Magician: Master (1982)

Another heroic romance, one of my favorite types of reading, Magician-Master is the one that I reacted to most strongly of the 5 book series. Feist wrote this as his second novel, but, from the beginning, to me, seems to have had a handle on what makes a story good. Pug and Tomas are two young boys who set out on their journeys to adulthood in quite different ways. Pug, an orphan who was fostered by Tomas' parents becomes an apprentice magician while Tomas, taller and stronger, enters service as a guardsman.
Thus Feist begins a "coming of age" tale in which a duchy on the far western reaches of a kingdom is where an attack from another world begins in Magician: Apprentice. Here in the second book, Pug has been captured and transported to the world of Kelewan where his magical talents are also discovered and then honed. The Riftwar continues and grows while Pug grows in his mastery of the magic arts. Indeed, it was fortunate for him that he is captured, as it is only in Kelewan that his skills could have been teased out into their fullness. The 2 thirteen year olds have now been separated by events and Tomas has also gained a certain magical power that pushes him to become a champion of the world of Elves and ultimately to become the consort of the Elven Queen. Meanwhile, Pug too has been married and become a magician of notable power.

This series will remain one of my favorites, alongside The Lord of the Rings by Tolkien, the Chronicles of Narnia by Lewis and the Belgariad by Eddings. ( )

The second half of Magician became increasingly dark as I approached the climactic end to the Kelewan-Midkemian Riftwar. I observed definite growth to full maturity between Pug and Tomas, and perhaps that growth from boyhood through young adult into adulthood is what I lament - the rite of passage of most normal young boys, though Pug and Tomas could never be mistaken for normal. While everything seemed wondrous and adventurous in the first half of the novel (also known as Magician: Apprentice), I felt the oppression of circumstances, the collision of events and the machinations of a magician previously thought trustworthy. Not all was dark and gloomy, yet I didn't walk away from this book thinking it ended on a resoundingly happy note.

A couple of scenes stood out as a bit over-the-top and stretched the envelope of believability: Milamber's reaction to the Imperial Games and Tomas' ability to overcome a dead dreaded god-like being with his boyish mental fortitude. And I can't deny I felt gut-punched by the eleventh-hour betrayal by Macros.

For a debut work, I applaud Raymond Feist for a magnificent tale and the beginning to a well-loved fantasy epic. I'm continuing the Riftwar Saga by reading Silverthorn this month. ( )

One of my favorite book series. ( )

Book two of the Riftwar saga is perhaps even better than the first. Pug who is now on Kelwan, as a slave, has his magical talents discovered, and is made into a magician there - A Great One - above the law, and apart from it - even as a captured slave. The Kingdom find itself slowly losing a war of attrition, and treachery from within as Black guy aims to be king at any cost. Pug feigns loyalty to eht empire, while plotting how to better both worlds by stopping the war. Thomas evolves into something more than human, and Marcos inserts himself to settle the outcome once and for all. But what was Marcos's real intention? ( )

Descriptions of bureaucracies and organizations are great and detailed, like the first book, and yet the Tsuranni world seems flat and naively Japanese. There are some MAJOR problems with pacing that begin 2/3 the way through and the final culmination of the various plot-lines is handled badly. That said, there are some great bits: the colosseum battle (before the dumb magic stuff) provides 2 or 3 excellent pages; Pug's apprenticeship with the robed ones is good (though his transcendental experience starts off awesomely, it gets dull); and the Mockers are exciting. Unfortunately, these enjoyable bits are short and get crushed by the weight of the out-of-control pacing and plot. It should be longer and manage all the subplots better. We should all probably read the Author's Preferred Edition (I think there is one). ( )