With Reverent Hands: Magician, by Raymond E. Feist

 

I bring you with reverent hands / the books of my numberless dreams. 

-WB Yeats, "A Poet To His Beloved"

 

WB Yeats, I'm sure, gave books to his beloved that he valued highly himself, and that he handled with reverence.  If you had to recommend a book you revered to someone, what would it be?

I'm asking you to highlight one book.  One book that you adore, that you prize, that changed your life, that you would save from a burning building, that you found serendipitously on a library shelf or at a used bookstore, looking lonely and ignored.  A book that thrills you but that, you have come to realize, no one else has really ever heard of, much less read.  With Reverent Hands is all about those books- the ones that deserve a wider audience than they are given and that you want everyone to go out and read, even if they are out of print.

If you would like to participate in With Reverent Hands, please comment on this post and I will send you a template!

This week's guest blogger for With Reverent Hands is Blodeuedd who blogs at Bookgirl of Mur-y-Castell.  She's chosen a book that is fairly well known in the fantasy genre but that doesn't seem to be as loved as it deserves in the wider reader community.  Blodeuedd reads and reviews a wide variety of books on her blog, but has a true love for fantasy, so it was no surprise that she chose the below book to spotlight.  She writes really candid and honest reviews, which I love and appreciate, and I'm thrilled that she was the first to volunteer to participate in this series!  Thanks so much for highlighting a book you revere, Blodeuedd!

What book are you highlighting?
Magician, by Raymond E.Feist

When did you first read it?

In 2001, in the summer, and it might have been my first really big book in English. I devoured it, and then had my dad to drive me to the library so that I could get more by Feist. I fell in love with the book and to this day I think it is the single greatest fantasy book ever written, to be truthful it is the best book in the entire world.

What is it about?  Please give a brief summary.
It starts with a young boy named Pug who lives in a castle with his friend Thomas.  They are 13 and it is time for them to get chosen for apprenticeships.  Thomas gets to be a soldier, and Pug gets chosen to become a magician.  But something seems to be wrong and he can't find his power.  

Three years goes by, and a strange ship comes to their northern shores.  Soon the world is at war with strange people from another world, and the country itself is on the brink of civil war.  Then Pug and Thomas are separated and each will find a higher destiny.  Pug in another world, and Thomas will fight along side elves and dwarfs, and something ancient and dark. As the world is falling apart will there be a solution?

Then there is the  ancient dreams, political intrigues, the strange new world, evil dark elves and fearless invaders. And war of course.


What makes the book stand out to you?  Why do you love it?
I know that fantasy fans may have heard of it, read it and loved it, but this is still a book that deserves a bigger spotlight, to all the rest of the earth that may not read fantasy. This should be read. It's a book that I re-read every summer until the previous one (when blogging  made me find so many new books). There was this passion in me that made me wanna re-read it time after time, and I surely will this summer again. It is the book I would save first of all the rest, it is my most cherished book, it might not be a master piece, but I have fallen for it. And I might have a crush on Pug too, lol.

Please finish this analogy:  If you liked _____________, you'll probably enjoy this book.
Hard one... if you liked an epic fantasy book, with heavy magic in it, you'll probably like this book.

What sort of person would you recommend to read this book?
I do not want to recommended it only to fantasy fans, I want to recommend it to all. Just take a chance on something different. Feist has created a rich world and history with a lot of interesting characters to fall in love with. 

And the creation of two planets, dimensions, is such a treat in this book. The Tsusuranni world is so different from Midkemia. The first structured around China and Japan, and Midkemia around feudal Europe. It is such a contrast.

This book is part of a series, but it is made in the way that you can read just this one and be happy cos the end is a real ending.

Do you have any quotes you would like to share?

"This slave is no longer property of this house. He is now the province of the Assembly."  

This makes no sense reading like this, but oh in the book, love it! The spine has totally cracked at that page and the pages will soon fall off, yes anyone can see which page I have loved.

And another one:

“That you have lived as you have lived  for centuries is no license for this cruelty. All here are now judged and all are found wanting.” 

Love that one. I first came across it in another Feist book that takes place in the Tsuranni Empire, and there are 2 places where these two different series meet.