Heroic Dreams - All Things Medieval

I am continuing with my  quest to get up to date on many of the big blockbuster epic fantasy series. In an earlier post Here I reviewed the first book in Raymond Feist’s Riftwar Saga. This post is a review of the second book in the series.

This book is the second book in Feist’s Riftwar Saga (the first book is Magician: Apprentice) and in this book we see not only the transformation of our main character from apprentice to master but we also see this same transformation in Feist’s writing.  The tone, texture, and richness of this novel is significantly different than the first book.  In this book Feist builds us a big world and takes us for a grand adventure. He opens up two worlds for us and introduces us to a lot of new characters and a very big story.  In this volume Feist also goes from Apprentice to Master.

There are four books in this series. The first is Magician: Apprentice, the second is Magician: Master, the third is Silverthorn and the final book is A Darkness at Sethanon.  This is the current version but there is an earlier version that combines the first two volumes and it is simply entitled: Magician. This single version of the first two novels is uncommon. As Feist’s writing gained in popularity the publishers split up that first book into two volumes and reprinted them.

The Basic Premise of the series

The plotline of the series of books is that a rift is opened up between two worlds and through this rift people and things can pass. A warrior empire is using this rift to conquer the world of our main characters which is called Midkemia and the main characters are Pug (a magician in training) and Tomas (an aspiring warrior). The setting is very much high medieval period with kings, castles, dwarves, elves, magicians, and much of the expected epic fantasy fare.

This second book begins about four years after the second book and one of the unique things about it is that we spend a fair amount of time on the other world which is named Kelewan. That world too is also very much high medieval Europe but of course with its own customs and idiosyncrasies. One thing of note is that horses are totally alien to their world which creates some nice side developments in the story.

I approached this shifting to the other world with some trepidation because, after all, they are the bad guys and I don’t really want to get to know them! But, it works extremely well and this shifting gives us some really good (and necessary) developments in the story.

Overall perception and analysis

This book is substantially different than the first one. We go from a pretty straight-forward epic fantasy theme to something that is significantly more textured and rich.  It feels like there might have been four years of Feist’s writing skill development between the first and second book.  The first book was more about introducing us to the characters and the story and this second book takes a bigger and more ambitious look by introducing us to the two worlds involved. It’s ambitious and it works well.  There are some outstanding dramatic scenes and events that really leave an impression.

A Mild Criticism

This book deals with two worlds. And each world is complete with its own politics, empires, barons, blood lines, warlords, and all the requisite political maneuverings for power and wealth. This political infighting means that it gets a bit complex at times. A lot of different characters are introduced and sometimes this gets to be a bit too complicated for my taste.  

Conclusion

Something really great about this book is that it and the first magician book can be read as a satisfying single work without having to continue through more books in the series. This book brings about a conclusion to the story begun in book one.  And, one of the things that I like best about this book is that once we come to our dramatic conclusion we don’t find our characters sitting under a tree and living happily ever after. There is another forty or so pages that draw us further into some interesting developments which of course draw us into the next novel.

If you are looking for a new world to explore and a new series to sink your teeth into the Riftwar books are an excellent choice.  There are currently over twenty books that take place in the Riftwar series and the latest book was released in early 2008 (Wrath of a Mad God). And a new series begins with the release of Rides a Dread Legion in early 2009.

This book is available on Amazon.com Magician: Master (Riftwar Saga)

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If you like epic fantasy I have a whole site devoted to the subject. There are lots of listings, book recommendations and a whole lot of other stuff like finding a book by the name of the hero.

The Fantasy Guide

Popularity: 7% [?]

I have been doing some more work on labyrinths and mazes and it got me to thinking about a book.

The name of the book is “The Tombs of Atuan” by Ursula K. LeGuin. It is the second volume in the Wizard of Earthsea Trilogy. Anyway, I read it many years ago and I don’t remember a whole lot of it except that much of the book revolves around this big network of caves (labyrinth) under the Priestess convent and temple.

One of the remarkable things about it is that I remember they had a long history (hundreds of years) of going down into the labyrinth always in total darkness and they had to memorize certain paths by touching and following the walls, and counting turns and intersections. Lights were totally forbidden so they always went down there in utter darkness. And of course there is a reason for that! This adds a whole second dimension to the mystery of a labyrinth.

Anyhoo, This is a remarkable book both for children and adults and it has a magical feel to it. LeGuin is one of the best fantasy writers ever. The cover version in this post is a scan of my book and that is out of print but there is a newer version available on amazon.com The Tombs of Atuan (The Earthsea Cycle, Book 2) The version of the book that I have is complete with drawings and even a drawing of the labyrinth which is really neat.

I cannot recommend this series of books any higher. It is light reading yet quite remarkable. If you are looking for some fantasy to read you should get this series of books. But you should start with the first book in the series:A Wizard of Earthsea (The Earthsea Cycle, Book 1)

I am going to be reading and doing reviews of this series of books and will either post to this blog or put it on my fantasy guide website

Odd thing about the whole labyrinth kick that I have been on lately because I have been working my way through my third novel and have been wrestling with a variety of plot points and what not and well its serendipitious because now I am pretty sure there will be a labyrinth in it! it fits perfectly - coincidence or cosmic alliance? Dunno

Popularity: 10% [?]

 There are only a handful of great epic fantasy series out there and this is the first book of one of them.  The series is called the Riftwar Saga and the major theme of it is unique in that magicians can open rifts between worlds. Of course, through these rifts an invading army can pass. And this is where this book begins with the opening of a rift and an army invading the world of Midkemia where our main characters Pug and Tomas live.

The book is simply well written and story driven. In no time you will be feeling the story and wanting to see how it develops. I say if you give this book 30 pages you will be hooked. Feist just knows how to write fantasy in an intelligent and interesting way.

About the Magic: The title of the book (Magician: Apprentice) is almost a warning bell for me because I have read too much fantasy where magicians and wizards cast all kinds of fireballs, spells, and what not - and it tends to be an easy way for the writer to get out of a tough plot point - just create a new spell that gets you out of a jam! Not so in this book; the magic is subdued and makes a lot of sense. Just a job well done in this regard.

Reverence to Dwarves and Elves: This book predates the Lord of the Rings movies so these races of creatures weren’t the household names they are today. Feist presents them to us they way they should be presented; as mysterious and wondrous creatures to be admired. He very clearly expresses this awe and you feel it.

About the Story: Just a darn good story and in no time at all you are going to be engrossed in the story and the characters. What more can you ask for? This is not your typical pulp fiction. It is well written and very satisfying. I don’t want to tell you much more but there is adventure, traveling, magic, introspection, questions, battles, and even a castle siege.

Only really half a book: This book is actually only half of what Feist wrote for his first book. It was a big book so the publisher broke it up into two halves. The first half is Magician: Apprentice (Riftwar Saga) and the second half is Magician: Master (Riftwar Saga). So if you decide to get this book I highly recommend you get the second one too. You are going to want to start on it right away.