Riftwar Saga — Reading Order

Raymond E. Feist's Riftwar Saga launched one of the largest fantasy universes in publishing. The original trilogy begins when a rift between worlds opens in the Kingdom of the Isles, allowing an invasion force from the empire of Kelewan to pour through. Pug, a young orphan training to be a magician, is caught between worlds — literally — and his journey from apprentice to the most powerful magician in two worlds drives the overarching narrative across multiple series and decades of publishing.

Start with the Riftwar Saga: Magician: Apprentice, Magician: Master (originally published as one volume titled Magician), Silverthorn, and A Darkness at Sethanon. From there, Feist wrote numerous follow-up series spanning 30+ books.

Feist's greatest contribution is the scope of his world-building. The Riftwar universe spans two planets, multiple continents, and thousands of years of history. The collision between a Western-style medieval kingdom and an Asian-inspired stratified empire creates cultural conflict that is more interesting than simple good-versus-evil. Magician in particular is a classic of the genre, following Pug's transformation in a way that feels genuinely epic. While the quality varies across the extensive series, the original Riftwar Saga and the Empire Trilogy (co-written with Janny Wurts, which tells the story from the Kelewan side) are excellent and foundational works of fantasy.