Magician: Apprentice

Very good sequel the power ramp was satisfying I don't know how there can be problems in the following books when Pug is so strong. The writing is really incredible as always and I felt really engaged the entire time, except for some parts where were pulled away from the action to follow another character. Overall pretty good, there's a couple dull moments but that's to be expected. Ending is super satisfying and as someone who doesn't want to get too involved in the 31 book saga I felt like this was a good stopping point.

I was immediately hooked from the onset. At the start of the first book we are introduced to the main character ‘Pug' who is a local teen-aged orphan boy of limited prospects. He is shortly chosen for an apprenticeship to the local magician Kulgan, much to Pug's surprise as he isn't even aware that he has any magical skills at this point.

Some other notable characters introduced are Pug's best friend Tomas, and also the Princess Carline whom Pug has a slight ‘crush' on. The characters themselves at this point seem a little... flat. It's quite difficult to connect with them or get too emotionally attached to them or the story. Kulgan is a fairly stereotypical wizard, he wears robes and a pointy hat, he has a beard and smokes a pipe, he is mysterious, he has a weird pet creature thing (a sort of small dragon) etc.

Not much happens for a fair chunk of the book. Pug chills out with his buddy, has awkward meetings with the princess, reads a lot of magic books etc. It isn't until the characters become aware of the upcoming invasion that the plot really starts to develop. The plot itself was very promising at first. The invasion via ‘Rift' from an otherworldly race was genius but poorly presented. Feist could have done a lot more with the plot than he did. The plot kept jumping ahead by years and missing out a lot of the action. We didn't even really see the start of the war. They were about to be invaded and then suddenly it was years later and they were tired of fighting? Also the supposedly main character Pug disappears for quite a large chunk of the book.

A good book, but for children. I liked the writing style, but the story just did not resonate with me. It talks about a young boy coming to maturity, having to choose a profession for himself and dealing with his feelings for the princess.

He is chosen, rather then choose himself, to be a magician, while his best friend becomes a soldier. The story is very cheerful and with promise of adventure, but there is no conflict and the plot which could be interesting is developed very slowly.

The plot is about the protagonist, Pug, having to learn about his mysterious powers and the threat of an invasion of his homeland from an army from another world. Elves and dwarfs may come together with the humans to fight a common enemy.

By the time the elven prince goes to his room and they're both start to talk it became painfully hard to read the child-focused discussion between them.