Review: Magician

Magician by Raymond E. Feist
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This one gets off to a slow start. Just want to get that out there. It's so trope and familiar that I was about to get out my fantasy novel bingo card. Then aliens invade and we meet a band of pirates. What starts off as a fairly conventional book subtly turns into a grand adventure. To be honest, I was just about to give up on the tome before I slowly started to like it. It might even be a good book to relax with on a beach if it's length wouldn't make you die of skin cancer.

The novel has strong detailed prose, likable characters, and a plot with just enough intrigue to keep you invested. Now, I'm sure you're thinking, he's about to point out what's wrong with it. And you'd be right. Magician, and the writing of Feist in general, just isn't very deep. It's well put together and everything, but don't expect to walk away with your life changed. The book is enjoyable and I dare say even made me content with the universe. Not everything has to make you think, it would just be nice if it did.

Side note for people who live on different sides of the Atlantic. In 'Merica, the book is split into two volumes while the limy side of the pond has the book kept whole. I read the complete version. Surely you're asking, can you read just one volume? Technically yes. The first book ends on a good spot to take a break but hardly leaves you with a sense of resolve. And the second book begins in a completely different place with a bit of a time skip but also ends on such a note that Feist could have died the day after completing it and everyone would have been fine with it. There's enough leftover for more books, and you should know at this point there are more, but you can read this complete tome and walk away happy.

As I said before, the book isn't very deep. So it prevents me from really going into detail about how I feel about it. There's just not a great deal to say about beyond it's enjoyable. Pretty much anyone can sit down with this book and find at least some contentment from its words. However, its gift is also its curse. Magician is non-threatening. It will never bite you with its ideas because it has no teeth.

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