[Andorion]

This thread will contain my passing comments on Janny Wurts' Wars of Light and Shadow. This series is not talked about a lot, but its seriously complex with some excellent worldbuilding.

I start from Book 4: Fugitive Prince. I will post my reviews of the first three books later.



Ten Chapters into Fugitive Prince

So far the two main aspects of this book that have struck me are the sudden info-reveals and the darkness.

A lot of pretty crucial elements of backstory are revealed

Athera was being destroyed by Dragons, and Paravians were sent to prevent that and heal the world.

Humanity was fleeing past catastrophe in space and got shelter here on condition of some curbs on civilization by the Paravians.

This strongly implies a sci-fi backstory making this entire saga mildly postapocalyptic.

The Paravian accord was with the now ousted clans.

Arithon's endgame is to find and bring back the Paravians so the Mistwraiths curse can be undone - seems like a pretty weak plan.

The Fellowship who are the arbiters of the Accord are overburdened with fighting the Mistwraith, preserving Athera and dealing with Arithon-Lysaer conflict.


The dark parts were quite shocking. Lysaer continues to grow more ruthless, but I was not expecting Talith to die. I fully expected her rescue and the baby being a future complicating factor. That was really quite startling.

The other shocking part was Caolle's murder of the healer. I don't think he knew what he was doing, but the fact that he would even consider such an action shows the way stakes have been raised.

[JPK]

 Andorion, on 02 February 2017 - 05:05 PM, said:

This thread will contain my passing comments on Janny Wurts' Wars of Light and Shadow. This series is not talked about a lot, but its seriously complex with some excellent worldbuilding.

I start from Book 4: Fugitive Prince. I will post my reviews of the first three books later.



Ten Chapters into Fugitive Prince

So far the two main aspects of this book that have struck me are the sudden info-reveals and the darkness.

A lot of pretty crucial elements of backstory are revealed

Athera was being destroyed by Dragons, and Paravians were sent to prevent that and heal the world.

Humanity was fleeing past catastrophe in space and got shelter here on condition of some curbs on civilization by the Paravians.

This strongly implies a sci-fi backstory making this entire saga mildly postapocalyptic.

Bingo. She does continue to expand on this through the Fellowship, but it stays primarily fantasy with a light sf flavor.


The Paravian accord was with the now ousted clans.

Arithon's endgame is to find and bring back the Paravians so the Mistwraiths curse can be undone - seems like a pretty weak plan.

The Fellowship who are the arbiters of the Accord are overburdened with fighting the Mistwraith, preserving Athera and dealing with Arithon-Lysaer conflict.

Not just just overburdened but pretty much completely overwhelmed at this point. 2 of them are incorpreal, 1 has turned renegade and gone awol, and 1 is severly damaged and operating at a fraction of his original power.

The dark parts were quite shocking. Lysaer continues to grow more ruthless, but I was not expecting Talith to die. I fully expected her rescue and the baby being a future complicating factor. That was really quite startling.

This was a huge surprise moment for me as well. It's also about the time that I started to look forward to the Lysaer chapters instead of dreading them.
The other shocking part was Caolle's murder of the healer. I don't think he knew what he was doing, but the fact that he would even consider such an action shows the way stakes have been raised.

[JPK]

Also, how about that Sulfin Evend birth prophecy?

[Andorion]

A little progress, reading Part 2 of Chapter 12.

Holy shit Arithon just totally lost his shit and unleashed the music magic again to rescue that bard.

The Grimward is scary, really scary. This the dream of a dead dragon? i don't ever want to meet a live one then. (And this is me, president-for-life of the Dragon cheerleader club)

You know, just for once I wish the Fellowship sorcerors would chuck the Law of Major Balance and just cut loose. I think we would see Malazan levels of sorcerous devastation.

If I read it correctly, Morriel is awake again. She is going to be so pissed when she finds out how badly Lirenda has fucked up. I am actually missing Robert Jordan. If this was the Aes Sedai, Lirenda would get spanked so hard!

[Andorion]

 JPK, on 04 February 2017 - 01:52 AM, said:

Also, how about that Sulfin Evend birth prophecy?

Iam kind of leaving that alone for the moment as clearly its a long term thread laid down by Wurts. I have figured out she loves these long term developments and we will probably see this maturing three books later or something

[Andorion]

 JPK, on 04 February 2017 - 01:51 AM, said:

 Andorion, on 02 February 2017 - 05:05 PM, said:

This thread will contain my passing comments on Janny Wurts' Wars of Light and Shadow. This series is not talked about a lot, but its seriously complex with some excellent worldbuilding.

I start from Book 4: Fugitive Prince. I will post my reviews of the first three books later.



Ten Chapters into Fugitive Prince

So far the two main aspects of this book that have struck me are the sudden info-reveals and the darkness.

A lot of pretty crucial elements of backstory are revealed

Athera was being destroyed by Dragons, and Paravians were sent to prevent that and heal the world.

Humanity was fleeing past catastrophe in space and got shelter here on condition of some curbs on civilization by the Paravians.

This strongly implies a sci-fi backstory making this entire saga mildly postapocalyptic.

Bingo. She does continue to expand on this through the Fellowship, but it stays primarily fantasy with a light sf flavor.


The Paravian accord was with the now ousted clans.

Arithon's endgame is to find and bring back the Paravians so the Mistwraiths curse can be undone - seems like a pretty weak plan.

The Fellowship who are the arbiters of the Accord are overburdened with fighting the Mistwraith, preserving Athera and dealing with Arithon-Lysaer conflict.

Not just just overburdened but pretty much completely overwhelmed at this point. 2 of them are incorpreal, 1 has turned renegade and gone awol, and 1 is severly damaged and operating at a fraction of his original power.

The dark parts were quite shocking. Lysaer continues to grow more ruthless, but I was not expecting Talith to die. I fully expected her rescue and the baby being a future complicating factor. That was really quite startling.

This was a huge surprise moment for me as well. It's also about the time that I started to look forward to the Lysaer chapters instead of dreading them.
The other shocking part was Caolle's murder of the healer. I don't think he knew what he was doing, but the fact that he would even consider such an action shows the way stakes have been raised.

Which Fellowship sorceror went renegade? So far its Kharadmon and Luhaine being incorporeal, Traithe being damaged, Sethvir being the Warden and Asandir running around yelling at people and fixing stuff.

[JPK]

They've brought up Davien a few times by now. He's the one that created the well that the brothers drank from back in book 1. He's also specifically mentioned in the large prophecy back in book one.

"Davien the betrayer will not see reason..."

[Andorion]

 JPK, on 04 February 2017 - 03:02 AM, said:

They've brought up Davien a few times by now. He's the one that created the well that the brothers drank from back in book 1. He's also specifically mentioned in the large prophecy back in book one.

"Davien the betrayer will not see reason..."

Oh... I completely missed that. And they lost the other Fellowship guy when he went looking for the Paravians

[JPK]

Yup. Ciladis. I wasn't sure when they brought him into things, so I avoided mentioning him.


It really means that they only have 2 of the 7 actually out in the field and Traithe is crippled.

[Andorion]

 JPK, on 04 February 2017 - 03:41 AM, said:

Yup. Ciladis. I wasn't sure when they brought him into things, so I avoided mentioning him.

It really means that they only have 2 of the 7 actually out in the field and Traithe is crippled.

Something that bothers me is how the Paravians are valorised. How can entire races be totally perfect?

[JPK]

 Andorion, on 04 February 2017 - 03:45 AM, said:

 JPK, on 04 February 2017 - 03:41 AM, said:

Yup. Ciladis. I wasn't sure when they brought him into things, so I avoided mentioning him.

It really means that they only have 2 of the 7 actually out in the field and Traithe is crippled.

Something that bothers me is how the Paravians are valorised. How can entire races be totally perfect?

I think it's because at this point they're pretty much a myth. No one has seen one in a long time and a lot of the commoners don't really seem to respect or fear them anymore. That really comes into play with the differences in the allies that flock to Arithon and Lysaer. It's very much a case of the clans still honoring and respecting that legacy due to the records and legends, while city wants to throw it to the wayside and use the resources to further themselves. The only ones around that still had actual experience with them are The Fellowship and a lot of people have lost trust and faith in them as shown again in the split loyalties between the two armies.

So you have TFoS claiming that they are everything that was right and pure in the world and trying to keep the old laws and pacts in place, while people are rebelling and fighting for the things they believe are old outdated laws that have no reason to exist. And to be fair, as you've started seeing with the revelations about the post-apocalyptic history it's not like TFoS is being open about all of the things going on.

God but there is a ton of political commentary and shades of grey involved in this work.

[JPK]

TFoS = The Fellowship of Seven.

[Andorion]

 JPK, on 04 February 2017 - 04:00 AM, said:

 Andorion, on 04 February 2017 - 03:45 AM, said:

 JPK, on 04 February 2017 - 03:41 AM, said:

Yup. Ciladis. I wasn't sure when they brought him into things, so I avoided mentioning him.

It really means that they only have 2 of the 7 actually out in the field and Traithe is crippled.

Something that bothers me is how the Paravians are valorised. How can entire races be totally perfect?

I think it's because at this point they're pretty much a myth. No one has seen one in a long time and a lot of the commoners don't really seem to respect or fear them anymore. That really comes into play with the differences in the allies that flock to Arithon and Lysaer. It's very much a case of the clans still honoring and respecting that legacy due to the records and legends, while city wants to throw it to the wayside and use the resources to further themselves. The only ones around that still had actual experience with them are The Fellowship and a lot of people have lost trust and faith in them as shown again in the split loyalties between the two armies.

So you have TFoS claiming that they are everything that was right and pure in the world and trying to keep the old laws and pacts in place, while people are rebelling and fighting for the things they believe are old outdated laws that have no reason to exist. And to be fair, as you've started seeing with the revelations about the post-apocalyptic history it's not like TFoS is being open about all of the things going on.

God but there is a ton of political commentary and shades of grey involved in this work.

Yeah, to be honest, I can see the point of people who want to industrialise. If they no how to, but can't, it feels like oppression. And frankly a major problem I have with any system that enforces non-tech pastoralism is the lack of medical knowledge. Except the Koriani and the Fellowship, healing is very poor. If you are going to artificially keep people back at least have some elements of modern med-tech knowledge.

I really want a few Paravians to show and not act anything like they have been portrayed.

[JPK]

 Andorion, on 04 February 2017 - 04:05 AM, said:

 JPK, on 04 February 2017 - 04:00 AM, said:

 Andorion, on 04 February 2017 - 03:45 AM, said:

 JPK, on 04 February 2017 - 03:41 AM, said:

Yup. Ciladis. I wasn't sure when they brought him into things, so I avoided mentioning him.

It really means that they only have 2 of the 7 actually out in the field and Traithe is crippled.

Something that bothers me is how the Paravians are valorised. How can entire races be totally perfect?

I think it's because at this point they're pretty much a myth. No one has seen one in a long time and a lot of the commoners don't really seem to respect or fear them anymore. That really comes into play with the differences in the allies that flock to Arithon and Lysaer. It's very much a case of the clans still honoring and respecting that legacy due to the records and legends, while city wants to throw it to the wayside and use the resources to further themselves. The only ones around that still had actual experience with them are The Fellowship and a lot of people have lost trust and faith in them as shown again in the split loyalties between the two armies.

So you have TFoS claiming that they are everything that was right and pure in the world and trying to keep the old laws and pacts in place, while people are rebelling and fighting for the things they believe are old outdated laws that have no reason to exist. And to be fair, as you've started seeing with the revelations about the post-apocalyptic history it's not like TFoS is being open about all of the things going on.

God but there is a ton of political commentary and shades of grey involved in this work.

Yeah, to be honest, I can see the point of people who want to industrialise. If they no how to, but can't, it feels like oppression. And frankly a major problem I have with any system that enforces non-tech pastoralism is the lack of medical knowledge. Except the Koriani and the Fellowship, healing is very poor. If you are going to artificially keep people back at least have some elements of modern med-tech knowledge.

I really want a few Paravians to show and not act anything like they have been portrayed.

I'm going to advise some RAFO for some of it, and remember that Wurt's plays the long game. Have patience.

Also, Morriel. Ah, Morriel. Elaida could have learned a few things from her. She is fucking scary.

[JPK]

Thoughts on Dakar so far?

[Andorion]

 JPK, on 04 February 2017 - 04:19 AM, said:

Thoughts on Dakar so far?

Dakar - he started off annoying, immensely so, but by the end of Book 3, I was really appreciating his character arc. Now he is back to being driven nuts by Arithon. I am kind of hoping all this stress lets him become a more reliable mage.

Also I wonder when Arithon really gets all his abilities back.

[Andorion]

Finished Fugitive Prince.

So Arithon's people are able to pull off a whole bunch of litte coups allowing them to survive and gain the upper hand.

The Koriani predictably are hopping mad. Though how they thought just investing evverything in easily stealable necklaces is a good idea, I don't know.

I really have no time for Lysaer's sorrow over Talith. he was going to accuse her of treason anyway.

So they rescue that guard captain - this much space devoted over such a little event means this is going to be important later.

Asandir was actually banged up pretty badly.... hopefully no long term repurcussions.

What does it even mean when they say Arithon does not intend to return again? He can't live on the other continent!

[Andorion]

My review of Curse of the Mistwraith:

Quote

This book was like a solid dose of nostalgia for me. An old-style epic-high magical world with magic left and right, mages and high mages, legendary creatures - so Tolkienesque and yet not Tolkienesque. In fact there is quite a bit of stuff that can act as a critical commentary of Tolkien

If this book has one fault, it is that its a bit too slow. But that is understandable. I felt like 70% of this book was setup for the future series. Meanwhile there is some meticulous worldbuilding and painstaking character arc construction. I often got the feeling that the primary importance of the things I was reading was to create a juxtaposition to showcase future changes and developments.

Overall the feeling I got from this book was awe as I gradually understood the scope of the series and the world. I am eager to get into the later books

This post has been edited by Andorion: 06 February 2017 - 03:52 AM

[Andorion]

My joint review for Books 2 and 3: Ships of Merior and Warhost of Vastmark

Quote

This is a joint review for Ships of Merior and Warhost of Vastmark which together make up one of the major narrative arcs of the Wars of Light and Shadow.

The first book, the Curse of the Mistwraith was essentially setup for the entire series. So the book consisted of some foundational character-work, some heavy duty world-building and some key incidents. Having gotten all of that out of the way, Merior and Vastmark take the story forward.

What impressed me most about these books was the character-work. Character development, progression and behaviour for the two main protagonists is complicated by the fact that their actions are enmeshed in magic. The trick, or should I say the challenge for the reader is to understand where magic ends and character begins. At this stage, I am still guessing, but given the depth of the series, I am sure this is a theme that I will continue to see developed. Anyway, their behaviour and decisions continue to remain a huge area of interest.

A far more surprising character though is Dakar. I considered him to be quite annoying and frustrating at the beginning of Merior, and was trying to understand why he was being given such a principal role, but by the end of Vastmark his change and progress is clearly marked. A sidenote - the Fellowship sorcerors gain more distinct personality in these books, something I thought they had rather lacked in Mistwraith. I think Sethvir is my favourite so far. One thing to take note of - the mental and emotional aspects are dealt with very explicitly in these books, but I think that very explicitness hifes some far more subtle implicit hints. Something to confirm with further reading.

The plot moved at a far faster rate than Mistwraith, especially in Vastmark. And while worldbuilding is reduced in scope, there are some tantalising hints as to the larger picture. The books are writtin in ornate and somewhat unusual prose. This can make reading slow, but then again these are books that should not be rushed as majot plot developments lurk in throwaway details. I would say that this is excellent epic fantasy, written in a very different way than the Wheel of Time, with an intriguing world, excellent characters and an author who is not afraid to play the long game to develop the plot. Anyway, I am now quite invested in this series and look forward to continuing the ride with the next narrative arc.

[Andorion]

Finished Four chapters of Grand Conspiracy

The Koriani are going into supervillain territory. There latest plot is just sick.

Food for thought - if Elaira appeals for help to the Fellowship, could they severe her magical bonds?

Asandir is back to being an utter badass. The wood is not going to burn anytime soon