Group Reads Archive: June Read: Magician's Apprentice

[Kevin]

I hate the name Pug, it always reminds me of dogs.

[Melissa]

Ok, forgive my dumbness, but I haven't followed any of the group read discussions before since I haven't read or had the books being discussed. So just wondering... How exactly does this work? I mean, do you guys read a set number of chapters and then discuss? Or is it more or less a free-for-all type thing?

[[deleted user]]

Free for all, Melissa. :)

We're too ornery for anything more structured.

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*, *good karma*]

It's a free for all BUT PLEASE mark all spoilers.

Either give some white space and write something like *Spoilers Below* or use spoiler tags: < spoiler> text text text< /spoiler>

If you remove the spaces it should look like this: (view spoiler)[ha ha! Grant's gonna say "why use spoilers?" (hide spoiler)]

[Melissa]

Ala wrote: "Free for all, Melissa. :)

We're too ornery for anything more structured."

Ok, thanks Ala, that's kinda what I thought. About you all being ornery that is. LOL JUST KIDDING!!!!!

[Roshio]

I just got this in a second hand bookstore and I think *think* I have the omnibus version, although I really i'm not sure, it just says 'Magician' on the front. Has anyone any idea how I could know for certain?

[Roshio]

Thanks Tracey. I checked it out and It doesn't say anything about Master/Apprentice but I think it says 'Magician - first volume in the Riftwar saga' and 'Silverthorn - second volume', so I assume it must be the omnibus version.

[Sean]

Does Anyone know the correct order of all of his books. I have read quite a few of them but im starting to think that i haven't been doing them in order. Kinda frustrating!

[Chris]

Sean, here is the entire Riftwar series of books: Riftwar series.

It is also broken down into all the little subseries if you follow the links.

[Amelia]

I liked Magician: Apprentice and Master well enough. It's one of those old series I'd just never read before. I'm not quite as ambitious as Grant, who wants to read every fantasy book ever written, but I do enjoy all sorts from the brand new ones to the older series. I take a book for it's entertaiment value and enjoy the story for what it is, a good story.

Apprentice was a little slower paced book in terms of the whole story. Most of the action takes place in the second half: Master. I would recommend reading Magician: Master sometime after reading apprentice just to get the full story. (Plus you learn more about the Tsurani in the second book. I find their culture to be fascinating.)

I personally really like Arutha. I've decided that he really reminds me of Arithon from Janny Wurt's series. At least in looks they're very similar.

[Sean]

Sweet thanks. I take it that list is in chronological order?

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*, *good karma*]

Roshio wrote: "Thanks Tracey. I checked it out and It doesn't say anything about Master/Apprentice but I think it says 'Magician - first volume in the Riftwar saga' and 'Silverthorn - second volume', so I assume ..."

Yep, I think you have the ominibus.

[Chris]

Sean wrote: "Sweet thanks. I take it that list is in chronological order?"

Yes, it is. There is some overlap though, Both the Empire and Legends series occur at the same time as books in the first Riftwar Trilogy.

[Suzanne]

I finished this book last night. Overall, I enjoyed it, although probably not as much as I did the first time I read it many years ago. (I had the same problem rereading the Wheel of Time - both these books just seem so much more 'innocent' now.) I started reading Daughter of the Empire at the same time, which actually added to my enjoyment quite a bit, as it is fun seeing the same war from entirely different perspectives.

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*, *good karma*]

YOu guys are making me feel like a sluggard, lol.

I'm about 30-40 pages in, but I've read all of this before. I think I stopped previously arould 60 pages. The push is on!

[[deleted user]]

Amelia wrote, " Grant, who wants to read every fantasy book ever written..."

I think I can achieve this goal in the next five or six years if I can keep up with new pubs!

[Amelia]

☠The Dread Pirate Grant☠ wrote: "Amelia wrote, " Grant, who wants to read every fantasy book ever written..."

I think I can achieve this goal in the next five or six years if I can keep up with new pubs!"

Once you read them all, we should all have a huge party to celebrate - Grant has conquered the world!!!!

(fireworks, live band)

Wait you mean authors are still writing books, my evil plan didn't work Pinky. Let's go back to the lab. All right Brain, but what does gnomes have to do with the number of books he read?

[[deleted user]]

Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Pinky?
I believe so, Brain, but do macaroni have feet?

:D

[whimsicalmeerkat]

Gah, really need to get this one read so I can actually participate in the discussion before it ends :/

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*, *good karma*]

I made it to 66 pages! *happy dance*

It does feel like I'm still waiting for the book to start.

[whimsicalmeerkat]

I'm about half through, but I'm already pretty certain I won't be continuing the series. I don't care for the writing and the story feels very generic to me.

[Bill]

Denae wrote: "I'm about half through, but I'm already pretty certain I won't be continuing the series. I don't care for the writing and the story feels very generic to me."

Sometimes I feel sorry for those who didn't live through the developmental phases of SFF. Riftwar was seminal when published, and the Saga among the best written after LOTR defined the genre. The '80s was a great time for exploring, epic or high fantasy. When the Empire trilogy of Riftware appeared, it was IMO the best of the best.

I think I'm feeling old...

[Suzanne]

Kernos, I totally know what you mean! At the time this series, and the Empire trilogy even more so, felt very fresh! (As a side note, I never did like the Terry Brooks series - it was WAY too much LOTR for me.) I'm enjoying re-reading this and Empire now - they are taking me back to more innocent times =).

[Bill]

I loved the Shannara trilogies too. The 1st I discovered after LOTR that was written in the 70's helped satisfy my need for LOTR-like fiction. It did that. I still have an image of the map in my mind.

[whimsicalmeerkat]

Kernos wrote: "Denae wrote: "I'm about half through, but I'm already pretty certain I won't be continuing the series. I don't care for the writing and the story feels very generic to me."

Sometimes I feel sorry ..."

I'm not entirely certain what you mean. It seems likely that, had I read this at a much earlier time in my life, I would have been less bothered by the writing because I had less exposure to writing as a whole. As it is, this is more a case of my not caring for the book enough to finish the series, not my disliking it. I'm not sure I am getting your point though, overall. It seems like you're saying that this book seemed better in light of the small field of similar books when published than it does now that there are more choices?

[Bill]

Denae wrote: "...It seems like you're saying that this book seemed better in light of the small field of similar books when published than it does now that there are more choices? "

That's just what I'm saying. Not liking a writing style is personal. I happen to love Feist's and Feist/Wurts style, but that's personal too. I was responding to your word 'generic' which I read as 'derivative'. It was not back in the '80s.

OTOH, it's harder for me to compare Riftwar with modern epic fantasy quality because it's an old favorite I've read several times. I like to revisit that universe.

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*, *good karma*]

I'm about 100 pages in now (yaay!). I'm still only so-so about it. I'm still waiting for everything to start.

[Amanda]

I recently finished Magician: Apprentice and Magician: Master. I don't know why I've never read them before, I've seen them on the library shelves for years (I go to two different libraries) and I've never picked them up. I'm glad I did because I enjoyed both books, though I wouldn't say they are my favorite.
Some thoughts:
I couldn't take Pug too seriously because his name irritated me a little.
My favorite character was actually Arutha.
That's all I got :)

[Dawn]

Just FYI - If Arutha was your favorite, you'd probably enjoy continuing on and reading the next two (Silverthorn and Sethanon), as they center around him.

[Amanda]

You've convinced me, I'll continue on. ;) lol
Thanks, because I was thinking of just stopping there.

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*, *good karma*]

Amanda wrote: "I recently finished Magician: Apprentice and Magician: Master. I don't know why I've never read them before, I've seen them on the library shelves for years (I go to two ..."


Dang! I haven't even gotten that far yet!