Hey! Sorry for being absent for a month there, and thanks for the few emails I had during that time....
Hey! Sorry for being absent for a month there, and thanks for the few emails I had during that time.. I'm back now, and I've been watching a LOT of movies I need to catch up on!! As usual, if there's anything you want to talk about, you can email me, o...
Member since:27.02.2001
Reviews:33
Members who trust:12
Magician is Feist's first book, in a long series set in the richly detailed world of Midkemia. It works as a standalone book, or as part of the series. Feist's writing style is well, feisty to say the least, and it'll have you gripping the book in anticipation of every next page. American copies of this book are split into two volumes Magician : Apprentice, and Magician : Master, I don't know why, it's not that long a book.
Unfortunately, whilst being amazingly well written and being one of my favourite books, it does follow the traditional storyline of a lot of fantasy books out there these days, namely:
1. A young innocent boy is isolated or finds himself different to the other lads. 2. He gets placed in a situation of danger, and manages to extract himself from it, showing his potential to be something great. 3. There's a powerful quest to find an object, person, place, cure etc. etc. 4. A powerful group of people set out and usually most of them die, but remarkabley, the boy remains fine. 5. Insert some tradgic circumstance, the death of those the boy loves. 6. Inset some romantic interest, usually between two people of different stations (ie. A peasant and a princess) 7. Lots of heroic deeds, and the boy becomes a man whilst saving the world. 8. There's usually a point near the end where all is lost, yet an unmentioned ally manages to turn up, and everythings alrighty again. Such a surprise, we didn't see it coming, you know? 9. The boy gets rewarded with a title or something of the like. 10. He can now get the girl. 11. For a twist, often, someone comes back from the dead, such as an old friend or mentor. 12. They live happily ever after.
Take any number of fantasy books and apply the above plot. Now, listen to the plot of Magician.
Pug is an orphan living in Crydee, he gets rescued by the Master Magician Kulgan whilst out in a storm, who sees great potential in him. When the apprentice day comes, no one wants to take on young Pug, and embarrassed and ashamed, he sees he's not wanted… but Kulgan offers to take him on. Pug of course, falls in love with the Princess, but he has to leave her to go on a journey. On this journey some close people to him die, and I'm not going to tell you how or what happens to them, but look at above and work it out. Pug gets forced to grow up by being captured by the enemy and thrown into another world, where he eventually becomes one of the greatest magicians alive. He manages to come back, save the world after a few plot twists… Is this sounding familiar yet?
On another level, his writing style is kind of similar to Tolkien's, I don't find it identical as some people do, but I can see direct links between the two books, making even the setting of Magician not original! It has the main earth - Middle earth, Midkemia. It has the dark secret hidden tunnels where danger lurks - Moria, Mac Mordain Cadal. It has the magical city of the elves - Lorien, Elvandar. But that's not to say there's no originality, the multiple worlds, the rifts, the city of the elves and the secrets of the Valheru…
This isn't to say I don't like this book - I love it! It does have some extra plot features I haven't talked about, and some interesting twists. The characters are well thought out and imaginative, and the storyline is detailed and well written, but it's certainly not that original if you strip it to the basics.
Overall this is a great read if you're interested in the traditional swords and sorcery genre, but if it reminds you of a thousand other books, don't say I didn't warn you!
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Advantages: A well written book which will whirl you away into a world of drama, magic and fantasy adventure. Disadvantages: Can at times be very reminiscent of other fantsy books, especially Lord of the Rings.
Mar 4th, 2001
very helpful by (93%):
helpful by (7%):
