BOOK REVIEW | THE CURSE OF THE MISTWRAITH | JANNY WURTS

 

GOSH! The New Year is upon us so quickly isn’t it? It only seems like it was 2 minutes ago that the days were lighter and beer was been drunk in the heady summer (which in the UK lasts about 4 days and then everyone complains that it is too hot and can you please turn the dreary rather back on now please)

Anyways, rambling aside, here is my first review of the new year. I recently read The Curse of the Mistwraith and I wanted to scream and shout about how good it was. 

The stunning first volume in Janny Wurts’s epic tale of two half-brothers cursed to life-long enmity, now re-released with a striking new cover.

Let each who reads determine the good and the evil for himself
Athera is besieged by the Mistwraith, which blights the land and dims the mysteries guarded by the last fugitives of the old bloodlines.
But from a prophecy springs hope: the gifts of two brothers – one dark, one fair, raised on opposite sides of a relentless war – when paired may challenge the Mistwraith’s invasion, though at brutal cost…
Arithon, Master of Shadow, musician and mage, commands the power of illusion and darkness. Taken prisoner in battle, his fate falls to his half-brother, Prince Lysaer – a man endowed with the gift of light through the mother they share. Lysaer is the legitimate son of a king who was betrayed by his queen’s choice to father Arithon by his mortal enemy but that does not save him:
Vengeful fury drives the king to banish both Lysaer and Arithon from the world they know to the troubled realms of Athera beyond the Worldsend Gate.
The two exiles are thrown together by hatred and spilled blood – then bound by destiny to champion Athera’s sundered heritage. The highest stakes ride the backlash of their conflict – they must reforge their adverse ideals into balance, or destroy the etheric grace of a culture all but lost to antiquity.
A subtle and intricate tale of morality and difference, justice versus compassion, told with epic scope and real magic, Curse of the Mistwraith remains a modern classic of the fantasy genre.

The Curse of the Mistwraith is the first instalment of the epic fantasy series The War of Light and Shadow by Janny Wurts.

Telling the story of the Arithon, Master of Shadow and his half-brother and mortal enemy Lysaer, the Lord of Light as they battle the evil Mistwraith.

When we begin the tale, we start with Arithon being captured by the forces of the Lysaer’s father, the king of Amroth who has been at war with the Pirate king of Karthan for decades.After a trial, Arithon avoids being sentenced to death after a prophecy by his mother becomes evident and  is sent into exile at the Gate at the World’s End. Which turns out to be a dimensional gate that transports the person to the land of Athera.  

Unwittingly, Lysaer ends up being transported to the land of Athera along with Arithon. A world cursed with perpetual mists, sent by The Mistwraith. The world is locked in a half a millennia war with the being that has blacked out the skies and is causing hardship and division throughout the world.

Originally published in 1993, the final volume in this multi layered fantasy series was recently released.

The first book beautifully sets up the series as we explore the ever-changing relationship between the two brothers and how this develops and then finally changes into the main arc that is present throughout the rest of the books.

Now this is a book that I have been meaning to read for some time and I am so glad that I did. The book is beautifully written, and Janny Wurts writes the story in an elaborate and bardic manner.

The story itself is complex and multi layered as Wurts explores and blows apart tropes that are regularly found in fantasy books.

There are so many things that I loved in this tale. The development of the characters and how they interplay with the world and other characters around them. How Janny Wurts explores the premise of good and evil and twists the viewpoints around so that the reader gets a multi-faceted view of decisions of characters and the world as a whole.

In addition to this, I loved how she portrayed the Mistwraith and how she subverted the readers expectations. Initially, I thought that this was going to be the usual manifestation of the dark lord type figure, but this proved to not be the case and the thing that is blighting the land is much more complex than that.

I would say that people may find the prose a little difficult to get your head around initially. However, stick with it and I guarantee that the way that Janny Wurts writes will draw you in and soon you will find yourself immersed in this complex and rewarding story.

There is no getting away from the fact that this is a large book. The book goes in peaks and troughs as the story organically develops as she develops the world in which the story takes place.

I don’t think that I have enough superlatives to write down just how much I loved this book, but one thing is evident is that the story is by a master storyteller and that this is one book that you need to let cast its spell over you.