However, there is something that draws you into this epic series (10 main books, 2 prequels) of gods and heroes. In addition, the way he writes female characters is a real turn-off for a modern audience. Feist is a highly underrated writer who has an uncanny knack for making you want to find out what happens next.Įddings takes a lot of flak in fantasy circles for his repetitiveness and two-dimensional characters. While Feist ran out of steam towards the end, the earlier books (Magician, Silverthorn, A Darkness at Sethanon) are some of the best examples of high fantasy. The stories take place over 100-150 years and feature several recurring characters. Feist first took us to this world with Magician (1982) and finished up with Magician’s End (2013).

The action takes place on the world of Midkemia (as well as some in the world of Kelewan, which is connected by a rift to the former). The most comprehensive world-building by any fantasy author, the Riftwar Cycle spans 30 books. While some have flaws, they are a wonderful way to escape to a new world this winter: Below we look at five series that beat Martin’s opus in terms of length and scope. But Martin is hardly the first, nor will he be the last, to take years to build a fantasy world. The reason for the delay is, of course, that these are long fantasy epics, and they take a long time to write.

Martin has been writing them for decades, and, as most are aware, the producers of the Game of Thrones television series had to take matters into their own hands by finishing the tale on screen while waiting for the author to catch up. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire books, you’ll probably agree that it takes a long time for the writer to produce a book.

Riftwar saga book order