CURSE OF THE MISTWRAITH: Where the Atheran Journey Begins...

[Clansman]

Not being able to remember the brilliant post that started this thread prior to the Great Crash of '08, I do remember the reason. There are lots of threads in this relatively new sub-forum that are simply riddled with spoilers, and given Ms. Wurts' penchant for making her readers drop their jaws, those who are just starting this series should not be rummaging around in those threads, as they take a lot of the joy away from your first time read.

Therefore, this thread. It is for those of you who have just begun the Atheran journey, and those of you who would like to talk about Curse of the Mistwraith ("CotMW"), being the first book of The Wars of Light and Shadow, which is a series that currently stands at 8 novels, and will likely finish with 11 novels. The ninth is underway. As this series is more like a huge book with the invidual books being more like volumes, the books cannot be read out of order (kind of like reading The Return of the King prior to reading the other two "books" of The Lord of the Rings.)

So, welcome to Athera, and please discuss any issues that come to mind in CotMW, and be prepared for answers from the more aged fans among us that go something like "wait 'till you read Fugitive Prince (etc.), because you'll find out then". And to the oldsters, WE ARE ONLY DISCUSSING CotMW!! NOTHING ELSE! Period.

As a side note, CotMW is currently available in the UK, AUS, NZ etc., as is Ships of Merior. The whole series will be coming out in mass market paperback in North America in April, 2009, including the last book, Stormed Fortress. The next book, Sword of the Canon: Initiate's Trial is underway, and the best guess of this fan puts its release towards the end of 2009 or in early 2010 (publisher details have not been released pending finalization of the publication contract. The contract does include the pending books in the series, which is really, really excellent!). Janny Wurts ain't tellin' when the Initiate's Trial is coming out, because she won't tell until she submits her final draft to the publisher and the publisher puts out a date for release.

 

[Clansman]

Wow. The Great Crash really knocked the wheels off of this thread. Anybody out there?

 

[Grimward]

Just us (fiery) crickets, Clanny. Maybe they're all waiting for the North American re-release....

 

[Lord Soth]

Have tried it, am about 3/4 through and still not overly impressed - just not my cup of tea im afraid!

 

[Grimward]

Weis and Hickman then, LS? I've liked them as a team (even the DeathGate stuff!) since the first Dragonlance book. Haven't read any of Hickman without Weis, and there's something missing from Weis' solo stuff in my opinion.

Was Curse of the Mistwraith your first (I'm too lazy this evening to go look up other postings)? Much as I like Janny, I'd agree with Clansman's other postings elsewhere that it may not be the best way to get introduced to her work.

 

[Lord Soth]

Well, I have only read Weis and Hickman in the original Dragonlance Chronicles and Test series. Its been a long time but I dont think I'd class them in the same league as the more recent authors on the scene. I have a bunch of Dragonlance (I used to collect them) in the loft that I plan to go on ebay in the coming months!

I think regarding Wurts, as I said on other thread I was probably expecting too much (and I know CotM is an earlier work) after reading the Empire collaberation. Ive tried, im 3/4 through but I really couldnt care less about any of the characters, and when you get to the stage of reading a book "just to finish it" you know you're not enjoying it :/

If I get chance I'll try and pick up a later different work cheap somewhere - I strated with CotM because it was the start of the series, but at the moment she's not an author I'd buy new (except new copies of the Empire series!)

Oh and for the record, for years and years I thought Tracy Hickman was a woman! In the UK its very rare for a man to be called Tracy, I've never heard of one personally!

 

[Clansman]

Your Lordship, if you care to give another Wurts book a go, try To Ride Hell's Chasm. It is far more recent, and you should be able to pick up a 2nd hand copy in the UK without too much trouble. If you are still struggling that far along, I'd put CotMW down and try something else. You may be able to return to CotMW at a later date with a new perspective. I find that there are books that I can't read, because of where I am at that point in time, but that I can return to them later and really enjoy them.

Anyway, TRHC gives you a really good indication of Wurts' current style, but it is one book, and it really takes off almost exactly half way through. I re-read it recently, and was kept up to 2 a.m. for a few nights.

 

[Lord Soth]

I will do that certainly.

I just realised the whole Lord Soth thing - i've been using this internet psueudonym (sp?) for about 15 years now, i dont pay much attention to it! Belatedly Ive also realised why Grimward linked me to Weis and Hickman, my god im slow today...

(He is still one of the coolest characters in fantasy imo though)

Please call me Soth from here on in

 

[Clansman]

Gee, and here we thought you were Mr. Dragonlance! You are right. Lord Soth is one of the coolest characters. They did a book on him, didn't they? I had stopped reading the series by that point, and it might have been written by one of the fill-in writers.

Still, an undead, evil, fallen Knight of Solamnia? The things they could do with a character like that.

However, I must be careful not to hijack my own thread!

 

[Grimward]

If the thread's creator can hi-jack it, the thread's ripe for the taking, says the fireball to the Death Knight.

I agree; your namesake is definitely one of the coolest characters ever, Soth. And yes, they did turn Soth's origin into a book, Knight of the Black Rose.

 

[Lord Soth]

Yes I believe I have it somewherre - didnt they set it into the Ravenloft world? I'll have to dig it out ...

 

[Clansman]

Anyway, back to the point...

Soth, you mentioned that you didn't like the character's whining and winging. Which character, in particular? As I recall, Lysaer does a pretty good job of feeling sorry for himself (no longer a respected Prince, lost his birthright, has no mage training like Arithon, who gets to be a king, etc.), at least until he gets slammed by the Curse, and then he just takes over everything as if he is King of Paravia (the continent where all the action takes place on the planet of Athera).

Or is it Arithon who bugged you? Arithon does affect a dandyish air for the Deshir Clansmen, in order to protect them from himself. He does not want to be a king, because of the disaster that befell Karthan in Dascen Elur (the splinter world where he and Lysaer were born), and because his true calling is music. He is also aware enough of the curse to know that he cannot accept the mantle of kingship, because of what the curse will do to him. Ironically, until he accepts the mantle of kingship, the Paravians will not return to Paravia. Notice the presence of Halliron, the Masterbard. This is a very important, even vital, part of plot development for the series as a whole.

Thoughts? Grim? Soth? Dekket (haven't seen you since the Great Crash)? Procrastinator? Murphy?

 

[The Procrastinator]

Hmmm...Curse of the Mistwraith...my memories are dim, but one thing that still stands out for me is the clever development of Lysaer. His beginnings in COTMW are very promising, and I think on first reading (that was quite a while ago now...) I was kinda like Dakar - rather sympathetic towards Lysaer, who has after all been dealt a bad hand. Arithon has a head start in so many ways. Just goes to show, upbringing counts, even for a natural born heroic type.

 

[Lord Soth]

Oh FFS! just wrote a whole page replying to you Clansman and the browser died!!!

Bah

I'll try again later, dont feel like repeating all again right now!

 

[Grimward]

Hmm, how to steer clear of spoilers (in keeping with the first post) yet contribute.....

I too would be curious to know which character was whining (one has but to read Stephen Donaldson's Covenant books, or any number of the sequences in the Gap series to get a good taste of whining characters...not that they horribly detract from the stories in those instances..), as none of them came across that way to me...maybe the first passage of Daon Ramon Barrens? This still leaves 3 potential candidates...

Will wait until your computer is behaving, Sir Death Knight!

In the meanwhile, watch out for elf maidens....

 

[Clansman]

Nice acronym, Soth!

 

[Grimward]

And it's OK; we'll happily wait for you to type the whole page again!

 

[TheEndIsNigh]

Oooops: I think I may have the original post. I realise now it might not be welcome in this thread. I'll stick it in the

"Raiders of the lost archives" thread for safe keeping just incase anyone feels the need.

Course it may be the wrong item it does contain a lengthy review.

 

[Lord Soth]

You may have the original post? You mean my half done review?

I'm a little confused, are you the forum admin? Did it cache it before I screwed up?

 

[TheEndIsNigh]

Sorry, no I'm not the admin man.

I was refering to posts pre crash.

Your efforts are lost I'm affraid.

I tend to 'right click' 'select all' and 'copy' regularly when I'm writing a long piece just in case the thing that happened to you happens. Then at least you can paste it back.