In 1993, Janny Wurts released The Curse of the Mistwraith, the first book of The Wars of Light and Shadow. This year, in May, the 11th and final volume – Song of the Mysteries – was published. One of the most ambitious fantasy epics begun in the 90’s had finally reached its conclusion. And that kicked my butt into action.
You see, this series had long been a source of some discomfort for me, as I am ashamed to say it was lingering unfinished on my shelf. Unless I misrecall, I picked up the first book soon after its publication and was very much taken with the concept. And, lets face it, with Arithon. Temperamental and high-strung pirate/bard/mage who unfairly gets pinned as evil and who has a penchant for getting people loyal to him killed even though he tries his best to sacrifice himself for them – what’s not to like? Now that I’ve revisited the series, the influences from Dorothy Dunnett’s Lymond are very plain to see.
Alas, despite the fact that I was very much hooked from the start, I did not make it all the way initially. I read books two and three as they were published, but the four-year wait between book four and five meant that I forgot too much of the intricate plot and while I think I started book five I never finished it.
Several things contributed to this. Had it been some years earlier when this little break between books happened, I would still have had the habit of rereading books regularly, but at this time there was such a wealth of fantasy to choose from that I rarely reread things any longer. In particular, after 1997 I became deeply invested in A Song of Ice and Fire and it took up a lot of my time as a reader and as a fan.
Additionally, now that I have matured as a reader I can see that the writing in The Wars of Light and Shadow is fairly challenging. Its lush, detail-rich (some would say flowery and I don’t think that is necessarily a bad thing) and sometimes quite opaque. It reminds me, now that I have the whole picture, of both Dorothy Dunnett and Stephen R. Donaldson. You do not want to rush your reading, it is so easy to miss vital details. And, at the same time, the plot and the desire to know what happens may drive you to want to do so. That was certainly a dilemma for me, even during in this reread, especially during Arch III.
Because yes, right before we went on vacation I decided that I simply had to know how this story ended. And no, I wasn’t just going to read summaries on a wiki, which meant diving right back in at the beginning with The Curse of the Mistwraith to reread the books I had read before and then going on to read the rest of the series.
This is more of an overview of my impression of each book and the series as a whole rather than a review, but there are definitely spoilers.
I have always felt that The Curse of the Mistwraith is an excellent first book in a series. The two-page prologue sets an intriguing stage: what exactly is the truth about this conflict and how has it been lost? And then you dive right into the main action and you’re introduced to Arithon, primed with the knowledge that he is going to be perceived as a villain, how will that come about?
The core of the first half of the book is Arithon’s and Lysaer’s relationship. They start off as antagonists, then Lysaer begins to slowly warm to Arithon, which is very poignant because from the prologue you know something will drive them apart again. Waiting for that breach to happen is quite painful. And then we have the aftermath of what the curse does to them, which of course leads to some truly horrific events and you really get the full impact of how the combination of compassion and farsight tortures Arithon.
Ships of Merior and Warhost of Vastmark make up arc II and this is where the full impact of the curse truly hits home and things get really, really grim. I feel that they are somewhat less tight than the first book, but they are also very full of action. I did struggle a bit with it having a bit less of Arithon and more of Dakar and Lysaer. At this point, I really wanted to hit both of them over the head with something heavy. Dakar for not wanting to see anything good about Arithon and Lysaer for being so twisted by the way the curse warps his sense of justice. But, you do need this to get the whole journey for him.
Then we get into arc III, Alliance of Light, which begins with Fugitive Prince, where Lysaer joins forces with the Koriathain. The title is quite accurate, Arithon is very much on the run through the whole book. We also see how a cult starts growing around Lysaer as the saviour from the evil Spinner of Darkness. He manages to turn every defeat into a new call for arms and its quite painful to read at times. The more people who die, the more entrenched his belief becomes that what he is doing is absolutely necessary. I can see why I faltered around here the first time, it is a lot of time spent with Lysaer rather than Arithon, at the same time as his plight really makes you want to know what is going to happen to him. Also, the gap between this book and the next, Grand Conspiracy, was unfortunate since they are so tightly connected.
In Grand Conspiracy the Alliance of Light continues to grow and through various characters around Lysaer we see how he is really using his own farsight to play a very long game, where the goal no longer is just defeating Arithon but breaking the Fellowship of Seven and “freeing” mankind from the strictures of the compact. Getting some more point of views from characters around Lysaer and seeing him more from the outside refreshes the story nicely. Grand Conspiracy also really gives us more details about the world, the Fellowship and the Koriathain.
Peril’s Gate continues to see Arithon in quite desperate straits and there are very few quiet moments to break up the relentless pace. Its very hard to read slowly and savour, you feel harried alongside of Arithon. Magic and the mysteries have of course been very present in all of the previous novels as well, but here even more so. I admit, it gets hard to follow at times when there are very long passages delving into the esoteric workings. That said, there are some very satisfying developments in this installment—just saying Davien and Kewar—and, of course, some truly horrific sacrifices. It is also quite frightening to see the Fellowship in such trouble.
Sulfin Evends role has grown over the last few novels and in Traitor’s Knot he becomes quite pivotal. Now he gives the reader a chance to see something more to Lysaer and to start thinking of him as a human again as the curse, at least for a time, is mitigated. Then the Grey Kralovir cultists enter the picture (offering an excellent and much-needed complication of Lysaer’s storyline) and the curse is triggered again. The involvement of the necromancers adds new fuel to the fire and an intriguing twist, which seems to setup a change to how Lysaer will pursue his agenda against magic. The ending is really rough emotionally, as the s’Brydion alliance falls apart and the Koriathain again seek to meddle with Elaira.
Given the ending of Traitor’s Knot and the title of Stormed Fortress, you know going into this novel what the core of the story will be. However, the way it plays out still surprises you. The dire straits of the Fellowship are shocking and the deeper game of the Koriathain is frightening. To me, it seems like each installment of the story has revealed them to be more and more dangerous. I had initially thought that Lysaer would be the main antagonist throughout the story, but by this point he’s being quite thoroughly played by the Koriathain even though he in arc II looked to have gotten the better of them. There are some very strong emotional beats in this novel; Lysaer’s brief recovery is very touching and Feylind’s death really hits you. It stands out, even from Jieret’s harrowing fate, because it is given more time to breathe whereas Peril’s Gate keeps such a relentless pace all along. The character development in Sulfin Evend is truly striking and the ending of the book – and of arc III – finally offers some closure.
Which makes it all the more shocking as arc IV opens with Initiate’s Trial and delivers the worst gut punch of the series. Past the end of Stormed Fortress, the betrayal of Arithon that was set to happen given Fionn Areth’s fate has occurred. He has now spent almost 250 years in Koriathain captivity, banishing the free wraiths from Marak. I had of course expected a time jump at some point, given the longevity, but this was not how I thought it would go down. This also made me realize why arc III needed to be so expansive, it had to do the bulk of the deepening of the plot and the world and it really makes the time jump even harder to deal with emotionally.
Destiny’s Conflict, the second book of arc IV and the penultimate book altogether, is one of the darkest books of the series, with some truly harsh stuff. I had not expected so many additional complications at this stage and I had (still!) underestimated the Koriathain. The scope of their ambitions and the scope of Morriel’s plotting has been revealed layer by layer. It did come to my mind that perhaps it is a little much that she always has a backup plan, but on the other hand she has had plenty of time to shape her plots. The revelations regarding the Biedar and their role in the story are quite something as well; it seems the long game may not be entirely the Fellowship’s after all. Arithon again spends a lot of time fleeing, which can get a little frustrating, but the ending is very strong (and very brutal).
Even with everything Arithon has been through in these ten books, it is still a bit of a surprise how he acts right from the start of the final book, Song of the Mysteries. He quickly sets about burning all possible bridges and it makes his point of view hard to read at times. Trying to figure out what he is aiming to do befuddles both the reader and many of the other characters and I found myself wondering several times if there would be enough time to wrap it all up. As it turns out, there was, though it is a hefty book! It is also quite the roller coaster ride, with more amazing revelations regarding the Biedar and about about Davien. There’s a point were I was all of a sudden thinking we were close to the end, with a fantastic climax to one plot line, but then things take a turn for the worse once more. The true end gambit is harrowing but fitting, it is once again the Mistwraith and the half-brothers at the center.
And…that is it! The Wars of Light and Shadow, finally complete. I don’t think I will be diving in for another full reread anytime soon, but there are definitely bits and pieces I will want to revisit now that I have the full picture. There is a really nice symmetry to the arcs, I have to say, with I and V mirroring each other in some aspects (Dakar becoming VERY frustrated with Arithon again was a familiar feeling in the final volume!) and II and IV in others. After finishing, I’ve also picked up the six stories that Wurts have written within the setting and I finished the last one yesterday. I still have plenty of questions and things I would like to learn more about, but reading those stories answered several world-building/history questions that I had when I finished the main series.
If you got through all of this, what are you waiting for? Go and get started on The Wars of Light and Shadow.