Raymond E. Feist

Raymond E. Feist – Life, Career, and Famous Quotes

Dive into the life and legacy of Raymond E. Feist — the American fantasy author behind The Riftwar Cycle. Explore his early life, writing journey, thematic approach, famous quotes, and what aspiring writers can learn from him.

Introduction

Raymond E. Feist is one of modern fantasy’s most prolific and enduring voices. Born in 1945, he is best known for The Riftwar Cycle — a sprawling saga set in the imaginative worlds of Midkemia and Kelewan. Over decades, he has built deep lore, memorable characters, and intricate plots, earning millions of fans worldwide. His work combines epic war narratives, personal struggle, camaraderie, moral complexity, and the wonder of magic. In this article, we trace his life, his writing, his influence, his outlook in his own words, and the lessons his career offers to storytellers.

Early Life and Family

Raymond E. Feist was born Raymond Elias Gonzales III on December 21, 1945 in Los Angeles, California, U.S. He was raised in Southern California.

When his mother remarried, he adopted the surname of his stepfather, becoming Feist.

He is the son of Felix E. Feist (his stepfather) and carries that name professionally.

Throughout his life, Feist has been private about his family and early childhood beyond these basics, letting his books rather than his autobiography speak for him.

Youth and Education

Feist attended University of California, San Diego, where he earned a B.A. in Communication Arts with Honors in 1977 .

During his university years, he and his friends established a role-playing game world called Midkemia. That world would later become the foundational setting of his novels.

It was in those years, around 1977, that Feist began conceiving ideas for a novel about a boy becoming a magician — the seed that would become Magician.

The combination of his academic training in communications and his immersion in imaginative gaming worlds provided him with both narrative sensibilities and a deep toybox of fantasy lore to draw from.

Career and Achievements

The Birth of Magician and The Riftwar Cycle

Feist wrote Magician (later published in two parts as Magician: Apprentice and Magician: Master) and saw it published by Doubleday in 1982.

This novel introduced readers to Midkemia, Pug (the orphan who becomes a powerful magician), Tomas, the realm of Krondor, and the threat from invaders across dimensional rifts.

From Magician grew The Riftwar Cycle, a multi-series epic exploring wars, politics, magic, and destiny across connected worlds. Feist’s works are set in Midkemia and Kelewan (another world accessible by rifts), and include many sub-series, spin-offs, and shorter works.

Over time, Feist expanded into other series, including Firemane (2018–2022) and The Dragonwar Saga (begun in 2024), showing his continuing evolution as a writer.

He has also published Faerie Tale, his only novel not set in the Riftwar universe.

His books have been translated into many languages and have sold over 15 million copies worldwide.

He received the Inkpot Award in 1988.

Worldbuilding, Lore, and Media Extensions

Feist’s Midkemia world originally came from the RPG sessions he and friends ran; thus, the depth of lore, political factions, pantheons, geography, and history are rooted in that collaborative gaming origin.

He acknowledged that parts of the Kelewan world derive (perhaps unconsciously) from elements of M. A. R. Barker’s Empire of the Petal Throne / Tekumel setting, especially in early iterations.

Feist participated in adaptations of his work into video games, most notably Betrayal at Krondor (1993) and Return to Krondor (1998). Some game worlds were later folded back into novel continuity (e.g. Krondor: The Betrayal, Krondor: Tear of the Gods).

He has continued to create new sagas and extend his fictional universe, maintaining relevance decades after his debut.

Historical & Literary Context

• Feist emerged in the early 1980s, a period when fantasy publishing was opening to larger and more ambitious sagas (after Tolkien, Le Guin, etc.).

• His work occupies a space between epic fantasy (war, kingdoms, magic) and more character-driven narratives, bridging large-scale conflict with personal growth and moral ambiguity.

• The RPG roots of his worldbuilding place him among authors who have leveraged gaming and fantasy communities to generate richly detailed universes—for example, Raymond Feist’s approach is partly comparable to the way authors like Robert Jordan and Margaret Weis / Tracy Hickman drew from D&D-style logic.

• As fantasy expanded into mainstream media (films, TV, gaming), Feist’s sustained presence and deep catalog have allowed his work to remain relevant in a crowded genre.

Legacy and Influence

Raymond E. Feist’s legacy extends in multiple directions:

• He inspired many fantasy readers to dive into long-form sagas and explore lore-rich universes.

• His approach of combining broad, sweeping conflicts with grounded personal stakes influenced later authors seeking balance between world scale and character intimacy.

• Feist’s model of extending fiction into games, spin-offs, side stories, and cross-media exploration is now common in modern fantasy franchises.

• His longevity and productivity (across decades) show how an author can build and sustain a career in a genre sometimes labeled “niche.”

• Among fantasy writers and fans, he is often cited as a benchmark of consistency: even if one doesn’t love every book, his world is coherent, ambitious, and fully realized.

Personality, Approach & Themes

While Feist is not a highly public figure, interviews and his writing give insight into his values and tendencies:

• Story first: Feist emphasizes that he writes to tell entertaining stories — not necessarily to push ideology.

• Dedication to craft: He has remarked that “Writing is hard work; it's also the best job I’ve ever had.”

• Humility about character and control: He warns against treating characters as “precious,” explaining that such overprotection can make them feel artificial.

• Acceptance of risk, failure, and the unknown: Many of his quotes emphasize facing fear, accepting failure, and making decisions. For example: “You can’t succeed unless you’re willing to risk failure.”

• Learning from others: One of his well-known lines: “Every person you encounter … is there to teach you something.”

• Balance and multiple perspectives: His narratives often involve conflicts in which honor, sacrifice, pragmatism, and differing loyalties matter — reflecting a willingness to portray complexity rather than pure good vs. evil.

Famous Quotes of Raymond E. Feist

Here are several standout quotes that reflect his worldview, as drawn from collections and his published work:

“Life is problems. Living is solving problems.”

“A hero is someone who simply got too frightened to use his good sense and run away, then somehow lived through it all.”

“Every person you encounter, whom you interact with, is there to teach you something. Sometimes it may be years before you realize what each had to show you.”

“Writing is hard work; it’s also the best job I’ve ever had.”

“Never accept the proposition that just because a solution satisfies a problem, that it must be the only solution.”

“The past can be a terrible weight bound to you by an unbreakable chain. You can drag it with you … Or you can let it go and move forward. It’s your choice.”

These quotations reflect recurring themes: challenge, growth, complexity, choice, and humility.

Lessons from Raymond E. Feist

From studying Feist’s life and work, here are several lessons relevant to writers, creators, and readers alike:

1. Cultivate your world before publishing.
   Feist’s immersive world (Midkemia, Kelewan) was born from years of role-playing, group creativity, and lore development. That depth allowed him to tell many stories in a consistent universe.

2. Write for love of story, not external validation.
   His quotes and interviews indicate he writes first to entertain himself; critical acclaim is welcome, but not the starting point.

3. Be prolific, but maintain continuity.
   He has published many series, spin-offs, and expansions, but he ensures internal logic, consistency, and respect for earlier work.

4. Accept risk and imperfection.
   He advocates for decisions, even when afraid, and acknowledges that one must accept failure as part of creative endeavor.

5. Characters deserve room to surprise you.
   By not treating characters as too fragile or precious, he allows them to evolve in unexpected ways — which contributes to narrative vitality.

6. Balance scope and intimacy.
   Even epic sagas succeed when readers care about individuals: Feist often balances massive war arcs with personal stakes, relationships, and moral dilemmas.

7. Learn from life and others.
   His viewpoint that each person teaches something encourages humility, openness, and continuous growth.

8. Evolve without losing core identity.
   Over decades, Feist has extended his worlds, introduced new series, and adapted to changing fantasy markets — yet his voice remains recognizable.

Conclusion

Raymond E. Feist stands as a prolific, imaginative, and enduring figure in fantasy literature. From the early days of Magician to the sprawling universes of The Riftwar Cycle, Firemane, and beyond, he has crafted stories that bridge high conflict and personal journey. His writing philosophy, his worldbuilding roots, and his humility in both craft and vision offer lessons not just for fantasy writers but for any creative path.

If you’re new to Feist’s work, starting with Magician (the Author’s Preferred ion) or Shadow of a Dark Queen is a solid entry. If you like, I can also provide a chronological reading guide or recommended “gateway” novels to his universe. Would you like me to build that for you?