Raymond E. Fiest - The Riftwar Saga
Overview:
Genre: Fantasy
Stars: 4 out of 5
Author's Website: Raymond E. Feist
My thoughts: Despite being a little slow to begin with, I really enjoyed this series, and Magician really should be read before reading the Empire sequence. Magician was my favourite book out of these three, naturally, though the series as a whole is recommended, especially if you're going to be reading any of his other books!
The Books:
"Magician" - Published 1982
(Consists of two volumes: "Magician: Apprentice" and "Magician: Master")
Magician tells the tale of two boyhood briends from the Kingdom of the Isles. Their fantasies of becoming soldiers of the castle garrison are swept away when a mysterious ship crashes on a nearby shore. As invaders from a faraway land threaten to conquer all known civilization, fate destines one boy to become one of the greatest mages ever lived, and the other to receive the evil inheritance of a civilization long since gone. When these two young men grow to their full power the war receives a whole new dimension.
"Silverthorn" - Published 1985
Although Magician saw the end of the actual war, Riftwar saga carries on. Silverthorn introduces Jimmy the Hand, a young and able thief, and Guild of Death whose assassins pose a new threat for the royal family. As Prince Arutha of Krondor pursues to defeat the assassins he unravels a sinister plot of the Dark Brotherhood who seek to unleash a dark power upon the Kingdow. And all this somehow connects to the other side of the rift.
"A Darkness at Sethanon" - Published 1986
An ancient evil is about to resurface as all the powers in the Kingdom gather around Sethanon. However, the Valheru inside Tomas hasn't have said his last word, and neither has Macros the Black, the mightiest mage in all the world. As Prince Arutha and his companions rally their forces for a battle beneath the walls of the city called Sethanon, Pug, the master magician also known as Milamber, must undertake an awesome and perilous quest to the dawn of time to grapple with an ancient and terrible enemy for the fate of a thousand worlds.
Raymond E. Fiest - Krondor's Sons
Overview:
Genre: Fantasy
Stars: Unread
Author's Website: Raymond E. Feist
My thoughts: I have not read either of these books, though my brother recommends them :)
The Books:
"Prince of the Blood" - Published 1989
Set twenty years after the Battle of Sethanon, the story involves the trek of Prince Arutha’s two sons (Boric and Erland) down into the heart of the Empire of Great Kesh as ambassadors for the Crown on the occasion of the Empress of Kesh’s 75th birthday Jubilee celebrations. However, things often have a way of not going properly and the two wily young Princes of Krondor will have to seel themselves will if they are to make it to Kesh alive and survive long enough to uncover the root of the deception which plans to throw Kesh and the Kingdom into all out war.
"The King's Buccaneer" - Published 1992
Set ten years after "Prince of the Blood", the story now focuses on Prince Nicholas of Krondor - younger brother to Borric and Erland - who is sent by Arutha to the western outpost town of Crydee so that he might grown and develop in a way the restrictive court life of Krondor prevents. However, during a hunting trip with Duke Martin, Crydee is viciously attacked, along with other towns along the western outpost. Like his brothers ten years earlier, Nicholas must learn to discard his boyish fears and open his eyes to the harsh realities of life. His journey will take him across treacherous seas and harsh, unfamiliar lands in order to discover who ordered these dreadful attacks, and rescue the few who were taken from Crydee alive.
Raymond E. Fiest - Serpentwar Saga
Overview:
Genre: Fantasy
Stars: Unread
Author's Website: Raymond E. Feist
My thoughts: I've been intending to read these books for about 6 years... I will get to them eventually! :)
The Books:
"Shadow of a Dark Queen" - Published 1994
A dread darkness is descending upon a great land called Midkemia - a powerful and malevolent race of monsters that has slipped through a hole in the dimensions. And two unlikely young heroes - a bastard heir denied his birthright and an irrepressible scoundrel with a penchant for thievery - must take up arms in the struggle to protect their besieged world.
"Rise of a Merchant Prince" - Published 1995
Surviving the wrath of the fearsome Sauur - a hideous race of invading serpents - noble Erik and cunning Roo have delivered a timely warning to the rulers of the Midkemian Empire, and are now free to pursue their separate destinies.
"Rage of a Demon King" - Published 1997
A loyal soldier and a wealthy merchant have served bravely in the flames of an enduring war that is ravaging their land. But swords, bows, wits and courage will no longer be enough to defeat the scourge that is descending upon their home. For a foul and terrible thing has escaped from a world already devoured to feed on one consumed by chaos.
"Shards of a Broken Crown" - Published 1998
Winter's icy grasp is loosening on the world. The Emerald Queen's vanquished army has its broken back to the Bitter Sea. And treachery is its only recourse.
Raymond E. Fiest - Riftwar Legacy
Overview:
Genre: Fantasy
Stars: 3 out of 5
Author's Website: Raymond E. Feist
My thoughts: A continuation of stories based around the Riftwar Saga. I remember liking The Assassins, but to be honest, I can't remember the other two.
The Books:
"Krondor: the Betrayal" - Published 1998
The RiftWar is done. But a fearsome army of trolls and renegade humans, emboldened by the drug of destruction, has risen in strength from the ashes of defeat. There is one, however, who defies the call to battle.
"Krondor: the Assassins" - Published 1999
Prince Arutha - newly returned from battle - is concerned about a rash of unexplained assassinations that plagues his capital city. And so he commissions his most trusted agent, Squire James - formerly the thief known as "Jimmy the Hand" - to discover the source of the deadly epidemic.
"Krondor: Tear of the Gods" - Published 2000
The vile sorcerer Sidi plans to strike the kingdom a fatal blow, setting the murderous pirate Bear upon the high seas in pursuit of the vessel that is transporting Midkemia's most holy object; the Tear of the Gods.
Raymond E. Fiest - Legends of the Riftwar
Overview:
Genre: Fantasy
Stars: 4 out of 5
Author's Website: Raymond E. Feist
My thoughts: More books based around the Riftwar Saga. I thought Honoured Enemy was great, and I enjoyed the other two also. :)
The Books:
"Honoured Enemy" with William Forstchen - Published 2001
Hartraft's Marauders, a crack band of Kingdom raiders, are a special unit designed to infiltrate and fight behind enemy lines. They are currently heading for a frontier garrison, after a disastrous encounter with the Tsurani.
Meanwhile, a Tsurani patrol is sent to support an assault on the same garrison. Both sides arrive at the same time and discover the garrison has been overrun by a migrating horde of moredhel (dark elves) and they are forced by circumstances to band together and fight as one to survive.
The only problem is, who do they hate the most - their mutual enemy, or each other? As they make their way across the unknown Northlands to freedom, they have to struggle not only with the elements and their enemies, but also their conscience. For what is more important - one's life or one's honour?
"Murder in LaMut" with Joel Rosenberg - Published 2002
The heavy action was supposedly at Crydee these days which meant that the one place they could be sure the three of them were not going was Crydee. Come spring, the privateer Melanie was due in Ylith, and its captain could be counted on for a swift conveyance away for sure, and likely not to murder them in their sleep. That would be bad for business. But away where?
That wasn’t Durine’s worry. Kethol would surely be able to find the three of them somebody who needed men who knew which part of the sword you used to cut with and which part you used to butter your bread, and Pirojil would be able to negotiate a price at least half again what the employer was ready to pay. All Durine would have to do was kill people. That was fine with him.
Durine, Kethol and Pirojil are three mercenaries who have spent twenty years fighting other people’s battles: against the Tsurani and the Bugs and the goblins, and now it seems they’ve run out of Tsurani, Bugs and goblins to kill. The prospect of a few months of garrison duty offers a welcome respite; but then they are given an assignment that seems, on the surface, like cushy work – to protect a lady and her husband and deliver them safely to the city of LaMut.
It should all have been so simple...
"Jimmy the Hand" with Steve Stirling - Published 2003
Jimmy the Hand, boy thief of Krondor, lived in the shadows of the city. The sewers were his byways and a flea-ridden, rat infested cellar his home. Although gifted beyond his peers, he was still but a nimble street urchin, a pickpocket with potential. Until the day he met Prince Arutha.
Aiding the Prince in his rescue of Princess Anita from imprisonment by Duke Guy du Bas-Tyra, Jimmy ran afoul of Black Guy's secret police. But his situation gets worse when he blatantly disregards the Upright Man's instruction to lie-low in order to rescue his fellow Mockers from the cruel reprisal of the Dukes henchmen.
Given the choice of disapearing on his own, or with the Upright Man's help - in a weighted barrel at the bottom of Krondor's harbour - Jimmy flees the only home he's ever known, and ventures south to the relatively safe haven of Lands End. Suspecting the rural villagers have never encountered a lad with his talent and nose for finding wealth - other peoples wealth, he's fairly optimistic about his broadening his horizons. But Jimmy is completely unprepared for what greets him.
For Lands End is home to others who tred the crooked path, and more, to a darker secret; a dangerous presence unknown to even the local thieves and smugglers. Jimmy's youthful bravado and courage plunge him deep into the maw of chaos and death.
Raymond E. Fiest - Conclave of Shadows
Overview:
Genre: Fantasy
Stars: 3 out of 5
Contains: moderate violence
Author's Website: Raymond E. Feist
My thoughts: This was an enjoyable series, though a little neat at the end of book two. I don't rave about it, but it'll do if you're looking for something to read.
The Books:
"Talon of the Silver Hawk" - Published 2003
In a distant land, high among the snow-capped mountains, a peaceful nation is mercilessly put to the sword - yet one will survive. Little more than a boy, Talon of the Silver Hawk must carry on until, someday, he can take vengeance.
"King of Foxes" - Published 2004
Young Tal Hawkins was the only survivor of the massacre of his village - rescued, recruited, and trained by the mysterious order of magicians and spies, the Conclave of Shadows. Already exceptionally skilled in swordsmanship, he has since developed into one of the secret society's most valuable agents, keeping ever alert for the opportunity to arise when he can avenge the craven slaughter of his family and friends.
"Exile's Return" - Published 2005
The evil Duke of Olasko is lord no more - vanquished by his nemesis Tal Hawkins, the Talon of the Silver Hawk. Saved by a mage's intervention from certain death, the once-feared despot has been reduced to an exile's existence, forced to wander the harshest realms of the world he once enslaved.
Raymond E. Fiest - The Darkwar Saga
Overview:
Genre: Fantasy
Stars: Unread
Author's Website: Raymond E. Feist
My thoughts: More books based around the Riftwar Saga.
The Books:
"Flight of the Nighthawks" - Published 2005
A new evil threatens Midkemia, its web stretching from the deepest criminal underworld all the way up to the highest seats of power in ancient Kesh. And the Conclave of Shadows, charged unexpectedly with the training of two apprentices, must also best powerful agents of the darkest magic ... for the fate of two worlds lies in the balance. Raymond E. Feist returns to his signature world of Midkemia in this first book in a new trilogy that ushers in the third, and most dramatic, Riftwar yet: the Darkwar. In the middle of the night on Sorcerer's Isle, the powerful sorcerer Pug is awakened from a nightmare that portends destruction for all of Midkemia. Disturbed by the dream, Pug calls for a convening of the Conclave of Shadows.
Though Pug does not yet know it, his son Magnus has discovered the cause of Pug's prophetic dream: a beacon has been unleashed, directing a vast army of alien invaders to Midkemia, an army so formidable that even the might of the Tsurani Empire might fall before its fury. Meanwhile, in far Stardock town, two boys are coming of age. But on the dusty path that leads them from home they are thrust by fate into a life undreamed of, becoming enmeshed in intrigue, murder, and treason. Though untrained and unready, they are called upon by the mysterious Conclave to travel deep into the heart of the Empire of Great Kesh, to confront a plot so dark and twisted it will implicate even the highest-ranking nobles of the Empire, even members of the royal family itself. And behind this plot they discover the ancient Brotherhood of Death, the clan of assassins known as the Nighthawks. And Pug will find himself once again facing his old nemesis, the evil wizard formerly known as Sidi, now Leso Varen, in a confrontation with everything at stake: his honour, his life, and the future of Midkemia.
"Into a Dark Realm" - Published 2006
Chaos threatens to overwhelm two worlds as the most dangerous force ever encountered threatens to invade Midkemia, while the most treacherous magician in history - the madman Leso Varen - begins to wreak havoc on the world of Kelewan.
Pug and the Conclave of Shadows are determined to find Varen, only to discover that he has usurped the body of one of the most powerful men in the Empire of Tsuranuani - a Black Robe and member of the Assembly of Magicians. Pug has the almost impossible task of uncovering the true identity of the fiendish magician in an entire city full of Black Robes.
Murder, mayhem, horror, and the darkest evil await Pug's son, Magnus, and his companions as they attempt to discover the ultimate source of the terrible threat that hovers over Midkemia and Kelewan. Leading a desperate expedition into the realm of the Dasati, the vast and malevolent empire which is threatening his homeworld, Magnus hopes to find the key to defeating this enemy who is capable of overwhelming the combined might of two worlds. But even if he does, the companions will have a desperate struggle to return home with their vital information.
Three worlds will teeter on the brink of destruction as the third Riftwar: the Darkwar, is unleashed.
"Wrath of a Mad God" - Published 2008
The Darkwar has fallen upon the worlds of Kelewan and Midkemia; a time of heroes, trials and destruction.
Following their dangerous mission to the realm of the alien Dasati, Magnus and the other members of the Conclave must now find a way to use what they discovered to help save their own people from the wrath of a mad god.
Raymond E. Fiest - Faerie Tale
Overview:
Genre: Fantasy/Horror
Stars: 4 out of 5
Contains: rape
Author's Website: Raymond E. Feist
Published: 1988
My thoughts: A good book, and well worth reading. Was a little scary in places (I read it when I was 12) but very good.
The Book:
"Faerie Tale"
The town records have it listed as Erl King Hill - 'Hill of the Elf King'. To the locals it is known simply as the old Kessler Place. A great ramshackle house, it stands among deep woods, full of memories and myth. There are strange stories about the old place: talk of haunted woods, strange lights that dance like fire, buried treasure and lost children, now long forgotten. But for the Hastings Family, Gloria and Philip, and their eight-year-old twins, Sean and Patrick, and Philip's teenage daughter, Gabrielle, it is the stuff of dreams. They are looking for a fresh start and they think they have found it - until the day Sean and Patrick discover the secret of Fairy Woods and the luminous elfin beings who lure them into an unearthly world of ancient Celtic magic. Suddenly, what was a dream has become a terrifying nightmare. For those entrancing sprites are in reality demons determined to possess the children's very souls.