Magician

Feist sets a sincere tone in the early chapters that is carried across the novel as a whole.

magician by Raymond E Feist is a fantasy novel that chronicles the childhood of an everyday hero with hidden powers. Read my review here.

https://www.johncadamsreviews.com/single-post/magician-by-raymond-e-feist

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I don't think I knew what I was getting into with this one. This is a gateway into a huge universe of Feist's works, which if the first is any indication are quite enjoyable. The story follows the rise of a magician through an unusual path. A lot of this story reminded me of Sanderson's The Stormlight Archive series - the alternate worlds, the distrust and struggles for power, along with rise to power. Ok, those are things that are in many stories, but perhaps the scope of the worlds hit on some similarities as well. I'll probably end up finishing off the Magician trilogy next year, as just thinking about the story makes me want to see where it goes next. ( )

I love the book, but was annoyed with the narrator.

While his normal in-character narrating voice is just fine (the kind of voice I associate with big, bearded, pipe-smoking old wizards), any time he tried to act out some strong emotion it sounded... constipated. And it's very much not fun listening to a young lady sobbing in the voice of a constipated middle-aged man.

And then there's all changing voices for minor characters (sometimes even in the middle of a sentence).

So yeah, not really in love with the narrator, but the books is still great fun, in writing and in audio :) ( )

I enjoyed the first third or so of this novel, after which things slowed down considerably and I trudged through the remainder of the book. It began as a medieval-tinged coming of age story, with young boys being apprenticed to masters of arms, woodsmanship, and magic; swerved into science fiction with aliens from another universe invading through a rift, seeking precious metals, and finally became a bit of a political thriller with kings and dukes and lines of succession and hidden heirs to the throne. Individually each of the story lines could have held their own, but all together I felt that they detracted rather than supported each other. ( )

This book is brilliant in its written form and just as great as an audio book. I often found myself fully emerged in the worlds of Feist and could not get enough.
The performance was solid throughout and easily understood. The variety of accents and tones were great and allowed for a diverse range of character representation. There was the odd bit of pronunciation of names which was different to how I think of them but that was minor for me.
I'm looking forward to revisiting this world of old friends. ( )