Janny Wurts

Empire Trilogy co-written with Raymond E Fiest

Daughter of the Empire -Daughter of the Empire was interesting concept in that it tells you about the elusive Tsurani and their Games of Houses. Meet Mara as she battles to keep her family honour and her lands from dangerous foes (be warned it dwells on this concept a fair bit) and it is a little slow going, but still interesting. 

Servant of the Empire - Continues Mara's tale as she battles with the Minwanbi (the leader is so ruthless and the cousin is just dumb - in a sense read it and see why.) Mara learns to love again (it's not that soppy) with a Midkemian, Kevin and she learns to trust his judgment and tries to change her way of thinking, the Tsuarani honour idea is jeopardized greatly because of. Bit slow at first but it picks up towards the middle. 

Mistress of the Empire -Concludes Mara's tale. She battles an old foe and some very powerful new foes and has to seek help from the cho-ja magicians in a distant land. She has Kevin's child and has Hokanu's child as well, with attempts on her life more frequent she loses Aykai (very sad) and her ability to have more children. But it all ends well and Kevin comes back and finds out he has a son. 

Wars of Light and Shadow

Curse of the Mistwraith -My gosh is this a long and dreary book I wouldn't have finsihed it if I had something else to read. It details two brothers, Lysaer gifted with the powers of Light and Arithon gifted wwith those of darl. They travel together ona quest but as things happen they become enemies and declare war on one another. Lysaer is such a ****** and the book is incredabily slow and confusing at times but I plodded through - maybe read something more exciting whilst you are plodding through this one.

Ships of Merior -Is this book written by the same author? It continues the war between Arithon and Lysaer and it is hard not to see which of the brothers the author likes best. Arithon manages to thwart Lysaer once again causing his brother to even hate him even more and more. Much more fast paced and exiciting with things actually happening rather than being described which is good.

Warhost of Vastmark -Talith is taken captive whilt trying to join Lysaer as he discovers that Arithon's fleet had been destroyed and rushes off in the hopes of finding his half brother defenceless but when he gets there he finds that Arithon has dissapeared. In fact Arithon had vanished into the mountains with the mad prophet Dakar in the hopes of raising an army. Just as good as the previous one and worth trudging through Curse of the Mistwraith for, I really enjoyed the fact that Lysaer was twarted - that makes everythign else worth it.

Fugitive Prince - Alliance of Light 1 - It continues the tale of Lysaer verses Arithon (stupid Mistwraith for setting them against each other) and Lysaer has convinced all that Arithon is the enemy and that he is very very evil because he wields the powers of the Shadow. Agh it's the curse of the first book in a trilogy yet again this one leaves much to be desired and after the fuin and excitement of the other two it is hard to pinpoint what has gone wrong here. But it is worth reading to find out wht happens.

Grand Conspiracy - Alliance of Light 2 - Arithon is on the run again, the people of the 'Light' hate though who use the Shadow and do everything they can to stop them. Meanwhile Lysaer hatches another diabolical plan to capture his wayward brother in an ulimate betrayal. Not only that but the Fellowship of Sorcerors and in thri own battle with that of the Koriani Encantresses. Much better - this book is much like Ships and Warhost in pace and excitement and the intrigue of what exactly the betrayal entails. Worth reading Futive Prince to get to.

Peril's Gate - Alliance of Light 3 - Lysaer has raised new forces to capture Arithon, the Koriani have released something that could weaken the wards on the Mistwraith whilst Arithon is on the run again and must flee inland whilst Elaira has a decision to make that will tear her life apart. This is the first book I actually paid full price for getting the others either from the library or buying them very cheaply and I must admit it was worth it - the Arithon vs Lysaer is getting more fun and now I can't wait for the next instalment.

Traitor's Knot - Alliance of Light 4 - Arithon has gone into hiding, his 'twin' is on a destructive course, Lysaer's wife has run away from him and the world is about to launch into an all out war that only the blood of either brother can stop. But now Arithon has vowed not to give in to the curse - will this make matters better or worse? The last two were incrediably interesting books but this one seemed to loose its steam (seems a pattern here) - it was readable but not ravable - lets hope the next is better.

The Master of Whitestorm - This is set in the world of Athera - the same as that of the Wars of Light and Shadow and details the Master of Shadow Korendir who was Arithon's predecessor. Funnily enough I totally forgot I had read this novel and saw that I had in my Reading Log so I don't remember much other than it was an all right book that I enjoyed enough to like. Wait I found some more info in that Korendir wasn't all that likeable even though he is so much like Arithon but not nearly as likeable. Plus it is a good insight into Arithon's character to see what someone before him did in his position and how she got Arithon right.

Ride to Hell's Chasm -A little bit boring actually, the tale of a man who must go to Hell's Chasm to do some wonderful thing in order to stop ... okay I don't remember overly much meaning that it didn't overly stick in my head. It was a little dribbly that was readable but not in anyway memorable. I would only recommend that you read it if you really love Janny's work or that you have nothing else to read. Else read Wars of Light and Shadow instead.

Other Books:

  • Sorcerer's Legacy
  • The Cycle of Fire Trilogy
  • That Way Lies Camelot

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