Iredomi Posted May 20, 2013 Report Share Posted May 20, 2013 Okay I don't think anyone has posted a thread about this guy. The whole concept of having multiple series being part of the same overarching story always reminds me of Feist even though what Brandon is doing is in my opinion so much more epic and awesome sauce. But any ways what are your opinions of the books? I stopped reading a couple of books back maybe at Rides A Dread Legion. I'll probably go back and do a reread now the "last" book is out though. I still love Pug and I'm interested to find out how it ends out for him. Overall I think Feist is talented but the books tended to become more and more episodic and had the inclination to say things were escalating without actually making it feel like anything of importance was happening. But having said that I still think Riftwar Cycle is a great achievement and that the first book Magician, well it's one of the best fantasy books I've ever read. So what is it that makes the Riftwar cycle work for you, which book is your favourite? Or conversely what annoys you about the series, which book was the last for you? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackmagic3 he/him Posted June 3, 2013 Report Share Posted June 3, 2013 (edited) My opinion is that the first three books are his good old school fantasy, I also enjoyed the Talon of the Silver Hawk books. Those along with the first series are the only books of his I like. I haven't read the books he did with Janny Wurts but they are supposed to be his best. From what I heard from reviews and blogs I didn't bother picking up any of his other books. As my friend put it,"he is one of those authors you read when you first get into fantasy, but as you read more fantasy your realise how average(he used a different word) the majority of his work is." Edited June 3, 2013 by blackmagic3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Topomouse he/him Posted June 16, 2013 Report Share Posted June 16, 2013 I think you should give the later books a chance. The quality varies greatly from book to book, but in my opinion the total sum is positive. You should definitely read the Empire trilogy(the one with Jenny Wurts) though, that one is very very good and completely auutoconclusive so you will not be left hanging with the plot. Anyway, as I said the series as a whole is worth reading, but at times it really dragged itself. I think that after the first books Feist started having trouble balancing both the overarching plotline of Pug saving reality and the personal story of whatever character was there at the moment. Sometimes he managed to do so, but most of the time he had to sacrifice one in favor of the other. And in the case of the two books of the demonwar saga, he failed to do either one. Still, I say is work is better then avarage. He tried to do some interesting things thought with not much success at times. On a side note, his standalone novel, Fairy Tale, is very good, i recommend it to anyone. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iredomi Posted June 17, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2013 Yeah for me I always wanted more Pug story and I felt the new characters for the most part were just stretching the story thin.But I do plan on reading the last couple of books so hopefully they go back to Pugs story a bit more. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Topomouse he/him Posted June 17, 2013 Report Share Posted June 17, 2013 Don't worry, they do. There is some Kingdom of the Isles strife interwoven, but it's well done and not too intrusive. And the final is worth reading through the couple of parts that are actually boring. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iredomi Posted June 17, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2013 So the series as a whole has a good resolution? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Topomouse he/him Posted June 17, 2013 Report Share Posted June 17, 2013 Yeah, at the time of the 4rd last book I didn't think he were going to make it. But in the end he managed to tie up everything very nicely. Imho he had the final planned from very early on, he just got a bit sidetracked. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argent he/him Posted October 2, 2013 Report Share Posted October 2, 2013 I liked the first four, maybe six books. Darkness at Sethanon was the last really awesome one for me. It was all the same story after that, with Pug (and maybe Thomas) saving the day, a Jimmy-like character dealing with a smaller problem while cracking jokes, and Macros dying and coming back to life every few books. I too have the last 2-3 books sitting on my shelves, waiting to be read. Feist got me into fantasy (I don't count Tolkien, because his work was already done), and he was my favorite author for many years - until I discovered Brandon, actually. Even Jordan couldn't really replace Feist as my favorite. So I'll finish the books more out of respect than curiosity. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
11thorderknight Posted October 8, 2013 Report Share Posted October 8, 2013 The original Magician trilogy was awesome, one of the series that first got me into fantasy as a kid. The Empire books with JW were also really good, though a bit different (much less magic, more politics). The two after that were ok, especially King's Buccaneer. After that.....well, it becomes very obvious that Feist has become the Danielle Steele of the D&D derived fantasy genre. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarHawk he/him Posted October 14, 2013 Report Share Posted October 14, 2013 Magician was my favorite. Some of his others were good. For some reason, I really didn't enjoy the Empire Books. I tired, but just couldn't get into them. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guess Posted October 15, 2013 Report Share Posted October 15, 2013 i devoured 5 of these books about 15 years ago. I vaguely remember anything about them. Its rather telling. The story was a page turner, but not memorable. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iredomi Posted November 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2013 What were your guy's favourite characters I remember really liking Nakor with his oranges and Macros the Black just because he was mysterious. Easily impressed =) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argent he/him Posted November 5, 2013 Report Share Posted November 5, 2013 Ah, to be young again... I agree with you on Nakor, he was fun. I wacky wonky kind of way. Macros, however, was too stereotypical for my taste. I liked him when I first read the series, but in the light of what authors like Brandon have written, he seems too one-sided. Plus, how many times did he come back to life? Four? At some point it starts getting old. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iredomi Posted November 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2013 Didn't he turn into a god or something? I never really understood anything with him he was like the walking deus ex machina. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argent he/him Posted November 5, 2013 Report Share Posted November 5, 2013 Walking deus ex machina exactly. But no, he didn't turn into a god - Pug pulled him out of it before he was done merging with the god of magic. Gods, it's been years since I read Feist with any interest... I think his returns had to do with that trickster god, whatever-his-name-was. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iredomi Posted November 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2013 Didn't that end out being Nakor? Man I have those last books on my bookshelf but uni and stuff stopped me from reading them... I made this thread to encourage myself back into the books just so I could finish them. But they're just not as interesting as I remember. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argent he/him Posted November 6, 2013 Report Share Posted November 6, 2013 I don't even remember what Nakor's deal was... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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