The Ultimate Fantasy Series Ranking

Research dossier

Riftwar Cycle

#1474.16 in the official ranking · full ranking

Books 23 books Status Complete 1982–2013 Reading commitment High Raymond E. Feist Last reviewed 2026-10-15

Overview

Raymond E. Feist's Riftwar Cycle (1982-2013) spans ten sub-series across the linked worlds of Midkemia and Kelewan, beginning with Magician (1982), which follows the orphan Pug from apprentice magician to key figure in a war triggered when the empire of Kelewan opens a rift to Midkemia. The Empire Trilogy, co-written throughout with Janny Wurts, runs narratively concurrent with the Riftwar Saga and follows the Kelewan noblewoman Mara of the Acoma, giving the war a perspective from the invading side; it is treated as core to the cycle alongside the Riftwar Saga itself. Legends of the Riftwar, each volume written with a different co-author, and The Riftwar Legacy, a set of video-game novelizations, extend the setting further as tie-in material of a different tier. Across roughly two dozen novels and thirty years of publication, the cycle follows Midkemia's kingdoms through repeated invasions, civil wars, and demonic incursions, with Pug himself recurring across much of the later material as an increasingly powerful sorcerer.

Epic fantasy · For Adult

Core Canon: Reading Order (23 works) counts toward ranking

The Riftwar Saga Raymond E. Feist

WorkYearInternal chron.CanonRating
Cover of MagicianMagician; First published 1982 (Doubleday) as ONE novel; split into two US paperback volumes (Apprentice/Master) only in 1986. Counted here as 1 novel.19821core4.32 (73,412 ratings)
Cover of SilverthornSilverthorn19856core4.12 (70,340 ratings)
Cover of A Darkness at SethanonA Darkness at Sethanon19867core4.20 (73,374 ratings)

The Empire Trilogy Raymond E. Feist, Janny Wurts

WorkYearInternal chron.CanonRating
Cover of Daughter of the EmpireDaughter of the Empire; UK edition ISBN, the earliest edition with an ISBN on record; only the 1987 year is confirmed (no month/day).19875core4.29 (43,078 ratings)
Cover of Servant of the EmpireServant of the Empire19908core4.32 (32,966 ratings)
Cover of Mistress of the EmpireMistress of the Empire199210core4.36 (29,073 ratings)

Co-written throughout with Janny Wurts; narrative runs concurrent with the Riftwar Saga and Riftwar Legacy.

Krondor's Sons Raymond E. Feist

WorkYearInternal chron.CanonRating
Cover of Prince of the BloodPrince of the Blood198914core4.03 (27,879 ratings)
Cover of The King's BuccaneerThe King's Buccaneer; A planned third book, 'The Return of the Buccaneer', was never written.199215core4.08 (26,604 ratings)

Distinct from, and not to be confused with, The Riftwar Legacy (the Krondor game novelizations).

The Serpentwar Saga Raymond E. Feist

WorkYearInternal chron.CanonRating
Cover of Shadow of a Dark QueenShadow of a Dark Queen199416core4.09 (32,163 ratings)
Cover of Rise of a Merchant PrinceRise of a Merchant Prince; UK edition ISBN, which preceded the US edition.199517core4.09 (31,479 ratings)
Cover of Rage of a Demon KingRage of a Demon King199718core4.09 (27,992 ratings)
Cover of Shards of a Broken CrownShards of a Broken Crown199819core4.06 (23,940 ratings)

Conclave of Shadows Raymond E. Feist

WorkYearInternal chron.CanonRating
Cover of Talon of the Silver HawkTalon of the Silver Hawk; UK edition ISBN, the earliest edition on record.200220core4.08 (19,909 ratings)
Cover of King of FoxesKing of Foxes; UK edition ISBN, the earliest edition on record.200321core4.04 (16,458 ratings)
Cover of Exile's ReturnExile's Return; UK edition ISBN, the earliest edition on record.200422core4.07 (16,585 ratings)

The Darkwar Saga Raymond E. Feist

WorkYearInternal chron.CanonRating
Cover of Flight of the NighthawksFlight of the Nighthawks; UK edition ISBN, the earliest edition on record; only the 2005 year is confirmed (no month/day).200523core4.00 (13,902 ratings)
Cover of Into a Dark RealmInto a Dark Realm; UK edition ISBN, the earliest edition on record.200624core4.05 (12,819 ratings)
Cover of Wrath of a Mad GodWrath of a Mad God; UK edition ISBN, the earliest edition on record.200825core4.10 (12,137 ratings)

The Demonwar Saga Raymond E. Feist

WorkYearInternal chron.CanonRating
Cover of Rides a Dread LegionRides a Dread Legion; UK edition ISBN, the earliest edition on record.200926core3.98 (10,378 ratings)
Cover of At the Gates of DarknessAt the Gates of Darkness; First-edition precedence corrected 2026-08-18: the earlier first_edition.date (2009-12-08) recorded the UK ebook release, which predates the print edition by a few months; per the rule, the print edition is used as the canonical first edition whenever one exists, with an ebook date used only when no print edition exists at all. The UK Voyager (HarperCollins) hardcover, March 2010, is the earliest confirmed print edition (day-level precision not independently confirmed; ISBN 9780007264711). A near-simultaneous US Eos/HarperVoyager hardcover followed in April 2010 (ISBN 9780061468377). The 2009-12-08 ebook predates both prints by design (a same-imprint early digital release, the same pattern HarperCollins used for other Feist titles) but is no longer registered as this book's first_edition, since a print edition is now on file and this project always prefers the print edition as the canonical first edition when one exists.201027core4.01 (9,781 ratings)

The Chaoswar Saga Raymond E. Feist

WorkYearInternal chron.CanonRating
Cover of A Kingdom BesiegedA Kingdom Besieged; UK edition ISBN, the earliest edition on record.201128core4.01 (11,548 ratings)
Cover of A Crown ImperiledA Crown Imperiled; UK edition ISBN, the earliest edition on record. The UK edition of this book was titled "A Crown Imperilled" (double-l), a genuine title-spelling variant, not a transcription error. This book's ISBN was found in Round 3 (2026-08-10) to have been a duplicate of Magician's End's real ISBN (a Round 2 data error, not a genuine shared ISBN) and has been unset pending a distinct, targeted re-check of its own actual ISBN.201229core4.09 (8,455 ratings)
Cover of Magician's EndMagician's End; Final novel of the Riftwar Cycle. Its ISBN was re-verified in a targeted Round 3 check (2026-08-10) directly against ISFDB title record #1576345 -- 978-0-00-726479-7, Harper Voyager (UK) hc, 2013-05-06 -- and confirmed correct. The Round 2 suspicion (that this ISBN was a copy-paste error, identical to another Riftwar Cycle book's ISBN) was mistaken about which book was actually wrong: the real source of the collision was a bad ISBN on A Crown Imperiled (see its own notes), not this book.201330core4.34 (8,930 ratings)

Library / Expanded (7 works) context only

Legends of the Riftwar Raymond E. Feist, William R. Forstchen, Joel Rosenberg, S. M. Stirling

WorkYearInternal chron.CanonRating
Cover of Honoured EnemyHonoured Enemy20012expandedN/A
Cover of Murder in LaMutMurder in LaMut20023expandedN/A
Cover of Jimmy the HandJimmy the Hand20034expandedN/A

Each volume co-written with a different author: Honoured Enemy w/ William R. Forstchen, Murder in LaMut w/ Joel Rosenberg, Jimmy the Hand w/ S. M. Stirling. Commissioned tie-in style; classified Expanded, distinct from the Feist-and-Wurts Empire Trilogy.

The Riftwar Legacy Raymond E. Feist

WorkYearInternal chron.CanonRating
Cover of Krondor: The BetrayalKrondor: The Betrayal; Novelization of the 1993 video game Betrayal at Krondor.19989expandedN/A
Cover of Krondor: The AssassinsKrondor: The Assassins199911expandedN/A
Cover of Krondor: Tear of the GodsKrondor: Tear of the Gods; Novelization of the 2001 video game Return to Krondor.200112expandedN/A
Cover of Jimmy and the CrawlerJimmy and the Crawler201313expandedN/A

Video-game novelizations plus a closing novella; classified Expanded (derivative of the games), though part of official continuity.

Quick answers

Why is it ranked #147?

Ranked #147 in the official ranking.

How the ranking works →

Why explore this universe?

Highly rated · 23 books · Complete · 633k ratings · Ranks #147 overall

Good choice if you want a long-running epic fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.

Reading order

Publication order (23 Core Canon books)

  1. Magician (1982)
  2. Silverthorn (1985)
  3. A Darkness at Sethanon (1986)
  4. Daughter of the Empire (1987)
  5. Prince of the Blood (1989)
  6. Servant of the Empire (1990)
  7. Mistress of the Empire (1992)
  8. The King's Buccaneer (1992)
  9. Shadow of a Dark Queen (1994)
  10. Rise of a Merchant Prince (1995)
  11. Rage of a Demon King (1997)
  12. Shards of a Broken Crown (1998)
  13. Talon of the Silver Hawk (2002)
  14. King of Foxes (2003)
  15. Exile's Return (2004)
  16. Flight of the Nighthawks (2005)
  17. Into a Dark Realm (2006)
  18. Wrath of a Mad God (2008)
  19. Rides a Dread Legion (2009)
  20. At the Gates of Darkness (2010)
  21. A Kingdom Besieged (2011)
  22. A Crown Imperiled (2012)
  23. Magician's End (2013)

Documented internal/story order

  1. Magician (1982)
  2. Daughter of the Empire (1987)
  3. Silverthorn (1985)
  4. A Darkness at Sethanon (1986)
  5. Servant of the Empire (1990)
  6. Mistress of the Empire (1992)
  7. Prince of the Blood (1989)
  8. The King's Buccaneer (1992)
  9. Shadow of a Dark Queen (1994)
  10. Rise of a Merchant Prince (1995)
  11. Rage of a Demon King (1997)
  12. Shards of a Broken Crown (1998)
  13. Talon of the Silver Hawk (2002)
  14. King of Foxes (2003)
  15. Exile's Return (2004)
  16. Flight of the Nighthawks (2005)
  17. Into a Dark Realm (2006)
  18. Wrath of a Mad God (2008)
  19. Rides a Dread Legion (2009)
  20. At the Gates of Darkness (2010)
  21. A Kingdom Besieged (2011)
  22. A Crown Imperiled (2012)
  23. Magician's End (2013)

Awards (verified)

You might also like

Suggestions computed from what Riftwar Cycle and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.

Official resources

Research details

Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.16 across 633,202 ratings on 23 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.

How do we know this?

Admission: Riftwar Cycle Core Canon accepted 2026-08-05

Sources: (see source tier definitions)

Last reviewed: 2026-08-06

Rule: Core = the Feist mainline: The Riftwar Saga (3), The Empire Trilogy (3, co-written with Janny Wurts; kept Core despite co-authorship, as it is fully integral and narratively concurrent with the Riftwar Saga/Riftwar Legacy), Krondor's Sons (2), The Serpentwar Saga (4), Conclave of Shadows (3), The Darkwar Saga (3), The Demonwar Saga (2), The Chaoswar Saga (3) = 23 core novels.

← All universes