I just read Magician!

metalchicken

Ok, so I realise that there have no doubt been millions of posts about this, but after some of you have recommended this a few dozen times (im lookng at a couple of you in particular ) I thought I'd actually read it.

I enjoyed it a lot, thought it was good. It's been a while since I've read any sci-fi/ fantasy that wasn't Tolkein or Pratchett, and this was a good way to re-introduce myself to the genre hehe
So, what I WANT to know is: are any of the other books in the series as good? What about Feist's other stuff?? ANY suggestions for other books of the same vein would also be appreciated.

WhiteWashMan

one youve read magician you have read ll his books. theyre all the same, 'and the battle was truely joined' crap.
read wheel of time, of tomas covenant or anything by robert rankin

Blitzkrieger

The rest in the Riftwar Saga are all passable except for The Kings Bucanner which I thought was excellent. The Serpent War Saga (by the same author) are quite good too but you could do without the Empire trilogy.

LoLth

Magician: his best, the rewritten version was even better

Silverthorn: sort of an interlude feel to it, not great but fun

Darkness at Sethanon: hmmmm, the weakest of the three methinks. Sort of went from fantasy into "high" fantasy, something I personally don't like.

[not sure about order here]
Prince of the Blood: interesting. Enjoyable and stand alone, which I liked.

Royal Bucanneer: sets up for the serpentwar series. connected to Silverthorn and and Darkness at sethannon.

I think I'm missing one here.

Serpentwar Saga:
Rage of a Demon Queen: Good, new characters introduced.. sort of a 'next generation' type of thing - though not actually related.. by now you've seen enough of feist to have a good idea of where his book will go. not too many suprises.

Rise of a merchant Prince:
I enjoyed this one. Low fantasy. more grounded in 'reality', well, closer to reality if ya know what i mean. Ending was a feistian wrap-up, don't expect too much. Leaves a lot wide open for the next book.

Rage (?) of a Demon King:
war bits are good. Pug gets on my nerves and is waaaay too smarmy. Nakor has become annoying in a jar-jar sort of way. As part of a series, it continues well and if you've read this far, you may as well continue. Enjoyable all the same.

Shards of a broken crown:
Smart git! he made it four parts instead of his usual three.... My favourite because it felt more 'grounded' than the others. Again though, Feist uses a wrap up that really does the rest of the book no justice. a pity, because all you really remember is the disappointing ending, with a decent end, the book would have been excellent.

With Janny Wurts:
Daughter of the Empire: set on Kelewan at the same time as the riftwar. Well researched, well written. Smart. the ending is good (if a little hollywood), but very enjoyable. Wurts' influence on the work is easy to see (more attention to detail, a more patient (?) style, more complex) but the wording is still Feist - which is good as he makes a good storyteller.

Servant of the Empire:
A good sequel. Ties Midkemia and Kelewan more closely, there is even a scene 'borrowed' from Magician but seen froma different perspective. Again, more political-fantasy than gung-ho fantasy. The book feels like an interlude though and certainly wouldn't stand alone.

Mistress of the Empire:
The last of the trilogy. Perhaps, in finding a new adversary they went a bit too far, but it is still very enjoyable. Ending is good and you wind up thinking of the whole trilogy rather than just the last bit.

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Non Kelewan:
Faerie Tale (Feist)
Read this when it first came out. Only read it once. I remember likeing it though. It wasn't really horror. Not in the Herbert/Lumley/Koontz sense anyway but was still a good read.

did Feist write any others?

Personally, I think Feist is a Great story teller, but not a great writer. Its not his words that let the books down, its more that the ones he chooses don't seem to really get across the idea he had. Obviously his endings had more depth and impact in his head, but that doesn't show on paper.
IMHO, Wurts was the best thing that could have happened to him. Those two should definitely team up again.

Now, as far as Whitewash's comments are concerned.
1. Yes, it's a pity Feist's first book was his best. It sort of takes away from the others, and yes, they do all read similarly. It's his style. they are NOT however , the same, the same would be that Belgariad set of series which were just the exact same occurances rehashed in four different sets of books and explained away by a circular fate reference when one character actually turns around and says "I get the feeling we've done this before" in the second series... oh, and then goes on to predict the next three encounters/difficulties they'll face.

2. Wheel of Time: BIG. VERY BIG. perhaps too big? Jordan has gone for epic, but he's running out of steam. His intrigues are resolving themselves too quick for his story and he has to invent new ones. the characters are starting to get repetitive and don't seem to actually evolve. Plus, will Jordan actually live to finish the things? He's no spring chicken (metal or otherwise). That said, I like these books. Very involving, very readable. Just a pain in the **** waiting for the next installment.

3. Tomas Covenant. I like 'gritty' fantasy. and this is about as gritty as it gets. THe hero is a git. he's a scumbag. he whines, moans, takes advantage of situations. He's selfish, self pitying (with reason I suppose). I really really liked these books. The first trilogy was excellent. the second set sort of felt like a let down. they weren't as good (IMO). The overall ending was a bit too 'arty' for me and left the grittiness behind, it just didn't seem to fit with the rest. But it was still excellent.

4. Robert Rankin. Doesn't he just write comedic fantasy? I like his stuff and would love to read some 'serious' work of his. Any recommendations?

WhiteWashMan

Originally posted by LoLth:

4. Robert Rankin. Doesn't he just write comedic fantasy? I like his stuff and would love to read some 'serious' work of his. Any recommendations?

serious stuff?
rankin?
no chance, its all of the wall stuff. you really need to be in the right frame of mind or it all sounds like unfunny punchlines. get into it and its bloody funny.
the armagedon trilogy is very good with elvis and barry the talking sprout. oh, and jesus and his sister make an appearance.

tomas covanent was really good. especially the first set. covanent himself is as you say a scumbag. but the series itself is excellent.
the only reason i liked the second was that when i started reading it, it had a very disturbing effect in that i nearly cried when i saw how the land had become.
however, after that 2 seconds of sorrow, the books just dragged out and i stopped caring about him or lindan avery after a bnook and a half. i just wanted to find out about the bloodgaurd
wheel of time, very long, very long winded, very digressive, but bloody enjoyable.
ive read it 5 or 6 times right through and its still about the most enjoyable series, purely as it is very long.

david eddings iss just crap and to be honest i havent bothered reading much else. fantasy isnt my forte. although id read the label on washing powder packages if i was bored....
im actually looking for a good read myself these days, as ive just finished the gap series by donaldson which is soo much better than the tomas covanent series. except the characters think too much. youd swear they are all psychologists!!!
might try some ian banks

Draco

Originally posted by LoLth:
they are NOT however , the same, the same would be that Belgariad set of series which were just the exact same occurances rehashed in four different sets of books and explained away by a circular fate reference when one character actually turns around and says "I get the feeling we've done this before" in the second series... oh, and then goes on to predict the next three encounters/difficulties they'll face.

Not quite true - it's two stories, both told twice: the Belgariad/Mallorian and the Elium/Tamuli.

And have you no bloody work to be doing?

Dr-(I'm grumpy so what?)-aco

Shiminay

I still haven't got round to finishing the last in the Empire Series - but as everyone else said, Janny Wurts really made a big difference. There was a certain formula to all of his own books, but they're still and enjoyable read.

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All the best,

Dav
@B^)
My page of stuff

metalchicken

wow, what a huge huge HUGE reply LoLth, cool, cheers y'all