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A review by hawkeyegonzalez
Curse of the Mistwraith by Janny Wurts
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
I'm finally done with this book. I wanted to DNF it several times, but I have a bad habit of not doing that, and it definitely worked against me this time. I wish I could say I enjoyed this, but other than a couple of parts, I didn't.
The story is straight-forward enough with two brothers having opposing powers who must come together to defeat the Mistwraith that has been cursing the land for 500 years. There is actually a fairly interesting beginning here, and I was looking forward to what was coming. Unfortunately, once the actual journey begins, it is long and drawn-out to an almost painful degree. Most of the trip involves traveling to a location and talking with nothing significant happening in-between. We are told everything instead of being shown, and while the prose can be good at some points, it's often unnecessarily excessive.
I can deal with a story with not having a lot of action in it as long as it has interesting characters, but sadly, this isn't the case here either. Both Arithon and Lysaer are incredibly bland with no distinguishable personalities other than Arithon likes music. Again, we are told what their personalities are rather than shown, and their mood in every situation changes almost line by line. As for the Mistwraith itself, it's basically just an energy with no personality, motivation, or purpose.
It's been a long time since I struggled through a book like I did this one. I kept wanting it to get better, because I planned on reading the entire series, but it just wouldn't until the very end, where the battle is genuinely written very well. I just wish that kind of writing permeated through the entire story. I might give the second book a shot down the road, but if this kind of storytelling continues there, then I will most likely drop the series. There's no way I can continue this for 11 books.
The story is straight-forward enough with two brothers having opposing powers who must come together to defeat the Mistwraith that has been cursing the land for 500 years. There is actually a fairly interesting beginning here, and I was looking forward to what was coming. Unfortunately, once the actual journey begins, it is long and drawn-out to an almost painful degree. Most of the trip involves traveling to a location and talking with nothing significant happening in-between. We are told everything instead of being shown, and while the prose can be good at some points, it's often unnecessarily excessive.
I can deal with a story with not having a lot of action in it as long as it has interesting characters, but sadly, this isn't the case here either. Both Arithon and Lysaer are incredibly bland with no distinguishable personalities other than Arithon likes music. Again, we are told what their personalities are rather than shown, and their mood in every situation changes almost line by line. As for the Mistwraith itself, it's basically just an energy with no personality, motivation, or purpose.
It's been a long time since I struggled through a book like I did this one. I kept wanting it to get better, because I planned on reading the entire series, but it just wouldn't until the very end, where the battle is genuinely written very well. I just wish that kind of writing permeated through the entire story. I might give the second book a shot down the road, but if this kind of storytelling continues there, then I will most likely drop the series. There's no way I can continue this for 11 books.