''The Riftwar Cycle'' is the name given to the series of books authored or co-authored by Raymond E. Feist that revolve around the fantasy worlds of Midkemia and Kelewan.

The Riftwar Universe

The majority of Feist's works are part of The Riftwar Universe, and feature the worlds of Midkemia and Kelewan. Human magicians and other creatures on the two planets are able to create rifts through dimensionless space that can connect planets in different solar systems. The novels and short stories of The Riftwar Universe record the adventures of various people on these worlds. ''Midkemia'' was originally created as an alternative to the '' Dungeons and Dragons'' (D&D)

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

. When Feist studied at the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...

, he and his friends created a new role-playing game based on their own original world of Midkemia. They called themselves the ''Thursday Nighters'', because they played the Midkemia role-playing game every Thursday evening. After some time, when the group changed and began meeting on Fridays, they became known as the ''Friday Nighters''. The original group have since formed a company called Midkemia Press, which has continued publishing campaigns set in that universe. Feist acknowledges that the Tekumel setting from M. A. R. Barker's '' Empire of the Petal Throne'' was the source for much of Kelewan. The original D&D campaign which he based his books on had an invasion of the Midkemia world by Tekumel. As a result, much of the background of Kelewan - the Tsurani Empire, the lack of metals and horses, the Cho'ja, the pantheons of 10 major and 10 minor gods - comes from Tekumel. Feist claims to have been unaware of this origin when he wrote '' Magician''.

Works

Most ''Riftwar'' novels' stories occur in chronological order following the publishing order, with a few exceptions. The Empire Trilogy starts during ''Magician'' and concludes after ''A Darkness at Sethanon''. The Riftwar Legacy occurs between the Riftwar Saga and Krondor's Sons. The Legends of the Riftwar novels occur between ''Magician'' and ''Silverthorn''. Novels are grouped into their respective series, with series ordered by the publishing date of the first novel in the series.

The Riftwar Saga The ''Riftwar Saga'' is a series of fantasy novels by American writer Raymond E. Feist, the first series in '' The Riftwar Cycle''. Works in the series Magician "To the forest on the shore of the Kingdom of the Isles, the orphan called Pu ...

# '' Magician'' (1982), later republished in two parts in the United States as '' Magician: Apprentice'' (1986) and '' Magician: Master'' (1986) # '' Silverthorn'' (1985) # '' A Darkness at Sethanon'' (1986)

The Empire Trilogy

# '' Daughter of the Empire'' (1987) with Janny Wurts # '' Servant of the Empire'' (1990) with Janny Wurts # '' Mistress of the Empire'' (1992) with Janny Wurts

Krondor's Sons ''Krondor's Sons'' is a series of fantasy novel by American writer Raymond E. Feist. The books are part of The Riftwar Cycle and set on the fictional world of Midkemia. The two novels are set between riftwars and explores Midkemia beyond t ...

# '' Prince of the Blood'' (1989) # ''

The King's Buccaneer ''The King's Buccaneer'' is a fantasy novel by American writer Raymond E. Feist. It is the second book of the '' Krondor's Sons'' series and was published in 1992. It was preceded by '' Prince of the Blood'' which was published in 1989. Plot in ...

'' (1992)

The Serpentwar Saga ''The Serpentwar Saga'' is a series of fantasy novels by American writer Raymond E. Feist. The novels revolve around two characters, Erik von Darkmoor and Roo Avery and also includes a host of previous characters from past novels, including Nak ...

# '' Shadow of a Dark Queen'' (1994) # '' Rise of a Merchant Prince'' (1995) # '' Rage of a Demon King'' (1997) # ''

Shards of a Broken Crown ''Shards of a Broken Crown'' is a 1998 fantasy novel by American writer Raymond E. Feist, the fourth and final book of his Serpentwar Saga and the twelfth book of his Riftwar cycle. Synopsis Thanks to an enemy general who has a change of heart ...

'' (1998)

The Riftwar Legacy ''The Riftwar Legacy'' is a series of fantasy novels by American writer Raymond E. Feist, part of The Riftwar Cycle. The series occurs between the ''Riftwar Saga'' and '' Krondor's Sons'' series chronologically in the universe of the Riftwar Cy ...

# '' Krondor: The Betrayal'' (1998) # '' Krondor: The Assassins'' (1999) # '' Krondor: Tear of the Gods'' (2000) # '' Jimmy and the Crawler'' (2013) - a novella replacing the cancelled novels ''Krondor: The Crawler'' and ''Krondor: The Dark Mage''.

Legends of the Riftwar

# '' Honoured Enemy'' (2001) with

William R. Forstchen William R. Forstchen (born October 11, 1950) is an American historian and author. A Professor of History and Faculty Fellow at Montreat College, in Montreat, North Carolina, he received his doctorate from Purdue University. He has published num ...

# '' Murder in LaMut'' (2002) with Joel Rosenberg # '' Jimmy the Hand'' (2003) with S. M. Stirling

Conclave of Shadows

# '' Talon of the Silver Hawk'' (2002) # '' King of Foxes'' (2003) # '' Exile's Return'' (2004)

The Darkwar Saga

# '' Flight of the Nighthawks'' (2005) # '' Into a Dark Realm'' (2006) # '' Wrath of a Mad God'' (2008)

The Demonwar Saga

# '' Rides a Dread Legion'' (2009) # '' At the Gates of Darkness'' (2010)

The Chaoswar Saga

# '' A Kingdom Besieged'' (2011) # '' A Crown Imperiled'' (2012) # '' Magician's End'' (2013)

Short stories

*Profit and the Grey Assassin (1982) in ''Fantasy Book'' (Journal) *The Wood Boy (1998) in Legends *The Messenger (short story) (2003) in Legends II

Other media

On February 2, 2022, Six Studios, a production company started by Jeff Huang and Carl Choi, announced it would develop the first six books in The Riftwar Saga into a TV series. Hannah Friedman, Jacob Pinion and Nick Bernardone are attached to write.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riftwar Cycle, The High fantasy novels Works by Raymond E. Feist