nerdybutcute reviewed Magician by Raymond E. Feist (The Riftwar Saga, #1)
A fine re-read
3 stars
My mother got me the Riftwar Cycle back in the 80s and as a good D&D fan I fell on them greedily. Feist's storytelling is workmanlike but effective; he's not going to surprise you with his plots or wow you with poetic prose, but he has built an interesting low-fantasy world (with some VERY high-fantasy elements thrown in) and tells a sprawling-but-coherent story. Some people have called him a hack, but if he is, he's the good kind of hack - not an "artiste," but certainly an effective professional writer who can knock out a "ripping yarn" (in his own not-so-modest assessment of his story) that does what it sets out to do, which is entertain you and nothing more.
I have re-read Magician: Apprentice and the other Riftwar books from time to time in the last thirty-five years and always enjoyed them. They aren't high art, nor were they …
My mother got me the Riftwar Cycle back in the 80s and as a good D&D fan I fell on them greedily. Feist's storytelling is workmanlike but effective; he's not going to surprise you with his plots or wow you with poetic prose, but he has built an interesting low-fantasy world (with some VERY high-fantasy elements thrown in) and tells a sprawling-but-coherent story. Some people have called him a hack, but if he is, he's the good kind of hack - not an "artiste," but certainly an effective professional writer who can knock out a "ripping yarn" (in his own not-so-modest assessment of his story) that does what it sets out to do, which is entertain you and nothing more.
I have re-read Magician: Apprentice and the other Riftwar books from time to time in the last thirty-five years and always enjoyed them. They aren't high art, nor were they meant to be. Good fun.