Soul Rider Series by Jack L. Chalker

I am not a big reader in general, and am definitely not a big Sci-Fi or fantasy reader, but on the recommendation of a friend I picked up the first book of the soul rider series and was hooked. There is everything from religion to slavery, to wizardry to technology all in the 1 series and it was all assembled in an intelligent way that was also a quick easy read.

I don't know what more to say, I liked it a lot.

This series is an unusual gem that I greatly enjoyed reading. The first two books are compelling and well-paced fantasy-oriented series of stories about life in a world that is partially defined by personal will. The main character begins as a typical youth-swept-into-a-magical-world plotline that rapidly becomes complex, interesting, and unique. While the mechanisms for this 'pseudo magic' are obscured in the early books, the stories gradually shift towards a fully comprehensive hard sci-fi perspective where every technology is explained and is part of a larger plot - and a genuinely excellent one at that. This is a wonderful and under-rated collection of books. Snatch this up if you see it around, copies are becoming quite rare!

Some interesting ideas are underlying the main plot. There is a sense of trying to hard to make the world gritty. The detail often desired is missing for the story's main line and some things are given unnecessary focus. Overall not bad, but I wanted more from it. There is a good mix of fantasy and modern tech throughout and a general history which leads to an easy understanding of this universe. Although the story moves along well, the characters seem to accept change of opinion or situational constructs to readily.