Recommendations? and Avoidance?

[Reading_fanatic]

I don't know if this is already a thread (Is it is could i get a link) and apologise if this has been done before however I have hardly read any Raymond E.Feist books before and was wondering which one I should read and which I should avoid?

Now I have read Daughter of the Empire, Servant of the Empire (Currently still reading) and Magician and enjoyed all of them however I stopped reading Feists books til recently after trying to read Talon of the Silverhawk and finding it absolutly dreadful. So what can you recommend/ not recommend for me?

Thanx for any help.

 

[Fake Vencar]

I wouldn't recommend reading Talon or any of the books after that until you've fully read the Riftwar books. Talon is his worst book in my opinion. If you've read Magician, try reading Silverthorn and then Darkness at Sethanon. These are the books that go straight after Magician chronologically and they are very good books.

http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/3706-bibliographie-raymond-e-feist.html

This should direct you to all the published books in chronological order

 

[TeKarana]

I found Talon of the Silver Hawk great! It depends though because to like it, you need to understand it and to understand it, you need to have read his previous books.

 

[Kulgan]

I think Te has it right. To really enjoy REF's books, you almost have to read them in chronological order. Knowing what went before, which problems were resolved and how some of them led to new problems with new adversaries, etc, really helps.

Though I've found some of his books better than others, some with more action, etc, I can honestly say that there isn't any of them that I haven't enjoyed.

I also have to say that I look on his books as a sort of 'history of the planet Midkemia' as seen through the eyes of major players who created that history. It also helps if you're invested in the characters too, such as keeping track of the ConDoin family over several centuries.

I think if you go back to Silverthorn and DAS and then follow them in order you'll enjoy them more.

 

[Reading_fanatic]

Ok thanks for the tip I'll go back and start at the beginning.

 

[woodsman]

Yeah it's true that they are better in order but I'm still avec fake on this, Talon is his weakest work IMHO. I dunno I loved the last installments of the Serpent War sage with the philosophical musings etc, and a portrait of the philosophy and in someways, religion of Midkemia combined with war and intrige on a mass scale where survival lookde unlikely. Talon seemed to be more reverting, to unlikely bash and crash fantasy however the series did pick up and having just read FotNH I'm back in love with Fiest.

 

[Fake Vencar]

King of Foxes and Exiles Return were better books than Talon and I liked them a lot. I think it is just the shock of going forward so many years to new characters, especially one such as Tal. Don't get me ranting on about him!

 

[lapis star]

I ve read all of Fiests books thru"06,I am now attempting to read the Daughter of the Empire,not an easy bookk to get into right away,doesnt grab you like the Midkemia books do.

 

[nj1]

I've read them all to date except the mistress books and would agree that you have to read the main story from the beginning, Side stories such as the Krondor books, Honoured Enemy,Murder in Lamut and the Mistress series can be read any time after the main story as they don't really follow the main plot of Midkemia.

 

[Kulgan]

As Lapis says, the Mistress books are a little harder to get into right away, probably due to the difference in writing styles, but once you're involved they're a fascinating look at the culture and civilization of the Tsurrani and worth reading.

 

[Fake Vencar]

I might read the Mistress books one day, but if you are like me and prefer Midkemia, then just stick to them. I can't get my head round the Tsurani race particulary well, although this may be due to them being completely foreign to me where as I can relate my own history with the populace if Midkemia

 

[nj1]

I might read the Mistress books one day, but if you are like me and prefer Midkemia, then just stick to them. I can't get my head round the Tsurani race particulary well, although this may be due to them being completely foreign to me where as I can relate my own history with the populace if Midkemia

I agree with you there Fake, I much prefer the world of Midkemia.

I actually own two of the Mistress books, but have never found the opportunity to read them, theres always something else i'd rather pick up.
It may be down to the oriental type spellings, when i read a book with difficult to pronounce character names, it puts me off a bit, as i find i keep stopping mid sentance when an odd name pops up, trying in my head to pronounce the name properly, it spoils the flow of the story for me and as the mistress books are probably full of such names, i'm a bit put off reading them.
No doubt i'll read them in time, i'm sure that since they're part written by fiest that the story will be great.