Raymond E Feist biography
Raymond E. Feist (the E. stands for Elias) was born in Los Angeles, California in the year that the Second World War ended (1945). Feist was born with the surname Gonzales but was subsequently adopted by Felix E. Feist and took the Feist surname for his own.
Raymond E. Feist was once married to Kathlyn Starbuck who was also a novelist. He currently lives in San Diego, California and has two children, a girl and a boy. Aside from writing fantasy novels Feist likes to collect fine wines and also has a passionate interest in the History of American Football.
Whilst graduating from the University of California in 1977 (B.A. with honours, Communication Arts), Feist had his first thoughts and ideas concerning writing a novel about a young boy who would become a great magician (read a review of Magician here). It was two years later, when he was out of work, that he finally finished writing Magician and his very first novel was published in 1982 by Doubleday.
The success of the Magician allowed Feist to become a full time author. He wrote two more books, Silverthorn and A Darkness at Sethanon, these books make up his highly acclaimed Riftwar Saga. Subsequently, in partnership with Jenny Wurts he wrote the Empire Trilogy, Daughter of the Empire, Servant of the Empire and Mistress of the Empire. These three books focused on the Riftwar from the Tsurani side whereas the original series was viewed mainly from the Midkemia viewpoint. The Serpent War Saga (3 books) has also been published.
Raymond E. Feist regards Robert Louis Stephenson (Kidnapped, Treasure Island) and Alexander Dumas (The Three Musketeers) as major influences upon him and his writing style.
Role playing games and computer games have also played their part in Feists career. Whilst at University, he and his friends created a game centred on an imaginary world called Midkemia. He went on to create a back history for this world and this later becomes an integral part of his successful Riftwar Saga trilogy. In 1993, Dynamix released a game called Betrayal of Krondor. The game was based on the Riftwar Saga and was a critical and commercial success. The sequel, called Return to Krondor was released in 1998. The two games also have accompanying novels, Krondor: The Betrayal and Krondor: Tear of the Gods respectively.
Over fifteen million copies of Raymond E. Feists’ books have been sold worldwide. He is currently working on a supernatural fantasy novel called Tiger Mountain and a suspense novel called The Bully. There are also plans for a beginners guide to wine.
Raymond E Feist bibliography
Legacy of the Riftwar
Darkwar Series
Conclave of Shadows
The Serpentwar Saga
Riftwar Saga
Riftwar - Kelewan
Legends / Tales of Riftwar
Raymond E Feist interviews
In a rather guarded interview, Raymond E. Feist talks about the pressure of writing a follo up to a bestseller such as Magician, his writing methods and authors that he admires. Raymond E. Feist interview on Honest John's in 2005 >>
