Here you will find the latest news in the world of Raymond E. Feist. It maybe the title of the next book, a new release or even a new project, but it could also be an update on an existing project. What ever it is though, we hope to present it to you as soon as we are aware of it. If you know something we don't, that relates to Raymond E. Feist, and believe it should be here, then please contact us.
Mon Nov 1st, 1999
Krondor: the Assassins Review
While most of us Americans are waiting patiently for KtA (hopefully only a few more days!),J. A. Hitchcock has posted her review:
My review of Krondor The Assassins is up at the EON Magazine web site
I also reviewed LEGENDS, Volume 1, which includes Raymond's story, 'The Wood Boy,' but it's not up on the site yet. Maybe later today.
Mon Oct 25th, 1999
Tales of the Riftwar
Ray posted this about the Tales of the Riftwar:
Tales of the Riftwar was discussed as a possible short-story unbrella, but my publisher at the time wasn't interested. It's still a possibility in the future. I will probably never 'farm out' the world, though (notice I didn't say 'never'), as I feel if my name's on the cover, I should have written something inside.
Later, John Bunting posted this listing he found on the internet:
Well Ray, I bet you didn't know this, it might help you with writing the book though, only 400 pages <G>
Title: Tales of the Rift War: Book 1
Author(s): co-author, Raymond E Feist and
ISBN: 0002247186
Status: Not yet published
Readership: Adult - General
Binding: Hardback
Number of Pages: 400
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Imprint: Voyager
Page dimensions: 234 x 153mm
Publication date: 20-Jun-2001
Place of Publication: London
Sun Oct 24th, 1999
Dutch Translations
Arrian Ruttin posted this information to the mailing list:
I've just had contact with someone at Ray's Dutch publisher, who told me some new, interesting things:
* 'De macht van een koopmansprins' (Rise of a merchant prince) will be in the stores next week.
* The title of the translation of 'Rage of a demon king' will be 'De razernij van een demonenkoning' and this book is expected to be published in March 2000.
* The title of the translation of 'Shards of a broken crown' will be 'Scherven van een verbrijzelde kroon' and this book is expected to be published in June 2000.
Tue Oct 19th, 1999
Let Your Voice be Heard
Want to encourage Ray's publisher's to re-issue his novels in hardcover? Here's how:
We did a reissue of everything from Magician to Prince of the Blood in hardcover in 1992.
You can write to Pat LoBruto, Editor Bantam Books 1540 Broadway, New York, NY 10036.
Just put forth calmly why you'd be willing to purchase a series of hardcover reprints, and maybe we'll get it done for the 20th Anniversary in 2002. That would cover everything from Magician to Buccaneer.
I think you'd better start looking for the Morrow/Avon titles in used bookstores/out-of-print services, as those are pretty new to be reprinted this soon.
Mon Oct 18th, 1999
Computer Game Status
Ray posted this about the legal status of future computer games, specifically dealing with the de-tangling of all legal dealings with Sierra:
We're still waiting for a couple of lawyer letters, but at this point we're free to negotiate with anybody with the means.
Mon Oct 18th, 1999
Full Krondor: the Assassins Review
Paul G. Allen, the editor of Explorations, Barnes and Noble's sci-fi/fantasy book review, recently wrote a glowing review of KtA (mentioned below). He was kind enough to send me the full text of the review:
Krondor: The Assassins
Book Two of The Riftwar Legacy
Eos/Avon
$25.00; November
Who is the most popular fantasy author of all time? What's the most popular sci-fi/fantasy series of all time? If sci-fi/fantasy fans could be one genre related character for a day, who (or what) would it be? Unanswered questions like this were running around inside my head for months until I came up with the perfect plan. I went to my nearest Barnes and Noble bookstore on a busy Saturday afternoon and hung out in the science fiction/fantasy section with a clipboard and some questionnaires. (I wore a suit and tie so I wouldn't scare people off, I'm pretty scary in person...) After six hours, I had talked to almost two hundred people and, after swearing that I really was the editor of Explorations, gathered a ton of interesting and potentially useless information.
One of the most surprising results was Raymond Feist being voted the favorite all-time fantasy author. (I had thought the consensus would've beenJ. R.R. Tolkien but he was a distant second.) I can't disagree with two hundred people though, Feist is a genius. His world of Midkemia is one of the most fully realized, rich and wondrous worlds in literary history; even more complex than Tolkien's middle-Earth and Silverberg's Majipoor. After reading Feist's Riftwar series and his Serpentwar saga (Shadow of a Dark Queen, Rise of a Merchant Prince, Rage of a Demon King and Shards of a Broken Crown), I feel as though I've lived in Midkemia for years! I've been to Sorcerer's Isle and seen the magnificent tree city of Elvandar. I've sailed the Bitter Sea and watched hundreds of people die on Nightmare Ridge. I've seen the Sauur, twelve foot high serpent people, and I've crawled through the sewers of Krondor looking for the Mockers.
His newest series, the Riftwar Legacy, uncovers more of Midkemia's never ending supply of awe-inspiring secrets and evil-hearted villains. In the first book, Krondor: The Betrayal, Prince Arutha and his loyal followers battled and eventually defeated the dark elf Delekhan and his army of elves and The Six, a mysterious group of powerful sorcerers. The precious Lifestone buried under the abandoned city of Sethanon was saved and the kingdom of Krondor was spared yet again. Krondor: The Assassins begins quite peacefully, at least for a few pages. Prince Arutha is coming home from the war and everyone is looking forward to a few well earned years of tranquility. Yeah right.
Before Arutha even gets to the city gates, he's informed that there's been a rash of murders in the city. Someone is randomly killing off the citizens of Krondor. The street people are dying, the magicians are dying, even the Guild of Thieves, the Mockers, are dying. Arutha calls his trusted squire James (aka Jimmy the Hand) for help. James is a veteran of the Krondor underworld and soon finds out things are worse than they seem. A group of Keshian thugs led by a man who calls himself the Crawler are overtaking the city, battling the Mockers for supremacy of the crime underworld. And to make matters worse, the Guild of Death, the Nightcrawlers, are back in full force.
Feist concentrates on some new characters in this novel. The wizard Pug's son, William, is one of the main characters and Lord Radswil, Duke of Olasko, and his royal family play an integral role in the story. Some characters from the first book are conspicuously missing, namely Locklear and Owyn Belefote, off on their own adventures.
Go out and buy the newest Riftwar Legacy installment, it's classic Feist. 100% pure Midkemia. A word of warning though, usually all of Feist's novels conclude with a nicely tied-up ending. This conclusion leaves a lot of plot lines blowing in the breeze. I'm not going to mention any of them to you because I don't want to ruin your fun but when I finished this book, I almost screamed! The epilogue of Krondor: The Assassins is basically the first chapter of the next Riftwar Legacy novel. A huge secret is uncovered and yet another sinister plot is set in motion. Mr. Feist, if you're listening, I want you to know that you are going to be torturing millions of readers with this novel. If there's an ounce of sympathy in your body, you'll publish the third book of this series as soon as humanly possible.
- P.G.A.
Thanks, Paul! All of us American's who have had to wait for this book are certainly drooling now.
Sun Oct 17th, 1999
Barnes and Noble Loves Ray (Don't We All?)
Larry Siegel posted this:
I was just in BarnesandNoble tonight. And thir October/November edition of 'Explorations' which is their SciFi/Fantasy booklet.. has what I think is not just an AMAZING review/plug for KtA but for ou in general.... the reviewer has put you up on a pedastel.. and is praising you like you wouldn't believe.
I'm gonna try and find an electronic copy of it.. or type it in and post the whole thing to the FAQ site.... but here's a part that you will hopefully find flattering.... (it's the last paragraph and is in reference to how suspenceful the book is and how bad he wants the sequel) :)
'Mr. Feist, if you're listening, I want you to know that you are going to be toturing millions of readers with this novel. If there's an ounce of sympathy in your body, you'll publish the third book in this series as soon as is humanly possible.'
- P.G.A
Sun Oct 17th, 1999
Tear of the Gods Release Date
Ray posted this about the release date for Krondor: Tear of the Gods:
March would be cutting it very close as I don't think the books going to be handed in until December or January.
Sun Oct 17th, 1999
Atlas of...
Ray recently posted this, about his upcoming projects:
Steve Abrams and I are writing an 'Atlas of Macros the Black,' and we're also talking about a Midkemian Encyclopedia.
This project was initially known as the Atlas of Krondor. Here's what Ray said to clarify the issue:
Well, it's not an Atlas OF Macros, if that's what you mean. It's Macros's personal atlas of the world as he knew it. It originally was the book Steve and I were doing to tie into the games, the 'Atlas of Krondor' thing; but as the computer license is lying fallow now, we decided to go in a different direction with it.
Thu Oct 14th, 1999
Greatest Game Ever
Betrayal at Krondor garnered the 44th spot on PC Gamer's 'The 50 Best Games Ever' list, in the November 1999 issue. Here's what they had to say about the classic:
The best computarized adaptation of any literary fantasy series, Sierra's Betrayal at Krondor contains all the elements that make a roleplaying game great - involving story, simple interface, characters with personality, and a gameworld large enough to take days to traverse. With its linear storyline but sprawling terrain, players could spend hours on mini-quests before ever delving into the main plot. The game's story was developed in collaboration with Raymond Feist, the author of the Midkemia novels on which the game is based, and the touch of a professional storyteller is evident throughout the whole affair. If there's any justice, Betrayal at Krondor will go down in history as one of the finest PC roleplaying games for the PC.
Thu Oct 14th, 1999
Miranda's Origins
Ray posted this about Miranda, and the events of the never-written Return of the Buccanneer:
I doubt I'll go into detail anywhere. I think (and remember, we're talking over ten years back for something I didn't get around to writing) it was going to be something like Miranda shows up and saves Calis's butt, and one of the sub-plots is she won't tell him who she is or where she comes from. I was always heading to the 'she's Macros's daughter,' and she was snooping around in Novindus because she'd finally gotten free of the Keshian secret police (and I don't remember what the deal was there, except maybe there was a very powerful magician in Kesh who had a spell on her or some such) and was looking to find her mother.
Part of the tension was going to be her and Calis becoming lovers and him not entirely trusting her. Wanted the readres to be shouting, 'No, she's playing you for a fool!'
Thu Oct 14th, 1999
Croation Release
John Bunting posted more foreign edition news:
For those who are interested here is the detail of the Croatian book Rays work is published in IIRC it was Faerie Tale
Monolith 002: Almanah znanstveno-fantasticne knjizevnosti; Davorin Horak, uredio; meki uvez, zast. Kutija; 1999. G. Nasa cijena: 290.30 kn
I will post the cover art to my site in the next few days
John later said that you could purchase the book at www.unival.hr
Mon Oct 11th, 1999
Krondor: the Assassins
Ray posted this bit to the list, about the purpose (in terms of the overall story arc) of KtA:
Assassins is a book that bridges between the action of the two games, and came about when I decided I needed to resolve some issues related to secondary plot themes in both books, i.e. why there are suddenly Izmalis running around in the sewers of Krondor in RtK, who is Sidi, etc?
For those of us in America, be patient: the book should be out in the next month (finally!).
Sun Oct 10th, 1999
Dutch Covers
John Bunting posted this message to the list:
I have just uploaded the Dutch covers for Shadow of a Dark Queen and Prince of the Blood
To view
Select 'Netherlands Editions' Button
To see a larger image click on the thumbnail
Sun Oct 10th, 1999
A Goodbye
Hunter Nielson announced this week that he is ending his site, Sorcerer's Isle, this week. It is sad to see any Feist site go. Good luck to you in the future, Hunter.