Curse of the Mistwraith (Hardcover)

Don't read this just because you liked the Empire series!

I have not read it, therefore I can't make a proper comparison. However, I have read some of Feist's work. It's much more along the lines of adventure stories - fast paced, not terribly introspective, fun, possibly engrossing, but not deep.

This is a very different thing.

The scope of this work is mind-boggling. As I understand it, Janny Wurts had the books planned out very well and worked on the series for twenty years! That care shows.

Firstly, the pace of the book is extraordinarily well modulated. If you were looking for quick catharsis, this is not the book for you. Wurts has you stewing in your own juices in anticipation for the length of entire books (and hers are considerable). Resolutions don't come until your feelings have twisted and turned every which way. You go through the phase of burning anticipation, then the phase of enraged screaming, "Why do I have to wait?! Why can't it just come?!" Well, because in real life, fate doesn't jump to obey your frustrated feelings! In this - realism - Janny is a master. And a torturer :). (But I am what I call a literary masochist, you should know.) When the cathartic moment comes, you are well aware of all the ways things could go wrong. Also, of the fact that so much waiting may have dulled the characters' original drive for the goal. Except nothing is ever dulled in Janny's books.

To play the devil's advacate - and to offer fair warning, I should mention the very few buts. Janny Wurts is very articulate and possesses an astounding bank of vocabulary (I know I learned a lot from her). On occasion, this ability of hers goes a little berserk :). The sentences get to twisty and complicated, to the point where you might have to re-read each one three times. I needed a dictionary by my side, on occasion, too. But, this improves. Everything in Janny's books improves with each volume - it gets better, far better - not worse.

The other small bother is Janny's fondness of lengthy descriptions of magic technique. And I do mean technique. Her magic philosophy is very interesting and very complicated. Since we can't try to follow the directions to weave a spell or ask a rock for its cooperation, we don't really need to know the details of doing that. A few paragraphs sound like a cookbook, a bit. On the whole, though, that is no deterrent.

Onto the pleasant stuff, I adore Janny's exploration of a number of realistic points...

Love that is unbearably poignant, but does not override every other consideration. Unselfish love, so frustrating and painful.

Self-deception. Spell-driven, Lysaer spends a lot of time resetting all events in the world to a point of view that makes a god of him and evil-incarnate of his half-brother, Arithon. Sometimes, his arguements are such a stretch, that you cannot imagine how Lysaer can possible make people believe him. But he does. And if you didn't know better, then he'd make a believe of you, as well. He has that much charisma, conviction, strength of character and oratorical skill.

People who mean well and are good and righteous are not always right. Being a good person does not preclude the possibility of your being misled. So what you have is good people everywhere - on both sides of every battle. The world is nothing but shades of grey. Do you defend the sane cause, which will save lives of people dedicated to protecting the world? Or do you let them die? After all, they are the minority after this much fighting. After all, the other side may be insane and might destroy the world, but they are just people who don't know what they're doing. You see innocents on all sides. But your morals can't bend, because they are not rhetoric, but the absolute last chance of survival this world had.

Well, I cannot go through every wonderful thing this series has. I can say that it is executed beautifully. Of course, there are flaws. Even Robin Hobb has flaws, and her name in my mind is synonymous with infallibility. The point is that the flaws do not detracts from the story. And the story is beautiful and engrossing. Impossible to put down.

Anyone who loves new ideas and good fantasies would thouroughly enjoy this.