Magician

Alright, this is for those people who have no idea what anime is about, but would love to burrow themselves in a good book. This is a review of the very first book done by my favourite author, fantasy genius, Raymond E. Feist. I was captured and enthralled from the very first time I received this book from my aunt, who had it somewhere stored in her bookcase. Anyway, a bit of background on the author (what little I know about him, anyway).

The author was born and raised in California, and graduated with honours in Communication Arts at the University of California, San Diego. If my information is correct (and I think it is), he used to work as a videogame developer before he became an author. The world of Midkemia featured in his books is an idea created by the Thursday Nighters, a group of his friends who got together and made this fantasy world. He has written many books, and has collaborated with other writers such as Janny Wurts and Joel Rosenburg to produce books based in the world of Midkemia and Kelewan (this world will be explained later.)

Okay, so on to the book itself: Magician has been around for a long time, but recently has been republished in two books, namely Magician:Apprentice and Magician:Master. (the reason for this is that the original is DARN thick, with roughly a thousand pages...) The cover of the book looks like this :

Alright, the story of this book concerns a boy named Pug, an orphan boy who is raised in the kitchen of the castle of Crydee, a duchy in the Kingdom of the Isles. He meets the magician Kulgan, advisor to Duke Borric of Crydee, who then realises that Pug has an untapped talent for magic. At the Choosing, when all boys of a certain age are apprenticed to a craft, Pug is left unapprenticed to any master in the end. Kulgan, out of pity, apprentices Pug to the study of magic. Life changes again for Pug as he later kills a few trolls using magic while protecting the Duke's daughter, Carline. He is adopted into the line of Duke Borric, and is made a squire. Then, just as Pug is getting used to his life, strange things begin to happen.

A strange ship from another world is found washed up on the beach of Crydee after a violent storm. Upon examining the ship, Pug and his childhood friend, Tomas encounter a strange warrior from another world. Risking their lives, Father Tully and Kulgan delve into the mind of the dying warrior and a mysterious message found on the ship, only to report grim news: the warrior is of the powerful empire of Tsuranuanni, from the foreign world called Kelewan, and the strangers have the power to travel from their world to Pug's world, Midkemia. Alarmed, the Duke consorts with the elves, who confirm sightings of the invaders near their forests. The Duke, together with his son, Arutha, Kulgan, Pug, Tomas and his guards set out to warn the King of this coming danger. Along the way, they met the dwarves who offer them a way to the King. Tomas is separated from the party when a wraith attacks them in the MacMordain Cadal, a mine passing through the mountains. Separated from his friends, Tomas finds refuge with a dragon, who gives him magical armour, sword and shield before its death. Pug and his party arrives at the capital of the Kingdom, Rillanon, only to find that no help will be forthcoming from the King, who is losing his sanity. On the journey back, they are ambushed by the Tsurani. Pug is captured and taken to Kelewan. There is where Pug realises his full potential of his magical powers, even as his friend Tomas is changing into an ancient terrible power in Elvandar, the city of the elves....

Alright, if you got lost in that condensed summary, I apologise. But it is difficult to condense such fine writing into two short paragraphs. In all sincerity, the author is a wonderful storyteller. His descriptions are vivid, his characters are perfectly developed and fleshed out, and the story is gripping and imaginative. Words cannot describe the true art of this book, so.... GO GET THIS BOOK AND READ IT! You will not regret it, I promise you.=>