The
Plot:
The Mistwraith has blanketed
the world in dank fog for five centuries. But those who believe the Mad
Prophet's words keep faith that a descendant of the long ago banished high kings
will come from another world to defeat it. . .
Arithon, the son of a pirate-king, has been trained to be a Master of Shadows
but his hearts desire is to be a bard. Crown-prince Lysaer has been denied the
teaching needed to skillfully wield his powers of light, but is schooled in way
of politics and leadership.
Despite having the same
mother, these princes have been raised as enemies yet will soon be thrust by
circumstance into the ancient world of their ancestors - to be that world's
freedom and bane. Within this ancient world, they do battle against the
Mistwraith, which curses them to hate each other to the point where they seek to
destroy each other, regardless of their own safety or that of those around them.
The bulk of the series details their constant struggles against each other,
using the world and inhabitants in it as their game pieces. There's really a
whole lot more than that, but it is too much to summarize. The Curse of the
Mistwraith sets a great stage for The Wars of Light and Shadow.
My
thoughts:
The most appealing aspect of
this story for me is that there isn’t an all-powerful Dark Lord, no evil
sorcerers and no clearly defined good and evil. Her complexity of good/bad,
light/dark is not so easy to discern, keeping you never quite knowing who you
are meant to support. Another great thing about her books is there are no
heroes. Only people living as their nature dictates in a desperate set of
circumstances, and either rise above it to find peaceful ways to resolution or
fall deeper into despair, violence, conniving and hatred.
These books keep you
guessing. I have read all the books written so far, and I can't even
begin to know how she’s going to weave her plots together!
Janny Wurts is fantasy’s best kept secret!
