Genre: Fantasy, YA Fantasy
Series: The Riftwar Saga
Author Info: http://www.crydee.com/
First published in 1982, the Riftwar Saga has been one of the classics of the fantasy literature for decades. I have re-read this series a few times, as I did Harry Potter, LOTR and the Icewind Dale Trilogy. It’s one of those timeless, precious classics. The characters are very lively and reading their development is quite enjoyable. Krondor has always been one of my favorite cities in fantasy literature. It is magnificent and very realistic with its rich and poor quarters, and it has that legendary Thieves’ Guild which has no doubt influenced the Thieves’ Guilds in many video games.
Raymond Feist has done something different here and created two entirely different worlds. Midkemia, which is the main world, is based on medieval Europe, but the other world Kelewan is somewhat similar to Japan with its Samurai-like culture, however its complex political structure and some elements of the culture are not even remotely like anything we know in the real world. It’s very foreign and quite different. It also has a completely original non-human race. The originality and the meticulous details of the world are quite striking.
My favorite characters from this book (and the Riftwar series in general) are prince Arutha, Amos Trask (whose presence is not much in this book but he gets to steal the show later in the series), Pug, Tomas, Macros the Black and the mysterious huntsmaster Martin.
If you love D&D you will appreciate this book (and the series in general) cause Feist’s D&D background is evident in his writing. If you are a lover of the fantasy genre and still haven’t read this, I suggest dropping everything else and getting a copy right away, for it’s one of the finest pieces of the entire fantasy genre. It’s also available on Kindle, unlike some other books by Raymond E. Feist, which are available only as hard copy due to copyright issues after the publishing house mergers (I asked Raymond Feist on Twitter why they were not available in Kindle/Nook, and he was kind enough to explain the reasons.)
So even more reason to read it, since the author is such a nice and down to earth person.
Rating: 4.5/5 Roman Solidus
Leona's Blog of Shadows 
I just read this book last year. (I read the re edited version) I found the first part a little slow, but I really liked the second half, the war and the magic and the worlds! I figured they’d have to downgrade his powers, but I hate when they do that sort of thing. At least it worked here.
I liked the prince too. I’m glad to hear he plays a bigger role later on. I haven’t gotten to the second book yet!
Did you hear next year Feist is publishing his first non Rift War book?
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Oh I have not heard about it at all! Is it a fantasy book? I should check it out! I really loved Krondor’s Sons, too. But my ultimate favorite from that entire world is The Empire Trilogy. I need to re-read them and write reviews about them. A Darkness in Sethanon is pretty awesome, too.I can’t say anything for the sake of not spoiling the story but it has a huge twist!
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…Riftwar. J and I started in the middle of the series with ‘Rise of Dark Queen,’ but we quickly found our way back to the beginning and got sucked right in. It’s hard to believe the series is over now, with the last book published. I saw it at a B&N just the other day. Made me all kinds of nostalgic. My favorite remains ‘Silverthorn,’ but I love all of the books. For Amos, though – the book to read for him is still ‘King’s Bucaneer’, because it’s there that the larger story of MIdkemia begins and Amos is at the heart of it. (And Nicky, just like his father, tries to take all the fun out of life.)
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Erland and Borric are funny as hell. King’s Buccaneer is my favorite too, Amos really shines there. He’s one of my all time favorite characters from the whole series. The Empire Trilogy is quite awesome also, it’s my favorite in the entire series.
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I loved this series when I first encountered it – but I must go back… I think there are subsequent books that I haven’t read. A great review, which made me remember why I so fell in love with speculative fiction – this series was one of the first fantasy series I read…
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It’s the first fantasy series I’ve read after Tolkien. The Empire Trilogy right after Riftwar (also featuring Pug) is really amazing, I’ll reread it this year!
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