Rating: 
Summary: Somewhat disappointing.
Review: This is the first half of Magician, the first book in the Riftwar Saga (followed by Silverthorn and A Darkness at Sethanon).Pug is an orphan boy of thirteen. Seeing great potential in him, Kulgan, the Duke of Crydee's adviser and magician, takes him as apprentice. However, even after months of training, Pug can't master the arcane power, until the day he unexpectedly saves Princess Carline's life from an troll attack. He'll be made squire. Later, when his best friend Tomas finds a mysterious ship stranded on the cliffs, the boys search the wreck looking for treasures. Discovering only two alien corpses and a scroll, they decide to go back to the castle. On the way though, they find a third creature. This one is still alive and with the help of the Duke's sons, is made prisoner. After Kulgan has deciphered the scroll, and from the information Father Tully, the priest, manages to get by reading its mind, it all becomes clear: the alien Tsurani are soon to invade Midkemia. The story goes on to describe the Duke's party's journey around the world seeking for help, a journey in which Pug ans Tomas will of course take part. From the first chapters, Magician seems very promising, but after a few it slowly deteriorates. As a whole it's very irregular and I didn't find it very passionating. Time passes too fast, sometimes skipping a whole year, and there are far too many races and villains. In short it's a fairly light fantasy about men, elves and dwarves vs. trolls, goblins, wraiths, the Tsurani and if you still can't get enough, there are also the Meredhel, a kind of black elves. Moreover, Pug is never really taught to use magic, not to mention that there's hardly a word about him in the last quarter of the book. I'll read the end of this trilogy all the same, in hope it gets better, but so far I have to say it has put me off reading the whole Midkemia saga.
Rating: 
Summary: Wow!!
Review: Raymond Feist is currently my favorite author of all time. I first heard about him on a fantasy literature bulletin board and immediately bought this book.
I can't remember ever reading a book more quickly or with more relish. It's impossible to just rate this one book...the entire Riftwar Saga and all the subsequent books build on the same characters/settings, and his most recent books keep filling in little details.
If you're looking for an easy-to-read, action-packed adventure with believable and lovable characters that keep you hungering for more and more, this is the book for you!
Rating:
Summary: Dynamic, fast-paced fantasy
Review: Magician: Apprentice is a great read; its fast-pace, dynamic characters, and interesting insights make it a true fantasy page turner. Although, as fantasy novels, the Magician series shares certain qualities with The Lord of the Rings, they are extremely different sorts of books. While Magician: Aprentice does not share Tolkien's lyrical prose (my favorite aspect of the LOtR), it also is not written with the same sense of self-consciousness, gravity, and self-importance that seem to pervade Tolkien's work. Pug and Tomas evolve as realistically as is possible in a fantasy novel throughout the Magician series. Feist's portrayal of alternate universes and quantum theory is subtle and believable; after all, everyone knows that "there is no magic" (if you've read the series, you understand this). In short, Magician: Apprentice is a light-hearted novel that successfully explores the classical fantasy ideas of good vs. evil, reality, chaos vs. order, human nature, and foriegn lands. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading fantasy.
Rating: 
Summary: IT TRANSCENDS TOLKIEN
Review: OK.. my confession.. i read this book again and again.. but i read the LORD OF THE RINGS long time ago.. i thought this book was great when it first came out... i was intrigued by the characters.. and then i recently read lord of the rings again and saw the movie.. and i felt i had to revise my opinion of the book.. i now realise that all fantasy books of late.. are parodies of lord of the ring..the elves the trolls.. the goblins the magicians and the warrior sword master.. so given that is a staple diet of fantasy how can one transcend it.. apart from adding one or two elements to it.. well feist does manage it in some ways.. by adding the moredhels and the dark elves.. but you get this in lord of the rings.. with the orcs being ex-elves?.. now.. where feist succeeds tolkien is by adding the scienfictional element to it.. the role of the magicians is both powerful and yet they are tools.. the realm of the god universe and the tough discussion of magic with nakor.. and the universe changing nature of the enemy.. the way the power levels are constantly changed.. the ccho-gan magicians and various secrets.. i believe feist's universe is much more complicated than tolkien and the agents involved realise their freewill and yet they are tools.. the role of the cleric.. so having read tolkien.. i feel feist does good.. although i feel his weaknesses are to seperate the magical from the ordinary.. as the books progress along..you could skip to the magic wars and discussions.. when they should have been intertwined.. I'm hoping there is final part where we witness what price pug must pay.. but i was not happy with pug's choices.. when lims-kragma says.. you have been cursed.. also what exactly did macros do to pug to allow him to transcend his destiny.. i would have preferred a meeting of macros and the assembly..
Rating: 
Summary: I don't get it
Review: Raymond Feist came reasonably highly recommended to me, and I was in the mood for some fantasy so I decided to pick it up. A couple hours later I found myself at page 285 already, however it wasn't that I couldn't put it down, I just couldn't stop skimming. There's very little in this novel to keep you attached. I admit I haven't finished the book yet, and this is the first thing by Feist I've ever read, but I don't honestly see how this type of prose can keep my interest for a whole series, much less the rest of the story. Feist's prose is approximately targetting (apparently) a sixth grade level, which isn't a crime, yet at the same time wants to absorb the epic grandness of an adult adventure - in other words, he seems to take himself too seriously for me to actually believe he intended his prose to be this way. Beyond that, the dialogue is amazingly flat and forced - you know that writer's rule of thumb, show and don't tell? Well I think Feist was gone the day that was taught. Nobody comes to life, the author is there at every moment. There's nothing technically wrong with a strong narrator presence either, if it has a purpose - here, not only does it not have a purpose, it contradicts the type of character-based adventure that this novel is attempting (at least I think that's what it is attempting ... stylistically you get no direction at all). Characterization is also extremely monotonous, if present at all. Everyone is written with the same flavour, and Feist does little to avoid cardboard cliche so often found in fantasy series. There are many things writers can do to show exactly WHO a person is - all Feist does is have other people blatantly and contrivedly remark about others' traits (IE Kulgan's praise of Pug's ingenuity ... Pug BTW is the male adolescent who not only at ripe old 15 knows he's in love with a princess who can go from spoiled to loving in .05 seconds flat but possesses magic never before seen in the entirety of existence ... all extremely believeable of course ... right... ). Either that or his narration just tells you - how this is expected to fly as natural is beyond me. The supposed comedy and lighter moments never even made me laugh - and I laugh pretty easily. Women and other species are the most two-dimensional of all, Feist does better with his core male cast mostly because he is attempting to recall a medieval/fnatastical hybrid atmosphere - there's nothing wrong with that either, historical-based fiction is a valid genre. However too much reliance on outside resources without any relevency to character development, plot, or mood (despite the setting you're supposed to take in stride all this early-90's-sitcom-style wisecracking) usually equates to filler. Plus, I see no story arc - I mean, I DO, but it doesn't make sense to have all this stuff padding it up. First and foremost an author tells a story. I understand when you want to give details about characters and such, but here its being used as a substitute for believable character development AND hinders the flow of the plot. I don't personally like all these fantasy series that just go on and on without adhering to its original point. Books aren't television series, they need strong arcs. It's one thing if you're going to do something like the Bobsey Twins, where each book is meant to be an episode, and another if you're doing something like Tolkien's LOTR, where the whole piece was planned as a huge solidified story. This one doesn't seem to be able to decide. I must sound extremely negative, I apologize, especially for someone who hasn't even finished one book, much less the series. I will say this: Feist must have had an imagination to carry this out, and he DID carry it out, he did stick to it. I guess that counts for something. And he seems to care about the value of whimsey and creativity ... although the attempt is bogged down at best. For those things I gave this two stars, plus my general cynicism for any book with a cover of a white-bearded gruff but gentle looking elaborately robed wizard on the cover (how original) might have made me a tad too harsh. I wouldn't call this embarassing, still, it's not something I recommend.
Rating:
Summary: There is no Magic... just an amazing story.
Review: For those of you who have read the two interlocking series from Magician to Shards of a Broken Crown and all the side stories inbetween, you will understand the title of this review. For the others of you out there, what are you waiting for? Go out and buy what I would argue till my own death by gunfire is the beginning of the greatest series of books ever written on the planet Earth. Of course that is a tall claim, but it is also just an opinion of someone who has read every fantasy and science fiction book he could possibly get his hands on. This same person, myself, has only ever read one other book which made him cry real tears and laugh real laughs(Other then books written to be comedic, like Dave Barry or somesuch). (...) Magician originally was one giant book and later when it was reprinted it was split into two, Apprentice and Master which were edited into the Author's Preferred Editions. I personally believe that it is best to read both the original giant book and the following two books it was split into. This is mainly because there are subtle and less subtle things that were added and removed from both incarnations of the book and it makes a more complete story to read all of it. The first series which Magician is the beginning of (The Riftwar Saga) revolves mainly around Pug and Tomas, a friendship I wish I could even glimpse in my life here on Earth. Both of which seeming to have simple beginnings in life, and both of which destined for things greater then any other beings on Midkemia.
The story moves on for what was years of reading time for me, all spent captivated totally from beginning to end. I began the books in High School(my grades suffered horribly because of the books, I would read them in class, refusing to put them down despite any threats teachers might have made) and recently finished, 3 years after leaving high school, 'Tear of the Gods' the third book in a series that goes back to the time of the Riftwar Saga... and takes you back to the worlds of Feist just as powerfully is it did the first time you read the series.
Read all the books, and I suggest reading the legacy books as you read the Riftwar Saga. They are more fun when you read them in the right time order I think. They are simply breathtaking in their power and beauty. (...)
Rating:
Summary: The only fantasy series to rival Lord of the Rings
Review: With the Riftwar Series, Raymod Feist earnest his laurels as the living master of the sword and sorcery genre and Tolkiens only rival. The series follows the lives of two friends growing up in the backwater of a mighty kingdom. One is destined to become the greatest sorcerer of his age. The other ... well lets just say you have to read the series. All four of the books are excellent. Feist is rare in the genre for his ability to create truly three dimensional characters as well as an orginal story line. While some of it, like aloof elves and short tempered hard drinking dwarves is a bit cliche, that does not deminish the quality of the series intoto. With high drama, great action, and plenty of plot twists, these books are a must read.
Rating:
Summary: Not a copy of Tolkein
Review: The thought that Feist was simply copying Tolkein is absurd. While Feist does use the same stereotypes of many of the fantasy creatures that Tolkein does, the characters and plots are unique. I suggest that anyone who enjoys fantasy read it.
Rating:
Summary: Two worlds, two boys, one amazing story...
Review: This book was originally one book that was later split into two. Apprentice is the first half of that book and is the beginning of the Riftwar saga. I really cannot recommend Apprentice without also recommending Magician: Master. These first two books should really be read together since that is how it was written initially. It is a classic tale of an orphan boy who was considered a failure in many respects but ends up mastering the most powerful magic the world has ever seen. Fiest brings new life to an old concept and brings two distinct and rich worlds together for the first time. The Author's Preferred Edition adds back in a fair amount of the 50K words of text that had been previously edited out. These books were definately influental because they introduced me to the world of fantasy for the first time. If you like this book, then I recommend the rest of the Riftwar Saga books: Magician: Master (book #2), Silverthorn (book #3) and A Darkness at Sethanon (book #4). Does the world of Midkemia enthrall you? Then pick up the the Empire trilogy which takes you to the other side of the Riftwar. Finally, there is another novel that is unrelated to the Riftwar Saga, but nonetheless quite a good read ... Faerie Tale.
Rating:
Summary: Of course it copies Tolkien
Review: It is a well known fact that J.R.R. Tolkien's novels are some of the best fiction/fantasy books you can buy. They ARE the basis of all fantasy books. Tolkiens trilogy uses all of the basic fantasy elements, not to use the same fantastical elements as Tolkien would be practically impossible, all of the fantasy books i have read reviews on, at LEAST 2 or 3 people downgrade the book because it is "too much like tolkien" Well of course it is, if it werent, then it wouldnt be a good fantasy book. In this novel, Feist has created his own race of fantastical creatures from a fantastical place, who stumble upon earth by his totally origonal reason. As all fantasy novels, this one does use some of the fantastical elements that Tolkien does, but he far from copies Tolkiens work. I very much recomend this book to any reader.
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