To Ride Hell's Chasm: Amazon.ca: Janny Wurts: Books

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In this splendid fantasy about two warriors, a princess, and a demonic plot, the last is against Princess Anja of Sessalie, whom Commander Taskin thinks has been kidnapped. Captain Mykkael thinks there is more to it than that, but because of his race and mercenary background, he isn't readily believed until civil war threatens to break out in Sessalie. Meanwhile, Princess Anja has fled far away, and Mykkael has to flee for his own life, overtake her, enlist help for her, and finally lead her to safety through the monster-haunted terrain of Hell's Chasm. Once a marriage is arranged into a family of potent sorcerers, Anja can see about saving her realm and family, while Mykkael takes vengeance on the demons who, many years ago, drove him from his homeland and love. Wurts is skillful as ever at world-building and pacing, and her background as an artist shows in the kind of intensely visual writing that makes one wish more fantasy were written by artists. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

When Princess Anja fails to appear at her betrothal banquet, the tiny, peaceful kingdom of Sessalie is plunged into intrigue. Two warriors are charged with recovering the distraught king's beloved daughter. Taskin, Commander of the Royal Guard, whose icy competence and impressive life-term as the Crown's right-hand man command the kingdom's deep-seated respect; and Mykkael, the rough-hewn newcomer who has won the post of Captain of the Garrison - a scarred veteran with a deadly record of field warfare, whose "interesting" background and foreign breeding are held in contempt by court society. As the princess's trail vanishes outside the citadel's gates, anxiety and tension escalate. Mykkael's investigations lead him to a radical explanation for the mystery, but he finds himself under suspicion from the court factions. Will Commander Taskin's famous fair-mindedness be enough to unravel the truth behind the garrison captain's dramatic theory: that the resourceful, high-spirited princess was not taken by force, but fled the palace to escape a demonic evil?

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First Sentence
IN THE LONG shadow of the mountain spring twilight, under the glow of a thousand lanterns, Anja, Crown Princess of Sessalie, failed to appear at the banquet to celebrate her official betrothal. Read the first page

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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover

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Customer Reviews

14 Reviews

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
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4.7 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars WHAT A RIDE!!, April 8 2008

By	Angus F. Bickerton (Brockville, ON Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: To Ride Hell's Chasm (Hardcover)

To Ride Hells Chasm is a wonderful hybrid of mystery, intrigue, sword & sorcery, and flat out action/adventure. The story follows the disappearance of the Princess Anja of Sessalie from her betrothal feast through the investigation of the disappearance by Mykkael, Captain of the Lowergate Garrison, and Taskin, Commander of the Guard and Mykkaels superior. Complicating things is court intrigue and prejudice against Mykkael, who is foreign to Sessalie and dark-skinned, and plots abound, along with the interference of sorcery bound demons. When the mystery is solved, the action begins, and the reader is left on the edge of their seat for about the last quarter of the book, which culminates in the flight down Hells Chasm. Even during my second read, I just had to finish the story, and could not put the book down until 4 a.m!

For those who are a little too intimidated to try Janny Wurts epic The Wars of Light and Shadow, this is an excellent introduction to her style without committing to an eleven volume epic (eight of which are completed). To Ride Hells Chasm does not explore the heavy, deep themes that are replete in the multi-volume epic saga of the world of Athera. Instead, this book is just a quick and fun romp. There is an obvious and abject lesson that demonstrates that prejudice harms the judge more than it does the adjudged, but this is included more as a mechanism to advance the mystery and the intrigue, not as any kind of preachiness. This book really shows that Wurts is not a one-world writer, but a true artisan of the written word, who can create different worlds, different characters, and has the flexibility to leave her tried and true characters from other works behind. Though there are some similarities between Mykkael and the lead character in The Wars of Light and Shadow, Arithon Tier sFfalenn, they are superficial. Both characters are intelligent, and are marginalised, but the similarities really end there.

I love the main character, Mykkael. He is a man of great sorrow, who has suffered devastating loss. He has struggled through impossibility and survived, and literally has the scars to prove it. He is the battered and almost-broken hero, not the blonde-haired, blue eyed boy who saves the day. He is the living proof that any victory worth having comes at terrible, horrible cost. Taskin is also a great character, and one that I would have loved to have seen explored more, but then there is only so much an author can do in 659 pages. This is certainly a world that Wurts could write more stories in, and I hope that one day, she will grace us with that pleasure. Mykkael is, I hope, just too good a character for Ms. Wurts to leave alone.

Of particular note is the fact that Wurts is able to create this complete fantasy world (and quite distinct from Athera) without bogging down the reader in detail that slows the pace of the story. We are given just enough to give the story context, but the rest is plot, characters and dialogue. Wurts again provides amazing artwork and the best maps in fantasy literature.

This is a book that demonstrates the ability of an accomplished epic fantasy writer to make a story that is contained in one novel, and that starts fast and finishes faster. Of Janny Wurts three stand-alone novels, I like this one the best, but to be fair, the first two, Sorcerers Legacy and Master of Whitestorm, were written much earlier in her career. This book is also something of a tribute to horses, as Janny Wurts is an avid horsewoman.

Though it may not be a surprise I am giving this book five stars (my bias as a fan of this author is well-known on this site and elsewhere), this book has everything that a good one-shot fantasy novel should have: wonderful, vibrant characters, minimalist description (but enough to put the reader in the world), a great plot, mystery and intrigue, and an ending that gallops like the horses that figure so largely in the story. This book is just plain fun to read! A.B. at fantasyliterature.net

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4.0 out of 5 stars Compelling story, April 26 2004

By	K. N. Nelson (California, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: To Ride Hell's Chasm (Hardcover)

The author is adept at creating incredible worlds of fantasy. She creates characters that are real and vivid. The plots are excellent, convoluted and compelling.

This book's hero is exactly like Prince Arithon in her other books, most recently Peril's Gate, and the Princess Anja of Sessalie is almost identical to Arithon's girlfriend,such that I found myself confusing the characters at times.
The following objective comments detail a few problems that I have with this book:

1. Unrealistic, overblown prose. All the characters dialog is in a backward type of stilted high style language. This is true of the hero, the princess, the pig farmer turned soldier, the king, courtiers, drunken trappers and shamans of desert tribes of other lands.
2. Metaphors such as this on p. 198 "smooth as butter left on a plate, the seneschal found himself cooling his heels on the carpet in the front hall". Say What?
3. The use of past tense verbs in front of adjectives or nouns that overstate and/or stall ongoing action, impact and meaning. Ex: p.510 "..He's still acting on Mykkael's left orders?" Is this vs right orders?
4. Through the entire book the term "desert-bred" is used on nearly every page to describe Mykkael.
5. The hero, like Prince Arithon is weepy, tormented, abused, hated and reviled.
6. The story's tone is negative in extremis. Speaking only for myself, it presents a bit of a trial to read. The ending was the only ray of light for the salvation of Mykkael.

What is excellent is the high magic of the shamans and the mystical elements that this author weaves throughout her stories. Overall the book is very engaging despite the excessively ornate, stilted prose. The beautifully spirited horses in the story were the champions. I felt them most
deeply of all.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Why did she rush the ending?, April 12 2004

By	A. Grant (New Zealand) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: To Ride Hell's Chasm (Hardcover)

This is a quality book for the reasons given amply by other reviewers. However it lost a star from me for two reasons: the ending is rushed, and I got sick of how the main character, crippled almost to immobility early in the book, suffers a continual unrelenting onslaught for most of the rest of the book, without ceasing to be an amazing killing machine. It was just too much! As the cliche goes, sometimes less is more.

Having said that, it's still a better fantasy book than many so buy it, read it and enjoy it!

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Read
This book is a great starting point for anyone not familiar with Janny's writing style. Her attention to detail and ploting of the story are in my opinion second to none. Read more

Published on Mar 29 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars Ms. Wurts is the true peak of Fantasy envisaged by Tolkien
'To Ride Hell's Chasm' is a unique gem of a novel - Reading it is a vivid experience that challenges, entertains and enriches and I find it very hard to put the book down each... Read more

Published on Mar 28 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars To Ride Hell's Chasm Review
To Ride Hell's Chasm is a wonderful book a real page turner and an up all night read. I read the book so fast and I normally take awhile to read a book this thick. Read more

Published on Mar 28 2004 by cheryl detmer

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book to keep and reread
When I opened To Ride Hell's Chasm, I was enthralled with characters that deepened with every page, unexpected emotion, and a wonderfully detailed plot. Read more