Magician's End: Book Three of the Chaoswar Saga

Written by Raymond E. Feist

Narrated by John Meagher

Three decades...Five Riftwars...One magnificent saga: Magician's End is the final book in New York Times bestselling author Raymond E. Feist's science fiction epic Riftwar Cycle.

Thirty years ago, Feist's first novel, Magician, introduced us to an orphan boy named Pug, who rises from slavery to become a Master Magician, and to Midkemia and the Riftwar, an epic series of battles between Good and Evil that have scarred Pug's world for generations.

After twenty-nine books, Feist delivers the crowning achievement of his renowned bestselling career: Magician’s End, the final chapter in The Chaos Wars, the climax of his extraordinary Riftwar Cycle.

Pug, now the greatest magician of all time, must risk everything he has fought for and everything he cherishes in the hope of destroying an evil enemy once and for all. But to achieve peace and save untold millions of lives, he will have to pay the ultimate price.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Release date: May 14, 2013
• ISBN: 9780062263100

Raymond E. Feist

Raymond E. Feist was born and raised in Southern California. He was educated at the University of California, San Diego, where he graduated with honours in Communication Arts. He is the author of the bestselling and critically acclaimed Riftwar Cycle among other books.

Reviews for Magician's End

[edwinkort · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

En nu bevinden we ons aan het einde van een reis. Een reis die ons door Midkemia en andere landen (en zelfs realiteiten) heeft geleidt. Een reis die begon met Magier en een jongen die maar geen leermeester kon vinden, maar door de hofmagiër onder zijn hoede wordt genomen, en later uitgroeit tot de grootste magiër.

Ondanks een kleine verstoring ongeveer half weg de serie, heeft de schrijver zich weer herpakt tegen het einde van de serie en met een goed einde van het boek.

Ik was blij dat de herintroductie van de, al lang geleden, overleden vrienden van Puc en anderen, maar hadden gelukkig geen deel van aan het einde van het boek.

Het is jammer dat ik deze serie boeken pas nu ontdekt heb, nu dat het laatste boek al weer geruime tijd geleden is geschreven. Ik zal deze wereld gaan missen. Misschien niet alle personages, want ik begon toch wel een beetje een hekel te krijgen aan sommige van hen. Van andere vind ik het dan weer wel jammer dat ze er niet meer zijn, want hoe vaak je een boek ook herlees, nooit zal je meer de verwondering van het voor het eerst lezen meer krijgen.

Hoewel ik dit laatste boek in een paar dagen heb gelezen, leek het wel veel langer te duren. Waarom dit zoveel langer leek, zal waarschijnlijk komen doordat een aantal dingen in het verhaal mij gewoon niets deden, maar ook, en dat is zeker heel belangrijk, er waren andere dingen te doen, en van te genieten.

Bij sommige boeken en series stel ik het lezen van het laatste hoofdstuk altijd even uit, om maar lekker te genieten, maar op de een of andere manier ging dat bij dit boek niet zo. Misschien omdat ik het zo langzamerhand zat was, of was overvoert met de reeks, ik weet het niet. Een herlezen over een paar jaar zal dat moeten uitwijzen.

Begon een beetje moe te worden van Puc, Miranda, Magnus en een paar anderen. De delen zonder Puc waren in mijn ogen veel beter.

Een waardevol einde van een serie, zeker het laatste hoofdstuk, maar niet het epische einde die je zou mogen verwachten van een serie die bijna 30(!) jaar heeft gelopen. Geen moeilijk of verrassende plot.

Op naar een waardige opvolger van de serie. Heeft Feist nog andere boeken buiten Midkemia?

[mmoj_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a bitter-sweet conclusion to a long-favorite series. Pug is of course at the heart of the story for he's what Midkemia stands for: duty, honour and sacrifice of all. It's what was the best of all the stories; all those deaths freely given were for the greater good.

Was this book as good as the first, perhaps not. But to compare the two is to surely feel dissatisfied for it would be to compare a young man just starting in life - youthful, mischievous, full of possibilities; with an old man nearing the end - someone who is perhaps philosophical, pondering if the choices made were the right ones, a little anxious about what comes next but perhaps with a little hope.

I was sad to see the story end but it was time. It's best to leave Midkemia with possibilities and fondness and that's what this story does.

[gsb68 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I cant really review this as single book. If I did it wouldn't rate 4 stars, but as an ending for characters I have been reading about for nearly 30 years it does.

Pug, Thomas, Jimmy, Nakor, and the conDoin family will always have a place on my bookshelves.

[cadiva-2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved the ending of this book, but I didn't love that the series has now come to an end. I've been reading Raymond Feist's Midkemia series for more than half my adult life, since I first picked up and read the back of a book called Magician in my early 20s.
I put the book back on the shelf that first day but, every time I went into the bookshop, I was drawn by the cover and the basic premise of the novel and eventually I bought it and set off to read it expecting nothing more than just an enjoyable few hours wasted.
How wrong I was, it was the start of a journey which has only now ended some 20 years and nearly 30 books later with a novel which fortunately lived up to all my expectations for the conclusion of a story of such epic scale that it had to go back to the beginning.

Feist's Pug has been at the heart of these novels but he's not a hero in the traditional sense of the word, his path to greatness has come at great personal cost and over a lifetime of trials and troubles. His magic, while powerful, has never been of the "wave your fingers and solve all ills" and in Magician's End we see him struggling with the ultimate outcome of everything that had gone on before. All conflicts and conquests are, when it comes down to it, nothing more but humps on a road which leads to a pyrrhic victory or utter destruction.

Other reviewers have mentioned the return of characters from the past, Kulgan Pug's first magician mentor, King Borric, Arutha's eldest son, even Jimmy the Hand makes a fleeting appearance, in image if not in substance, and at the heart of this book - as it has been at the heart of all Feist's works - is that it is the capacity for love which makes everything worth it in the end. Their appearances are all to teach various lessons to the most powerful magic users on Midkemia. To go back to the beginning, that the simplest answer is usually the right one, that it's all a matter of perspective and that, if you have to do anything, doing it for love (whether that be love of the land, love of another person, love for ones country, love for information) is as good a reason as any other.

There are two distinct paths through this novel, what's happening with the conDoin brothers (who couldn't have been more like our original Arutha, Lyam and Martin if they tried!) during the brewing Civil Warfor the Throne of the Isles, and Pug and his fellow magicians' journey to find out what is at the "Heart of Darkness".
While I agree with a previous reviewer that the political strife, battles and general manoeuvring about of Henry, Martin and Brendan is the more pacey and exciting part of Magician's End, I have to say I preferred the quieter, introspective moments of Pug's journey. I had more tearful moments reading those chapters than I can remember in a long time. Tomas' passing was beautifully done, fitting that such a man of power should go in such peace, I loved how it hearkened back to his earliest interactions with Ashen-Shugar as Tomas fought the overwhelming nature of the Valheru.
Previously Feist had peed me off beyond measure with his death of Arutha off page and due to a broken hip. This book round he did it with Dolgan, King of the Dwarves and such a major character from the beginning. Having him die, and the fabled Hammer of Tholin buried along with him, in a throw away one-liner made me really cross!
As this was the "end" I knew deaths would be coming and I have to admit to only being slightly surprised by Feist's final "twist" in the tale. Still, it worked perfectly in ending the cycle of both Pug and my journey through Midkemia and I will always be profoundly grateful that I went back and picked up that book with its intriguing title and cover for his novels have provided me with such joy over the years.

[karlstar_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The long, long coming end of the Riftwar saga! Begun 30 years ago with Magician, the long plot line finally comes to an end. This is very typical Feist. Fast paced, action packed and full of magical mysteries. Many familiar characters come together one final time to try to prevent the end of Midkemia and perhaps the universe. If you are a Feist fan, you'll enjoy this book, unless you are overly attached to some of the characters. Very good.

[booksfordinner · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Well. Very nearly 30 years of one book a year in the world of Midkemia and it's all (in theory) over. Feist says this is the last book on this world, so we'll see...After the train wreck of the last book (horrible, horrible editing problems) and the varying quality of the last half dozen books or so, I was pleasantly surprised. This isn't his best book certainly, but it is a good one. I liked the ending, and I give him points for spending 100-150 pages throughout the book on religion/philosophy/etc. Hard to decide which of the two plotlines was the main one, but Pug's is of course the greater of the two. Look, if you are going to start reading Feist, start at the beginning...the first 5-10 books were his best, with some good ones later on. Towards the end though, I was reading them all simply because I just picked his book off the shelf in a Barnes and Noble one day and took a chance, as hardcore readers are wont to do. A couple dozen books later, I just had to see it through to the end.