Simply Brilliant!
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"On the splinter world of Dascen Elur, two kingdoms have been at war for generations. The heirs to the thrones of these kingdoms, half-brothers by chance, are carrying on the battle begun by their forebears. Lysaer, light of hair and fair of bearing, born to riches and raised to inherit the crown, blessed with the Gift of Light. Arithon, with dark hair and bearing upon his shoulders the need to engage in continued piracy of the seas to support his people even through his Mastery of Shadow and magery. Through a series of events, these two find themselves in a strange land, swaddled so in mist that not even the sun can pierce the ever present dampening gloom. A gloom that has lasted five hundred years and divided the people into townsmen and clan barbarians. Into all of this comes the West Gate prophecy made by Dakar the Mad Prophet. Two shall come through the West Gate and by combining their powers shall defeat the Mistwraith and return sunlight to Athera. So begins Curse of the Mistwraith, a story of deep, thought stirring events. Janny Wurts has crafted a masterful tale of wizards and enchantresses, of love and hate, of war and death. This is a book that should be savored slowly. Ms. Wurts utilizes a method of combining large chapter like sections that allow you to immerse yourself in this world of her creation with short triplets that give you necessary images that will reflect in greater depth later in the tale. Rushing through the pages will leave you without the necessary framework to truly appreciate the climactic ending of this first volume. An ending that will leave you speechless, nay breathless."
This is what I wrorte about this book in 1997. It still applies today and with the first three arcs of the five arc story now told, this series has not just broadened, it has deepened into what is becoming my favorite fantasy series of all time... even outshining The Lord of the Rings.
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About 200 pages to long...
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I am reading this book now and finding it really hard going. Nothing seems to happen for 40 or 50 pages at a time. All that is keeping me going are the well realised characters. However, I have started skim reading now just so that I can get to the end quicker. I read a lot and already haev other books on my shelf that I want to move on to. Not poor but by no means great either. Will not be buying any more in the series.
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Brilliant
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What can I say? I have yet to read a novel by Janny Wurts that has left me disappointed. The "Empire" series co-authored with Feist are excellent and firmly recommended.
"The Curse of the Mistwraith" is something special. Deeply imaginative, carefuly plotted, elegantly written. This is a very, very good book that deserves to be read and re-read until the cover falls apart. At which point I would buy a new copy.
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fantastic
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The above reviews explain what happens in the book and yes I needed a dictionary at hand but what a fantastic and original story. It can be a little confusing at times hence the need for the dictionary but I can not fault this book at all.
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Boring
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After reading Master of Whitestorm, I was eager to give more of Janny Wurts' writing a try, but sadly, Curse of the Mistwraith left me very dissapointed. And bored.
It started out well enough, and for about the first 60 or so pages, I felt there was a plot here just straining to get out. Something truly special and interesting. Reading on, I began to find that the writing was becoming tedious (far too wordy) and the characters had all lost their appeal. I didn't care what happened to them, and the utter lack of any real gripping conflict soon turned the whole experience into an ordeal.
I would like to have given this book a chance through to the end, but what's the use when I don't care for the characters, the plot, nor the world and it's history? (which just seems too vague) This series is long, and I've wasted enough time on book one.
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