoiled for them!
.

Zolipara - I guess it was fairly standard as far as fantasy goes, although the 'link' to Kelwan was not necessarily a standard concept IMHO. I'm definately biased on this one and have a soft spot in my heart for it because it was my very first fantasy book. I just love how the book opens and eases you in to it, rather than getting a prolification of high fantasy names from the very beginning and dealing with complex magic straight off.
 
There's some nostalgia value because I read it when I was quite young and really loved it. I tried to read it recently and I found the first couple of chapters so bland that I stopped reading so as not to destroy the memories I have.

The Empire trilogy he wrote with Wurts is, im my opinion, far better that anything the two have written individually and definately worth checking out.
 
Kookamoor said:
*snip*

The series became rather long and drawn out after that - I didn't want to imagine any of these characters growing up, let alone becoming old and grey! Did anyone read the other Feist series he wrote with Wurts about Kelewan? Not as good as Magician, but I still enjoyed it.
Click to expand...

Oponn said:
There's some nostalgia value because I read it when I was quite young and really loved it. I tried to read it recently and I found the first couple of chapters so bland that I stopped reading so as not to destroy the memories I have.

The Empire trilogy he wrote with Wurts is, im my opinion, far better that anything the two have written individually and definately worth checking out.
Click to expand...
I agree Empire trilogy had much more depth, maybe it was
the Japanese style social structure, coupled with the Great Ones being above the law, infact they were the law, A bit like Judge Dredd (just joking)
I have read the complete series twice and all the spin off books. I find some of the grand conclusions a little trite but the characters seem real. The only book I did not like associated with this universe was Jimmy the Hand. I would have expected a far better book with the likes of SM Stirling being involved.

Honoured Enemy was great, I have to check out some of William R. Forstchen other books one day. Murder in LaMut, hmmm, a so so book.
 
Kookamoor said:
Hey, ds - add some spoiler tags!!!
Did anyone read the other Feist series he wrote with Wurts about Kelewan? Not as good as Magician, but I still enjoyed it.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I really enjoyed the Daughter of the Empire series, I' m not sure if I liked it more than the Magician one or not...

However, around.. I think it was book 4,
They stopped those demi-god bad guys (it's been so long I can't remember the names of them - the same one that Tomas was part of)
and then Feist kept writing. Even though there wasn't much of a reason for the books, I still enjoyed them and kept reading. Then he did that second series, which I also thought was well written and entertaining until Shards of a Broken Crown - I think that was the last book in the quadrilogy. Every other page in that book seemed like it was a reference to Betrayal at Krondor (the one based on that video game) and it also seemed like he was near the end of the book and he decided he just needed to stop writing the story and he ended it. I've heard nothing but bad things about Betrayal at Krondor so I've never picked that one up.
 
I really liked the Riftwar saga a lot. I read the trilogy but have not read the other books that came out as they just seemed padding to me.

I really liked his writing style and the world he created. I thought the concept of the two worlds at war was a good one and made it a little different from most fantasy stories. The two characters playing out their destiny was an interesting hook to find out what became of them. I think this is one of the better fantasy books out there!
 
Yeah, after Riftwar it got a little more conventional, I thought. Did you try the Kelewan books that he wrote with Wurts, Wabbit? You might like them - it was a nice, well polished series with a distinct beginning and end. I enjoyed them, but not as much as Riftwar.
 
I have the first three Riftwar books but have not read them yet. Am I right in assuming that those three can be considered a "stand-alone"trilogy, not necessarily dependent on later books?
 
This book holds nostalgic value for myself as well. This was one of the first Fantasy Novels I ever read back when I was a teenage lad (along with Dragons of Autumn Twilight, The Sword of Shannara and Pawn of Prophecy).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top