Magician: Apprentice (1982)

I am kicking myself for not reading this novel when published, my only excuse being I was a teenager with no funds and no connections (remember the state of the Internet in 1982?). I lived twenty miles away from the nearest library back then. If my mom didn't own the book, I didn't get to read it.

This story overflows with likable characters: Pug, Tomas, Carline, Roland, Arutha, Kulgan, Meecham, just to name a few. The pacing skips, trots, canters, gallops, crashes, walks, jumps, and flies. The magic system teases you through Pug's apprenticeship, yet we glimpse broader examples through Kulgan and the invaders. The classic fantasy races make an appearance via elves (both light and dark or good and bad as you prefer), dwarfs, goblins, trolls and dragons.

The world building interwove seamlessly with the narrative as we followed along with Pug and Tomas as they ventured along with the Duke's expedition to seek aid to stave off an invasion of aliens from his royal kin over the mountains and east of his far western holding of Crydee. The aliens control rifts between their world, Kellewan, and Midkemia, where the Kingdom reigns through the Duke's royal relatives. Through these rifts, the aliens establish a bridgehead and proceed to slowly encroach upon Midkemia, first to mine metals in the mountains east of Crydee, and then to expand westward to gain access to the sea.

The book ends abruptly, but understandably so, since the original publication was one large volume, not the two we see today published as Magician: Apprentice and Magician: Master. I look forward to reading the second half of this opening salvo in the Riftwar Saga next month. ( )

Loved this book when I was younger, and in rereading it I can see why. It doesn't speak to me the same way anymore, so time to get it off my shelf to make room for other things! ( )

A tepid, derivative mess. There are some intriguing concepts at the beginning, and a few passages that were lovely to read, but the bright points lose their luster against paper-thin characters, wooden dialogue, leaden and repetitive prose, ever-shifting point of view (sometimes in the middle of a scene), and shameless aping of Tolkienesque fantasy tropes. I was ready to give this book a pass as an average plot-driven heroic fantasy novel, but about two-thirds of the way through the story, the plot disintegrates as the main character disappears from the action and time starts jumping forward abruptly. Amateurish. I do not see the appeal. ( )

Feist writes a compelling adventure tale of intrigue, battle, alternate worlds with well drawn characters. Not afraid to shift perspectives and jump forward years at a time, he nonetheless maintains a plot that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Romance, training for war, for a career, to understand magic and strange powers and strange ways of a foreign invader are intertwined with political intrigue and the simpler contests of people trying to gain an advantage for the place they want to hold in their own spheres of life.
I would perhaps raise the issue that the female characters are not as fully drawn as the male characters. He tries, but they tend not to have the richness of interior thoughts and concerns as the males of Magician's Apprentice.
He does do surprising things though: [SPOILER ALERT!!!!] the central characters leave the flow of the story for many pages at a time. However, he does tend to stick to one point of view for lengthy stretches which aids in the cohesiveness of the story telling.
I was captivated. I do intend to read the other 4 books of the series...and in short order! ( )

One of my all time favorite books ( )