Start Riftwar with Magician or Daughter of the Empire?
Start here
Magician
1982
Start the Riftwar Cycle with Magician (1982), not Daughter of the Empire. Apprentice and Master are one novel. A Darkness Returns is not book one.
Short answer · Start here
Magician.
Magician (1982) is Riftwar book one. Daughter of the Empire is the Kelewan trilogy, after the first three, co-written with Janny Wurts. A Darkness Returns (2024) is a later door.
Why Empire looks like a cleaner start
Daughter of the Empire, Servant of the Empire, and Mistress of the Empire are a tidy trilogy with Janny Wurts. Magician is older, and the US split into Apprentice and Master makes it look like two books plus a confusing third. A Darkness Returns and King of Ashes are what a new-book table displays. None of those is the Riftwar door.
What this house does
Magician (or Apprentice then Master — same novel), then Silverthorn, then A Darkness at Sethanon. Written order next is Daughter of the Empire, with Prince of the Blood between the Empire books. A block-read of the three Empire novels first is a labeled alternate, still after the Riftwar three. Later cycles are named, not fully tabulated, on the Riftwar reading-order guide.
For another 1980s epic with a false first book, see Where to start Osten Ard?.
FAQ
Are Apprentice and Master two novels?
No. One novel, split. Then Silverthorn.
Can I skip Empire?
You can follow only Midkemia. Do not start there.
Is A Darkness Returns the new book one?
No. Start at Magician for this cycle.
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