Start Riftwar with Magician or Daughter of the Empire?
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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