fiction book reviewers needed
fiction book reviewers needed
Magician: Apprentice by Raymond Feist – Book Review
There are a lot of epic fantasy series out there. But very few of them have withstood the test of time. This book is one of the best books in the genre of modern epic fantasy and it is the first book in a series called the Riftwar Cycle. If you are looking for an epic fantasy series to dig into this is a perfect starting point.
The setting and the scene of the novel
The setting is medieval fantasy complete with castles, humans, dwarves, elves and all kinds of wondrous creatures. It would seem at first glance to be standard fantasy fare but there is a nice twist; in this world magicians can open portals called rifts between worlds and it is through one of these rifts that an invading army passes. And this is where our story begins, with two young men called Pug and Tomas in the beginning of an invasion into their world called Midkemia. Pug is struggling with the challenge and mystery of becoming a magician and this is where the title of the book is taken from.
About the Story: Just a darn good story and in no time at all you are going to be engrossed in the story and the characters. What more can you ask for? This is not your typical pulp fiction. It is well written and very satisfying. I don’t want to tell you much more but there is adventure, traveling, magic, introspection, questions, battles, and even a castle siege. If you give this book 30 pages you will be hooked.
About the Magic: The title of the book (Magician: Apprentice) is almost a warning bell for me because I have read too much fantasy where magicians and wizards cast all kinds of fireballs, spells, and what not – and it tends to be an easy way for the writer to get out of a tough plot point – just create a new spell that gets you out of a jam! Not so in this book; the magic is subdued and makes a lot of sense. It is just a job well done in this regard.
Reverence to Dwarves and Elves: This book predates the Lord of the Rings movies so these races of creatures weren’t the household names they are today. Feist presents them to us in the way they should be presented; as mysterious and wondrous creatures to be admired. He very clearly expresses this awe and you feel it.
Only really half a book: This book is actually only half of what Feist wrote for his first book. It was a big book so the publisher broke it up into two halves. The first half is Magician: Apprentice and the second half is Magician: Master. So if you decide to get this book I highly recommend you get the second one too. You are going to want to start on it right away because the first book does come to a good climax there is still a lot to be resolved. You will need the second book for this.
About the Riftwar Cycle:
The Riftwar Cycle is a series of books that revolve around the battle between Midkemia and Kelewan. These are the two worlds where the rift has been opened. And the books in the series take place on both worlds with a variety of characters and stories. Magician: Apprentice is the first book of a series called the Riftwar Saga After apprentice comes Magician: Master then Silverthorn and finally A Darkness at Sethanon.
If you are looking for a big story to sink your teeth into this is perfect. Well written and lots of the books are already out so you don’t have to wait for the next one. And there are more coming. Book 3 of his Darkwar Saga is scheduled for release in March 2009 and book 1 of his new series (the DemonWar Saga) is scheduled for release later in 2009.
About the Author
Love Fantasy? Check out the authors website: The Fantasy Guide – Your guide to Fantasy Books
For more insights and articles about epic fantasy visit his site at: Epic-Fantasy.com – The webs only epic fantasy site.
Do you think it takes “life experience” to be able to write great fiction?
A few months ago, I was reading through the reviews of a book I came across that was written by a teenager and there was one review that was ranting about how every time a kid writes a book, everyone who reads said book says, “This book is well written for someone his/her age.” The reviewer kept going on about how we shouldn’t accept such garbage and how fiction written by teens is lacking because they lack life experience.
So…it got me thinking about what they were saying…and while I agreed with the person’s review on the book (the little of it they actually reviewed, at least), I felt it was wrong to say that just because someone’s young, it means they can’t write great fiction. Was the person being an ageist or am I wrong for thinking that anyone can be good or bad at writing fiction?
Do you think someone needs life experience in order to write a great novel or fiction, in general?
This post is worded awkwardly–sorry about that.
Thanks in advance!
An interesting question Goldfish.
I was 17 when I published my first non-fiction article and 19 when I had my first short story published in a statewide newspaper. A few other published works followed a short time later. I ended up receiving far more praise for my work than I ever deserved, was too immature to cope with it. (In other words, it went straight to my head, lol.) Looking back, I think the reason I was successful wasn’t so much because I was technically a great writer or particularly mature, but because I tackled topics that I understood. For example, the lead character in one of my stories was a young man who had become blind after an accident. This might sound like I had done hours of research and was very mature for my age to be able to tackle such a topic. The truth is, my grandfather was blind, and had become so as a young man after an accident. In other words, I followed the golden rule. “Write what you know.” Because of that, I was successful. Had I have chosen to write about a topic I was ignorant of, no one would have taken the least bit of notice of me.
I do think that it is wrong to say that a young person cannot write great fiction. I think it is harder – a teenager is not only still learning the rules of English, but their brain is still developing at an astonishing rate. Also I think many teenagers do choose to write about topics that they do not truly understand. For example, many try to tackle topics like anorexia – interesting as though they may be for teens to write about, it would be enormously difficult for someone who has not experienced that firsthand to write about. It would be enormously difficult for me to write about anorexia as I have not experienced it and nor has anyone close to me. There would be many, many hours of research and interviews involved. However, a teenager who had good literacy skills and had survived anorexia, may find this topic quite easy to write about and could produce a far more insightful book on that topic than what I ever could. Still, writing an entire book is an enormously difficult task – it is not only a simple matter of work count, there are things such as flow and pace to be considered, which can be very hard to get right even for an adult who is an experienced writer.
So yes, I do think that life experience is important. But that doesn’t mean that some young people don’t have life experience and cannot do well.
EDIT: Thank you Lyra:-) I thought your answer was fantastic.
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