[Tytusblade]

K so I just finished the 4 riftwar saga books by Raymond Feist, and can say that it was by far the most satisfying thing I've ever read. I've heard a lot of bad things about his other books from here on, so I'm afraid to buy them and read on. The problem is I have such a strong emotional attachment to all of the characters he has created and nothing would please me more than to read more about Arutha and the gang, but I don't want to if it's going to leave me disliking the whole thing. I enjoyed all the books very much, even Silverthorn which people say is the worst of the 4. I didn't find anything wrong with any of it. So my question is this: Should I read on? Or will my thirst for more leave me wounded? Does Feist pretty much keep the same characters the main characters? Or does he create new ones I won't care about as much? Please help!

[Seak]

This is the reading order from Feist's website by publication date:

http://www.crydee.com/raymond-feist/reading-order/written

You can also find the Chronological order and an alternate reading order if you look on the left hand side under Books, then Reading Order.

I've only read the Riftwar saga and I'm in the same spot. Do I read more and possibly ruin the series for myself? I have heard Empire is really good.

[burnsai]

K so I just finished the 4 riftwar saga books by Raymond Feist, and can say that it was by far the most satisfying thing I've ever read. I've heard a lot of bad things about his other books from here on, so I'm afraid to buy them and read on. The problem is I have such a strong emotional attachment to all of the characters he has created and nothing would please me more than to read more about Arutha and the gang, but I don't want to if it's going to leave me disliking the whole thing. I enjoyed all the books very much, even Silverthorn which people say is the worst of the 4. I didn't find anything wrong with any of it. So my question is this: Should I read on? Or will my thirst for more leave me wounded? Does Feist pretty much keep the same characters the main characters? Or does he create new ones I won't care about as much? Please help!



Go ahead and read the Serpentwar you will love it. The other books are nice fill ins for sure but not on the level of the Riftwar.
If you love the cast of Characters you will not be disappointed with Serpentwar and the additions of Erik and Roo are fantastic.
None of the books are bad in my opinion if you love the characters.
The krondor books based off the game are not as good neither is prince of the blood or the kings Buccaneer but they develop some of the other guys like Aruthas son Nicholas.
I liked the Darkwar as well it has its parts but it was a step down from the Riftwar and Serpentwar.. but better then the Krondor books and POB and KB.
Im going to read them all again including the daughter trilogy set in Kelewan which many were much more fond of then I was.
You will not be disappointed with the Serpentwar... its awesome.

[...]

In the next two books(Prince of the Blood and King's Buccaneer) the main characters are the sons of Price Arutha. Both books IMO are entertaining. In the Serpentwar Saga and later series there is a mix of new characers and old characters. I thought that the Serpentwar Saga was good but everything after this Feist just seems to mail it in and not put any effort into his writing.

Eventhough the Empire trilogy deals with Kelewan and not Midkemia it is probably Feist best work. By the end of the trilogy you'll be attached to a whole new set of characters.

[Winter]

Yep, the next books are Prince of the Blood and King's Buccaneer. Both of which are by far my favorite books of the series. Then continue to The Serpentwar or The Empire novels as ... suggests. My opinion only, but I would recommend stopping after you finish The Serpentwar. Feist's writing goes downhill (more like a cliff) fast after that.

[Tytusblade]

Okay thanks for all the insights.

I wasn't planning on reading the Empire books or the other fill-ins, like Jimmy the Hand, unless someone really convinces me otherwise. (As for the Empire books, Tsurani culture didn't really interest me that much during Magician unless Pug was involved and I can't see myself reading books with the main chracter female, sorry if that's offensive but I need to be able to relate and put myself in the shoes of the main guy) If I were to read on (and I feel I must after the ending of Sethanon just to see how everyones' lives are in the near future) I was going to go with the alternate order Feist's website offers (http://www.crydee.com/raymond-feist/reading-order/alternate) and pick up Prince of Blood. And I like to hear that those 2 (PoB and KB) were someone's favorites cause I'm very easily ammused and probably won't pick up any subtle suckiness on Feist's part.

Now, I think I'll run into the same problem after finishing the serpent war series, because of what people have said. We'll see how much I like the next few books and I'll gauge my judgement on that.

But yeah, I love the entire cast of characters (several times more than Harry Potter, god what was i thinking when I became obsessed with that crap) and I just can't see them exiting my life without more closure than Sethanon had to offer.

Thanks again for caring what a fellow fan is mulling over, and thanks for the opinions guys. Really appreciated.

Edit: To comment on people's opinions about how Feist goes downhill after the Serpent War, I have a question... How exactly? Is it his style of writing? Does his creativity get shot? Does he leave many unanswered questions? Does the story just suck afterwards? Are there too many new characters and not enough old? If so, do the new characters suck? Thanks.

Second Edit: I just read the synopsi(?) of the 4 books in the Serpent war. Sounds Amazing. Can't wait. I'm glad to see Pug and Jimmy are back. Are they in the first 2? Don't tell me if you feel it may ruin something, there's prolly a reason Feist left them out of the Synopsis

[kmgrey]

Read the Empire Trilogy. Seriously. It's every bit as good (if not better) IMO than the first Riftwar series. I think that Feist and Wurts together are better authors than each individually.

As for follow-ons, I never cared much for Prince of the Blood though Feist has since revised it and I haven't read the new edition. King's Bucaneer is one of my favorites of his though and should be viewed as a prologue to the Serpent War Saga.

As to Serpent War, the first book is quite good and the third book, Rage of a Demon King, is one of Feist's best. The second book, Rise of a Merchant Prince, gets some rather mixed reaction because at heart it's more of a financial thriller than a conventional adventure but I really enjoyed it. The final book, Shards of a Broken Crown, is really when Feist's writing took a turn for the worst and is quite disappointing. However it reads more like an epilogue with Rage of a Demon King as the finale so the Serpent War series is well worth reading overall if you enjoy his work.

I would stop there however and avoid most of his other output.

[Tytusblade]

On that note, who would recommend reading The Riftwar Legacy- Kronder the Betrayal, Kronder the Assassins, Kronder Tear of the Gods- before Prince of the Blood or King's Buccaneer?

[Boiler]

I wasn't planning on reading the Empire books or the other fill-ins, like Jimmy the Hand, unless someone really convinces me otherwise. (As for the Empire books, Tsurani culture didn't really interest me that much during Magician unless Pug was involved and I can't see myself reading books with the main chracter female, sorry if that's offensive but I need to be able to relate and put myself in the shoes of the main guy)

this reads like a letter from myself from the past. dude, i had the very same concerns before i started the empire series. and boy, was i wrong. it has became one of my favourite fantasy series ever. together with gemmells waylander books, i revisit it frequently (every 2 years or so).

do yourself a favour and read it

[Tytusblade]

that helps, thanks.

however, regardless whether or not it is a great series to read, it's the characters of the Riftwar Saga I care most about reading, and have little desire to be introduced to knew characters (yet!)-- knowing this, would you still recommend me picking up the Empire before Krondor's Sons?