Magician Raymond E Feist Review

[Rocki Eibl]

Magicianis Feist's first published novel, written in the years after he graduated from University of California, San Diego. At university he was a fan of role-playing games and regularly played with his friends.[1] The name and broad idea for Midkemia came from a group of friends who invented the world and some of the core mechanics, such as the magic system.[2] Prior to starting work on Magician, Feist had written some short and "light-hearted" stories about the world they had created.[1]

Feist graduated in 1977 and began work in the healthcare industry. At this time, he had the idea for a novel involving a boy magician and began to write. At some point, Feist lost his job; however, his friends bankrolled the effort to complete Magician.[3] The book was finished by 1979 and published in 1982 by Doubleday books.[2][4] 'Magician was separated into two volumes for the United States market and published as: Magician: Apprentice and Magician: Master. It was republished in 1992 in a 10th Anniversary edition entitled "The Author's Preferred Edition" containing scenes that had been cut from the original. Feist wanted to re-issue the low circulation original hardcover and his publisher, Lou Aronica, said "he would only do it with new material" so Feist restored some scenes he felt were important while expanding or rewriting other material.[5]

War erupts between the Midkemians and the otherworldly Tsurani. The Duke's troops engage in a fierce battle in an effort to locate and destroy the rift in spacetime which gives access to the Tsurani, but Pug is captured and taken back through the rift to Kelewan, the Tsurani homeworld, as a slave. After years of stalemate fighting on Midkemia by the two opposing forces, Pug returns as a magician, a Great One, the Tsurani name for master practitioners of magic. Meanwhile, a fellow slave, Laurie, along with a Tsurani warrior, Kasumi, embark on a secret errand of peace from the Tsurani Emperor to King Rodric in Rillanon, but also fail to persuade the mad king.

With Rodric's death, Lyam assumes command and sues for a peace treaty with the Emperor Ichindar. During the peace conference, the two rulers, with Pug as the interpreter, begin on good terms by exchanging gifts. Due to the interference of powerful and mysterious sorcerer Macros the Black, the elves and dwarves mistakenly perceive treachery, and the truce dissolves into an all-out conflict. Macros enlists Pug's help to close the rift once and for all, and the connection between the two worlds is severed, leaving numerous stranded Tsurani soldiers in Midkemia, including Kasumi. The Tsurani, who expect to be put to death as is custom on their world, are instead granted freedom in return for their pledge of service to the Kingdom, and are stationed in LaMut with Kasumi made Earl and given command.

Lyam chooses to reveal Martin's birthright on the eve of his selection and coronation, threatening to throw the Kingdom into turmoil and potential civil war, but Martin relinquishes his claim, making Lyam the rightful king and ending any possibility of dispute.

Colin Greenland reviewed Magician for Imagine magazine, and stated that "There isn't really anything original about Magician. It relies heavily on generalized characters and landscapes; but after a slow start Feist gets everything in perspective, emphasizing the distances and difficulties of stopping this war nobody really wanted to start."[9]

In March 2006, the novel was adapted into a comic book series titled Magician Apprentice, released by Dabel Brothers Productions and Marvel Comics. The first six issues were released as a graphic novel hardcover. After almost one year of collaboration, Dabel Brothers Productions and Marvel parted ways, with all the books, including Magician, being retained by Marvel. In June 2009, the series continued with the release of a 5-part Marvel limited series titled Raymond E. Feist's Riftwar.[11] The series was also released as graphic novel hard cover (Volume 2) by Marvel. Issues 13-18 are planned to be released under the title Magician: Riftwar.

Magician was first optioned for television adaptation in 2018 by BCDF Television. Feist stated he had been in numerous discussions since publication but that this was the first time he was happy to sell the rights.[12] The deal with BCDF fell through, but in February 2022 it was announced that Six Studios had obtained the rights to the first six books in the arc.[13]

The ideal middle part to a trilogy is one that hooks you, reels you in and leaves you desperate to find out what is going to happen next. Feist achieved exactly that with Into A Dark Realm, the middle part of his Darkwar trilogy and so it was with excitement and anticipation that I turned to Wrath of a Mad God.

Perhaps it's wrong, but an opening scene which involves a major character being psychologically and magically tortured seemed like a decent start. In all ways, Wrath of a Mad God picks up where Into a Dark Realm left off. The linked worlds of Midkemia and Kelewan are under threat of invasion by the Dasati. There have been initial skirmishes from the Dasati into both worlds and Pug and his son Magnus have travelled to the Dasati world to try and prevent this.

It seems that the Dark God of the Dasati has the upper hand, however. Unlike the more human races, the alien Dasati have no qualms about killing as many of their own people as they have to in order to facilitate an invasion. Pug and a few rebel Dasati have to try and prevent the threat from the Dasati end, as their weight of numbers and evil nature threaten to overwhelm the worlds they are trying to invade, as they seem intent more on killing the people, not conquering them.

As ever, Feist drops you into the story on the assumption that you have read the previous books in the trilogy. Indeed, this time around, he assumes you've been reading his work for some time, giving back story to some of the characters that not only covers books I haven't read over the last few years, but goes back to books I read more than a decade ago. Whilst this is an exciting read, it certainly isn't one for newcomers to Feist's work.

For the fans who know what to expect and who won't be put off by the back story making reference to important events they have very little knowledge of, this is a decent read. Feist once more doesn't rely on magic as a plot device, but as a tool, so there aren't so many strange things happening as in a lot of fantasy and much of the magic used here will be familiar to his fans. His other strength has always been concentrating on his character's feelings much more than many fantasy authors, so we don't see the characters as all powerful magicians, but as real people with similar fears to our own. I felt that the interaction between Pug's wife Miranda and their son Caleb was particularly well done, as it was a wonderfully emotional part about a parent's love for the black sheep of the family which many of us will be able to relate to.

This has always been Feist's way of involving the reader in the story and he doesn't disappoint this time around. It is always very clear who are the characters you are supposed to sympathise with and who is the enemy. If there is one minor complaint, it is that the two human races, the Midkemians and the Tsuranuanni are quite similar and with the alien Dasati making incursions into both worlds, it's not always immediately obvious whether they are on Midkemia or Kelewan. The difference between good and evil is always obvious, but the split between the different kinds of good, especially when the Midkemians are helping out the Tsurani army is a little muddled.

My other issues were that there was the inclusion of Tomas, a character from Feist's early work. His inclusion involved a sub plot that appeared and ended part way through and didn't have any obvious bearing on the plot of this story. It seems that there may be more to come from Feist, but this part of the story just didn't seem to fit in here and it made me feel as if he'd dropped in a plot from a different book by mistake. Maybe a bigger fan of Feist than I am would see the significance of this portion of the plot, but to me it seemed largely irrelevant, seeming to be a self contained story in its own right, but not one with any importance here.

The other disappointment was in the ending of the book, which seemed a little weak to me. After all that had gone before, it seemed to be over quite quickly and the ending seemed to be a little too convenient and easy. It felt as if Feist was either in a hurry to finish things or if he'd run out of ideas and just wanted to tie everything up as quickly and easily as he could just to get it done.

This aside, this is another decent book from Feist. All the things that made me a fan and have kept me reading his books are here and as good as ever. Apart from the ending, his pacing of the story is excellent, with plenty of action going on and the constant swapping of perspective keeping you involved with the whole of the story. It's not his best and not the best ending to a trilogy, but it is still a decent book and well worth a look for any fan of Feist, although I would recommend his earlier works such as Magician for the newcomer. Perhaps the most interesting thing for the fan could be that the plot strands that don't seem to fit here suggest that Feist isn't finished yet and there could be more to look forward to in the future.

You can read more book reviews or buy Wrath of a Mad God (Darkwar) by Raymond E Feist at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges 2.99 for standard delivery for orders under 20, over which delivery is free.

You can read more book reviews or buy Wrath of a Mad God (Darkwar) by Raymond E Feist at Amazon.com.

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