Riftwar Saga Books in Order

The Riftwar Saga is where Raymond E. Feist’s universe truly begins. Set mostly in and around the frontier duchy of Crydee, it starts as a coming‑of‑age tale and widens into a war for the fate of two worlds.

We first meet Pug, an orphan raised in Duke Borric’s household, on the day he fails every normal test for apprenticeship—until the court magician Kulgan unexpectedly chooses him. His best friend Tomas takes a more straightforward path as a castle guard. Life in Crydee feels small: fishing boats, forest hunts, festivals in the keep.

Then a strange wrecked ship washes ashore, built from unfamiliar materials and crewed by the dead. It’s the first hint of an invasion from Kelewan, the “world on the other side” of a magical rift. What follows in Magician: Apprentice and Magician: Master is both intimate and sweeping: Pug’s capture and enslavement, his brutal training among the Tsurani Magicians, Tomas’s encounter with dragon‑forged armor that links him to an ancient race, and a grinding war that plays out in forests, fortresses and on the rift itself.

By the time the story reaches Silverthorn and A Darkness at Sethanon, the focus has widened. Prince Arutha of Krondor, Jimmy the Hand, and a widening cast of nobles, thieves and spellcasters are drawn into plots that reach far beyond one border conflict. A poisoned bride, a desperate quest into moredhel‑haunted lands, and a final stand at the city of Sethanon reveal that the rift war is only one front in a much older struggle tied to the Lifestone and the long‑dead Valheru.

What keeps the saga grounded are its relationships. Pug finds a new family across the rift and has to decide where his loyalties lie. Tomas wrestles with the inhuman instincts bound to his armor. Arutha is a capable leader who would rather be a quiet man, forced into ever larger roles. Their choices ripple outward through a world that feels lived‑in, with its own politics, religions and grudges.

The tone is classic epic fantasy: sieges, quests, mysterious mentors, dark forests and ancient ruins, but told with an approachable, page‑turning style. For many readers, this quartet is both an entry point and a complete story—one that introduces Midkemia and Kelewan, then closes the circle on that first great war.

If you want to understand why Feist’s work resonated with so many readers, the Riftwar Saga is the place to begin.