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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
Not for me. Maybe I'm just not a fan of epic fantasy (especially epic fantasy from the 90s)? I got maybe 1/4th of the way through and had no clue what was going on. Plus neither of the two main characters were compelling.
I'm giving up on this one on page 307 of about 600. It's just not grabbing me. Here are my problems with it:
1. I don't understand the basis for the system of magic being used, because it's never really explained. There are long, LONG passages where you read about WHAT the mages are doing, but have no idea HOW or WHY it is supposed to work. I have no idea if the efforts being made are likely to work or not, and so the descriptions fall pretty flat as far as building dramatic tension goes. I see no basis for the conclusions characters are drawing about the magical nature of the threats they are facing, so I'm not really drawn into wondering or considering for myself whether they are correct or not. As a result, I feel very passive as a reader, not engaged intellectually.
2. The characters seem pretty cardboard. One character is Dramatic and Complicated, and you know this because...you are repeatedly told that he is Dramatic and Complicated. But I don't feel that I've actually seen enough from the character to draw this conclusion on my own. It's a case of being told, not shown. Likewise, the book keeps trying to build sympathy for another character by repeatedly bringing up the fiancee he left behind and will Never See Again. Which might be more effective if we had ever MET this fiancee back when he was in her same general geographic location (she was never mentioned until she was Left Behind). Or if she had a NAME. Or a SINGLE, IDENTIFIABLE PERSONALITY TRAIT. Or if there was A MEMORY connected to her. As it is, this anonymous person is just mentioned every now and then in an attempt to create some kind of sympathy for her alleged lover, but again, it falls flat, because there's nothing there to make us actually care about this person and no reason to feel that her lover actually cares about her, other than the fact that we are repeatedly told that he misses her. Whoever she may be.
3. The language is overly flowery and doesn't flow naturally. I have a great love for authors like Guy Gavriel Kay and Jacqueline Carey, who can write in beautiful, flowing, formal language and make it seem natural in the context of their novels, but that is a rare talent, in my experience. This attempt feels more like the author sat down with a thesaurus and referred to it for every other word in the story. It's not working for me. Also, the passive voice is used a LOT, enough that it's annoying me and pulling me out of the story.
All in all, I'm half way through and I don't care if any of the characters make it to the end of the book, let alone the end of the series 10 and a half books from now, so I'm throwing in the towel.
1. I don't understand the basis for the system of magic being used, because it's never really explained. There are long, LONG passages where you read about WHAT the mages are doing, but have no idea HOW or WHY it is supposed to work. I have no idea if the efforts being made are likely to work or not, and so the descriptions fall pretty flat as far as building dramatic tension goes. I see no basis for the conclusions characters are drawing about the magical nature of the threats they are facing, so I'm not really drawn into wondering or considering for myself whether they are correct or not. As a result, I feel very passive as a reader, not engaged intellectually.
2. The characters seem pretty cardboard. One character is Dramatic and Complicated, and you know this because...you are repeatedly told that he is Dramatic and Complicated. But I don't feel that I've actually seen enough from the character to draw this conclusion on my own. It's a case of being told, not shown. Likewise, the book keeps trying to build sympathy for another character by repeatedly bringing up the fiancee he left behind and will Never See Again. Which might be more effective if we had ever MET this fiancee back when he was in her same general geographic location (she was never mentioned until she was Left Behind). Or if she had a NAME. Or a SINGLE, IDENTIFIABLE PERSONALITY TRAIT. Or if there was A MEMORY connected to her. As it is, this anonymous person is just mentioned every now and then in an attempt to create some kind of sympathy for her alleged lover, but again, it falls flat, because there's nothing there to make us actually care about this person and no reason to feel that her lover actually cares about her, other than the fact that we are repeatedly told that he misses her. Whoever she may be.
3. The language is overly flowery and doesn't flow naturally. I have a great love for authors like Guy Gavriel Kay and Jacqueline Carey, who can write in beautiful, flowing, formal language and make it seem natural in the context of their novels, but that is a rare talent, in my experience. This attempt feels more like the author sat down with a thesaurus and referred to it for every other word in the story. It's not working for me. Also, the passive voice is used a LOT, enough that it's annoying me and pulling me out of the story.
All in all, I'm half way through and I don't care if any of the characters make it to the end of the book, let alone the end of the series 10 and a half books from now, so I'm throwing in the towel.
Well, this one started so good and ended so disappointing.
I really, really, really love the beginning and I still love it. Arithon, caught and about to be killed by the greatest enemy of his people. Lysaer, trying to do the right thing but not being able come on top of his father. Both of them exiled and having to work together in order to survive. *loves*
But then? Then Lysaer gets turned into one of the most unlikable and irrational characters I've ever met. Yeah, it's said that he got cursed but still. The leaps and thoughts he had? Not logical. Not tolerable. Plain and simple evil.
Also, Asandir & Co? You knew that something would be up with Lysaer. That something would turn his whole character a 180 degrees and you did nothing in order to try to prevent it and/or protect Lysaer? Seriously? Also, your treatment of Dakar? Bullying. I wonder why he didn't leave all of you yet.
Also, some things really bothered me:
There has been no sunlight for 500 years? Um, how is anybody alive? How is it possible that there are plants, trees, animals and human beings?
Some important things have neither been shown nor told - like, how did Lysaer and Arithon find out how to fight the Mist? That Shadow has to follow Light and not the other way round? The fight against the Mist has been stated to have lasted months and we only get a day and a night or so of it? Seriously?
How do Shadow and Light work and how is it possible that Lysaer can work light without having training?
The more I think about the book, the less I like it... -.-
I really, really, really love the beginning and I still love it. Arithon, caught and about to be killed by the greatest enemy of his people. Lysaer, trying to do the right thing but not being able come on top of his father. Both of them exiled and having to work together in order to survive. *loves*
But then? Then Lysaer gets turned into one of the most unlikable and irrational characters I've ever met. Yeah, it's said that he got cursed but still. The leaps and thoughts he had? Not logical. Not tolerable. Plain and simple evil.
Also, Asandir & Co? You knew that something would be up with Lysaer. That something would turn his whole character a 180 degrees and you did nothing in order to try to prevent it and/or protect Lysaer? Seriously? Also, your treatment of Dakar? Bullying. I wonder why he didn't leave all of you yet.
Also, some things really bothered me:
There has been no sunlight for 500 years? Um, how is anybody alive? How is it possible that there are plants, trees, animals and human beings?
Some important things have neither been shown nor told - like, how did Lysaer and Arithon find out how to fight the Mist? That Shadow has to follow Light and not the other way round? The fight against the Mist has been stated to have lasted months and we only get a day and a night or so of it? Seriously?
How do Shadow and Light work and how is it possible that Lysaer can work light without having training?
The more I think about the book, the less I like it... -.-
After finishing Erikson’s Malazan series I’ve been looking for an epic fantasy to immerse myself in. This one started out promising, it has all the ingredients of a good old epic: prophecies, lost princes, an ancient evil to be combatted, whimsy but brilliant and powerful mages with long beards, magic swords, a willful young sorceress, armies in shining armor, highland barbarians, travelling bards, conflict, magic, forbidden romance, honor, tragedy…
What it doesn’t have is believable and interesting characters that I came to care about. It does, on the other hand have the least comprehensible and most boring magic system I’ve ever encountered.
Too bad, this could have been great, but I’m going to get off this train at the first stop.
What it doesn’t have is believable and interesting characters that I came to care about. It does, on the other hand have the least comprehensible and most boring magic system I’ve ever encountered.
Too bad, this could have been great, but I’m going to get off this train at the first stop.
I began reading The Curse of the Mistwraith after hearing so much about it on the online forums. It was supposed to be difficult, but rewarding and, to be honest, what little I saw of Janny Wurt's interaction online made her seem like a really nice person. I was certain that she couldn't have written a bad book.
Despite my two star rating above, I stand by that. The curse of the Mistwraith isn't really a bad book - but it is directionless , poorly plotted and has extremely poor character progression. A lot of the really excellent features of the book are abandoned or left unattended to focus on other things, they may or may not come into play in the future but the first book in a series has to be gripping and there can be no excuse for this book being the prolonged plod it turns out to be.
Lysaer and Arithon are half brothers who are transported to a world of perpetual mist. They are supposed to fulfil a prophecy which claims they will defeat the mistwraith (the cause for the mist) and bring back the Paravian races of magic to the world. Things do not go as planned and the story takes off from there.
The beginning was intriguing, and I really enjoyed a protracted sequence in the beginning where the brothers are struggling to survive in a desert. I think this was excellent writing - Wurts actually brought out the flaws in Lysaer and Arithon's characters and their mutual incompatibility. I really enjoyed how they matured into companions if not friends towards the end of this sequence and how that plays into their interactions once they reach Athera. However, this doesnt last - Wurts decides to make the brothers mortal enemies through a string of rather conveniently placed plot contivances that made me roll my eyes several times. It absolutely ruined the momentum for me and I still cannot get over it. It was so contrived and foolish.
Similarly the wizards are depicted well, each of them have their own personalities but al the magic seems abstract and formless and lacks any sense of wonder. Wardings, spells, bindings come and go to serve the plot and nerve really seem to be unable to accomplish anything unless Wurts herself decides to throw in an impediment here and there.
There is a also a lot more of telling and very little showing during the course of the series. We are told the Paravians are wonderful and beautiful, we are told that so and so curse is evil but we are never actually shown this is in any great detail. IT requires depth and a very layered writing to achieve this effect which Wurts does not manage. I came away unconvinced that the decision the mages take, in order to attempt to bring back the Paravians was justified because I - just- didnt care. And Wurts didnt make me care.
The Wars of Light and Shadow is very similar to the Malazan series in that sense - everyone always says wait till you get to so and so book and you will see how wonderful it all is. I say fine - but you need to have me invested in characters and events so that I can slog through the direst parts of the book to reach the end. The best authors always instill trust in you that they are taking you somewhere amazing and neither Erikson nor Wurts manage that to a great degree. Which is why I have given up on both series .
Despite my two star rating above, I stand by that. The curse of the Mistwraith isn't really a bad book - but it is directionless , poorly plotted and has extremely poor character progression. A lot of the really excellent features of the book are abandoned or left unattended to focus on other things, they may or may not come into play in the future but the first book in a series has to be gripping and there can be no excuse for this book being the prolonged plod it turns out to be.
Lysaer and Arithon are half brothers who are transported to a world of perpetual mist. They are supposed to fulfil a prophecy which claims they will defeat the mistwraith (the cause for the mist) and bring back the Paravian races of magic to the world. Things do not go as planned and the story takes off from there.
The beginning was intriguing, and I really enjoyed a protracted sequence in the beginning where the brothers are struggling to survive in a desert. I think this was excellent writing - Wurts actually brought out the flaws in Lysaer and Arithon's characters and their mutual incompatibility. I really enjoyed how they matured into companions if not friends towards the end of this sequence and how that plays into their interactions once they reach Athera. However, this doesnt last - Wurts decides to make the brothers mortal enemies through a string of rather conveniently placed plot contivances that made me roll my eyes several times. It absolutely ruined the momentum for me and I still cannot get over it. It was so contrived and foolish.
Similarly the wizards are depicted well, each of them have their own personalities but al the magic seems abstract and formless and lacks any sense of wonder. Wardings, spells, bindings come and go to serve the plot and nerve really seem to be unable to accomplish anything unless Wurts herself decides to throw in an impediment here and there.
There is a also a lot more of telling and very little showing during the course of the series. We are told the Paravians are wonderful and beautiful, we are told that so and so curse is evil but we are never actually shown this is in any great detail. IT requires depth and a very layered writing to achieve this effect which Wurts does not manage. I came away unconvinced that the decision the mages take, in order to attempt to bring back the Paravians was justified because I - just- didnt care. And Wurts didnt make me care.
The Wars of Light and Shadow is very similar to the Malazan series in that sense - everyone always says wait till you get to so and so book and you will see how wonderful it all is. I say fine - but you need to have me invested in characters and events so that I can slog through the direst parts of the book to reach the end. The best authors always instill trust in you that they are taking you somewhere amazing and neither Erikson nor Wurts manage that to a great degree. Which is why I have given up on both series .
Unfortunately, I did not enjoy Mistwraith at all. I literally was forcing myself to read 50 to 100 pages at a time, before I'd lose interest and set it down again. Had the plot been told in a more linear fashion, with less background and more actual action, I might have enjoyed it more.
The writing suffered from a disjointed structure and over-abundance of verbage. As in example, within the first twenty-seven pages of the book, we are treated to a "Prologue," written in historical fashion; a sea rescue written from the viewpoint of a non-significant first officer; sword practice and embedded memory from the view of a prince; a chapter with an unnamed high mage and farseer; and "Fragments," which are, quite literally, three separate and incomplete sentences that reference other scenes, some of which are inconsequential but attempt to be portentous. I found it unnecessarily confusing, made even worse by a magical transport across a gate to a whole other land shortly after page 50. Yes, the half-hearted world-building that we muddled our way through in the first chapters was completely abandoned. It turns out those chapters were mostly significant for character development and politics, but unfortunately there was so little direct focus on the main characters, it was hard to get a solid feel for them.
Actually, that leads me to a second stumbling block: characterization. These princes change reactions and mood every five steps it seems, and their moodiness makes it hard to identify redeeming qualities of either. A small instance is when Lysaer was talking with Dakar, and found he was angry enough at Dakar's inquiry about not being taught about his gift of light, that he needed to try to keep from hitting something. Yet in the end of the scene, he's declining teaching from a Fellowship mage "for the greater good of Tysan" in an accepting and noble manner. Which leads me to a story-wide problem: Much of the story hinges on why Arithon is talented as Master of Shadow, a bard, and a prince, but must pursue one talent to the exclusion of all others. Likewise Lysaer can' learn more than elementary magecraft because he must be a ruler. Except that Lysaer has taught himself enough to be able to summon light on his own, and knows enough to recognize and be awed by magical acts. "A power focus," he mused in an awed whisper. We aren't told why this is so, and Lysaer's own self-taught knowledge seems to belie the thought that it is strictly a matter of time; already he's been taught duties of prince while learning magic. Even more significantly are how fast reactions change; We are constantly being told how this "seemed an impossibly cruel twist of fate" to the half-brothers, but not exactly why this is so cruel.
I found the writing seriously overwrought. There are some that praise the prose of Mistwraith, but I'll never be one of them. Almost every noun comes coupled with an adjective, and every verb an adverb, so the whole image is lost in description. Describing the base of a tower: "Here the drafts sang in dissonance through arrow loops and murder holes." A reaction to the weather--and not a plot point: "Chilled to gooseflesh as dampness hit his wet skin, Lysaer sucked in a deep breath." Reflecting on an obligation: "The ritual unleashed emotion, could and had linked participants to the depths of insight that a bond of sympathy with the subject under study became nearly impossible to deny." As singular sentences, they might be pleasing; as they contribute to focus on plot points or character, they are virtually meaningless.
The issue of verbosity transcends mere sentences to cause larger structural problems. When equal attention is given to all scenes, it lends to an uneven focus. For instance, a sorcerer discovers a meth-snake, destroys it and reports its unusual development to the fellowship. Suddenly the princes are riding furiously toward a tower but not knowing why. Once at the tower, Asandir joins the sorcerers in a trance, and the impending disaster is dealt with magically in four or five pages. It makes the feat of magic seem less significant and somewhat unimpressive.
A small peeve was the introduction of a young and willful sorceress flouting the restrictions of her order. Although it's been years since I've read The Wheel of Time, I felt like someone was channeling Jordan when she ended up with Asandir in a hayloft.
Overall, not a series I'll continue. While I enjoy the occasional epic fantasy, this one felt too messy and forced to be enjoyable and ultimately was not worth my time.
The writing suffered from a disjointed structure and over-abundance of verbage. As in example, within the first twenty-seven pages of the book, we are treated to a "Prologue," written in historical fashion; a sea rescue written from the viewpoint of a non-significant first officer; sword practice and embedded memory from the view of a prince; a chapter with an unnamed high mage and farseer; and "Fragments," which are, quite literally, three separate and incomplete sentences that reference other scenes, some of which are inconsequential but attempt to be portentous. I found it unnecessarily confusing, made even worse by a magical transport across a gate to a whole other land shortly after page 50. Yes, the half-hearted world-building that we muddled our way through in the first chapters was completely abandoned. It turns out those chapters were mostly significant for character development and politics, but unfortunately there was so little direct focus on the main characters, it was hard to get a solid feel for them.
Actually, that leads me to a second stumbling block: characterization. These princes change reactions and mood every five steps it seems, and their moodiness makes it hard to identify redeeming qualities of either. A small instance is when Lysaer was talking with Dakar, and found he was angry enough at Dakar's inquiry about not being taught about his gift of light, that he needed to try to keep from hitting something. Yet in the end of the scene, he's declining teaching from a Fellowship mage "for the greater good of Tysan" in an accepting and noble manner. Which leads me to a story-wide problem: Much of the story hinges on why Arithon is talented as Master of Shadow, a bard, and a prince, but must pursue one talent to the exclusion of all others. Likewise Lysaer can' learn more than elementary magecraft because he must be a ruler. Except that Lysaer has taught himself enough to be able to summon light on his own, and knows enough to recognize and be awed by magical acts. "A power focus," he mused in an awed whisper. We aren't told why this is so, and Lysaer's own self-taught knowledge seems to belie the thought that it is strictly a matter of time; already he's been taught duties of prince while learning magic. Even more significantly are how fast reactions change; We are constantly being told how this "seemed an impossibly cruel twist of fate" to the half-brothers, but not exactly why this is so cruel.
I found the writing seriously overwrought. There are some that praise the prose of Mistwraith, but I'll never be one of them. Almost every noun comes coupled with an adjective, and every verb an adverb, so the whole image is lost in description. Describing the base of a tower: "Here the drafts sang in dissonance through arrow loops and murder holes." A reaction to the weather--and not a plot point: "Chilled to gooseflesh as dampness hit his wet skin, Lysaer sucked in a deep breath." Reflecting on an obligation: "The ritual unleashed emotion, could and had linked participants to the depths of insight that a bond of sympathy with the subject under study became nearly impossible to deny." As singular sentences, they might be pleasing; as they contribute to focus on plot points or character, they are virtually meaningless.
The issue of verbosity transcends mere sentences to cause larger structural problems. When equal attention is given to all scenes, it lends to an uneven focus. For instance, a sorcerer discovers a meth-snake, destroys it and reports its unusual development to the fellowship. Suddenly the princes are riding furiously toward a tower but not knowing why. Once at the tower, Asandir joins the sorcerers in a trance, and the impending disaster is dealt with magically in four or five pages. It makes the feat of magic seem less significant and somewhat unimpressive.
A small peeve was the introduction of a young and willful sorceress flouting the restrictions of her order. Although it's been years since I've read The Wheel of Time, I felt like someone was channeling Jordan when she ended up with Asandir in a hayloft.
Overall, not a series I'll continue. While I enjoy the occasional epic fantasy, this one felt too messy and forced to be enjoyable and ultimately was not worth my time.
The real tragedy here is there SEEMED to be interesting characters and maybe even a serviceable plot here, but it was impossible to be certain under the sheer flood of wasted words. I believe one could easily cut approximately 500 pages of this novel and not lose anything of import. While that still wouldn't supply it with a serviceable ending, it would at least have not damped all capacity to care whether or not there was one
Saved from a one star rating only because Wurts writing style is not horrible. Unfortunately, the world is flat and uninteresting, the characters are obnoxious cliches and I just can't make my self interested enough to finish this book, knowing that there are something like 10 or 12 more out there to 'reward' me for finishing.
Curse of the Mistwraith is the start of an epic fantasy series that explores humanity from an altered perspective. We're not sure if the universe is related to ours, but the possibility is hinted very lightly in the opening of this book.
What sets this world apart from other fantasy I've read is that the magic system, powers, wizards, and the land itself have been explicitly given the powers (the Earthlink) of God (known as Ath). This link to Ath is present throughout the world and those with "talent" can tap into it with symbols, crystals, thought, music, and elements. The "approved" use of magic is used in what is called the "Law of Major Balance" where the magic user requests permissions for all power. However, Athera (the world) is inhabited by humans that don't believe in or adhere to these ideals and force power through crystals or necromancy. Others consider any use of power as evil.
The sorcerers were brought to Athera from space. We know the human name of one of them, but we don't generally know much about their history. There are seven and they protect the world of Athera from all forms of destruction. Their power and effort and near failure are a major focus of the series.
Athera is also home to the Paravians, three races of angelic beings in the form of Centaurs, Unicorns, and Sun-Children. For reasons explained in the story, these races have hidden themselves until the world is safe.
The cities and towns of Athera are turned upside down from most fantasy. The barbarians are royal descendants and live in forests while the common people live everywhere else. There is a constant battle between them since the uprising 500 years before this book begins.
The two princes, Arithon and Lysaer, are half brothers from a splinter world. They were forced through a worlds gate (similar to Stargate's portals) into the world of Athera. Eventually they become cursed and forced enemies. The balance throughout the series is between the sorcerers protecting Athera through the "Law of Major Balance" and our two princes trying to stay alive.
There are other factions. The Koriani are very similar to the Bene Gesserit in the world of Dune. Their Prime is one of the major foils throughout the series.
Janny writes in a lyrical dense prose that has always captured my imagination. This not a book you can read in one sitting or even in a few days. You should be prepared to settle into this story with patience and an open mind.
I have read this book and the rest of the series four times and am in the middle of my fifth re-read. When you get to Stormed Fortress, you will be astonished and simply swept away. One of the things that Janny does so well is offer characters chances for redemption. The moments when they take it or refuse it are breathtaking.
I highly recommend this book and the entire series.
What sets this world apart from other fantasy I've read is that the magic system, powers, wizards, and the land itself have been explicitly given the powers (the Earthlink) of God (known as Ath). This link to Ath is present throughout the world and those with "talent" can tap into it with symbols, crystals, thought, music, and elements. The "approved" use of magic is used in what is called the "Law of Major Balance" where the magic user requests permissions for all power. However, Athera (the world) is inhabited by humans that don't believe in or adhere to these ideals and force power through crystals or necromancy. Others consider any use of power as evil.
The sorcerers were brought to Athera from space. We know the human name of one of them, but we don't generally know much about their history. There are seven and they protect the world of Athera from all forms of destruction. Their power and effort and near failure are a major focus of the series.
Athera is also home to the Paravians, three races of angelic beings in the form of Centaurs, Unicorns, and Sun-Children. For reasons explained in the story, these races have hidden themselves until the world is safe.
The cities and towns of Athera are turned upside down from most fantasy. The barbarians are royal descendants and live in forests while the common people live everywhere else. There is a constant battle between them since the uprising 500 years before this book begins.
The two princes, Arithon and Lysaer, are half brothers from a splinter world. They were forced through a worlds gate (similar to Stargate's portals) into the world of Athera. Eventually they become cursed and forced enemies. The balance throughout the series is between the sorcerers protecting Athera through the "Law of Major Balance" and our two princes trying to stay alive.
There are other factions. The Koriani are very similar to the Bene Gesserit in the world of Dune. Their Prime is one of the major foils throughout the series.
Janny writes in a lyrical dense prose that has always captured my imagination. This not a book you can read in one sitting or even in a few days. You should be prepared to settle into this story with patience and an open mind.
I have read this book and the rest of the series four times and am in the middle of my fifth re-read. When you get to Stormed Fortress, you will be astonished and simply swept away. One of the things that Janny does so well is offer characters chances for redemption. The moments when they take it or refuse it are breathtaking.
I highly recommend this book and the entire series.