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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book made me realize that I like the reluctant hero trope. Well, I can only think of this book and RotE (Fitz) as examples right now. It’s intriguing because the reader sees Arithon’s internal battle with the life he is compelled to lead versus the one he wants. On the other hand, events put his brother in a corner and make him seem flat. Towards the end, Lysaer is boring and annoying and I hope he gets more nuance in future books (which seems promising considering the dynamism of other cast members). I understand why this is the case but that doesn’t keep me from rolling my eyes. I plan to continue the series slowly after I read some other books. I look forward to seeing what happens next, although I worry about 10 more books where the brothers are pitted against each other. That would get old. I know there are arcs within the series, so I hope there are other conflicts and the story explores new elements, as there appears to be plenty to expand on. The magic is pretty cool. I always appreciate when there are consequences for its use. There are rules, although I am skeptical that the sorcerers often knew how to respond to unprecedented circumstances, even if they were centuries old and powerful! Foresight is a relatively common talent. I find it interesting but also a little iffy in fantasy in case it reveals the plot too soon or conveniently resolves situations. We’ll see how it goes. Lastly, the prose is pretty unique and not something I could read if tired, anxious, or otherwise distracted. I’m not super well-versed in grammar or style terminology, but ample description and unique sentence structure/order than I commonly read give the effect of passive voice or dangling modifiers. I had to focus to maintain clarity. Another interesting experience is that I would mentally note that something had happened, and then half a page later see the thing I thought had already transpired be explicitly stated. That makes me wonder if I just jumped to conclusions while reading or if the prose regularly reinforces its points. Prepare for an active reading experience if you pick this up, but note that there are still many striking passages.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Drug use, Rape, Violence, Murder, War
The Curse of the Mistwraith has been making the rounds on my feed so I decided to give it a shot. The first thing I must mention is the prose. Janny Wurts has a style that I have not encountered before, it reminds me of the classical fantasy I know and love while also being, generally, more dense and flowery. I did not find this to be wholly a bad or good thing but rather something that played into the themes of the story. This is also a story of high fantasy. I would certainly not recommend this to readers new to the genre. There are a lot of moving parts, a huge cast of characters, a lot of different perspectives, prophecy and foresight, magical creatures, etc. Luckily, there is a pretty cool fan wiki out there and a bunch of information on the author's website as well. At least for the first book, as I didn’t dive further. And all that to simply establish the ground rules for this world and narrative. Which is rather fitting because this more than eight-hundred-page novel feels like a ton of set up. There are moments of action, ones that are thrilling and remarkably well done but there are many more moments of buildup and exposition. This book holds the promise of what is to come more than what happens within its pages. And I'm here for that.
There are two elements of this book that stood out the most to me. The first one is how much music and poetry play a part in the story. How bards are placed in society, how the music and magic of the world work, Arithon's skill in that regard and what it means for future books. I can see that being a sticking point for me as I engage with the series. Then, what I look forward to the most, is to see how the perspective of good and evils shifts. "Let each who reads determine the good and the evil for himself" as it says in the prologue. Should the Shadow or the Light be the good or the evil and when? The half-brothers, the gifts from Lady Talera, the warring powers at play, it sets up a tension filled dynamic that makes me excited for the rest of the series.
There are two elements of this book that stood out the most to me. The first one is how much music and poetry play a part in the story. How bards are placed in society, how the music and magic of the world work, Arithon's skill in that regard and what it means for future books. I can see that being a sticking point for me as I engage with the series. Then, what I look forward to the most, is to see how the perspective of good and evils shifts. "Let each who reads determine the good and the evil for himself" as it says in the prologue. Should the Shadow or the Light be the good or the evil and when? The half-brothers, the gifts from Lady Talera, the warring powers at play, it sets up a tension filled dynamic that makes me excited for the rest of the series.
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Talk about protracted writing. I know this series is liked by many, but at the 60% plus mark, I gave up. Wurts' writing just seems to go on and on and yet goes nowhere. Worse, she uses prophecy to tell the reader what is coming.
Did not finish.
Did not finish.
It's a me not you it's you kind of situation. DNF at 47%
My biggest issue is the writing. It's purple to the point of just being ridiculous. I did get a few chuckles at the overdramatic flare it added.
My biggest issue is the writing. It's purple to the point of just being ridiculous. I did get a few chuckles at the overdramatic flare it added.
3,5 ⭐
Je pense que j'attendais mieux, et j'y ai trouvé parfois quelques longueurs non nécessaires mais au final pour une série si longue, je vais le prendre comme un prequel solide. Dans tous les cas, j'ai envie de continuer
Je pense que j'attendais mieux, et j'y ai trouvé parfois quelques longueurs non nécessaires mais au final pour une série si longue, je vais le prendre comme un prequel solide. Dans tous les cas, j'ai envie de continuer
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Reading this book was like eating an artichoke for me. Just as I really like artichokes, I liked the story and the characters, but, getting to the heart of the story took forever. Just like the elusive heart of an artichoke, the story was buried under layers and layers of prose.
Janny Wurts is a master craftsman at arranging words on a page, but to me the words often got in the way of the story's progression. I like to think I possess a pretty good vocabulary yet I found myself seeking out a dictionary on several occasions. I also found myself re-reading sentence after sentence and paragraph after paragraph trying to figure out what she was on about. This made reading this book somewhat of a chore at times. I can usually manage to complete an 800-1000 page book in well under a month, The Curse of the Mistwraith took me nearly two of extremely dense reading.
I don't eat artichokes every meal, but I do enjoy one every now and then. I will read more of Janny's books, but I'm actually relieved my advance copy of Brandon Sanderson's The Way of Kings has arrived so I can read something by my comfortable old friend for a while and rest my brain.
Janny Wurts is a master craftsman at arranging words on a page, but to me the words often got in the way of the story's progression. I like to think I possess a pretty good vocabulary yet I found myself seeking out a dictionary on several occasions. I also found myself re-reading sentence after sentence and paragraph after paragraph trying to figure out what she was on about. This made reading this book somewhat of a chore at times. I can usually manage to complete an 800-1000 page book in well under a month, The Curse of the Mistwraith took me nearly two of extremely dense reading.
I don't eat artichokes every meal, but I do enjoy one every now and then. I will read more of Janny's books, but I'm actually relieved my advance copy of Brandon Sanderson's The Way of Kings has arrived so I can read something by my comfortable old friend for a while and rest my brain.