Fried Egg, fear not starting this unfinished series. Each book does a very good job of standing on its own, and JW does not use cliffhangers at all. The lone exception to the stand-alone character is Ships of Merior/Warhost of Vastmark, as they were originally published in North America as one book (a great big monster, at that. Wonderful!) It was split in half due to its size, for the paperback. What is great about the series is that each book ends at a logical resting point, so the wait for the next book is not as bad. The main story line in each book (note the exception above) is resolved, so you feel comfortable stopping.
There are some really in-depth reviews here:
Janny Wurts | Fantasy Literature
Yes, there are three books remaining, one of which, Initiate's Trial, is on the brink of being finished in manuscript (she's on the last chapter set). The other two are substantially plotted out, and will be available much sooner, than, say, the end of GRRM's A Song of Ice and Fire.
Part of the point of the story arcs is the idea of completing parts of the entire epic (similar to, say, the different series in Katherine Kerr's Deverry/Westlands/Mage novels, though those are divided more clearly into separate series, despite having a linked story) in broad story lines. For instance, the Alliance of Light arc (Arc III) is contained by those five books, and the story line of the Alliance is wound up with the last book in the arc, Stormed Fortress. I think the conceptual idea behind the "arcs" is that they were notionally to be individual novels, but the story was just too big to tell, especially in the third story arc.
Do not be hesitant about diving in, notwithstanding your rule. It will take time to read the first 8 before the 9th is out next fall (my guess, no inside info on that, unfortunately). And by then, we might be hearing about the progress on Destiny's Conflict on Trystane's Website: host for the Janny Wurts Offical Webpage and the Don Maitz Official Webpage.
There are some really in-depth reviews here:
Janny Wurts | Fantasy Literature
Yes, there are three books remaining, one of which, Initiate's Trial, is on the brink of being finished in manuscript (she's on the last chapter set). The other two are substantially plotted out, and will be available much sooner, than, say, the end of GRRM's A Song of Ice and Fire.
Part of the point of the story arcs is the idea of completing parts of the entire epic (similar to, say, the different series in Katherine Kerr's Deverry/Westlands/Mage novels, though those are divided more clearly into separate series, despite having a linked story) in broad story lines. For instance, the Alliance of Light arc (Arc III) is contained by those five books, and the story line of the Alliance is wound up with the last book in the arc, Stormed Fortress. I think the conceptual idea behind the "arcs" is that they were notionally to be individual novels, but the story was just too big to tell, especially in the third story arc.
Do not be hesitant about diving in, notwithstanding your rule. It will take time to read the first 8 before the 9th is out next fall (my guess, no inside info on that, unfortunately). And by then, we might be hearing about the progress on Destiny's Conflict on Trystane's Website: host for the Janny Wurts Offical Webpage and the Don Maitz Official Webpage.
