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I have only read the one book. I believe it was called The Apprentice or something similar.

It is a very popular series with a lot of books.

The one I read was about a young man who left his home to study with a famous magician. He lived in what I think was an old castle or something with a large tower.

A few things more details I remember: He had to clean out the library, the place was haunted (he would see people or scenes from another time and they rode on falcons and fought orcs.)

The magician was friends with a king. The orc scene I'm recalling was when they were flying on the back of the falcon, or some large bird im remembering as a falcon, over a marsh type land one of the birds was shot down in some way orcs started coming out of what I'm trying to remember think was a woodsy area and the apprentice had just learned some magic was using to keep them away and another large orc who could actually do magic came out and the magician showed up just in time to save the apprentice.

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    At the end of the book, did the Head Wizard tell him that he's fired?
    – Valorum
    Commented Jan 22, 2019 at 19:21
  • Lol. Maybe one of these; isfdb.org/cgi-bin/…
    – Valorum
    Commented Jan 22, 2019 at 19:21
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    Lol sounds like something he would have said to him but I never got to the end I'm trying to remember the book so I can finish it
    – Katie
    Commented Jan 22, 2019 at 19:22
  • When did you read this book?
    – Arcanist Lupus
    Commented Jan 22, 2019 at 21:48

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Possibly this is Magician: Apprentice by Raymond E. Feist, the first book in the (extensive) Riftwar saga. This is a long and well known series of books. The boy does indeed leave his home to learn magic at the hands of an older wizard. There are orcs and ghosts but I can't recall anyone riding on a falcon.

cover of "Magician: Apprentice" by Raymond E. Feist

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    If this the correct answer, Katie, you can accept it by clicking on the checkmark by the voting buttons.
    – FuzzyBoots
    Commented Jan 22, 2019 at 19:29
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    Nope. Definitely not. Having read this book, it nowhere near matches the OP's description. The magician isn't "famous", and there's no library cleaning, falcon riding, or orc fighting. Sorry, but -1.
    – Rand al'Thor ♦
    Commented Jan 22, 2019 at 19:33
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    Kulgan is the magician of the local castle. He's not "famous" in any larger sense than that, at least until later due to his association with Milamber. And Tsurani aren't orcs (!) - the closest you've got to orcs in this series are the moredhel or dark elves.
    – Rand al'Thor ♦
    Commented Jan 22, 2019 at 19:39
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    The magician was friends with a king. The orc scene I'm recalling was when they were flying on the back of the falcon, or some large bird im remembering as a falcon, over a marsh type land one of the birds was shot down in some way orcs started coming out of what I'm trying to remember think was a woodsy area and the apprentice had just learned some magic was using to keep them away and another large orc who could actually do magic came out and the magician showed up just in time to save the apprentice.
    – Katie
    Commented Jan 23, 2019 at 3:35
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    @Randal'Thor - To be fair, Pug and Tomas do ride dragons, Tomas (in memory) rides giant eagles, they do get assaulted by the freed Tiger men of Draken-Korin(?). It's a big stretch, but not a giant one.
    – JohnP
    Commented Jan 23, 2019 at 15:00
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The Last Guardian by Jeff Grubb. It's a WoW novel about the mage Medivh. I went through this same fever dream this morning. Found this question on Google which triggered more memories of the story until it hit me like a ton of bricks. So here you go, 5 years later haha

Front cover of The Last Guardian

In the mist-shrouded haze of the past, long before the beginning of recorded time, there stood the world of Azeroth. Every kind of magical being strode the countryside among the tribes of man, and all was at peace — until the arrival of the demons and horrors of the Burning Legion and their baneful Lord Sargeras, dark god of chaotic magic. Now Dragons, Dwarves, Elves, Goblins, Humans, and Orcs all vie for supremacy across the scattered kingdoms -- part of a grand, malevolent scheme that will determine the fate of the world of The Guardians of Tirisfal: a line of champions imbued with godlike powers, each one through the ages charged with fighting a lonely secret war against the Burning Legion. Medivh was fated from birth to become the greatest and most powerful of this noble order. But from the beginning a darkness tainted his soul, corrupting his innocence and turning to evil the powers that should have fought for good. Torn by two destinies, Medivh's struggle against the malice within him became one with the fate of Azeroth itself...and changed the world forever.

This review mentions the tower and a magical library.

... a magical tower, a (platonic) mentor/apprentice relationship, ghosts, visions, magic circles, gryphons!!!!, political intrigues and a magical library with dangerous books....

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    Hi, welcome to SF&F. Instead of describing your experience finding it, could you describe the story some more? Since the title doesn't match, can you confirm any of the other details, like flying over a marsh and one of their birds being shot down by orcs?
    – DavidW
    Commented May 29 at 20:03
  • @DavidW sure thing I am new to this site. Wanted to comment in case anyone else was wondering haha. Khadgar seeks to live in the tower of the great mage, Medihv, who happens to be a friend of the King. He is apprenticed by the mage and one of his first tasks is to organize the library. There are “ghosts” or rather remnants of the past bound in a loop due to some sort of lingering magic. Medivh and Khadgar do in fact fly over a very large group of orcs (who shouldn’t be there) Khadgar gets knocked down and nearly killed until Medivh shows up and put an end to the threat.
    – Paul
    Commented May 30 at 0:04
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    Omg! I have still been trying to find this lol. Thank you!! That's it!
    – Katie
    Commented May 31 at 6:53
  • That’s awesome! Hurray!!
    – Paul
    Commented Jun 28 at 19:15
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Some parts of your description sound like Fortress of Owls by CJ Cherryh, but I don’t think that is the book you are thinking of…

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    Hi, welcome to SF&F. While this question does still need an answer, you would do better to highlight all the ways that it does (and disclose the ways it does not) match the question. I don't recall orcs shooting down a bird that Tristan or Mauryl are riding though.
    – DavidW
    Commented Apr 29 at 23:42

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