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Series · fantasy
Riftwar Saga
The Riftwar Saga series by Raymond E. Feist has 3 known books (3 published). It is best read in publication order, starting with Magician (1982). Silverthorn is the latest book with a fully recorded publication date.
- Books
- 3 known books (3 novels)
- Published
- 3
- First published
- 1982
- Status
- completed
- Shelved under
- Fantasy
Start here: Magician (1982)
— then read straight through in publication order.
Reading order
The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series.
- Book 1:
Magician
Magician is the novel that opens Raymond E. Feist's Riftwar Saga, published in 1982. It's followed here by Silverthorn. It's the natural place to begin the series, which ran to completion between 1982 and 1986 across 3 books. US mass-market paperback editions split this novel into two volumes, Magician: Apprentice and Magician: Master; it's tracked here as the single novel Feist originally published. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Magician - Book 2:
Silverthorn
Silverthorn is by Raymond E. Feist, the second novel in the Riftwar Saga, published in May 1985. In the reading order it follows Magician and precedes A Darkness at Sethanon. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Silverthorn - Book 3:
A Darkness at Sethanon
A Darkness at Sethanon is the Riftwar Saga's third entry, a novel by Raymond E. Feist, published in 1986, at 528 pages. It follows Silverthorn as the most recent entry in the series so far. Alternative text for cover: Cover of A Darkness at Sethanon
Key facts about the Riftwar Saga series
Our list has 3 books in the Riftwar Saga series. Since all 3 are out now, you can read the whole list today.
Start with Magician, since it opens the publication order in 1982. Silverthorn is book 2, from 1985. A Darkness at Sethanon is book 3, from 1986.
The list keeps the books in date order, while each title links to its own page. Each book page shows its dates and editions.
Silverthorn is the latest book with a full release date, out on 7 May 1985. Since the catalogue marks the series as complete, we list no next book.
The books came out between 1982 and 1986, while their length runs from 400 to 841 pages. That is a run of 4 years.
Raymond E. Feist has 35 books on our list. Additionally, they write Empire Trilogy, Krondor's Sons and Serpentwar Saga, plus 8 more series. We shelve the books under fantasy.
About the Riftwar Saga series
Pug is an orphaned kitchen boy on the estate of the Duke of Crydee when an alien race, the Tsurani, tears open an interdimensional rift and invades his home world of Midkemia, dragging him into a war between worlds and a magical destiny he never chose. Magician introduces Feist's world-spanning epic in two halves -- Pug's captivity and magical awakening on the invaders' home world of Kelewan, and his friend Tomas's rise among an ancient, godlike race back on Midkemia -- before Silverthorn and A Darkness at Sethanon widen the scope into court intrigue, a hunt for a cure to a magical poison, and a final confrontation with an ancient evil threatening to unmake both worlds.
Published across the 1980s, the Riftwar Saga is the foundational trilogy of Feist's Riftwar Cycle, a body of work that would eventually span more than a dozen further trilogies and duologies across four decades. It set the template the rest of the Cycle follows: sweeping, multi-book plots; a cast that ages and grows across volumes rather than resetting; and a habit of following secondary characters -- Pug's son, apprentices, entirely new generations -- once the founding heroes' story is told. New readers to the whole Cycle should start here; almost everything that follows assumes you already know Pug, Tomas, and the world of Midkemia.
Frequently asked questions
How many books are in the Riftwar Saga?
Three: Magician (1982), Silverthorn (1985), and A Darkness at Sethanon (1986). Some US paperback editions split Magician into two volumes (Magician: Apprentice and Magician: Master), but it's a single novel.
What order should I read the Riftwar Saga in?
Publication order: Magician, Silverthorn, A Darkness at Sethanon.
Do I need to read the Riftwar Saga before other Feist series?
Yes -- it's the foundation of the entire Riftwar Cycle, and nearly every later series assumes you know Pug, Tomas, and Midkemia from these three books.
Is the Riftwar Saga a complete trilogy?
Yes, complete and self-contained, though the wider Riftwar Cycle continues across many further series.
What is Midkemia?
The medieval-fantasy world where most of the Riftwar Saga takes place, connected by magical rifts to the alien empire of Tsuranuanni on the world of Kelewan.
If you like the Riftwar Saga series
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