Magician

It's really hard to go wrong with a good magician's apprentice story, but Raymond Feist manages to push beyond that with an epic scale and several new elements. Magician is set between two worlds – the medieval Midkemia, and Kelewan, an eastern inspired setting. At random, a Rift will open between them, leading to war. Pug lives in the first of those, and he's nothing but a simple kitchen boy until a magician realizes his talent. In one of the greatest works of standalone fantasy, Feist details his growth from illiterate child to fully formed adult. As the two epic worlds clash, he stands at the center of it all, staff in hand. Feist carries the reader with ease over a decade, across weaving plots and overarching stories, battles and disasters, friendships and romances. It's impossible to do justice to the mastery of this blend, which will lead readers unable to resist the author's next Saga. Read if you like: High fantasy, complex plots.