A 3.5 star was really needed for this. It's definitely better than good, but I'm not sure it quite makes it to great.

I've come to the The Riftwar Saga rather late in my list of fantasy to-reads, especially given the age of the series. Unfortunately, I think it is that age which drags it down a little. The story itself is pretty awesome - the whole notion of a young magician, coming into his own against the background of an inter-world cross-cultural clash and domestic political upheaval, and learning about the extent of his power across both worlds, is a thrilling and exciting premise with the potential for great plotlines, expansive world building and complex characters. However, while I enjoyed seeing the story unfold, I felt my engagement with Midkemia and Kelewan rather lacking.

The main issues that I had with Magician were the character tropes, the passage of time, and how magic actually worked. I read somewhere that Feist's inspiration for this book arose from games of Dungeons and Dragons, and I think this is definitely reflected in the characters. Aside from Pug, Tomas and Arutha, most of the characters seemed to very clearly fit pre-existing tropes and conventions, and had rather little personality development beyond how they were influenced by events within the story. Familiar and easy to acquaint with, but also not always terribly interesting.

The time issue is linked to this - while characters aged, the majority of them did not depart from their expected 'progression' as it were. The amount of time passing between certain events also seemed completely arbitrary in nature- sometimes chapters would follow day by day, only to then skip forward by months, or even years. The scale of a 9 year war is significantly diminished when you only see events from 2 or 3 years of it.

The magic system is probably a bit of a personal gripe for me. Having come from The Wheel of Time and The Kingkiller Chronicles where the magic systems are cleverly constructed and weaved into the fabric of their universes, the magic in a book titled 'Magician' seemed underwhelming and shallow in terms of what a magician could do and how it was done. Often, it seemed impossible to determine whether something could or couldn't be done by magic, and I almost felt I knew understood less about the magic even as Pug grew to understand it more. Perhaps it lends itself to the mysterious quality of magic, but it made it difficult to connect with as a reader.

Ultimately, I think I set my expectations a bit high going into this series. I'm curious as to where it goes next, as most of the ends in Magician seem pretty well tied off (aside from whatever Macros is up to), but it'll also be interesting to see how Feist's writing develops. For this book though, my verdict is that it's an enjoyable read, but nothing to lose sleep over. ( )

It took me almost six months to read, and I can't say I enjoyed it fully. It certainly took until chapter 7 before there was any tension, but then again, the banter surrounding the princess irritated me to no end, just like the immature behavior between the boys. While there are some nice things to say about the book, I wonder if the story could have flowed much faster, and with fewer words. Really, the book could have been at least 60% less thick and thus resulted in a much more exciting adventure. Now my thought was always "is something going to happen again or?". I think the concept of a rift war is quite clever, but whether I will continue reading this series has now become a big question mark. Maybe the advantage is that the next books in the series are a little less thick, but for now I think I'll ignore the Riftwar chronicles for a while. ( )

This book was one of my favourites seven years ago. I recently re-read it in english instead of dutch, and I was again immediately swept away to the two worlds that Feist describes in Magician. To this day it is still one of the most enjoyable fantasy novels I've read.
My fascination for samurai-like cultures was satisfied by the war-loving Tsuranni, and the charming, somewhat medieval world of Midkemia reminded me of the many online post-by-post RPGs I used to partake in when I was 14.
This book has a very good balance between politics and court culture, magic and legends. The overal storyline is of the well-known young-boy-grows-up-to-become-a-hero-that-saves-the-world sort, but Feist brings it with a very charming cast of characters and the occasional unexpected sidetrack. Especially Milambers transformation is of a very interesting and philosohical nature. Well worth a read if you haven't tried it yet. Also the best entrance into the books of Feist. ( )

A Grand Vision that Races Along. It would have been worth keeping a list of dramatis personae. Fast movement between worlds and cultures. Much death but much glory and honor as well.. ( )

Great! ( )