Jo V. (jovan) reviewed The Curse of the Mistwraith (Wars of Light and Shadow: Ships of Merior, Bk 1) on + 301 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
I couldn't finish this book. Though the story premise is interesting, I found the writing substandard. The author head-hops to the point where I often couldn't tell whose POV she was using or who was saying or thinking what and the interlude chapters were more confusing than enlightening.
PhoenixFalls -
Helpful Score: 1
If I had read just the last 50 pages of this novel I would have been quite impressed. They are wonderfully moving, reminiscent (in a good way) of the section in The Return of the King before the hobbits head back to the Shire.
Unfortunately, those last 50 pages are not earned by the 540 pages before. The first 540 pages were really quite bad -- not because Wurts is a poor writer, but because she is a poor storyteller. The sentence-by-sentence writing is actually quite good -- there was some beautiful imagery sprinkled throughout the novel. But while each sentence was crafted well, somehow the story never gelled. I didn't believe the characters. I didn't believe the world. I *really* didn't believe the politics. And in every single scene I wanted to be in some other scene -- she always seemed to be moving away from the action instead of towards it.
There were more little quirks of her storytelling that annoyed me than I can count -- she summed up important scenes rather than showing them; she used peoples' titles for no reason I could come up with but the fact that she had already used their name in the same paragraph; she was far more in love with her characters than I was; etc. And the biggest failing -- though many published (best-selling even!) writers fail at this one, so maybe it doesn't bother others as much as it does me -- all of the conflict in the novel rested on characters refusing to tell each other anything. If the mages and the two leads had simply sat down together on page 100 and pooled their information, all the conflict would have been brought to a head where it could be dealt with summarily. Of course, then there would be no epic door-stopper fantasy novel.
Unfortunately, those last 50 pages are not earned by the 540 pages before. The first 540 pages were really quite bad -- not because Wurts is a poor writer, but because she is a poor storyteller. The sentence-by-sentence writing is actually quite good -- there was some beautiful imagery sprinkled throughout the novel. But while each sentence was crafted well, somehow the story never gelled. I didn't believe the characters. I didn't believe the world. I *really* didn't believe the politics. And in every single scene I wanted to be in some other scene -- she always seemed to be moving away from the action instead of towards it.
There were more little quirks of her storytelling that annoyed me than I can count -- she summed up important scenes rather than showing them; she used peoples' titles for no reason I could come up with but the fact that she had already used their name in the same paragraph; she was far more in love with her characters than I was; etc. And the biggest failing -- though many published (best-selling even!) writers fail at this one, so maybe it doesn't bother others as much as it does me -- all of the conflict in the novel rested on characters refusing to tell each other anything. If the mages and the two leads had simply sat down together on page 100 and pooled their information, all the conflict would have been brought to a head where it could be dealt with summarily. Of course, then there would be no epic door-stopper fantasy novel.
Tyler W. (tylerwillis) reviewed The Curse of the Mistwraith (Wars of Light and Shadow: Ships of Merior, Bk 1) on
Excellent fantasy from Janny Wurts. I replaced this with a hardcover, otherwise I wouldn't be trading it!
Laura W. (Pharmtoxgirl) reviewed The Curse of the Mistwraith (Wars of Light and Shadow: Ships of Merior, Bk 1) on + 52 more book reviews
Two brothers, heirs to lands and locked in a blood feud, are drawn across a dimensional portal into a world where they are hailed as the promised saviors. As Arithon, the Master of Shadows, and his half-brother Lysaer, the Lord of Light, prepare to do battle against the Mistwraith, who has for centuries cloaked the world of Athera in darkness, they face an additional battle born of their mutual distrust of each other. Although fantasy author Wurts breaks no new ground in this series opener, her elaborate and vivid world-building and complex protagonists recommend this title to fans of epic fantasy.
Anna T. (Dwell) reviewed The Curse of the Mistwraith (Wars of Light and Shadow: Ships of Merior, Bk 1) on + 18 more book reviews
Anything musical attracts me, and I hope this does too.
"Arithon, Master of Shadows, able to weave darkness to his will. And Lysaer, Lord of Light, is sworn to justice. Driven apart by distrust and opposing convictions, the half-brothers must master their inborn enmity and meld their powers into a unified force. Should they fail, the Mistwraith shall ensnare them in strife and bloodshed for its own ends."
"Arithon, Master of Shadows, able to weave darkness to his will. And Lysaer, Lord of Light, is sworn to justice. Driven apart by distrust and opposing convictions, the half-brothers must master their inborn enmity and meld their powers into a unified force. Should they fail, the Mistwraith shall ensnare them in strife and bloodshed for its own ends."
