Raymond Feist
| Raymond Feist | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Full name | Raymond Elias Feist |
| Notability | Adventure author |
| Location | California |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Born | 1945 |
| Website | crydee.com |
Raymond E. Feist is a best-selling American author and the creator of the Eamon adventures The Jester's Court and The Trapster's Maze. He is best known for creating the The Riftwar Cycle, an epic fantasy book series that has sold millions of copies worldwide.
Background
Feist was born in California in 1945 and graduated in 1977 with honors from the University of California, San Diego, with a degree in Communication Arts. While studying at UCSD he joined a D&D-style roleplaying campaign that he and his friends helped develop together. Its primary GM was Stephen Abrams, a grad student and enthusiastic wargamer. The setting they created for the campaign was the magical world of Midkemia, which Feist later adapted into the primary setting for his book series. The campaign also gave rise to Midkemia Press which published game materials related to the fictional world.
In correspondence with Huw Williams in 2026, Feist recalls that his friend Abrams was the first person he knew to own a home computer (an "original Apple II, not even a +"), and Feist soon became interested in computer games. Eamon was appealing since "anyone could write a game script," so he "took a bash" and created two custom adventures: The Jester's Court and The Trapster's Maze, both completed probably in 1981. The adventures were shared with other players and made their way into the software library of the Apple Corps of San Diego.
Feist recalled that at the time he created the adventures he had no expectations of being a game designer or writer, but that soon changed. His debut novel Magician was published in October 1982, followed by Silverthorn in 1985 and A Darkness at Sethanon in 1986, the three comprising his initial Riftwar Saga. The books' popularity prompted Feist to write many more, and The Riftwar Cycle now consists of more than 30 titles.