Magician (Riftwars Book 1) - Raymond E. Feist

The good stuff:
It's taken me a while to get around to starting this book, but on the whole I was thoroughly impressed. Feist's imagination and wild assortment of characters give this book depth. He does revert to a matter-of-fact, fire-side-story-teller method of prose for the most part, adding flourishes of detail usually only when describe a setting. This doesn't detract a great deal from the narrative itself however, so those attuned to a more elegant style of prose can still keep themselves interested if they are willing to sacrifice some adjectives for a solid yarn.

Two worlds, two forms of magic, multiple races. This has everything Tolkein style fantasy requires, but goes further. I realise that to characterise the story itself as Tolkein-esque is a little bit of a mis-comparison, except if you're not a fantasy reader. The Vahleru back story and Pug's final test on the tower - which revealed the nature of the gods, the enemy, and the Assembly - hint at an expansive mythology that could spawn multiple stories in its own right. The conflict on multiple fronts kept the story churning and I'll say it again; Feist has a fantastic imagination.

The not so good stuff:
Well, I say not so good, but I really mean "things that would have made this story awesomer," being well aware that awesomer is not a word. Firstly, the relationships between the protagonists were too straight forward. Pug is initially attracted to Carline, then goes away, meets another woman, and all of a sudden, Carline is out of the picture. Granted, he was gone for a long time, and he'd changed a lot upon his return, but if something had reignited when he returned to her, that would have made things a lot more sticky (read: interesting). I think Feist missed a golden opportunity for some conflict between Roland (who wasn't developed as a character at all really) and even with Laurie. Even the Tomas and Alagranna side story played out a little too easily.

Secondly, the main protagonist is developed for the first half of the book, and then for a large portion, perhaps a quarter of it, goes missing as a slave. All of a sudden years have past and there seems to be a disconnect between Pug and the reader, and we feel a little more distant. I'm not sure if that was the writer's intention but it also felt like his character never really assumed the dominant protagonist position after his stint in captivity. Perhaps this was to make room for wider character development, but I feel that Pug's time as a slave could have been a parallel plot line instead of just abandoning his story for four years. It would have been a major opportunity to develop a better sense of Pug's trauma for the reader, much like Patrick Rothfuss did during Kvothe's time in Tarbean.

To end on a positive note however, I'm glad to have finally read this novel, and will likely pick up other Feist story-cycles once I've finished with Riftwars.