Customer Reviews

Magician Apprentice

5 star:		(247)
4 star:		(64)
3 star:		(33)
2 star:		(18)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I just read this book for the fifth time. Raymond Feist spins a wonderful tale filled with interesting characters. The first book in the Riftwar Saga revolves primarily around an orphan named Pug and his best friend Thomas. Pug and Thomas are caught up in a war with a mysterious invader from another world. Pug as the apprentice to his Dukes magician is right in the middle of the conflict. Thomas is separated from Pug and comes into the possession of a magical set of armor, which gives him great fighting abilities. However, the armor seems to be changing Thomas into something other than human.
This novel is a well-rounded fantasy read. I highly enjoy the combination of Elves, Dwarves, Dragons and Magic. The story is not too heavily weighted with these elements though. Mr. Feist spends more time developing the characters and plot than slinging magic around.
So if you have not read this series then I recommend you either go buy it or find a friend who has already read and loved it and borrow his/hers.

In deference to the negative reviews I must say that this is not a highly thought provoking book. However, it is a very fast paced enjoyable read. I have read hundreds of fantasy novels and this series is one that I have enjoyed more than most (Top Ten). I read novels in a series as some others read chapters, so it is a little hard to just review this book. I highly recommend any fantasy lover to read this series. There are also many novels that come after this series that are just as good (i.e. Serpentwar Saga).
Also, at least read books 1 and 2 before making any final judgments (since they were originally one novel).

Plenty of reviews on this wonderful novel already so I'll just cover some personal highlights (will avoid spoilers):

CONCEPT: Epic scope here. See two young boys in a backwater Duchy rise up in power as they help the lands from an alien invasion coming through a gateway. Lots of mystery with this alien race, which is a combination of Japanese, Korean and Chinese Kingdoms. Lots of wonder, exotic and mystical places as well as a real delving into the two different cultures. Excellent to superb characters. OVERALL FEELING: epic scope; wondrous; superbly woven characters

SCORING: Superb (A), Excellent (A-), Very good (B+), Good (B) Fairly Good (B-) Above Average (C+), Mediocre (C ), Barely Passable (C-) Pretty Bad (D+), Dismal (D), Waste of Time (D-), Into the Trash (F)

DIALOGUE: B+ STRUCTURE: A HISTORY SETTING: B CHARACTERS: A EVIL SETUP/ANTAGONISTS: A- EMOTIONAL IMPACT: A- SURPRISES: B+ MONSTERS: B PACING: B+ THE LITTLE THINGS: A OVERALL STYLE: A- FLOW OF WORDS: B+ CHOICE OF FOCUS: A TRANSITIONS/FLASHBACKS/POV: A- COMPLEXITY OF WORDS/SYMBOLISM/THEMES: A-

OVERALL GRADE: A-

CONCEPT: A beautiful epic fantasy whose true strength lies in the emotional details of its characters. Story focuses on the orphan pug who starts out as an apprentice to the wizard, Kulgan, and shows little promise. As events continue to progress, the nation faces a devastating war with the Tsurani, a warrior Asian race of beings who come through a rift from another world. In the meantime, each different character must deal with the war and its effects on their territories.

HISTORY: Good. Feist gets away with talking about only bits and pieces of the History. Also, one thing I appreciate about his History (unlike Robert Jordan's WHEEL OF TIME) is that he doesn't bombard it upon his readers. Instead, the History is incorporated into the storyline as it progresses. No stupid tangents where the novelist goes off talking about such things while the rest of us wait around for the details.

CHARACTERS: This is Feist's forte'. Just about every character, from the main character all the way down to the sub characters, are richly detailed. Just like a tapestry that entrances the eyes and you never get tired of looking at them day after day. While it's true that all novels allow you to get inside the heads of the characters, Feist goes further; especially with the two boys (who seem to be the main characters); Pug and Tomas. We especially are privileged to get into Pug's head where we read his conflicting emotions of confusion and infatuation for Carline, the princess of the Duchy. And, it doesn't just read that pug is crestfallen or something short. Feist develops the pain and worries of each character where it feels justified, logical and stirring. I noticed he did this to a lesser extent with Tomas when it came time for the young boy to decide if he was going to leave the dwarves for home during the various raids against the Tsurani. And, so too, we see Tomas' connection with some being of old who is long gone.

Each character has a clear and understandable motivation. Even better, these motivations overlap or come into conflict. For instance, there's a good deal of interplay between Pug and Carline in the beginning.

DIALOGUE: Medieval dialogue is difficult to write for starters. Feist does a very good job with it for the most part. Not too many contractions and usage of medieval words that tie into the dialogue ("He came straight away" "We both played to her tune."). In other words, medieval slang that added a sense of realism to the story.

The first 1/3 seems to be about Pug and his adjustments to the new challenges around him (i.e. dealing with Carline, becoming a squire, apprenticeship, the discovery of the Tsurani); the next 1/3 is Pug and allies going to Rillanon to warn the king of this new threat (this has two smaller categories when Tomas and Pug get separated; and we do both of their stories; this is also the biggest chunk of the three parts); and the last 1/3 is mostly focusing on Tomas and his magical armor but most of the focus goes back to Crydee where we concentrate on the siege, as well as Carline and Rolands' love blossoming. Again, I must STRESS that the excellent to fabulous characters enriched the structure here. There were a certain degree of cliff hangers here that leapt from one story to another in the novel, but not like a movie. Feist definitely wanted to bring us in slowly and in a world of instant gratification there's definitely something to be said for it.

Raymond E. Feist originally wrote one large volume called "Magician" to kick off what turned into a major series. In 1998 this extremely large novel was broken into two, edited by the Author and published as "Magician: Apprentice" and "Magician: Master". In the process, extra material was added, filling in some of the gaps and fleshing out a few characters more fully.

In retrospect it seems like the original book was begging for a split. Almost exactly half way through, there was a major change in direction. The focus moved from one world to another along with the central character, Pug. Naturally, the Apprentice and Master mentioned in the book's titles refer to Pug's stages in his training as a magician.

I was not completely happy with the remaining books in the series, however, the two Magician novels are perfect and also work well without ever reading the proceeding books. The characters are real, rich and engrossing. The plot is complex but focused. The environment, is carefully crafted, particularly the political landscape.

At the risk of becoming hackneyed, you will have difficulty putting these books down. The underlying level of suspense is intense which in itself is the sign of a good writer but even more, you will begin to care deeply for Pug and a need will grow to find out how everything turns out.

I read this book months ago and I'm still trying to figure out what went wrong. I like to peruse fantasy book lists and guides on amazon to find all the great series that everyone knows about but I've never read. That's how I discovered Martin, Hobb, Williams, etc. On many of these lists was Raymond E. Feist and most people declared that Magician: Apprentice was the best book to begin with. I purchased this book and the next one certain that the Riftwar saga was going to become my latest obsession; it had stellar reviews and high ratings.

The story began typically with an unimportant young boy who caught the eye of a magician and became his apprentice. The beginning was utterly predictable and the main character, Pug (Really!?) was bland but without much effort I read the beginning of the story. It dragged on but I knew the plot would materialize eventually. When things began happening and the inevitable long-journey-from-one-place-to-another started I realized something was different about this book; whatever the characters did or said, I didn't care what happened to them. I figured if I kept reading eventually I would be more interested in the characters but the boring/clichéd dialogue made it impossible.

The story wasn't gripping and it was the first fantasy book that felt like a chore to finish. Maybe I was spoiled by reading The Farseer Trilogy and A Song of Ice and Fire before Magician and expected the same standard of writing and character development. I may try reading it again someday but for now, I would only recommend it to people who haven't read much fantasy or enjoy most Tolkien inspired epics.

I gave the book three stars instead of two to acknowledge that the vast majority of its readers saw something I didn't. I wanted to like it. Really.

I. Just. Didn't. Get. It.

I now have a newfound appreciation for George R.R. Martin's books after reading this horribly inept novel. Why build up the whole plot around Pug, Thomas and Kulgan only to have them completely disappear the last third of the book. I kept waiting for the storyline to return to Pug chapter after chapter and was pissed off when I got to the end with Pug never reappearing. I'm sorry but that is just BAD storytelling.

By the way, the book shouldn't be titled "Magician: Apprentice" if it only includes ONE element of magic in a 400+ page book. Ohhhh...Pug kills a couple Trolls. How exciting! While I'm all for toning down the magic, you need to at least reward the reader with SOMETHING toward the end.

I will say this, the last 150 pages of this novel was a great cure for insomnia. Just try keeping yourself awake after the Tsurani attack for the tenth time in a row! Prince Arutha was a poorly developed character that I really didn't give a crap about.

I highly recommend that you pass on this book. There are much better fantasy writers out there. Perhaps I've been spoiled by George R.R. Martin's brilliant novels.

When I first picked up this book 4 years ago I was bored and hoping to find a book that could hold my interest for more that 15 minutes. I didn't put it down until i was finished. I was hooked from the first page. The characters were amazing. I felt like I knew them personally, they held my affection and loyalty. I loved the plot, the setting, the magic, and the adventure. From this book I went on to the next 3 in this series which were just as good, and the other 7 books by this author that are set in the world of Midkemia. I highly recommend this book for people who love adventure!

MAGICIAN had been sitting on my "soon to be read" shelf for nearly four years, having been put off time and time again because I had a feeling it would be a Belgariad clone. Surprisingly, it was far superior.

I've seen dozens of fantasy epics featuring the "orphan kid who grows up to save the kingdom," but this one grabbed me right away and kept me glued with its steady flow of action.

The RIFTWAR SAGA, at first glance, seems to be your standard fantasy setting with elves, dwarves and the generic goblins and monsters... but Feist's interesting system of magic, and the idea of the "rifts" that allow the enemy to invade -bring new life to the formula making MAGICIAN very worth while.

-As someone else said- this is indeed a great introduction to fantasy reading!

I just finished reading the Wheel of Time for the second time in anticipation of Book 10 in that series. Tolkien and Jordan are the only two fantasy writers I had ever read, before this, and they have proven to be a tough standard to meet. Magician: Apprentice was not bad, but I often found the plot to be predictable. It seemed to be the 'fantasy' of an amateur writer who had played too much Dungeons and Dragons, the sort of story you might expect to be posted on the internet. That being said, I still enjoyed parts of it. Towards the end, the book became interesting. I have started Magician: Master and thus far it is vastly superior, as the plot is more original and does not seem to be derived from Dungeons and Dragons so much. If you have not read the Wheel of Time series, I would recommend it over this Rift War Saga in a heart beat.

I've just read Magician (the single-volume edition) for the second time. The first time I read it was about 15 years ago, and again I found it to be an enjoyable read.

Feist has taken fairly stock fantasy elements and created something fun and interesting with them. I was not at all surprised to find out that the book originated from a fantasy rpg setting - it has that feel to it, as other gamers will have picked up.

Other readers have focussed on the book's good points, so I won't repeat them.

The characters are rather stereotyped. We have the elderly wizard, the taciturn woodsman, the impetuous princess, her brothers - one fair-haired and sunny-natured, the other dark and serious. But Feist makes an attempt to develop them further than that, and to create relationships between them.

Most of the characters are likeable. There are no real villains. Those responsible for the invasion are left mostly nameless and faceless. The Thieves Guild are a helpful bunch and even Black Guy is revealed to have a peculiar streak of honour.

I would have liked to see more prominent female characters. They're there, but as fringe characters, only defined by their relationships with the men. Even the elven queen succumbs to the charms of a male character and is helpless to resist him. Perhaps another indication that this sprung from the imagination of a role-player? ;)

I also found that the passage of time was handled rather clumsily. One moment we're getting a day-by-day account of events, next thing a year has passed. This can be done well, and has been in other books, but here it was confusing and irritating.

Another thing I found somewhat irritating was Feist's writing style. It's unfortunate that most writers either have great ideas, or a way with words, and there's a very small overlap between the two.

But all-in-all, a worthwhile read. I'm keen to read the follow-up books, and that's the best indication of how enjoyable it was.

If you're a reader of fantasy literature, you've probably heard of Raymond E. Feist. You probably know he's a recognized fantasy writer - and, suprising or not, this is the book that started it all.

Quite commonly, known fantasy authors are best ranked on their first books. Feist is no exception. First of all, he knows how to develop a world. Midkemia, as a fantasy setting, is in my private ranking second only to Tolkien's Middle-Earth. Second of all, he knows how to develop characters - Pug, whom most the story revolves around in here, is one of my favorite fantasy figures. Last but not least of all, he knows how to develop a plotline. With Magician, like with most of Feist's novels, you'll not get bored for a minute. There's always something happening, the action is always getting pushed forward, something always lurks around the corner.

That said, Feist's novels are well fleshed out. This is not a 'pure epic heroic fantasy' setting the likes of Tolkien, these are 'real life' characters and 'real life' problems. Feist does not stay out of social, political and sexual matters in his novels, which makes them more lifelike and more entertaining.

I made this an advertisement of Feist's writing on purpose - unlike some authors, like Jordan, which have been on a steady decline in their last novels, Feist keeps his level. I've read probably about 20 of his novels and neither one disappointed me - and Magician is certainly a great start. Also, if you for some reason happen to dislike it, you'll at least know Feist is not for you. Although I don't really imagine that happenning.