Raymond E. Feist#The Riftwar Cycle

Raymond E. Gonzales III was born in 1945 in Los Angeles and was raised in Southern California. When his mother remarried, he took the surname of his adoptive stepfather, Felix E. Feist.{{cite web|url=http://www.crydee.com/raymond-feist/biography/in-the-begining|title= Biography: In the Beginning|access-date=2009-01-23|publisher=Crydee.com}} He graduated with a B.A. in Communication Arts with Honors in 1977 from the University of California at San Diego.{{Cite web |last=Cafarella |first=Haley |date=August 11, 2024 |orig-date=August 11, 2024 |title=What’s the Most Popular Fast Food on College Campuses? |url=https://www.franchisewire.com/whats-the-most-popular-fast-food-on-college-campuses/ |access-date=2024-12-27 |website=FranchiseWire |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2013-05-01 |title=Author Ray Feist is living the fantasy |url=https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2013/05/01/author-ray-feist-is-living-the-fantasy/ |access-date=2024-12-27 |website=San Diego Union-Tribune |language=en-US}} During that year Feist had some ideas for a novel about a boy who would become a magician. He wrote the novel two years later, and it was published in 1982 by Doubleday. According to his official website, Feist lives in San Diego.{{cite web|url=http://www.crydee.com/raymond-feist/biography|title= Biography|access-date=2008-06-14|publisher=Crydee.com}}

{{Main|The Riftwar Cycle}}

The majority of Feist's works are part of The Riftwar Cycle, and feature the worlds of Midkemia and Kelewan.{{cite web|url=http://www.scifan.com/writers/ff/FeistRaymond.asp|title=Writer: Raymond E. Feist (1945 – , United States)|access-date=2008-06-14|publisher=www.scifan.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509191207/http://www.scifan.com/writers/ff/FeistRaymond.asp|archive-date=May 9, 2008|url-status=unfit|df=mdy-all}} 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 & Dragons role-playing game, by Feist and friends studying at the University of California San Diego. The group 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 Midkemia.{{cite web|url=http://www.writerswrite.com/journal/mar00/feist.htm|title=A Conversation With Raymond Feist|access-date=2008-06-14|author=Claire E. White|date=March 1, 2000|publisher=WritersWrite.com}}

Feist acknowledges that the Tekumel setting from M. A. R. Barker's Empire of the Petal Throne was the source for much of the planet Kelewan. The original roleplaying campaign on which he based his books 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 20 major and 20 minor gods – comes from Tekumel. Feist claims to have been unaware of this origin when he wrote Magician.{{cite web|url=http://www.rpg.net/columns/designers-and-dragons/designers-and-dragons13.phtml|title=Designers & Dragons: The Column #13: Midkemia Press, 1979–1983|access-date=2012-07-21|author=Shannon Appelcline|date=February 5, 2012|publisher=RPG.net}}

Feist wrote a new trilogy titled Firemane, published in 2018–2022:

1. King of Ashes, released in late April 2018
2. Queen of Storms, released in July 2020{{Cite web|url=http://www.crydee.com/raymond-feist/firemane/books|title = Firemane | the Official Raymond e. Feist Website}}
3. Master of Furies, released in June 2022{{Cite web|url=http://www.crydee.com/raymond-feist/whats-happening/latest-news/2021/12070/master-of-furies|title = Master of Furies | the Official Raymond e. Feist Website}}

The series was originally promoted as unconnected to the Riftwar Cycle{{Cite web |title=Firemane |url=https://www.crydee.com/raymond-feist/firemane/books |access-date=2024-08-23 |website=www.crydee.com - the Official Raymond E. Feist website}} but a connection was created with the author's next series, begun in 2024.{{Cite web |title=A Darkness Returns - Synopsis|url=https://www.crydee.com/raymond-feist/whats-happening/latest-news/2024/12082/a-darkness-returns-synopsis |access-date=2024-08-23 |website=www.crydee.com, the Official Raymond E. Feist website}}

Feist began a new series, first projected as two books, then as a new trilogy, with the first title released in the UK and US in August 2024. This series sees the return of some main series characters, including a reincarnated Pug, as well as characters from the Firemane milieu.

Feist's only novel fully outside the Riftwar universe has been Faerie Tale, a fantasy story set in modern New York state. He has also published several short stories in various anthologies.

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{{commons category|Raymond Elias Feist}}

• {{Official|http://www.crydee.com/}}
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVjyYmMX4fk Magnus & The Arts] - 2018 Magnus & The Arts interview with Raymond E. Feist
• {{isfdb name|id=Raymond_E._Feist|name=Raymond E. Feist}}

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Category:1945 births

Category:Living people

Category:American fantasy writers

Category:20th-century American novelists

Category:Novelists from Los Angeles

Category:University of California, San Diego alumni

Category:21st-century American novelists

Category:American male novelists

Category:Inkpot Award winners

Category:20th-century American male writers

Category:21st-century American male writers