A Grand Disappointment
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I have been following Janny Wurts's writing since her collaboration with Raymond E. Feist, and have more or less enjoyed all that she has had to offer. Maybe that is why I was so deeply disappointed with this book - to put it simply, it is a terrible story. It reads like a a sappy romance novel, with all its dashing heroes doing only the most dramatic of gestures, their very lives the stuff sorrowful myths are made of, with wind whipping in their hair in the meanwhile. The characters that were interesting have become like caricatures of their former selves, and the story itself is paper-thin, all the way to its conclusion... To say the language and situations are overly melodramatic is like saying that Titanic had a little scrape with an iceberg. I just hope that "The Grand Conspiracy" hasn't sunk a good career in fantasy. I would love to say something nice about this book, but all I can say is that I sighed in relief when I finished it. Still, I am sure Ms. Wurts can do better as she has proven before - I certainly hope so, since I bought the following part before reading this one. Now I don't know if I dare open it.
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Captivating fantasy writing on a very large scale
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I have read every installment of this series and I am still a very huge fan. Although I can understand some people's exasperation with Janny Wurts convoluted style, I do not agree with them. I think the language fits the story, the setting. I would be disappointed if an epic hero in a fictitious world would talk to me like a boy from the 'hood. This said, I do have some remarks about the writing. In this last installment I found some descriptions overly long, Janny's ongoing struggle to describe the effects and practices of magic sometimes makes for confusing reading, and after five books some words are getting a little overworked (like 'actinic', 'moot', 'limned',...). Also the series suffers from the restraints of modern publishing (and maybe commercial considerations), in sofar that the sub-story Alliance of Light (started with Fugitive Prince and to be concluded with Peril's Gate (and of which this book is the second volume) seems to have been conceived as a whole. Publishing it in three seperate volumes creates the necessity to include many explanations and reminders, taking up a lot of space, but superfluous and therefore possibly irritating for people who read the books back to back. It also makes it necessary to structure every volume as a seperate novel with some sort of 'ending'. For instance what I found in this volume was that the pay off for the plant scene at the beginning of the book(namely the set up of the trap for Arithon using Fion Areth) seems to take an inordinate amount of time to be delivered. By this I mean the reader gets impatient, and irritatingly so: This was caused by the necessity to situate this pay off scene at the end of the book, to have a nice climax at the end of the volume, which would not have been necessary if the story had been published in one mammoth-volume (or three simultaneously published volumes).
Nevertheless I am a great admirer of this series that takes fantasy to another level, mainly by introducing credible women characters and raising compelling philosophical questions utterly absent from other fantasy-novels. I can't wait for the enxt installment(s).
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Many Levels
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Wurts has created a work that transcends Fantasy. Her suberbly crafted writing stretches our vocabulary, weaves a brilliant imagery, and gives deep insight into the human spirit. The intricacy and scope of the plots and sub-plots leaves plenty to the imaginations of those who delight in unravelling mysteries and guessing future developments in the novel. It's rich in character development. I have followed Arithon's development as a character with the same enjoyment as I did Ursula K. Le Guin's character,Ged. She has real skill with major and minor characters, using them to continually reflect new angles and interpretations of the themes and characters of the series. Wurts harkens back to a time when the land was held as something sacred. The Paravians represent lost innocence, and the compact a reminder that we
borrow the land from future generations. Her descriptions of magic are multi-sensory journeys that take us towards a more subtle understanding of what world consciousness is and touches on the oneness of everything. What I found most valuable in these books was the portrayal of the causes of conflict, and the machinations of war. She puts war and greed under an unforgiving spotlight, but also refuses to typecast. Lysaer is portrayed both as liberating leader and protector of the people and deluded tyrant. Arithon is at once freedom fighter and terrorist. We are not asked to choose a side and blame the other, but encouraged to have compassion and understanding, and to see the whole picture. We are shown graphically that war leads to further wars, there is never an end to them, unless there is dialogue and an attempt towards mutual understanding. We are not allowed to give into euphoria after 'justice' has been served, but read on and discover the horrific consequences. It makes us question what is true justice, and whether there is a place for human compassion in it. The curse itself is an accurate and menacing metaphor for blind, ignorant prejudice that has the same effect on the leaders and followers of this world, as it does on Athera. She powerfully describes the effects of illusion and delusion that create mobs and narrow-minded communities. She neatly portrays blinkered opinion and assumption and shows how they develop into reasons for wiping out other ethnic groups. When you read her books, suspend judgement. Don't get lost in plot and in trying to interpret the Black Rose Prophecy. Use a dictionary for the more
difficult words. Let her writing take hold of your imagination and leave youself open to seeing the parallels of Athera to Earth. Identify with the characters, experience them as aspects of yourself. Make it a journey of discovery. Read each book twice!
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An overwhelming read which is very original.
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I love Janny Wurts' characters and cannot help but admire the scope of her imagination. Every character feels real, and each has the potential to change the developments of the plot in ways which are startlingly original and unique to Wurts' style. She has taken an typical idea - gifted half brothers at odds with each other and yet she develops the plot and their characters boldly and thoroughly. There are moments when you suspect that their enmity is not without reconciliation and your emotions and reactions are played with with impunity. I've spent months waiting for the last book to be published, and the wait has been agonising.
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Another Wurts Masterpiece
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An absolutely fabulous continuation of the Wars of Shadow and Light. Now if only Jieret & Arithon hadn't highjacked the ending it would be a properly self-contained novel... as it is, one must wait for Peril's Gate. Anyway, the language is great, the Plot thickens as Athera spirals down into chaos, and many unexpected twists make this book entirely unpredictable.
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