OK, so I'm definitely planning on picking this game up as I played the beginning of it a long time ago and I'd love to finish it. But I'm also kind of a stickler for going through things in order, so I'm considering actually reading the Riftwar novels first, so I have the background setting for the world and everything. I also have vague memories of the game having some extra rewards for players with knowledge of the history laid out in the novels. But it looks like the books have received rather mixed reviews, so I figured I'd ask the GOG community what they think of them. Any good? Tolerable?

Also, it looks like Feist has written quite a few books in the same universe, so which ones are actually relevant backstory for the game? It seems like it's probably just the Riftwar Saga (Magician, Silverthorn, A Darkness at Setharon) but there's a lot of other books referring to Riftwar so are those necessary too? Thanks!

P.S. -- I didn't mark this post as a question since I'm just soliciting opinions.

Very good, in my opinion, though the latest ones are not quite as good as his earlier works. Betrayal at Krondor takes place shortly after the events in A darkness at Sethanon, so those three books are the primarily relevant ones. Later books actually reference some events & characters from the games.

The Daughter of the Empire trilogy is largely contemporary with the Riftwar, but has no significant links to the games.

There is of course the trilogy starting with Krondor: The betrayal, but you should definitely play the games before reading those.

Thanks! I'll probably check those out then.

So i know this is a long time since the original post... so you may of already have finished the original trilogy...and well done if you have... ive read his entire works.. .. i agree with the other guy... the later ones arent as good.. but still pretty good if youre hooked into the whole thing like i am..

The Krondor series, the ones that fe79 said not to read .. actually were made after the SerpantWar saga i think.. purely becuase the game Betrayal at Krondor was made from people who knew about Fiests work.. He then later wrote the Krondor series after playing the game himself.. (ie.. Betrayal at Krondor wasnt orginally Fiests idea)
I actually didnt know this.. i read the books before playing the game.. and like you .. i do things in order (chronoligically at least) ..

Anyway.. good books..

Yeah, I've been slow and only just started reading them, but I'm liking them so far. I got the "author's preferred edition" of Magician, the first book, which is now actually split into two books, "Magician: Apprentice" and "Magician: Master". I thought that Apprentice was good but not great, but I'm starting Master now and it's quickly become much more interesting. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens in the rest of the trilogy.

Wikipedia confirms that Feist did not write the game himself... I also thought he was involved in the story but apparently he just had a final editorial say on the content. Seems he approved of it though since he later novelized the game.

I'm almost done with the second half of Magician myself. I'm enjoying them and there is clearly a lot of effort put into the lore. However his writing style can occasionally get excessive. Sometimes the characters just like to blurt out exposition about themselves and other characters, rather than letting the reader come to those conclusions through the story.

One really bad example of this comes from an attempt to characterize a villain as bad, but also clever. Unfortunately this leads to almost every dialogue involving the character by starting with "'X' is no fool..." This happens about ten times and I couldn't help but feel that Feist was insulting my comprehension skills. :P

I read all of his books that were out while I was in high school--about 16 or 17 of them. I have read a few since then, but I agree that they haven't been as good. I would say that his original Riftwar Saga and the Serpentwar Saga are the best.

He has also written one book outside of Pugverse which is fantastic called Faerie Tale.

they are fantastic 1 of the few bools i red trough.

Don't know how I missed this one. All of Feist's books are great. One of my favorites is a step outside the main series is Prince of the Blood. Read them all.

I have very mixed feelings about he books - you can, as somebody once remarked "hear the rattle of dice" - Midkemia was originally a D&D campaign world and it does show a little. Also "Magician" (the first of the novels) is one of the original "Kitchen Boy with Greatness in the Future" books. Still it has no orcs, which is a good thing.

The original stories ("Magician", "Silverthorn" and "A Darkness at Sethanon") do have a compelling story to tell. Anyone wanting to play the "Betrayal at Krondor" game in context should probably read these books first, as it takes place not long after them and does refer to events in the books and takes one aspect of that story a little further.

BaK is itself a good story.

The "Return to Krondor" game is set some while after the end of the original trilogy of the books, but does not really take up that story. However, the game is also a story itself, but - very frustratingly - only the first part of it.

There are several points in the game where there are pointers to a continuing narrative. I'm giving nothing away when I say that at one point Jezhara (a character who is member of the party from the start) is warned at one point to "Beware the Master of Durban" - a character who otherwise goes totally unmentioned in the plot. A least one magical item seems designed for in-game use, but not (it seems) THIS game - perhaps later. Even the ending finishes off with a sort of "see you tomorrow" line.

However, a game "tomorrow" never arrived (I still hope for one, but it's been years now). Feist did write three books (IIRC) one of which recapitulates RoK, and the other two take the plot on - but not a long way. It seems that the whole thing is going to be left dangling permanently, unless someone or something prods Feist into, at the least, taking things further in book form.

But if you like to have all the ends neatly tied off, then "Return to Krondor" is not the game for you. This particular episode in the larger story is properly dealt with, though.

Yes it's really too bad that the best thing about RtK, the plot, which likely never be finished. In fact that game goes in a few different directions that are never addressed, like references to a problem in Great Kesh.

Not to mention the major events surrounding William a character that has appeared in many of Feist's books (after all he is the son of the first saga's main character.)

Disappointing, but still a holds the charm of the books.

I sense a kindred spirit. :-)

I've just read the four books of the Riftwar Saga myself, and I wish I had read them all earlier.
I read the original Magician about 20 years ago, and liked it very much then. But now the books are too juvenile and simple for my taste. They are enjoyable and easy to read, but feel like childrens' version of A Song of Ice and Fire. They have the same feudal background with (supposedly) scheming lords, and like ASOIAF there is no one main character, but many different points of views.
But everybody is so bloody nice and beautiful in Midkemia. With few exceptions the good guys are all handsome and jovial, and with even fewer exceptions all the females are either pretty or just as often of "striking" or "unsurpassed" beauty, wether they are 7or 30. There are no female main characters, yet they are all strongwilled and always take the iniative in matters of sex and romance. There are no human "bad guys" in Midkemia, nobody is really plotting or scheming; while the enemy are soulless dark elves and goblins who are just "monsters".
And with only two minor exceptions, none of the good guys are cut down in their prime, and everything is almost as neatly wrapped up as a Disney movie.

Great books for youths or those new to Fantasy, but too basic if you have read and enjoyed A Song of Ice and Fire. And they do provide a good background for a computer game. I would have liked to see a turn based strategy game based on them.

But now I look forward to play Betrayal at Krondor, a game I missed back in 1993 due to it being DOS only, while I was stuck with an Amiga getting more and more obsolete.

Your criticisms are fair. The Riftwar Saga certainly isn't the best or most mature fantasy series I've read. It's very much heroic fantasy, so it has a much lighter tone than A Song of Ice and Fire. Honestly I think the main reason I enjoyed the Riftwar Saga was because I was getting excited to play an RPG set in that world. It has a lot of potential. I actually still haven't gotten around to playing Betrayal at Krondor yet (too many games!) but I hope to soon.

When I was playing Betrayal (and later Return) I didn't know anything about Feist, his books and Midkemia. I've read them much later and enjoyed them very much (probably because of all the references that I remembered from the games). And after reading Riftwar Saga I replayed both games and had so much fun again.

If you want to read the books go for it in chronological order.

read them all also the ones written with Janny Wurtz they are masterpieces.