Raymond E. Feist

Raymond E. Feist
Raymond E. Feist at Salon du livre in 2008 (Paris, France)
Born	Raymond Elias Gonzales III 1945 (age 71–72) Los Angeles, California
Occupation	Novelist
Nationality	American
Period	1982–present
Genre	Fantasy
Notable works	Magician
Spouse	Kathlyn Starbuck
Relatives	Felix E. Feist (father)
Website
www.crydee.com

Raymond E. Feist (born Raymond Elias Gonzales III; 1945) is an American author who primarily writes fantasy fiction. He is best known for The Riftwar Cycle of novels and short stories. His books have been translated into multiple languages and have sold over 15 million copies.

Raymond E. Gonzales III was born in 1945 in Los Angeles and was raised in Southern California. When his mother remarried, he took the surname of his adoptive stepfather, Felix E. Feist. He graduated with a B.A. in Communication Arts with Honors in 1977 from the University of California at San Diego. During that year Feist had some ideas for a novel about a boy who would be a magician. He wrote the novel two years later, and it was published in 1982 by Doubleday. Feist currently lives with his children in San Diego, where he collects fine wine, DVDs, and books on a variety of topics of personal interest: wine, biographies, history, and especially the history of American professional football.

The majority of Feist's works are part of The Riftwar Cycle, and feature the worlds of Midkemia and Kelewan. Human magicians and other creatures on the two planets are able to create rifts through dimensionless space that can connect planets in different solar systems. The novels and short stories of The Riftwar Universe record the adventures of various people on these worlds.

Midkemia was originally created as an alternative to the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, by Feist and his friends studying at the University of California, San Diego. The group called themselves the Thursday Nighters, because they played the Midkemia role-playing game every Thursday evening. After some time, when the group changed and began meeting on Fridays, they became known as the Friday Nighters. The original group have since formed a company called Midkemia Press, which has continued publishing campaigns set in Midkemia.