If what swept you up in Magician was riding from Crydee to the halls of Krondor and beyond—then through the Rift to Kelewan—while the Riftwar ballooned into a continent-shaping struggle, you’ll love how The Eye of the World yanks Rand and his friends out of Emond’s Field and hurls them across a world of ancient prophecies, relentless pursuers, and battles that hint at an even greater war. That same sense of small beginnings exploding into epochal stakes is here in spades.

Pug’s path from overlooked keep-boy to Milamber—enduring slavery on Kelewan, mastering sorcery under the Great Ones, and shattering the arena—echoes in Kvothe’s climb from street urchin to a prodigy at the University in The Name of the Wind. If you relished Pug’s growing command of power and the scars that came with it, Kvothe’s hard-won lessons, duels of wit, and perilous magical studies will feel like coming home.

If the rift between Midkemia and Kelewan—and all it unleashed, from Tsurani invasions to Pug’s transformation into Milamber—captivated you, The Summer Tree delivers that same thrill of thresholds crossed. Five students are drawn from Toronto into Fionavar by a mage, and their arrival tilts the balance in an age-old war against Rakoth Maugrim. The wonder and danger of stepping between worlds mirrors the Riftwar’s allure.

If you admired the textured cultures and court maneuvering in Magician—from Duke Borric’s retinue and the fealty webs of the Kingdom of the Isles to the honor codes and bureaucracy of the Tsurani Empire—A Game of Thrones brings that immersion to a knife’s edge. Noble houses scheme in King’s Landing while distant threats gather, much like Arutha’s political balancing during the Riftwar. The world feels as tangible as Crydee’s keep walls.

If Kulgan’s guidance of Pug—and later the enigmatic nudges of Macros the Black—were highlights for you, Ged’s tutelage under Ogion in A Wizard of Earthsea will resonate. Watching a headstrong boy learn names, restraint, and responsibility, then face the consequences of misused magic, mirrors the mentor-forged growth that made Pug’s journey so satisfying.