[Takoren]

I'm a fairly recent Feist reader and I thought I'd begin at the beginning and read his first series before buying any of the others. As things stand, I don't think I'll be reading past A Darkness at Sethanon, but despite that, I have to ask:

Why do people seem to hate Silverthorn so much? I'm a bit more than halfway through it right now and I'm really enjoying it. It's really just a straightforward action/adventure tale, but I've come to realize in recent years that there's really nothing wrong with that. It's fun and the threat seems very real. I really like Arutha as a protagonist (he was one of my favorite characters in Magician), plus Jimmy is a great character, and Laurie and Martin are really coming into their own.

On the other hand, I thought that there was a lot lacking about Magician. It seemed that Feist wanted to write a high-toned war epic before he was really ready to. There was a lot to like about it, but there were some aspects that annoyed me, particularly the sudden time-jumps (Within one chapter three years go by, then three paragraphs later we've moved on yet another year). Overall I think I liked it, but it certainly isn't my favorite, and I'm enjoying Silverthorn a little more, I think. Certainly on a different level. I think Magician was just okay as a harsh, heavier wartime tale while Silverthorn is first-class as a lighter adventure yarn.

But I keep hearing "it's all downhill after Magician" or "If you're gonna read Feist, read Magician and then stop there."

Are there any others who share this view of Silverthorn? Or perhaps the second half is where it starts to suck?

[Gear]

Out of the three books in The Riftwar my favourite was Darkness At Sethanon followed by Silverthorn then Magician.

The second half of Silverthorn I think was just as good as the first and still continues the straightforward action/adventure tale with no large warfare like in Magician.

I've known more people to enjoy Silverthorn to Magician.

[Astra_]

When I read Riftwar saga, Magician was the least interesting in the series. It was a second fantasy series in my life. I was 24-26 I believe. I thought that Magician was interesting but a little bit too simple, naive and predictable but starting with Silverthorn the whole saga was superb. Could not stop reading it, so interestig it was.
It also includes Prince of the Blood and The King's Buccaneer.

[His Darkness]

I quite liked Silverthorn.... I don't think Magician is as good as his other books, but then it was his first novel.

[Takoren]

It also includes Prince of the Blood and The King's Buccaneer.

I was under the impression that Prince of the Blood and The King's Buccaneer were a seperate duology called Krondor's Sons. Seeing as it's about Arutha's sons, it sounds like it is indeed a sequel series rather than part of the original.

[His Darkness]

I don't see how 'Krondor's Son's' are part of the original saga... I was under the impression that they were just two loosely connected stand alone books.

[Astra_]

I would say one can read The Riftwar Saga without reading Krondor's Sons, but you would miss a lot if you read Krondor's Son without read The Riftwar Saga first.
The books are sort of stand alone but they involve characters from the saga. When I read the books I didn't know they are not part of the original Riftwar Saga, I just knew the proper order and it felt quite natural as a squence to the saga.

[pugwtfpwns]

Ironically, probably his best novel.

I will place the haters in the category of: I lack patience - bring me back to the primary storyline involving Pug and Tomas.

Arutha was REF's most realistic and thought provoking protagonist. The majority of those readers that ignore the Prince of Krondor's significance are either immature readers or simply too stuck on the sword & sorcerer theme to recognize a real hero of the people.

I will make a guess and state that deep down, Arutha was REF’s real hero and favorite to write.

[Astra_]

Ironically, probably his best novel.

What novel are you talking about?

[MrWall]

I found them decent, but no more than that, whilst I loved Magician.

But then its also the reason I don't like darkness at sethannon, or the legends of the riftwar series but loved the serpent war saga... I find I prefer the more political intrigued, epic scope that these ideas bring than a more 'quest' type of fantasy that to be honest i don't think he does as well as other fantasy writers out there.